Video: Can You "Button Mash" Your Way to Victory in ARMS?

I found jumping around helps me avoid most attacks but that might just be down to those I'm playing against.

@CaitlinMA Me too, I tried to frequently dodge as well so I could avoid several attacks. The only issue is that people started to just wait for you to land to do a quick grab, since they know where you'll be for the most part.

Edit: I'm not sure why people care so much if you can win smaller games with button mashing. It seems like such a hollow critique.

Like other fighting game, a skilled player can easily get around that. However if you want to goof off. Button Mash to your heart's desire.

I found that I'm at my best using the Pro Controller and side-stepping a lot. I got a few Perfects today. Feels good.

I believe the motion equivalent to button-mashing is "waggling."

Don't think button mashing would work with ARMS in a long run. Once I got a hang of control schemes, it's actually possible to develop some nice strategies.
Nevertheless, the game is more boring than I thought it would be It's alright for a quick 20-30mins match, but any longer and it makes me want to turn off the console. Maybe with more arms to choose from and more game-modes it would be more interesting?

CONSARNIT I MSISED BOTH TEST PUNCHES!!!!

@Jamotello
The game seems like it would be good, but this limited-time, one-hour "Test Punch" trial is ridiculous. I'm not going to schedule my life to ensure that I'm home and ready to play when Nintendo dictates it. I've canceled my pre-order and will wait to see if Nintendo produces a "proper" demo at release so I can evaluate whether or not the title is for me.

Demos are optional, of course. But either release a proper demo that lets me play it when I have time or don't bother.

I button-smashed my way to victory around 7 out of 10 times. This won't certainly work once people get the hang of the game. I'll try to get better and more strategic, too, though it prob won't happen until the full release as I just wanna play the game the few times I have time to, not look at what each glove does and such. This game is so much fun!!

EDIT: That's not to say I just pressed buttons all willy nilly. I just mashed the A and B buttons on my Pro Controller a tad too often, like when the other player has the ball in V-Ball or when my arms are still extended. I also need to get the hang of Blocking, which is something I rarely ever do in proper fighting games. I also feel like I bend my arms way too much since I always have my thumb on the control stick. Oh well, learning does take time. Can't wait for the full release!

Have only tried portable mode so far. It can be so frantic that I feel like I'm occasionally button mashing, however missed attacks can be costly and the swerve mechanic (left stick) is so good that I find I'm playing strategically more often than not (especially on that temple level where you start a mile away from your opponent - that's tense).

Jumping and dodging are essential. The only aspect I'm not fond of so far is the 2 v 1 battles. Lot of ganging up going on, rather than a royal rumble. The right stick is handy for switching opponents with a quick flick here. Of course it's extremely satisfying to take down the other two and be the last man standing!

Edit: Of course, when you charge up a flurry attack and unleash hell, button mashing is completely viable!

Like any other game, you can button mash your way to victory against unskilled players, but that will quickly get you killed if you do it against people who are more skilled at the game.

Button mashing didn't work against stronger AI-controlled enemies in Wii Boxing and it surely doesn't work in ARMS (despite the two games being totally different) against skilled fighters.

I really hope this does for fighting games what Splatoon did for shooters, but personally I just don't see it yet.

It's a well produced game, but it didn't even hold my interest for the hour slot, so I can't see it being a day one purchase.

I found a few button-mashers in both testpunches but a jump+rush+grab combo solves that pretty easily

It's a fantastic game

@mateq I tried round 2 and as the hour was coming to an end there were 2/3 more matches than expected before the connection was stopped. I felt I wanted it to end there. It was enjoyable and has depth but there were just the same modes played over and over. The final product may have more reply value. With more to unlock and more modes, before the additional updates are rolled out.

For the life of me I just can't seem to get to grips with this game. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I'll keep at it though for sure.

i couldnt curl punches with the pro controller

@gb_nes_gamer Yeah, it seems to be a fun game for short periods of time but it lacks 'depth' to make it truly enjoyable. Based on the last direct I planned to pre-order it, but after playing the demo I think I'll wait for the reviews to come out and see in more details what the full game has to offer

On a different note, I wish there was more time available for each fight. I was in a couple of really epic 1v1 matches when the time simply run out. Really anti-climatic and disappointing

@Nintendoyle
So, thumbs up grip works best imo. When you punch, punch straight forward keeping thumbs pointing up, and then keep your fist extended while the punch is extended. Rotate your thumb up grip to 90 degrees left or 90 degrees right to curve your punch. It's analog- the more you rotate the more it curves.

Title both Joycons left 45 degrees to move left, or title both right 45 degrees to move right and both forward 45 degrees to move forward. Tilt both inward toward each other 45 degrees to block. And titl both outward 45 degrees away from each other to move backwards.

L to dash. R to jump. Use your middle finger of your left hand which is curled around the Joycon... use it to tap any of the D pad buttons to switch targets. Usually the D right is the closest and I keep my finger curled around and on it while playing.

@JaxonH
Little question about Mashing buttons.
Is that Randomly press any buttons ? LOL
I think the controlling was very Systemathic like Street Fighter (Tilt a Quarter to Front + Punch to do Hadouken for example). By pressing any buttons Randomly will result Awful gameplay and Amateur looking, eh ?

My boys button mashed & waggled for an hour with out great success.....they won a few games against what I suspect were fellow button mashers and got destroyed vs everyone else........still they thought it was great and had a lot of fun

@mateq
I categorized my games as two categories : Long and Short.
Long : Games like RPG, The Sims, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, etc.
Short : Cooking Mama, Animal Boxing NDS, Party games, Dance Dance Revolution / Any Rhythm games, Super Bomberman R, etc.
So, all my games collections are complementing each other. There are Long and Short games that I can choose to play depend on my mood or the situation. Short games are not always boring so quickly.

@Anti-Matter
Or, in the case of motion: randomly performing actions, be it via buttons or motion gestures.

Unlike SF there's no special moves, aside from filling your meter and unleashing a Special. But the motion controls are impeccable if you ask me. Takes a little getting used to, and I'm still learning and perfecting my gestures (which is to be expected when your brain isn't trained for it yet). But it works great.

I did notice you can dash right after a blocked punch for an automatic counter, and charge attacks (not sure how yet?) so there's some higher skill moves to master. I don't think button mashing could get you through a fight against a skilled player. Sure, it's easy to button mash a noob but wait till people know what they're doing and have muscle memory. It's gonna be a whole different story then

@Krankor "A Robotic Mashing Sim"

Love what you did there, but it would be even funnier if they called it Smash...

@JaxonH
Actually I have Big Interest with ARMS because when I watched the gameplay videos, the movement input methods are exactly like I want to try. I can feel I play Real "Boxing Fight" by moving around and do some Punch and Dodge.

Btw, ARMS ideas also inspired me for my Original ideas about my Boxers creations. I give you a hint. What if Anthro Avian + Kickboxing + Fighting on both Land and in the Sky + Control mechanism like ARMS ?

Mmm, speak to me in French again Alex.
Ehem...

Moving on, you were too far away in that first match. All your punches only got to about halfway of the stage while both of you were on the far corners. In the second match you were closer together due to the stage being narrower.

I almost did all button mashing, not exactly that... but not using tactics. I did win very often.
Also parrying for me it's very bad against a button masher. I find parrying almost useless since there is deflection.
The only time I lost was a few volleyball match and in a 3 people fight.
3 people fight is bad, 4 people fight is decent. 1 vs 1 is the best mode.
Though volleyball if fun 2 vs. 2. Not much 1 vs 1.

I had fun with the game, it's good even if movement with the motion controls is clunky. I played only with motion controls but I think that without it should be easier. By this video I see so much more responsive and far easier to move, and I think this can be worrying for competitive gaming.

Competitive with Mario Kart 8 isn't good, Arms to me it's better.

To be fair, you can button mash against the average player in most fighting games and win a good deal of the time. The [potential] issue isn't that people can button mash their way to victory (not for me at least); it's that the motion controls might not work as precisely and consistently as a simple button/stick input would (and, to a lesser degree, that the whole waggle thing might be just as valid a way to play as using actual skill and tactics even if you're playing against really good players). This imprecision and unreliability was what a lot of Wii games suffered from terribly at the end of the day, such that you might as well just sit their and flap your arms around wildly and go through the motions (so to speak) most of the time (the end result was often the same), and it's where the whole "waggle" as a genuinely negative thing came about. Button mashing is usually not a flaw of the controls or game design (it's just something most casuals and noobs tend to do be default), but waggle almost always is a flaw of the controls and/or game design as far as I'm concerned--and that's my biggest fear any time I see a game that appears to be predominantly built around motion control.

Just played round three, very disappointed with the game. I am canceling my pre-order for it .

@Anguspuss

You have to tilt the left stick either left or right when you punch.

Today I found some people abusing throws, and while I know you can punch/dodge, they can still win since throws are quite damaging.

I would like to know that if the matches are matched by the control method chosen.

I chose to use the motion controls.

I don't think it does as I'm sure I could tell the players using pro controller (They appeared to be quicker in all there execution) over the other players using motion controls.
I also lost against them. (Yes I could just be crap).
I could just play using the pro controller but I felt ARMS should be played using motion controls like a VR.

If it was matched by control method chosen I feel it would be more balanced and fairer.

@8itmap_k1d Likewise.

finally did get a chance to play and came away quite impressed. Went from"I'm getting it but won't play a lot" to "this is an addictive game". I hope arcade mode will be worth it. Handheld controls work surprisingly great! That's a win for me. Min min for the win win. Ribbon girl is good. Don't like spring mans weps. Ninja is ok. I feel like most matches were min min vs min min vs min min though.

Grabs are op. Easy to abuse.

I wOn reasonably often but hit pummeled by the same 3 or 4 players non stop. these guys were too good for a 2 hour old game

@Ralizah
Then I hope my boxing practice at home pays off when I eventually get my hands on a switch.
@AlexOlney
Not only do you get paid, but you've made my day; I can just imagine it when you play serious, it'll be like " In One-punch, man"

@AirElephant
It's not a demo, it's a stress test designed to have many people on at the one time. Get over yourself, Nintendo doesn't need to give us anything for free but they do anyway.

Non-motion control players are going to have issues in the long run when more players start moving/dashing sideways. I see those straight punches coming and I know it's only a matter of time. The players who game me the most trouble, those who matched/compensated for my movement. Thumbs-up those Joy-con, folks, and give a little turn towards your opponents. And the only buttons you should be mashing are Dash and Jump!

@EdFairway Probably not unless you have actual springy arms IRL.

It's not much of a boxing game, really.

@Ralizah
I dare to dream

Fun for 15 mins, then just too repeatative. Since this showed off the majority of the game modes, I can't see me paying for a new copy day one for something I'll play for a few mins once a week. Canceled my preorder. I really wanted to like this game, so, just bummed.

@EdFairway On the other hand, who knows! If you play with the motion controls, maybe training your reflexes with boxing will help out with regard to dodging, reading enemy moves, etc.

@AirElephant agree. they're great for building up hype and testing their servers, but a demo is a much better idea.

@AirElephant um, if they opened it up to any time then that sorta defeats the purpose of a stress test. Nintendo isn't doing this so you can demo the game, they're doing it so they can make sure the servers can handle it when the game is available. If the point was getting people to try it they'd release a standard demo. Stop taking it personal and assuming Nintendo is trying to make you jump through hoops.

I've gotten to try 2 out of 3 of the testpunches so far (me and my friend playing on one console) and it's so fun, I'm quite excited now. I wanted to main Min-Min but she seems so popular... I have ended up playing as Mechanica the most and seem to win 90% of the time with her, her hover is nice...

He said ninjara is the most basic character but that prize should go to spring man.

@Alikan
Well, Rhythm games does same things.
After playing several songs, there is some point you feel enough (bored).
It's so Natural.
Better you think again about ARMS.
ARMS is Perfect for Short time play, you should have it for your collections.
So, whenever you feel bored with Long time games (RPG, Animal Crossing, Sports, Tactical games, etc) you can play Short time games for Refreshing your mind.
I have some Short time games too for 3DS (Cooking Mama, Animal Boxing NDS, etc) and they are Perfect for me while i'm waiting for something (Food order, queue, etc).

@Anti-Matter I'll probably grab a used copy a couple months after it comes out. It's good for what it is though.

@NEStalgia
Oh, since you have tried the demo, what do you think about Motion play ?
Is it easy for Novice players ?
Because practically I like to cross my arms to guard some attacks when I see the gameplay even I haven't tried yet (I'm kinda Defensive and Tactical player. Also i'm so Defensive when I play Animal Boxing NDS by holding X button oftenly to Block the punches and quickly I do some Jabs or Hooks or Uppercuts before my opponents hit me).

This isn't a demo is a stress test for the servers. Many people have it wrong.
ARMS (like most if not all other fighting games) is a game extremely fun and good for short periods of time. If you want to play for hours at a time, then fighting games are just not your thing.
I was concerned about motions controls, but after playing I must say I'm impressed. They're as perfect as it can get. There's also a lot of depth and strategy to it. Of course, you can just flail your arms like crazy but it won't get you far against even average players.
The full game will be much more enjoyable with the solo "campaign" and extra modes that we didn't get to play with the Test punch.
It's a day one purchase for me and a game I'm sure I'll enjoy for a loooooong time. I can see myself going back to it over and over again.

@Anti-Matter Actually I only got to play handheld so far. I'd like to try the motion controls either this weekend or next weekend, but I was out and about and decided I didn't want to miss the early peek at the game, so I activated an old mobile hotspot I had around just to play it

I'm just relieved that the button controls are good! I was afraid based on some people talking about curved punches being limited with sticks that motion players would have an advantage over button players (which would be pretty bad for the game overall), but I was curving punches with pretty good control by the end!

I'll see if I can get some motion time in tomorrow or next week though!

One thing about being a defensive player in Arms (currently) though is...I'm not sure how effective it is. "Grab" is very powerful, and breaks a defense. People seem to like using grab a lot, and the game "tips" that scroll during loading even point out that if your opponent likes to block it gives you more opportunity to grab. So I think the game is designed to discourage "turtle" strategies, and encourage a more offensive play to keep the pace fast. Being elusive (dodging a lot) seems more useful than defending

I quite enjoyed it. I didn't find the grabs over powered. You could stop them with a punch. Motion controls were good - so were handheld. I got used to being able to curve punches, jump and dash to set up my next attack. I'm not sure I'll get it on release, but if the price is right, I'll pick it up.

once you have the hang of the game button mashing takes all the fun out of it.
it took me 3 of the test sessions to get comfortable with arms. At first i didn't like it, but now i think its really good

My 3 year old daughter was wrecking people lol. It's hard to predict what a toddler will do I guess.

This article just makes me embarrassed to even be on this site. Now Vooks, they have standards...unlike you guys.

Contrary to what I've seen others posting, I've found this game to have a surprising amount of depth. Understanding what actions counter what and knowing when you're at a safe distance to react to your opponent rather than getting punished because you didn't give yourself time to do anything about it are big key points in the strategy of the game. However, understanding how each character can move and what the various arms are capable of is also really important. I've found I like shock attribute arms because if I charge it and hit the opponent, I have a free moment to smack them with something else, grab them, or in some cases, unleash a deadly rush attack on them. Ribbon Girl makes this especially viable since she can drop to the ground at any point and that will charge her arms instantly.

@Anti-Matter so, i got to try motion controls today in tabletop mode...... and I'm not very skilled with them I think i could win more consistently with buttons yesterday than with motion today. I think i have the motor control skill of a child I ended up doing a lot of grabs when i tried single punches because both hands moved.

My opinion is that non- gamers will find motion more intuitive but gamers used to buttons will find buttons more intuitive..... however, mastering motion might have an advantage in curving punches. But my gamer brain is struggling to translate actions to motion

@Reverandjames one fight isn't enough.... you really need to spend a lot of practice time to adapt to them. I may be more skilled with buttons, but my motion skill dramatically improved after 40+ minutes of failure.

I spammed my way through to about a .600 winning percentage; only used the pro controller but I mixed up the characters. I generally found Min Min to be utterly worthless. Ninjara & Ribbongirl seem competent enough; Master Mummy also could hack it pretty well for this strategy. I hate the jump feature though, it feels weighted down.

for me this game has proved again that no matter how hard I try I just cant like motion controls.

on a side point its beginning to feel a bit too good having the whole system in my hands when undocked. is there a support group for that?

Are you saying none of the 12... twelve... one-hour sessions fit your schedule?

@AirElephant

"The game seems like it would be good, but this limited-time, one-hour "Test Punch" trial is ridiculous. I'm not going to schedule my life to ensure that I'm home and ready to play when Nintendo dictates it. I've canceled my pre-order and will wait to see if Nintendo produces a "proper" demo at release so I can evaluate whether or not the title is for me.

Demos are optional, of course. But either release a proper demo that lets me play it when I have time or don't bother."

The other player in this vid clearly hadn't played much as they stood pretty still. Try button mashing after achieving some rank after release .

Really enjoyed the test punch. Put 3 hours in solo and 1 as 2 player. It Felt a bit frantic to begin with which can lead to button mashing. But I soon found myself thinking strategically a trying to second guess my opponent (s). It Felt really good.

Meh! Not my game that's for sure

@AirElephant

So you pre ordered a game but cancelled the pre order because there wasn't a demo.

Sure. And I turned down sex with a supermodel last night because she wanted to cuddle.