I like universal armor moves. I think that they are good to relieve the stress of pressure and encourage a wider scope of adaptive play--that is, to change your approach rather than just changing your moves. I think Tekken 7 and Pokken implement the concept very well. They are balanced in risk and reward. But I feel like RE is a bit too... overbearing in its influence... due to how little things beat it just when it comes to intersecting moves, how much reward you get just for doing it (damage on strike + all that fucking meter), and how it completely disrupts the flow of play for both players. I also don't enjoy the RPS sequence itself aside from the disruption it causes. I don't like how it gives advantage to the initiator to win ties and much more easily break guards, and how much reward is gotten from winning this sequence. I actually like RE most when I use it to end rounds; I just KO them and don't have to do the dumb RPS thing.
The thing is, it's very obvious that they want us to use it, and use it a lot. The thing that most stands out to me in favor of that is the meter gain. I've had people spamming REs on me--and this is including sidestepping and launching about 50% of them--drop four CEs in one game. If you're not using RE at all, it feels like meter is on a slow drip. So you almost have to use it. If there is one thing I would change about RE, I'd drastically reduce its meter gain and raise the meter gain for all other actions. That would make it a more measured risk that people can integrate as they personally see fit. "I can armor my way out of this oppressive pressure, but then I have to win the RE sequence or it's back into the same stuff. Do I feel confident in that, or would I rather guard or time a GI?" Right now the meter gain forces it into the meta really ungracefully. That and the fact that it's unblockable at full charge (and still deals damage) made its application and exploration during the beta pretty braindead. There was so much "oh they're charging RE at neutral, step, launch" that the "oh fuck i wasn't thinking about my pressure" didn't happen enough to really think about that.
Pokken's armor move, counter attack, is even more permeated into the game's very design than RE, and its metagame is very rich. The mechanic itself is very balanced, it integrates smoothly and undisruptively into play, it offers fair risks and rewards. Pokken was also designed from the ground up as a new property. RE feels so obviously tacked on in comparison, and shoved down our throats. I enjoyed the beta the most when RE was not being used at all, or was being used very sparingly. I think we can still develop a good meta around it, but I strongly believe it needs some changes. I'm sure we'll get another month one patch that invalidates printed strategy guides and fixes this. :P
