What are you favorite characters?

[DiseasedProject]

Mine:
1. Mugen - Sword Wind is just so good. He's the only one who can kill a samurai without the help of firearms & others. Sake is a very good lure. I also like that he can carry two bodies at once.
2. Yuki - Trap + Bird Call is a very efficient combo. Hookshot is often very handy too.
3. Hayato - Shuriken is quite nice, as is hookshot. Other than that, I think he's somewhat similar to Mugen, except that Mugen is a more efficient killer.
4. Aiko - Good once you find a disguise, but her skill set isn't the best. Definition of a support character.
5. Takuma - Just can't seem to find any use for him most of the time. Limited ammunition, no melee, and Kuma isn't as good as a lure, as Sake or even Bird Call. I mostly just let him sit wherever he starts at, and use the other characters instead.

[DarkFenix]

I honestly couldn't rate them on a scale, their skills are so complimentary to one another.

Takuma gets more useful as the campaign progresses, eliminating hard to reach guards easily or simply being able to give that stunning shot against a samurai without risk. The grenade is great for patrol removal too. Most useful ability is probably Kuma though, sure the sake and bird call are more practical lures in most situations but Kuma is a moving lure who can operate in the open, extremely valuable when you need to work in a courtyard full of enemies.

I agree to some extent about Aiko, she really needs that disguise. On the other hand she's not without strengths, sneezing powder is far more useful against straw hats/samurai than rocks. Furthermore her kill seems to get the enemy down on the ground and out of sight quickly and she drags corpses crouched. Once she does get the disguise she becomes probably the most useful member of your group; stealth against most enemies a permanent distraction that works on multiple targets at once.

Hayato doesn't quite have Mugen's killing power, but he has mobility. Mugen can't climb and can't swim, he also can't deal with multiple enemies with distance between them. Hayato can courtesy of his shuriken. It's also impossible to overrate throwing stones.

I think I found Yuki to be my least useful character, she has one use and one use only, luring single ordinary guards that are close to corners or cover. Her ability to climb and swim does make her effective support for Hayato/Aiko, but as far as individual use goes she's a one trick pony.

[Carnival.Corpse]

As DarkFenix said above, characters really...like truly compliments each other. I've only been to 6 lvl but certain skill combination of them feels god like. Also levels are designed in such way that a character that stood out in the previous lvl may quickly hit the wall in the next one.

Now, with that being said, If we talk about just luring an enemy then Takuma's tanuki aka Kuma is the master of it. No doubt abt it. Kuma can lure an enemy in an open area & make them come a long distance from their position.
Now Yuki's Bird Call also can lure an enemy far away when used properly but it involves a great deal of danger & can't be done in an open area with ease like Takuma's one. If there's blind spot then Yuki's lure + trap is deadly for solo kill.
Takuma needs help to kill off that lured enemy & i prefer Hayato's Shuriken for this. Finished off the whole lvl 5 with Takuma/Hayato combo.

I think we can all agree on Aiko. She is the ultimate support! But once she gets her hands on the disguise she becomes the reincarnation of devil herself. Kinda makes u realize how women can b really terrifying! heh! Finished off 70% of 4th lvl/Mount Tsuru solely with her. Her ability to completely distract the Straw Hats is invaluable. Also realized how effective her Sneezing Powder is in the lvl 6/Hida Village.

Mugen is a total beast. Great at crowd controlling normally & also if anything goes haywire. Killing off Samurai alone is a huge plus. Also getting situational kills from throwing huge rocks(dude even sprint while carrying those rocks! WTH!), smashing destroyable platforms is usefull really. In an open populated area, luring patrols of 2-3 guards with Mugen's Sake + using Aiko's Disguise + again sake + again Disguise + finally Sword Wind resulted in a rage hard on of mine. Literally(!).

For me, Hayato is a versatile character. Haven't used him directly/solely in any other missions except the first 2 but my every combination with other characters includes Hayato. His agility is a great help. Picking up bodies in a tight situation is much needed. Takuma lure + Shuriken, Aiko's Sneezing Powder + Shuriken is devastating for quick & silent kill. I wud have posted the Toy Story's version of "Hayato's Everywhere" meme here if i cud!

Overall I love every characters. xD Yuki's cheerfulness is hella kawaiii but Aiko is bae, specially those disguised faces!! <3

[The Metal Otaku]

It's tough for me to rate each character, I feel like they're all good at what they're supposed to do, and compliment each other really well. I'm also pretty bad at the game overall. I'd definitely say you're underrating Takuma. I only just finished chapter 6, so I haven't used him THAT much yet, but his ammo is limited for a reason. Free kills from extremely long range is really powerful, especially in shadow mode set ups and such, and I haven't used grenades or Kuma at all yet, but can definitely see how they'd be useful.

I'd definitely say that Aiko is the most useful once you grab a disguise. Being able to move freely about most of a level is powerful and easily is the most flexible ability in the game. Before then, she's still useful, sneezing powder is good, if a little wierd to use sometimes, and movement is great, but the disguise is clearly the focus of her character.

I feel like Hayato is sort of the fundamental character of the game, he focuses on the core of what stealth games are about: patience, misdirection, solitary, quiet kills, and staying hidden. His toolset is almost universally useful and very powerful, as well as simple and easy to understand.

Yuki is definitely the most situational character, but I find her really useful in certain scenarios, and trap + birdcall is a really useful way to thin the ranks just out of sight of a dense group of gaurds.

I haven't gotten as much use out of Mugen yet, aside from killing samurai and occasional larger groups. He's definitely useful, and sword wind is really fun and satisfying, but he's also harder to set up situations for, IMO, and it seems that when there are at least two other characters, there isn't much that he does that couldn't be done with some combination of the other two.

All that said, I'm less than half way through and haven't even tried a less than lethal approach. I imagine each characters particular abilities become even more valuable when you're trying to get through levels getting the non-lethal badges. some situations I can't even begin to think of how you're supposed to get those, but the games potential for complexity and creative solutions is part of why I'm enjoying it so much.

[mopple]

I love how every object seems to be a living being for Yuki. She is very... special :D - and the english voice acting for her is outstanding.

[Luzzifus]

Originally posted by Carnival.Corpse:

lluring patrols of 2-3 guards with Mugen's Sake + using Aiko's Disguise + again sake + again Disguise + finally Sword Wind resulted in a rage hard on of mine. Literally(!).

Could you explain that combo a bit better please? How do you use Aikos Disguise in combination with Sake?

[mopple]

Originally posted by Luzzifus:

Originally posted by Carnival.Corpse:

lluring patrols of 2-3 guards with Mugen's Sake + using Aiko's Disguise + again sake + again Disguise + finally Sword Wind resulted in a rage hard on of mine. Literally(!).

Could you explain that combo a bit better please? How do you use Aikos Disguise in combination with Sake?

Haha, that is hillarious! :D
I think he makes Aiko stop them before they reach the sake bottle.
I have to try this some time. :D

[mopple]

I'll open a new thread for awesome combos. So that this keeps being about the characters.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/418240/discussions/0/152391285463418146/

[changarid]

I love yuki, I enjoy the character and her comments.

From a tactical perspective I like hayato best. aiko is also fun. mugen is a tank a bit too overt for my taste. takuma feels redundant - shooting stuff from distance with infinite precision is no fun.

[brudda]

I'm a bit wierd, but I rank characters in terms of their killing execution animations....lol....
1 being awesome and 5 being meh

1. Aiko
2. Yuki
3. Mugen
4. Hyato
5. Takuma

[DiseasedProject]

What's interesting to see, is that there's no clear "winner" - everyone seems to have different favorites. Goes to show that they are all quite well balanced! Different playstyles seem to favor different characters; for example, in Commandos, the Green Beret and the Sapper were the ones I used the most: in this game, it's Mugen and Yuki. I've been trying to use Takuma a little bit more in the last couple of levels, and I'm beginning to see his usefulness, too. Although there's pretty often the badge requirement not to shoot anyone with him, which is probably one of the reasons I had been benching him.

[Carnival.Corpse]

Originally posted by mopple-the-whale:

Originally posted by Luzzifus:

Could you explain that combo a bit better please? How do you use Aikos Disguise in combination with Sake?

Haha, that is hillarious! :D
I think he makes Aiko stop them before they reach the sake bottle.
I have to try this some time. :D

Mopple is right. But strangely I can't reproduce the combo anymore. Tried it again but guards r ignoring Aiko & going for the sake anyway. Only time it worked on Mount Tsuru on the the last 2 guards patrolling(where Takuma is). What's going on?

I still can use sake to lure patrols & distract them in different direction with Aiko & finish off with Sword Wind. It's still useful in an open area without any cover or hiding spots.

[semenant]

i am on last misson, all hardcore, my 5 cents:
From personality and design perspective: Hayato=Mugen>Aiko>Yuki>Kuma>>>>>>>Takuma.
From usefulness:
1) Aiko is broken as hell. She climbs, she swims, she blinds and disguise is transforming hardcore into a cakewalk. I even started to restrict myself to using her only when absolutely necessary
2) Mugen. Sake bottle is a godsend. Killing samurai for free is tremendously good. Steel Wind is overrated but still useful. And most improtantly, he can run while holding bodies. God knows how often that saved me
3) Hayato and 4) Yuki. Here is the deal: they both actually have only 2,5 and not 3 skills. Yuki's trap carries her all through the game and flute is used solely for luring enemies into it. That's it. In almost any other circumstance you are better off with sake bottle or Kuma (later on that). Why? Because it alarms men. While these two does not. Hayato have a similar problem - his stone throw is very situational. Like REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALY situational. OTOH shuriken usefulness is hard to overstate. They both climb, swim and use hooks, so that's nice
5) Great tanuki Kuma and his old man pet Takuma. Initially i though this japanese raccoon is nothing more but a mascot but oh boy was i wrong. Kuma is the undisputed god of diversion: moving, AoE, non-alarming and working for a long-ass time. His only downside is that he is bound to his slow-moving one-legged pet. Ok, jokes aside, why do i hate Takuma? Because he is literally the least useful character in the game. Bomb? I used it once, maybe, MAYBE i will use it second time on last mission, but i don't hold my breath. Rifle's range and LoS restriction makes it a priority for Takuma to get to the high ground - which prevents him from using his greatest skill - Kuma. Limited ammo also forces you to consider other options. And he walks slowly, can't climb and can't swim. He does set up samurai for killing quite nicely, but pistols do it to. Overall, i really dislike Takuma. His vestige of personality does not help either

[Ravagexe]

1 - Definitely Mugen. He is the only character with lure/kill/AoE/2xManFastCarry. One can easily finish an entire mission with him solo.
2 - Yuki is devastating. I find it hilarious that Im constantly picking her instead of Hayato for stealth assassinations. She is far more better than him at it. The lure combo alone is a godsend.
3 - Aiko is some kinda jack-of-all-trades. Since finding her clothes is real trouble, she is practically useless compared to other two. However, her ability to distract an entire group is freaking insane.
4 - Hayato, only good thing about him is the shuriken imo.
5 - Too immobile, cant even achieve anything at all other than sniping specific targets. Lure feels like a chore compared to Yuki.

[Anapoda]

1 - Yuki, love her style, love her lines, love her skills
2 - Mugen, kill more people than cancer
3 - Aiko, allows a less direct gameplay which is always fun and interesting
4 - Hayato, gotta love shuriken but beside that he's a poor man's version of Yuki to be honest
5 - Takuma, well, cool character but you can do without most of the time

[yellowwducky]

Late to the party here having only just got to the 13th mission but for me (these are ranked in order of liking and we all usefulness to me) - on level 12 Yuki for reference racked up 66 kills.

1 Yuki - her whistle/trap combo is absolutely deadly. Pulling guys out of position and into traps out of sight of others can eliminate almost everyone on a map. And unlike sake which a guard might pick up and walk away with not letting you get something done, a whistle and then a second whistle pulls guys running into traps. And yea, I absolutely love her voice acting and kill technique

2 Aiko - disguise and the distraction is uber powerful - throw in sneezing powder which has some situational uses and a crouching kill drag makes her very effective

3 Hayato - rock is situational and good. Shurikan is very effective but he isn't nearly as effective as Yuki imho. Of course at times when I have to use 2 characters he may get forced into action but I prefer a Yuki/Aiko if given the choice

4 Mugen I guess but I didn't really like his lure but indeed is useful for getting a Samurai taken out and hauling bodies quickly

5 Takuma - key at some times for getting a Samurai to his knees and required for use for special situations but didn't make that much use out of him. I finally had to learn how to use Kuma as a moving lure to pull enemies to their deaths but it was a lot harder than using Yuki and her whistle.

Regardless, absolutely love this game and it is probably the best game I have played in a decade and quite likely in the top 3 of all time for me. Looking forward to a sequel and I haven't even finished the first one. Can't recommend the game enough.