• There's four types of character this time around rather than just three: Power, Technique, Speed, and the new type Wonder. Power type characters still get super armor while attacking, but they can't withstand certain types of attacks at all, such as grab attacks.
Technique type characters can now do a sidestep by pressing Jump while strafing and get bonus damage when they hit airborne enemies with Charge attacks. Speed type characters still have the same stuff as always; that is, they can do an air dash and cancel their own attacks by jumping in both situations. Wonder type characters can knock an enemy off-balance by pressing jump after landing an attack (uses Musou) and also gets bonus damage on off-balance enemies. • Everyone can duck out of being attacked by pressing the Special attack button to counter, whether they're in the air or on the ground.
It's the same animation as if they did it normally, but who cares, you're using it as a 'get off' attack. • Instead of completing missions for skills per character like in the previous two games, each one only has one skill to start with and has to be promoted for the first time to get a second one. Having a good team that can complement each other is a good idea if you plan on playing on Hard or Chaos later on, but I wouldn't worry so much since I'm sure you'll know enough about how things work so that skill can compensate for a 'poor' team. Just pick whoever you like, really. • There are bonds in this game.
By doing a bunch of various things, you can make fellow officers give more of a damn about each other, which will lead to them coming in the save you with an assist if you're hit while they're on your team, give you a buff after said assist, and hand you a weapon after the battle if they're not on your team for that battle but they're present on the field. You can raise it through parties, but you can't use them to bypass the checks at the first and second section of their meter. For that, you must participate in a fight with them. Keep in mind that one method of bond raising is doing missions. If you succeed, you get 80 points; fail, you lose 40. Yes, you can be booted back down to the previous section if you keep messing up.