I would disagree on Shadow Jago, Maya, Kan Ra, Cinder, and Kim Wu being resource intensive characters, but I would not include RAAM in the straightforward category either.
While Shadow Jago’s surge mechanical is unique to himself, I don’t see it as something uniquely resource intensive, any more so than any other character anyway. ALL characters benefit from shadow meter, and all can benefit from unique, more powerful, and sometimes safer attacks using meter. By the narrow definition, all characters in the game fit into the resource intensive category. Shadow Jago is built with unique advantages to his shadow meter consumption, but I’ve seen Shadow Jagos wreck without ever using shadow moves, due to his playstyle of sheer unpredictability.
Yeah, he acquire what I call the equivalent of EX moves from having surge available, with shadows being equivalent to supers, but to be honest, almost none of his EX moves are safe at all. Surge Divekick is actually -6 on block, more than punishable if you catch it in time, and his surge slide is also unsafe if you can predict it, and surge uppercut is SUPER unsafe. His surge fireball is arguably safe, leaving him at a minor frame advantage. But I definitely would place him in the resource dependent category.
Maya is also pretty straight forward, the dagger pips aren’t really necessary for her to do well at all. Most people will try and build up for the unblockable hit, but they’ll get that maybe once or twice a game, hardly anything that would justify her being dependent on a resource. Her daggers are bread and butter to her, being openers, linkers, and general gameplay mechanics, but the pips for them just provide a small advantage you may never even use during the match. No one plays Maya thinking they HAVE to have that one unblockable homing attack.
Kan Ra’s sand traps aren’t really a resource either, just something that sits there and is useful from time to time, but hardly something he’s dependent on, as the bugs and the grabs tend to be the more powerful tools of his gameplan.
Cinder isn’t a resource character at all, as most of the time you’ll be fighting without fired up, except for the rare instance where it pops up or you’re in instinct mode. Usually though, he fights without it, and it’s not hard to do. He’s not straightforward though, as he has to create openings and pressure carefully, and approach opponents differently since he doesn’t have the longer reach normals and safer specials most characters have, but having fired up makes him no safer on block usually.
Kim is a great character for players who enjoy fundamentals and good positioning from what I’ve started to learn, and while the dragon cannons and dragon dashes are nice, Kim doesn’t rely on them at all, they are just extra damage when she manages to have them, or they help avoid damage. Nothing she can’t live without, but is helpful to have.
Characters like Mira and Aganos DO strike me as resource intensive being that their gameplans drastically change when they lack a certain mechanic. Shadow Jago is always Shadow Jago at any level of meter, Kan Ra can live without a sand trap, Cinder is okay not fired up, Kim is always good with her footsie game, etc. Them not having their bonus doesn’t make them any more difficult to play. It’s like they are cupcakes and just happen to have the sprinkles added from time to time.
Mira, Aganos, ARIA, now those characters have to make changes to how they fight based on whether they have enough life bar, enough chunks, certain body extensions, etc., unlike those mentioned above. Mira can’t keep spending health and expect to win without getting it back, and every body ARIA loses makes her that much more difficult to win with. That to me is a resource dependent type character.
Now RAAM, while he’s not got any unique stuff to him as far as a resource, I wouldn’t call him a straightforward character either simply because his gameplan revolves around a certain level of patience and tact in forward movement and creating openings, and is limited within the traditional combo system. He has to make good use of his grabs and OTG style moves, resets, and fakes to keep the opponent in a state of confusion. He’s not straight forward by a long shot, but not really a resource character.
I wouldn’t, but I’d say it holds up about as much as saying shago’s surge is a unique resource.