Project Justice/System

Credits to Sleepmode for allowing us to transcribe their Project Justice blog posts to populate this page.

Movement

Similar to other fighting games, your character will walk in the direction you're holding the directional stick/pad: for forward and for back.

Jump

Pressing // gives you a jump.

The horizontal distance on backwards jumps is basically negligible when compared to a neutral jump. If you forward jump out of a dash, your jump will travel further horizontally.

High Jump

Pressing // and then // gives you a high jump.

This jump is the same as the one that is automatically performed when holding after a Rival Launcher.

Dash

is a short hop, if you hold the second you get a normal dash.

is a back dash.

Forward dashes can be interrupted with any action. Backdashes don't have any invulnerability, but you can block during the animation.

Roll

Pressing + during a dash gives you a roll.

This will move around your opponent, and it gives you a low profile, so it can potentially be used to avoid some long-range options.

Side Step

Pressing + in neutral will side step away from the screen (called dodge in-game).

To side step towards the screen, hold // while pressing +.

Opponents will automatically turn to face you whenever you sidestep, so it is impossible to go "off-axis" in this game.

Just Step

If you side step just as an attack would make contact, you'll quickly step to their back. The opponent will not automatically orient towards you in this case.

This will avoid linear attacks (like jabs), but attacks with wider lateral hitboxes can still hit you, so be judicious if you plan to use a just step.

Attack

Dash Attack

Pressing either during a dash will give you an overhead shoulder tackle.

Pressing during a dash gives a low slide, while will give an overhead jump kick.

Textbook Combos

Also called hot-blooded (nekketsu) combos, chain combos, etc. By doing attacks in order of increasing strength, you can build a combo.

Every character has a different series, but the basic form is Light Heavy Command Heavy. This works for most characters both on the ground and in the air.

Rival Launcher

Rival Launchers are a Marvel-style launcher command normal which the opponent high into the air on hit, which can then be cancelled with a high jump for an extended air combo (think Dust combos in Guilty Gear). You only need to hold to get the high jump cancel.

Rival Launchers can only be used by themselves—you cannot chain into them as part of a Textbook Combo. Because of that, they are very commonly used as a Tardy Counter option.
Note: Chairperson (Iincyo) does not have a Rival Launcher

Mini Launcher

Similar to Rival Launchers, but they launch lower and lead to shorter air combos than Rival Launchers.

To compensate, however, a mini launcher can be worked into a textbook combo, so it's possible to do [Ground combo] -> ML -> Command heavy/special/super.

Defense

Block

Pressing/holding will allow you to block high and mid attacks.

Pressing/holding will allow you to block low attacks.

Because there isn't a guard crush system and you can't die from chip damage, you can always block even with 1 health.

Air Block

While in the air pressing // will allow you to block in the air.

Because you can block right after jumping, holding will allow you to low air block.

However, landing has 1 frame of recovery, where you are vulnerable to lows.

Wake Up

Depending on the direction you press after being knocked down, the way you get up will change.

Same position

Front Roll

Back Roll

Side Roll

During a soft knockdown, if you press 2 buttons you'll recover in the same position.

Pressing 1 button and a direction will allow you to recover in the air.

If you do either of these right before touching the ground, you'll perform a grounded recovery.

You can also mash them during the unrecoverable time which allows you to recover on the first possible frame.

Back Turned State

If your opponent steps or jumps over you, you'll be in a back turned state.

You can't block, so you can either do a back turned attack or press towards the opponent to turn around.

It takes 1 frame to block after turning around.

Tardy Counter

Also known as a Guts Counter, Tardy Counters are Project Justice's version of guard cancels. To perform a TC, simply input a command heavy, special, or super move during blockstun. The timing is very lenient, as you can input a TC basically any time you're in blockstun.

No meter is required to do this, but if you get hit during it you will take about 1.25 times normal damage. TCs also add about 4F of startup to whatever move you used compared to its normal frame data (2F TC flash, 2F extra startup).

Throws

Normal Throw

When in a neutral state on the ground, pressing + will give you a normal throw. Normal throws are techable with your own throw input.

Back Throw

If by some chance you get behind the other person, + will do a back throw. Back throws are not techable.

Low Throw

When the opponent is crouching, pressing // and + will do a low throw. Low throws are not techable, which means they form the crux of your standard high/low game.

Air Throw

When you and your opponent are in the air, pressing + will do an air throw. Air throws are techable.

Every character has a 1 frame air throw.

Throw Tech

When the opponent throws you, pressing + will perform a throw tech. Only normal and air throws are techable.

If you press + within 6 frames of the opponent's throw connecting (8 frames for air throw), you will tech successfully.

Guts Meter

The Guts Meter is your standard super meter, which is built as you use normal and special attacks, and can hold up to 5 stocks. Like other games meter builds on both hit and block, but also on whiff! As a general rule, stronger attacks will build more meter than weaker ones.

In Project Justice, receiving damage builds more meter than inflicting it. Therefore, you want to be mindful on how much meter you're giving your opponents as you combo them. Certain Team-Up Attacks will also build meter for you on hit.

Clash

When the hitbox of your attack overlaps that of your opponent, a clash occurs. A lightning effect goes across the screen, and both players gain one bar of meter.

There is a freeze effect that occurs, but it has no effect on the recovery of either player.

Taunt

Press start while in a neutral state on the ground. Each character has a different one, and during it you will gain meter. The amount of meter depends on the character (longer taunts build more).

Team Mechanics

Teams in Project Justice work similarly to teams in KOF, but with a few scruples to the system that make the whole dynamic much more unique.

At the end of a round in Project Justice, both players are presented with a selection box—this allows you to select which character you'll be playing in the next round. You can make this selection irrespective of who won or lost the round. Further, characters are not eliminated when they're defeated, so you can elect to take the character you just lost with into the next round if you want.

For example, in the screenshot on the right, Batsu is the winner of the round, and Hayato is the loser. The Batsu player, despite being the winner, has elected to take Kyosuke into the next round. Similarly, the Hayato player, despite being the loser, has elected to play the next round with the same character.

Because of the general laxness of the way teams operate in Project Justice, there is, in turn, a lot of freedom in how a player can choose to build their team. While many players may pick certain characters just for the utility of their Team-Up Techniques, it is certainly not a bad idea to just pick a team consisting of characters that you like.

Team-Up Techniques and Team-Up Counter

Team-Up Techniques (aka 2-Platons) are fairly self-explanatory. Pressing + (for Partner 1) or + (for Partner 2), you will perform a super that costs two bars of meter. If the move connects, your partner will come into the battle and perform a unique move. Depending on the character, this move will deal damage to the opponent, heal your point character, or restore the Guts Meter.

Team-Up Techniques also have a very generous combination of both invulnerability and super armor on startup, so they can be very useful as reversals as well as generally just calling out your opponent if they’re getting too greedy. That said, you can be thrown out of them on startup, so try not to be too predictable with them.

If you are on the receiving end of a Team-Up Technique, inputting your own Team-Up Technique will allow you to counter their attack at the cost of one bar of meter.

You will enter into a small mini-game where one of your partners and one of their partners will engage in a sudden-death fight with a five-second time limit.

If you win the challenge, all the remaining damage of the Team-Up Attack will be negated and the fight will be reset to neutral.

However, if you lose, you will lose the meter you spent on the counter and will receive the full damage of the Team-Up Attack.

Party-Up Techniques

The final way to spend meter in this game comes in the form of Party-Up Attacks. By pressing any three buttons, you will execute an attack that looks very similar to a Team-Up Attack, but uses all of the characters in your team. They even have the same startup invulnerability and super armor as Team-Up Attacks, with the bonus of there being no way to challenge them!

They also do huge damage, but there is a catch — a Party-Up Attack will use up all five bars of your meter! So it’s really only best to use these attacks to close out a match, and when you are absolutely sure it will hit.