I think the poking mechanisms are pretty cool honestly. You gotta use your imagination a bit, but all the moves arent as completely wacky as a 360 or the even worse, 720 spin with a longspear / pike. Arcing it to the side or up first make a degree of sense.
What I have changed my mind about over the past couple months is its ability to block perfectly. I appreciate the devs experimenting with taking its block ability away, but I wish there was somewhere in between that was possible. Because right now, the only way to get past it, is to break through the line of offense with shields or taking out targets one by one, or insanely risky footwork. Finally you make it, and the key target is taking out that pikeman, but he can turn the 3 meter long stick horizontally and vertically in an instant. He has the perfect defense, and there is nothing you can do without a great maul to penetrate that.
If anything it helps you block by drawing a giant brown BLOCK THIS WAY line across your screen. In reality, you could block, absolutely, but 10 consecutive times, absolutely not. Screw realism in game balance, yeah I agree, but could it be possible to code in a small stun when it blocks, allowing for a follow up thrust or side swing? Taking out a pikeman right now means bringing a crossbow and telling all of your friends to as well, because you can't punish a pikeman for leaving himself open right now. Pikes sometimes feel like fighting Dhalsim but with invincibility frames on yoga fire and teleport.