Hong Meiling/RicePigeon's fourth version

Gameplay


Meiling is a five-button character using the buttons for her attacks, with  acting a 4th Normal attack that possess special properties. The function of differs depending on which "alignment" Meiling chooses at the beginning of the match; Type-A alignment allows  to act as a Guilty Gear-styled Burst, which deals no damage but allows Meiling to gain 1000 Power on hit; Type-B alignment turns  into either a launching Burst attack or an Alpha Counter if performed with, while the Type-C alignment turns  into a Roman Cancel, allowing Meiling to prematurely cancel the animation of most of her attacks.

Depending on the alignment that Meiling chooses at the beginning of the match, several alignment-specific mechanics become available to her that involve the use of her Spirit Meter; the method of filling up the Spirit Meter is dependent on which alignment Meiling chooses. When using Type-A, Meiling's Spirit Meter is filled slowly over time, as well as receiving damage. Meiling is able to perform a Bomb using, which consumes the entire Spirit Meter. Meiling can also access Spell Trance once she acquires 2000 Power, which allows her to use her Hypers for a fraction of their normal Power cost, but gradually drains her Power over time; if Meiling's Spirit Meter is full during this time, Meiling can also perform "Seven Star Strike of Opposite Extremes", but will consume her entire Spirit Meter and ends Spell Trance. If Type-B is selected, Meiling can perform a Just Defend by blocking an attack at a very frame specific moment; this will fill her Spirit Gauge by a small amount. Selecting Type-B will also change Meiling's grounded forward run into a dash; while this only travels a limited distance and cannot be extended or jumped out of, it grants Meiling with projectile invincibility during the forward movement, and allows her to gain a small amount of Spirit for each projectile "grazed" in this manner. While blocking, a Guard Cancel Counter can be performed at the cost of 25% of her Spirit Gauge. Meiling can also perform a Bomb with, but now has different properties; Bombs in this alignment will only use 50% of the Spirit Meter and will launch an opponent on hit; unlike the Type-A alignment, Bombs in Type-B can be cancelled into from any Normal attack. In this alignment, "Seven Star Strike of Opposite Extremes" can be performed with 1000 Power and at least 50% Spirit Meter, and will consume all available Spirit on use, but it's damage will be directly proportional to the amount consumed. Alternatively, Meiling can enter Spell Rage with at least 50% Spirit, which will increase all damage dealt by 15% for a limited time. If the Type-C alignment is chosen, the Spirit Meter increased whenever Meiling performs any type of forward movement or deals damage to the opponent, and can also perform up to two air dashes per jump instead of one. Meiling can prematurely cancel the animation of any non-throw attack and immediately return to an idle state at the cost of 50% of her Spirit Meter, allowing her to either extend combos or make normally unsafe moves unpunishable. With 1000 Power, Meiling can also activate Spell Overdrive, which grants her a time-limited buff that not only allows her to jump cancel many of her ground Normals, but also allows her to cancel her Normals into her  Normals, at the expense of some damage. Meiling can also perform any of her Hypers besides "Seven Star Strike of Opposite Extremes" free of Power cost, but immediately causes the mode to end on use.

Meiling is a stance change character, able to switch between each stance with Balance of Qi at any time she is not in a hit state; each stance provides Meiling with a different sets of Normals, Specials, and Hypers.

While Meiling does appear to have A.I.-related coding in the character's files, it is not used and instead uses M.U.G.E.N's default A.I.

Trivia

 * The majority of system mechanics available in the Type-A, Type-B, and Type-C alignments are borrowed from various other fighting games;
 * Type-A's Bomb mechanic and Spirit gauge heavily resemble the Gold Burst from the Guilty Gear series, while Spell Trance heavily resembles Shadow Frenzy from Persona 4: Arena.
 * Type-B's Spirit gauge and Last Word mechanics are heavily inspired by Street Fighter 4 's Revenge Gauge. The ability to Just Defend and Guard Cancel are both taken from Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Street Fighter Alpha, respectively. Type-B's Bomb mechanic behaves similar to One More! Burst from Persona 4: Arena, while Spell Rage resembles a similar powerup found in the N-Groove of Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001. The behavior of Type-B's grounded forward dash is inspired by the Graze mechanic found in the Touhou Project fighting game spinoffs, starting with Immaterial and Missing Power.
 * Type-C's Spirit Gauge and Dash Cancel both behave very similar to Guilty Gear ' s Tension Gauge and Roman Cancel mechanics, respectively, with the latter also taking inspiration from Street Fighter 4 ' s Focus Attack Dash Cancel mechanic. Spell Overdrive borrows aspects from both Street Fighter Alpha 2 ' s Custom Combo system and The King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match ' s MAX Mode mechanic.
 * Although "LAST WORD" is not a spell card that Meiling has ever used in Touhou Project, it's name ties in with the unique naming scheme of Meiling's spell cards having two names; one derived from its kanji spelling, and the other derived from it's katakana pronunciation.