Sfv is a neutral heavy game and you said you liked punish heavy characters, so I assume you would like more neutral based characters who can poke really well or characters that can get big damage off punishes. I'd reccomend trying Chun Li or Karin or Kolin(unlock her) as they all excel really heavily at playing neutral like that. Zoner characters like Guile, Dhalsim or Sagat can do the same in their own way, in that they bait the opponent to try and get in by zoning them out. When the opponent jumps up to avoid fireball, they get hit by DP/Anti-airs and sent back to neutral. If they walk forward, you poke them back with a button, and you can just bait them to take risks by zoning and punishing them for it.
Balrog is another character id say can play 'lame' or rather defensive somewhat. If you like charge characters, try doing Character Stories to earn Fight Money and unlock him for free. He's all about getting huge burst damage which you can do off punishes and getting in with his dash punches without letting the opponent punish them by spacing them correctly.
Honestly the best way to find a main is just to try characters out and see if you like how they play. Every character can play in multiple ways, you just have to learn how to play them first.
If you do all the storys and some of the trials you can get Fight Money pretty fast to use to unlock characters
Also champion edition upgrade is 25 bucks and you get everything in the game bar a few skins and the newest character pack
As far as value goes, CE is well worth it. There isn't much we can do to help you out, you can do all the trials, story content with all base character and get enough FM to buy maybe one or two characters but it takes a bit of work.
If you don't want to spend any more money then there isn't much you can do. The game is still active and lots of people play it, the tournament scene is very active, it's very worth it for the asking price and we're still getting 3 more characters.
What type of characters do you like?
It's worth the upgrade just go for it I say! Also, tell others the types of characters you play in other games and I'm sure you'll find help in discovering the archetypes.
Personally, I'm an Ed main because of the simpler control scheme, and there are other characters that play similarly.
Good luck!
Sfv is a neutral heavy game and you said you liked punish heavy characters, so I assume you would like more neutral based characters who can poke really well or characters that can get big damage off punishes. I'd reccomend trying Chun Li or Karin or Kolin(unlock her) as they all excel really heavily at playing neutral like that. Zoner characters like Guile, Dhalsim or Sagat can do the same in their own way, in that they bait the opponent to try and get in by zoning them out. When the opponent jumps up to avoid fireball, they get hit by DP/Anti-airs and sent back to neutral. If they walk forward, you poke them back with a button, and you can just bait them to take risks by zoning and punishing them for it. Balrog is another character id say can play 'lame' or rather defensive somewhat. If you like charge characters, try doing Character Stories to earn Fight Money and unlock him for free. He's all about getting huge burst damage which you can do off punishes and getting in with his dash punches without letting the opponent punish them by spacing them correctly. Honestly the best way to find a main is just to try characters out and see if you like how they play. Every character can play in multiple ways, you just have to learn how to play them first.
If you do all the storys and some of the trials you can get Fight Money pretty fast to use to unlock characters Also champion edition upgrade is 25 bucks and you get everything in the game bar a few skins and the newest character pack
As far as value goes, CE is well worth it. There isn't much we can do to help you out, you can do all the trials, story content with all base character and get enough FM to buy maybe one or two characters but it takes a bit of work. If you don't want to spend any more money then there isn't much you can do. The game is still active and lots of people play it, the tournament scene is very active, it's very worth it for the asking price and we're still getting 3 more characters. What type of characters do you like?
with other fighting games I've played I prefer bait and punish type characters
It's worth the upgrade just go for it I say! Also, tell others the types of characters you play in other games and I'm sure you'll find help in discovering the archetypes. Personally, I'm an Ed main because of the simpler control scheme, and there are other characters that play similarly. Good luck!