Killer Instinct – Hisako Counter, Wrath Meter, Cancels

The second season of Killer Instinct moved along at a brisk pace. At the end of this month, the seventh character of season two will release around the world. The highly anticipated “ghost girl” is now officially known as Hisako, and her play style is that of a counter-grappler character. It seems as though each new addition to the roster brings something new to the table and Hisako is no different. Let’s take a closer look at what the ghost girl has to offer.

Movement

One of the first things you’ll notice about Hisako is the fact that she is the slowest moving character in the game in terms of walk speed. If you simply hold forward it will take you quite some time to move across the screen. Luckily, Hisako’s forward dash more than makes up for her slow walking speed. Her forward dash seems almost as good as Sabrewulf’s forward dash back in the first season (before it was nerfed). Not only does it execute quickly and move Hisako forward a considerable distance, it also ducks under most high attacks and projectiles.

In addition to her unique forward dash, Hisako can also wall jump similar to Sadira. The difference is that Hisako can wall jump offensively or defensively. That means she can jump off the wall behind her, or the wall in front of her, so long as she’s close enough to either. With multiple aerial attacks that change her jump trajectory, the ability to wall jump off of either wall creates some interesting mix-ups and potential mind games that will frustrate opponents.

Wrath Meter and Attack Range

Hisako has a naginata as her weapon. It was her father’s weapon, but now the 19-year old ghost girl makes it her own. It has considerable range, meaning she can attack from roughly half a screen away. With the addition of her fast forward dash, she can attack an opponent from almost anywhere on the screen.

Many of her attacks cover a great deal of range, but she also has some close range attacks that execute a bit faster. Her attacks all factor into her Wrath meter, which is a new meter located just above the Shadow meter. Hisako’s Wrath meter fills up quickly during the match and depletes anytime she uses certain attacks (mostly heavy attacks).

When the Wrath meter is full, all of Hisako’s attacks are considered counter-hit. That means more stun, more damage and in the case of Hisako, huge setup opportunities. Many of her counter-hit attacks have so much hit stun that she has time to connect with this at maximum range (nearly halfway across the screen), then dash forward and still start a combo. In the air, certain counter-hits will cause a recapture, knocking the opponent to the ground and allowing her to start a combo.

Counters and Cancels

If the Wrath meter, forward dash and great attack range weren’t enough, Hisako also has a counter and the ability to cancel many of her attacks. If you have at least 50 percent of your Wrath meter, you can cancel almost any attack, even if the attack completely misses. That means an opponent can jump over one of Hisako’s attacks, she can cancel it and still use an anti-air attack to knock the opponent out of the air.

When it comes to her counters, Hisako has two of them. She has a high counter that hits all high and mid-hitting (overhead) attacks. She also has a low counter that catches all low and mid-hitting attacks. If that weren’t enough, the counters are considered combo openers, meaning she can counter an attack and go right into a combo. Of course, the best way around these counters is to use a throw, but that’s not always an option.

The cancels and counters come in handy when using Hisako’s rekka. A rekka is essentially a three hit combo attack, similar to what Orchid uses. After the opening attack of the rekka (which is always the same), Hisako can use an overhead or low attack to mix up the opponent. While the rekka is unsafe if the opponent blocks, Hisako can cancel the rekka at any time and use a counter to catch the opponent’s punishment, even during the last hit of the rekka.

So far, Hisako is shaping up to be a fun and troublesome addition to the Killer Instinct roster. We’ll have more on Hisako as we draw closer to her release at the end of the month. For now, check out our season one adjustments overview to see if you can counter Hisako with one of the season one characters.