Topic: ARMS

@MikeTS That happens to me a lot. When I first sit down to play, I'll win a match or two and then get stuck forever on the next one, so I can only progress two or three matches each day sometimes. I can blame it on my old hands getting tired, but honestly I was never much good at fighting games even when I was in my twenties.

You can improve with practice, though. With perseverance I've slowly conquered the lower ranks, and today I played my first ranked matches and - amazingly - didn't completely suck. No one is ever going to pay to watch me play ARMS in Madison Square Garden, okay, but I'm confident that I can now play without making hypothetical spectators snicker about clueless n00bs.

Only with Mechanica so far, though. I do still suck with every other character.

@Reverandjames But just because it should have been in the game doesn't mean it's not free. It still doesn't cost money. I'm probably just being too literal.

@Reverandjames It's funny to me defending it considering I hate online gaming and hate games that are online focused. But somehow Splatoon and Arms hooked me. I was on the fence about arms and thought my opinion of it might be the same as yours is about Arms until I played the Test Punch and within two sessions was convinced.

I've heard good things about Injustice 2....I haven't played it. I did enjoy the story campaign in Injustice 1, though I liked the gameplay a lot less than Arms. It's weirdly in between to me. It's slow and actiony unlike technical fighters like SF/Tekken/SC, but not quite action oriented in real-time like Arms. And yeah, a game like BoTW is once in a blue moon. That kind of big epic adventure is certainly my #1 genre of game as well....but I don't necessarily rate fighting games like other games...I know the genre works pretty differently.

But yeah, I can understand if the game doesn't click as an addiction gameplay wise (particularly the online), you might not feel the same. Just, take a look back after the drip feed is done and judge then if your initial assumption was really right or not.

@Reverandjames Yeah, if the demo didn't click then the full game wasn't going to be too different As with any online/fighter, it either clicks or doesn't, I think. The boxing-action-deep fighting blend is pretty appealing if it clicks, but probably odd if it doesn't. Mostly, though, I'm guessing you're just not into competitive online games. Neither am I, actually....Splatoon and Arms happen to be the ONLY two exceptions (ok, I was enjoying a little USFII and will probably play a little Pokken online when it comes out as I skipped it on WiiU, but got to play a little in the arcade (but it was all in Japanese so I had NO idea what I was actaully doing... ) But that's more or less the full extent of online competitive for me. I'm generally not a fan, preferring "bigger" games, myself.

Not had much time to progress in ARMS, only on my third grand prix (i.e. Lvl 1, Lvl 2, now Lvl 3) with Spring Man.

My early 'development point' is that I suck at Skillshot. Someone hit me with the lowdown as to how I should be doing it, please.

@Reverandjames Well at least Splatoon 2 gets a proper campaign (I assume, since they featured it as an actual item in a Direct.) Hopefully better than the first. Single player felt kind of hollow in the first game.

It's hard to say what makes a game click or not. I went from skeptical to instant addict. You went from maybe hopeful to disinterested. I wonder what makes up that addiction factor?

Pokken is, supposedly pretty deep (it's basically an extension of Tekken rules in collaboration with the Soul Calibur producer, plus a layer of Pokemon attacks), so it's more of a "core fighter" than Arms that's a cross of boxer/action-game/fighter. Or at least I presume it is when it's not all in Japanese...

But yeah, Odyssey, XC2, FE:W and even Skyrim are my meat and potatoes for the year!

@gcunit There's two main strategies in Skillshot. One is to equip wide-ranged arms like Spring Man's Tribolt and hit as many targets as possible, trying to cover areas your opponent isn't. The other is equip a heavier arm like a Megaton, stay on top of your opponent and block their punches with it, while curving a second punch to hit other targets.

@NEStalgia Pokken doesn't really play like Tekken at all. The 3D part is more like those Naruto Ninja Storm games, and the 2D is, well, 2D (which Tekken very much isn't). The only real Tekken parts of it are names like Ferrum (a word for iron, Tekken meaning "Iron Fist") and the majority of Pikachu's moveset being based off of Mishima style karate.

@meleebrawler I don't really know the ins and outs of fighting game comparisons, but the name "Pokken" is explicitly "Pokemon Tekken" and is in fact sold in some localizations as "Pokemon Tekken" right on the box. Maybe it doesn't play like Tekken, but they seemed to think it's Tekken enough to name it that....at least in the marketing department at Bamco....

How does it compare play wise to Calibur. It seems to be in equal measure the Tekken and Calibur producer's product.

If that comes it'll probably be exclusive to the online smartphone app.

@NEStalgia Soulcalibur is basically "Tekken with weapons" instead of fists, so I don't think that comparison would work either. So I suppose they call it Pokken since it is Pokemon fighting mostly barehanded, like in Tekken, Namco's main fighting game. Allusions aside, it doesn't go deeper than that.

If you're asking about how good it is, well it is quite fun and relatively easy to get into. Even long combos can be done fairly easily with a bit of practice. But it can also be fairly frustrating since the game has a very prominent rock-paper scissors element, and coupled with the big combos, you often find yourself eating tons of damage for simply guessing wrong. Recovering from hits is also horrendous, since you have no options whatsoever to alter getting up from being knocked down, or even stop yourself from getting there in the first place (via teching, common in most fighting games). This makes it trivial for the opponent to continue their pressure, especially with a fast character, the only way out for you being to keep trying RPS exchanges.

@meleebrawler Thanks for the tips, I'll try to implement them.

Is there any way to vary the moves you perform after a grab? I've only played with Spring Man so far, and every time i grab an opponent, I hit them once and then land an uppercut, taking about 150 health points off every time. I always perform the actions myself, but I get the feeling they're totally automated and would happen if I didn't move at all. Is there a way to mix it up that I'm missing?

The punches during a grab are automatic, I think the only thing that changes is damage depending on what arms you're using

@Operative2-0 Well, mostly the character you're using. Some arms do provide a marginal increase in throw damage when upgraded: mainly the really heavy ones like megaton or whammer.

150 is the standard throw damage. Mechanica and Twintelle do 160, Kid Cobra and yet-to-be released Max Brass do 170, and Master Mummy does a whopping 200.

Lore tidbit I learned today: Ribbon Girl has a lot of fans, but she herself actually has an idol in Twintelle.

@meleebrawler Thanks for the information, I completely forgot character weight has an effect on throw damage as well. I should probably test out some new arm combos that I have neglected until now. Like the boomerang, I haven't even touched it because I just imagine it being way too annoying to control. But maybe I'll actually like em

@Operative2-0 Might I suggest trying the chakrams/ramrams first? They control and act very similarly to the boomerangs, except their flurry attack is easier to use than the boomerangs/coolerangs, and closer to what you're likely used to coming from fists.

Ok, so seriously, what is it with gray haired, black clothed Ribbon Girls? I keep getting at least 2 of these in every Party Mode lobby, and every single one of them is the most brutal, ruthless, unbeatable opponent. I main Ribbon Girl in ranked. I do great with Ribbon Girl. I can beat any blonde/red Ribbon Girl with most characters. I can beat any brunette/green Ribbon Girl with most characters. But these gray/black Ribbon Girls are like some kind of secret society in which only the most elite players can join. I have seen no such phenomenon for any other character but Ribbon Girl.

What is the DEAL with the gray RGs?!?

@meleebrawler How is the boomerang flurry difficult to use?

Does anyone know what Min Min's second ability is other than her Parry Kick? I'd like to try her out as I'm kind of getting bored with Kid Cobra.

@NEStalgia Pro players use the edgiest costumes, man. It's like black Sheik in Smash. (Really, the popularity of black costumes in general annoys me. Brunette Ribbon Girl is best.)

@Nintendoer Apparently, if you hold the dash button for a bit on the ground to charge up, Min Min's left arm will stay charged until she's knocked down. I don't think the game ever properly explains that...

@Zyrac I don't think the game ever properly explains anything.

@Zyrac Seriously! But the weird thing is it seems like this is ONLY true with Ribbon Girl. No other character seems to have a special costume club of brutal players all with a specific color set. It's the weirdest thing. WHen I'm up against the gray ribbons I don't even try to win anymore, I just aim to rob them of their "PERFECT" they seem to get more times than not as I swing and miss non-stop as they just keep picking me up and throwing me again and again. And this ONLY ever happens with the mystery gray ribbon girls. It makes me feel like I'm playing an AI....they're reading my inputs!

Heck I haven't even figured out how to set my colors....

@Nintendoer Agreed. Though it's normal in the genre.