I honestly kind of feel like the nerf to Guard Impact was a "punishment" of sorts for us, as a "cost" to nerf their new brainchild, Reversal Edge. A double-edged sword, so to speak. They gave us what we wanted, a nerf to Reversal Edge, but just doing that would be like an admission of failure, so they also nerfed Guard Impact, to be "fair". A twisted sense of logic, to be sure, but I can't really rationalize it any other way, personally.
how much bigger is the Proving Grounds (Kilik's stage) and the Desert Stage post patch? I honestly can't tell
I feel like they've added another layer of perimeter to either stage. I definitely did notice a change, though it's subtle. They didn't re-invent the stage, it just takes a bit more to force the battle to the edge of the ring, so I'd say they accomplished what they set out to do. They're still basically the same, just a smidge larger, where it would take just a tad more effort to get to the edge. They didn't turn them into infinites, not by a long shot, but it's still a marked change, to attempt to reconcile the extreme pushback on certain moves.
With all these new mechanics for characters I hope Cassie doesn’t end up getting heart/butt points or some crap like that. I would allow guard point a la monster hunter that would be cool. Anyways Amy story is the best one by far, I think Cassie is going to feel underwhelming since she is a joke character.
I don't know that I'd call Cassandra a "joke character". She had some goofy stuff with SoulCalibur IV, sure, but her narrative is still quite serious. She's an aggressive fighter who believes in herself instead of the powers of the gods. That's definitely something that can be built upon to make an impressive character who isn't a joke. Before Amy's release, there were people who called her a joke character as well, but look at how Amy turned out, anything but a joke, if you ask me. I would be more inclined to say, between the two, if any character was more of a "joke", it was Amy, though those who read bios and other background information would have known she was quite important to Raphael's character/story, she was never given a serious focus/light until SoulCalibur VI. In that same way, I believe that they can do Cassandra justice, and have her be more than just a ditzy booty warrior.
The winter rose headband clashes with a lot of hair. I'm also confused by the fact that a high armor break doesn't give Amy viola hair. You have to equip her with it as far as I know.
It's the same as all other breakable hair. Using the base Amy, her hair will break into the hair down style along with the headband. If you make a creation, be it on Amy or an original character, the hair doesn't break. The hair styles for Tira, Sophitia, Seong Mi-na, and Maxi all behave in the same way.