Can't believe I never noticed this in the multitude of times I squared off against him online, but I've been playing as Raiden for the first time in Arcade mode and wow... he has the most unimaginative moveset imaginable! All his attacks revolve around either the sword in his hands or the blades in his high heels, and that's it! Are Konami being tight-lipped about what else he can do, or is that all he's really capable of accomplishing in his upcoming game? He's so boring to play as, yet so overpowered, and I was just winning against the CPU with the greatest of ease; mashing away at square and triangle with no tactical thought. Prior to that, I completed Spike's story, and he's got a great diversity of moves that reference his past games and made me feel nostalgic... yet he's total shite in comparison. Couldn't make anything work other than his melee attacks - another Jak scenario. It's depressing.
I think the best of the hack 'n slashers to play as is Nariko funnily enough, what with her being the least prolific. She feels really dynamic to use, but not cheap, and has a large variety of attacks at her disposal.