Is there any downside in Feng Shui 2 to being a ranged fighter versus a melee fighter?
For example, an Archer facing a martial artist or a Killer facing a tough brawler.
Some games have a situational penalty that can make it more difficult to use a bow and arrow if you're in close range with a melee fighter, but I haven't seen anything like that in FS2. Is that a thing?
Usually not. IMO the section on 'cover' (page 110) is relevant here; PCs and NPCs are always doing action-movie-style dodges, hiding behind things, etc. That's just assumed in the DVs, and I wouldn't count being in melee as any different.
However, if a bad guy takes a hostage and does the 'human shield' thing (i.e., hold a knife or gun to the shield's throat and threaten to kill them), they get a +2 to DV against ranged attacks, a missed ranged attack has a chance to hit the hostage, and the bad guy can just outright kill the hostage if anyone tries to rush in for a melee attack. That's covered on page 301.
That's what I figured, I didn't think it was necessarily a problem. Thanks!