Psychic Force 2012/System
Input Leniency
In Psychic Force 2012, special move commands will work regardless of which direction they are done in, for example a 41236 command will also work as 63214 or even 21478 and 89632, etc. This is due to the 360 degree nature of the game. As a result, the input leniency in this game is extremely user-friendly and you can even change your input on a dime.
The buffer window is also very big and can be increased or shortened in the options menu. You can buffer a command during pretty much anything!
PSY Meter
On the sides of the screen are two bars (one for each player). Each bar is separated into 2 gauges; a green Life gauge and a purple PSY gauge. To execute most moves, you will deplete your PSY gauge. PSY Meter will gradually recover on its own while standing still or at a slower rate when normal guarding. It can also recover with the Charge command (G+L+S). Being attacked will also increase one’s PSY meter. As your Life decreases, the capacity for the PSY meter increases. Hence, your PSY can go beyond 100% (max 200%). Above your meter there’s a Power indicator. This indicator shows a number that represents the base attack strength of the character (default is 100, max 200) and can be affected with the Hypercharge mechanic, explained below.
PSY Charge - G+L+S
Allows you to quickly charge your PSY meter.
Hypercharge - 360°+ G+L+S
This move will increase your PSY gauge capacity while depleting your Life gauge. This will increase your base attack power, hence the purpose of the Power Indicator that appears at the top.
Normal Attacks
This game has proximity normals to a degree. L will execute weak, meterless projectiles from afar. S will fire a bigger projectile, can also be input with 66S, and depletes your PSY gauge by 30% (i.e. it is the first special move of every character). When both characters are close together, L and S will execute meterless normals. L can be pressed multiple times for a combo. S will deliver a powerful blow. A combination of both may be used (i.e. LLLS). These combos will be covered in greater detail under Weight Class and Combo Strings
- Notes: As noted above, far S will consume 30% PSY. So when the PSY gauge is depleted, the character will fire small projectiles just like pressing far L. Another thing to note is that two commands are available for the far S move of every character (5S and 66S). This is necessary for using far S in combos.
Guarding
Arguably the most important part of PF2012 is learning how to guard properly. During a guard you can not move whatsoever. There are multiple ways to implement a guard and we’ll cover them now.
Normal Guard - G
This guard will generally block attacks coming from your front but is highly vulnerable to pushback and wallbounce.
Barrier Guard - 360°+G
A guard that blocks every move that comes from any direction (aside from barrier breaks), protects you from wallbounce, and keeps you relatively in place. The PSY gauge will deplete at a constant rate when you use it. However the PSY gauge will not be depleted when you’re blocking an attack. It also functions as a pushblock.
- Notes: at any point when being hit you can input a barrier guard and continue spinning the stick/pad and it will come out as soon as possible, so long as you have meter.
Retreat Barrier - 46G
Spend 50% PSY for a quick flip into a barrier guard done after you are knocked back. If successful, the barrier will flash yellow. In many situations it’s the best way to avoid getting wallbounced from an opponent’s combo, therefore retreat barrier is an important mechanic for preventing highly damaging combos.
- Notes: Retreat Barrier will function only if you press rather than hold the G button after being knocked away. It will turn into a Barrier Guard after a while.
Movement
Normal Dash - Any Direction + L+H
A dash that can be used to get around quickly. It is not cancellable so you are vulnerable until recovery.
Quick Dash - 5L+H
Quick dash (or neutral dash) is an extremely fast special and close normal cancellable dash that will dash you up to your opponent and deflect any light projectiles sent your way.
Slide Dash - 46L+H
Effectively a side step dash used to get around your opponent’s offense and find an opening.
Unique Mechanics
PSY Impulse - mash L or S on recovery
Effectively a burst you can do after being knocked down for 25% PSY that does a bit of damage as well. The L version comes out quicker with less range, while the S version is slower but with much larger range. These can be punished on whiff, so make sure your opponent is staying close when attempting a PSY Impulse.
Barrier Break - 6S when close
This move will break the opponent’s barrier dealing damage and a hard knockdown. However, this move can be guarded by a Normal Guard and punished thereafter.
Catch - G+L
Effectively this game’s throw command. Dashes and normal guard are highly vulnerable to throws.
Weight Class and Combo Strings
There are three weight classes in the game: Lightweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight. Weight class determines a character’s movement speed and how far they are pushed back from attacks. A lightweight’s dash will recover faster than a heavyweight’s for example. A heavyweight in turn will be harder to wall combo off however since they fly back the least from attacks, while a lightweight will be easy to wall combo off. Each weight class also determines a character’s combo strings off their close normals. These strings are universal for each weight category, though each character will have their own unique normals within those strings. Below is a table with the character weights as well as the combinations you can execute. Strings ending in “Special” indicate a special cancel window:
| Light: Might/Patty/Genshin/Wendy/Emilio | Middle: Burn/Carlo/Keith/Regina/Setsuna/Wong | Heavy: Gates/Gudeath |
|---|---|---|
| L,L,L,L | L,L,L | L,L |
| L,S,Special | L,S,Special | S,Special |
| L,S,L,Special | L,L,S,Special | L,S,Special |
| L,L,S,Special | - | L,S,S |
Advanced
Wall Barrier
It is possible to interrupt many wall bounce combos with a barrier. To do it just hold G and do a 360 motion on the joypad repeatedly after you have bounced off a wall. You don’t have to be super fast, just fairly quick. Doing this will stop many of the characters wall bounce combos and it will cause them to bounce off of your characters barrier. The comboability of nearly every character in the game is greatly reduced with this technique. In fact Burn is the only character that is virtually unaffected by this technique, because almost all of his PSY moves have quick startup time. Thanks to this technique all of the other characters only have 1 or 2 reliable wall bounce combos. This technique only works on close wall combos. I’ll talk about close wall combos and other types of combos next.
Close wall combo
This is the combo that occurs the most in matches. This occurs when one opponent is comboed into a wall and then a PSY move is cancelled into at the end of the combo after the wall bounce. Wall barriers can interrupt most close wall combos, so each character only has a few that are applicable aside from Burn who is king at close range. Setsuna, Patty, Emilio, and Wendy don’t have any close wall combos that don’t get interrupted by wall barriers. For the characters that do, these are generally called...
BnB combo
This is the staple close wall combo a character has. It’s the combo a player should go for when near a wall. Some characters have only one close wall combo that works, so it automatically becomes their Bread and Butter, or BnB. Other characters have other combos, but their BnB does the most damage. Gudeath has the strongest BnB combo. Carlo has the weakest.
Far wall combo
All 3 weight classes go different distances when they are sent reeling back from attacks. Lightweights go far, middleweights go a moderate distance, and heavyweights move the least. Knowing how far a character will be pushed back before he/she will be able to put up a retreat barrier is the key to doing more powerful combos. This is because while your opponent is reeling from a strong hit the player is already executing his PSY attack and going through it’s first frames. This way it will hit his opponent after they do a wall bounce, but before they can do a wall barrier. PSY moves that take too long to execute in close wall combos become great choices for far wall combos. Obviously light weights are more susceptible to these combos, while heavy weights are the least susceptible. Some characters have stronger close wall combos then far wall combos. Burn is one such character.
