Guide: What Time Is The ARMS Global Testpunch Demo?

Can't wait to play it!!

GET HYPE!

Have it downloaded, but I suspect due to my NAT Type of D, it won't work for me .. (even if Playstation online works fine, I can get NAT A ... )

Not this one hour bullnonsense again!

Can't wait to test out the pro controller.

This is gonna be fun. My kids will get to try it too

1hr at a time? dont' make people try to schedule around this.

Just do a weekend. I know they're trying to control server load for optimal experience, but it will make a lot of people miss out and isn't that kind of against the whole idea if people don't get to test it?

Ready to try this.

Really inconvenient times for me I fear

I like these times for NA at least. No middle of the night nonsense.

2 AM? No thanks, I'd rather sleep (2 AM is the second time I enter deep sleep typically, too). 8 PM is also a bit too late for me to play a game that'll release like two weeks after anyway. Definitely will be there for the two 2 PM slots, though.

Well hey, that's a lot of days.

Decent timeslots for NA. Can't wait to try this game out!

@Nik-Davies agreed. Is it too much to ask for a full weekend beta test?

Thank you for this. Articles and websites almost never list events in the timezone I'm in, so having it here is appreciated.

@liljmoore It might, depending on what Nintendo is hoping to get out of this. If it's just a server stress test, then the hour long sessions at peak parts of the day is probably more practical than an entire 72 hours (not that it wouldnt be appreciated from a consumer perspective).

I never had a chance to play Splatoon, but the character designs are really good.
Hope I get the chance to try it out someday.
As for arms, looks like a very casual experience. Good character designs, I'll be suprised if none of the characters make it into the next Smash Bros.

They are doing more than demo the game, they are demoing the servers to see if they can handle the load they will have to take. That is why they aren't doing a weekend event. If they schedule a weekend and the server doesn't work, that is a whole day of downtime. This way, only one hour is down and time to work on it should they need to fix things. They are also able to check server work load per regions.

I know I'm going to main MinMin and Twintelle but I'm likely going to test Ninjara. I'm curious about the teleport ability he has.

The timeslots are decent, but much as I love testfires, I'm not going to go out of my way to schedule play time over a holiday weekend for a game I can play whenever I want a few weeks later (and play in single player! )

Hype!

Those UK times are pretty good excellent

These are actually very good for me (I live in Est Time Zone) and I think I'll be able to play all of them for the whole time!

Also, is each one an hour unless they randomly expand it? Or are some for sure shorter or longer?

@NEStalgia Would you go out of your way to try a game you might decide against buying, thus saving you money in the long run?

@Nintendoforlife sometimes people are set on a game regardless of a demo. I've played demos I hated then got the game anyways and loved them. And vice versa. If a person is interested, they're interested.

Hopefully I get to try this, always ends up being a bad weekend for me, I completely missed the Splatoon 2 ones. :-/

@ShadJV I think it's fair to say the majority of consumers do not think like you. Yes, if they are unsure about the game they might still get it. But if they blatantly don't like the demo of a game, I doubt many will purchase the full game.

And you know it never hurts to just see if you like new mechanics. As this game is meant to be played with motion controls rather than the conventional button smashing.

@Nintendoforlife Sure. But I know I'm buying this. I put my preorder in after they confirmed single player

I'm still not convinced I'll love it, but I'm convinced enough to know I want it in my collection to try now and then. I do still have issues with it overall....but it already looks better than SFII....which I also preordered...and I don't even like fighters....darn you Switch!

@Nintendoforlife I'm explaining why NEStalgia doesn't feel they need to try the demo to make a decision. A majority of people also base their decisions on getting games on reviewers, which is subjective. Some games need time to grow on the player and aren't necessarily "fun" just being thrown into the game for an hour. Other games are fun for about an hour and then they lose their luster. Demos are great but there's nothing wrong with people deciding to get a game without trying a demo. A vast majority of people I've known who tried Monster Hunter demos before the full game disliked the demo and ended up loving the game. Making blanket statements just results in falsities, as not everyone is the same and not all games demo the same.

Downloaded it but with work I think I will miss those.

@Nintenerdguy Well first of all I have 3 other siblings. One of them is a ninetndo gamer too. Me and him save up our money and buy nothing but nintendo games. Also my dad is a big gamer too, so he bought us the Switch and about half of the games in my collection. I get $13 a week and my brother gets $11 from my parents from chores. I also mow lawns which makes even more money. My parents have no problem with me buying games. Another thing is a lot of games in my collection are DS ones, which are used from Oogie Games and can be as low as $1. I even give up getting a paying for a phone for them, so that gives me tons more money, but hard since almost all my friends have them. It's nice to see someone else young like me on this site!

Meanwhile I still don't have a Switch...any time Nintendo...

@Nintenerdguy Sorry dude, but when you get a little older you can get a job, and if your parents still won't let you spend money on games, just wait until college/moving out I guess!

Yes can't wait for that 4AM time slot!!

Thank you Nintendo Life! 👍

My sleeves are already rolled up for this

Wow !

I take back what I said, I got lucky and nabbed one online via Gamestop. lol

Hi everybody, this is my first comment on Nintendo life!

Hyped for testpunch! Looks like it will be loads of fun!

Yeah, bring it on! I really wanna punch some people (in game)!!!

ARMor up!

@speedracer216 No, I believe the whole idea is to test server load.

@Kirbyfan
Hello.
Nice to meet you.
Welcome to Nintendolife.
Enjoy the Global Test Punch.

Hearts to you guys for the asian/oceanic times... :3

Oh man. One hour sessions again. Glad I saw this article as I thought it was all weekend - like all other public betas.

Come on Nintendo give us a chance to fall in love with your game.

@Nik-Davies the one-hour thing actually makes sense. it's partially a stress test for the servers. they need a high concentration of people playing at the same time. you wouldn't have that if you let people play all day.

If they're using this as an indicator of how full the servers will be, they should over prepare because I know lots of people that can't hit the 1hour window

Thank you for the time postings, but the time thing sucks! I don't want to get home at 8:00 p/m on a Friday evening just to play a demo for an hour.

i will play it when I can make the time windows. really whish they could have at least made 3hr windows!

If I meet anyone in the ring, just know it is nothing personal

Cool hopefully I get a chance to try tomorrow night or Sunday night

@BumpkinRich I know it'd make more sense to have it all weekend or at least for a few more hours each timeslot. Maybe they're not counting on people playing the demos

May not make it for the 8pm test tonight, but definitely hopping on the weekend time slots.

LOL the demo starts at five A.M. for me? Who the heck sets their clock to get up at five o'clock just to play a video game for an hour? And why would they schedule it for that time when they can schedule it for practically any other time during the day? What's the point?

@NEStalgia The Switch has some sort of magical property that makes people want to buy games. I too had SFII pre-ordered. Luckily, I had a brief moment of sanity just before launch, and I cancelled my pre-order. There's no way I was going to play the game anyway, not with Disgaea 5 coming out right around the same time. I like fighters, but they aren't my absolute favorite genre... I also suck at them =) But I can play SFII (And IV, and V, and MvC3, etc...) any time I want (And with my arcade stick, for PC), so no real reason to buy it yet again.

I'd so rather be playing this right now than be at work. Not that the beta is open yet but still, I just don't want to be at work right now. LOL

@roadrunner343 LOL, it seriously truly does! And THAT right there is the magic of a legendary console in the making. A console that can convince people to buy tons and tons of games is what the industry ACTUALLY always wants, but only seldom ever gets. The NES, GB, PS2, DS, Wii (though I still dispute Wii's attach rates due to the sheer amount of games that were bundled as the only way to get desired hardware.) PS4 has a good attach rate, but I have a feeling Switch's attach will be one for record books when all is said and done. It's ALWAYS on, ALWAYS on pause, ALWAYS ready to play, and you can just pick it up and play in short bursts any time. It makes every game seem like a perfectly accessible thing to play in spare moments which makes a lot of games seem a lot more desirable. And makes us all a lot poorer.

Haha, I still haven't finished Setsuna, I'm about half way through, but I picked up the last Disgaea copy at my GameStop on launch day (after Amazon lost my discounted preorder....grrrrr), I hope to start it today, and I'm ALSO going to start SFII today!

I also suck (badly) at fighters, and never played them much. And most of what I played was 3DS. But Switch somehow makes me want to play them.

And I'll probably ignore the Arms testfire. I might regret that later, and I'm curious to read opinions...but I don't feel like scheduling my whole weekend around playing a rough demo of a game I know I'll buy anyway that comes out in, what, 3 weeks? Not while Disgaea and SFII are sitting in front of me

@AirElephant
To ease-up the servers, obviously !!!

I'm at the teeter point.
This is the deciding factor.

I had a lot of fun! I'm gonna buy, it was intense

Just like Splatoon won me over back in the day with the test fire this is winning me over on ARMS. Typically Nintendo this is a very polished fun game

ARMS is pretty fun. I played the 8:00 PM session on Friday night in the USA. I haven't found a favorite yet, but I am leaning towards Springman or the ninja.

I find it odd/disappointing there was/is no comment section on NL to respond to the first Global Testpunch session last night (or other timezone you might be in). And after the second test punch nothing either, besides live chat thingy. Yet, there are 4 topics on Monster Hunter since then. Ah well.

I absolutely love this game! Mechanica is my favorite! I got 106 points with her on day 2 8:00 session! I am having so much fun!

Not my game. Skipping

I take back every negative comment on this game I ever made, I'm addicted already and the controls are incredible.

Totally reminds me of the incredible arcade Tide Fight. One of my favourites when I was a kid

@DESS-M-8 Interesting. I'm kind of in the opposite boat. I don't want to trash the game, as I did have fun with it, but it seems like something I would play for a couple hours, tops, then move on. Maybe when a best seller edition comes out.

Honestly, I did feel like the game was a little shallow. I understand you can mix and match arms and what not, but as far as the core mechanics go, it is a relatively simple game. Not that that is inherently a bad thing, I just don't think this game is for me.

Also, while the motion controls felt okay, I still feel they suffered from the same (Though, admittedly, to a lesser degree) problem as all motion control games. They just aren't that precise and sometimes respond in unpredictable ways. I thought the game felt pretty good with a pro controller though, and I don't really see why anyone would pick motion over the tactile feedback and immediate response of a button press, especially when trying to land perfectly timed punches or blocks. Only issue with the pro was the button choice for block, that needs to be reconfigurable.

All in all, I wasn't disappointed with the game, and I think those that were hyped for this game will enjoy it, but it also didn't do anything to change my mind either. Oh well. Hope everyone has fun!

@roadrunner343 How do you make curved shots with the Pro controller?

@Megal0maniac I'm not sure if there are different control schemes, but after throwing a punch, the left control stick then curved the shot. I guess that limits your ability to move/curve shots at the same time, but the consistency and quicker response times I had was more than worth the trade off, if there is one. I'd need to play more with each control scheme to decide for sure which is "best".

@roadrunner343 Thank you, I'll try out the curved shot with the Pro controller that way. That was the only thing holding me back, since it felt very limited that way, compared to motion controls.

Still no topic on NL on our experiences with the ARMS Test Punches, The live blogs unfortunately have no ability to comments afterwards, but I guess this topic from last week will do

Just a heads up, I noticed the demo had an update today. I think it might have fixed that exploit where you can keep playing practice mode.

@Nintenerdguy
Me too...

@roadrunner343
Have you tried Defensive tactics ?
Well, Crossing your arms to block the attacks rather than taken damages from Sudden Punches.

@NEStalgia
Hm...
You can try Animal Boxing NDS / DSi ware to sharpening your timing attack. It's all about Timing and Blocking if you want to survive. Recognize your opponent's Weapons from Speed factor until Size factor, so you can determine when you have to block opponent's punches.

@Anti-Matter Yeah, I had no real issues with defense. Again, I did not like motion controls, which wasn't a surprise to me, and I just felt the pro controller was much more responsive. I would still much prefer to have block on a different button, but even pressing down on the left stick felt quicker/easier than motion controls.

Again, overall, I don't think this is a bad game. I actually had fun with it. I just don't think it is great, and the core gameplay did feel a bit shallow to me. With so many other games competing for my time (And a wife, kid, two dogs, and job) I don't ever really see me playing this for more than a handful of times. I may reconsider once it hits the bargain bin, and I think it would be fun as a party game, but unfortunately, life prevents me from doing that more than a couple times a year.

Can't wait to try out the new fighters! Pretty good times lots for NA. 7-8 is a tad late but I think I can play some.

@roadrunner343
For me, I can enjoy ARMS so much considering I have interest about Boxing / Kickboxing / Muay Thai / K-1 so much ( Look at my avatar), so looks like I will have a good tome for playing ARMS when I got the game + Nintendo Switch.

Btw, what is your favorite sport because it seems you have less interest about Boxing ?

@Anti-Matter I'll answer your question, but first let me say that I don't think my answer has anything to do with my opinion of this game. Outside of the characters wearing boxing gloves, this game has nothing to do with boxing. I love Mario Kart, but I don't like watching motorsports.

To answer your question though, my favorite sport to watch and train (And the only one I really keep up on) is MMA. I don't really follow boxing too much, but I am a fan of kickboxing and will watch the occasional K1 / Glory event, though I definitely follow MMA much more closely. I train at a local gym about 3 times a week (Sometimes more, sometime less), with certain classes specific to BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai, and others focused on MMA in general. I'm also a part of the Roundtable BJJ team and will be competing at the IBJJF DC Open this year on September 9th.

I mention these things not because I find it relevant, just so you can get to know me better =) I love combat sports, just not this game.

@roadrunner343
Eh ?
Mee too. Have no interest with Realistic Racing games like Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, etc.
But I Like Mario Kart because it Cartoonish racing games with Random items to smack your opponents.

But ironically, in reality life, I don't even have any interest to drive a car or motorcycle, nor I care about possessing any of them. I go to my work place or not so far away places just by Mountain Bike Only. I have been driving by Mountain Bike since 10 years ago and the only one of my transportation that I can own.

Eh, wow. You are a Kickboxer fighter ?
Your body must be have some six packs.
Too bad, even I adore Boxing so much but I can't show it too much in front of my relatives (they might think i'm crazy).

@Anti-Matter I wouldn't say I am a fighter =) I train it, but I have no desire to compete. I've sparred in the gym with other teammates that do fight (Both amateur and pro) but I do not have any amateur fights myself. The only thing I have ever competed in was BJJ. Unfortunately, no six pack for me =) Though it does help me stay in shape. It's the only way I can convince myself to do cardio.

@Anti-Matter You mention that game a lot...you have me curious I don't need anything else in my backlog though...I'm just now getting around to DQ7 on 3DS! Loving it so far...it's everything I used to love about the older FF games!

Yeah, I've never (ever) been good at fighting games. I bought SFII on Switch because I've never really played it....I remember looong lines in the arcades back in the day though so I figured it must be good. I"m liking it more than I thought, but I can't say I'm good at it. Between that and ARMS, maybe I'll get the hang of this fighting game thing though!

To me, ARMS is like a cross between a fighting game and Splatoon. The weapon selections are kind of Splatoon-like, and I think metas will form in the same ways Splatoon metas did.

@NEStalgia
Last time on PS1, there was a Rhythm Fighting games, it's called Slap Happy Rhythm Buster.

Like typical fighting games, you can build up your Power Meter, but when you do Fever (Super Attack) you must your Rhythm skill to punch or kick based on Rhythm.
Unique combination games but too bad, almost no more games like that.

@Anti-Matter If I had rhythm I could have been a musician Instead my timing could at best be considered "avante-garde"

I couldn't make it last weekend, but I can do this weekend. I'm not too interested in Arms, so this could change my mind. We'll see.

My wired connection in arse end of Australia is not good enough to connect. Every lobby ends in the message of error 2-AD2BA-1021
Anyone else suffering like me?

Just managed to play a few matches...
And i have no clue where the hype is coming from

But at least i now know that i will most likely skip it.
It looked way more fun than it was to actually play ^^ Oh well.
Not my cup of tea i guess.

This game is very impressive, from amazing graphics and great visual style to brilliant music and gameplay. Love that volleyball mode. MK8D, ARMS and Splatoon 2 all in the same year, that's 3 amazing multiplayer experiences, keep it going Nintendo!

@Honelith
I saw the Volley gameplay and the Ball will explode after several punches, right ?
So scary to play Volley Bomb in reality, eh ? XD

The gaggle of twintelles is a bit much!

The player base is really evolving fast on this. Combat is getting a lot more contemplative, a bit slower, and a bit more team based in team modes. Nice to see.

Also I'm liking min min less and mechanica and spring man more. But more and more I'm doing well with ribbon girl.

@Einherjar I'm surprised by how many people here are ending up liking it less than they thought they would. I'm liking it more than i thought i would. It went from a "not sure about it but I'll get it anyway" to a splatoon - like unhealthy addiction after a free test punches.

holy sh*tb*lls i loved the new modes so much. B-ball was great and a new twist on fighting without worrying about health as much

Spoilers incoming
Yo, using Twintelle was a huge challenge! The...um, 'Twintelle Time' has an activation delay, about the same as Mechanica's boost dash, while holding down the dash button. There is a 2nd part of her ability, though. If you do manage to slow down incoming attacks in time, let go of the dash button, while holding a direction you want to move, and Twintelle will gracefully spin dodge out of the way. Otherwise, you can cancel out of the ability at any time with a punch.

There were some good players in my lobby! So good, that there were several players who ended up with 50-60 coins by the end. I got my twin tails handed to me, handily! I did change back to Mechanica for the 2nd half hour but it was still a challenge. I made it out of there with only 55 coins.

SPOILERS
But that Hedlok, though! The 6-armed (4 on Hedlok, 2 from the fighter he controls) mystery boss of the game appears as 3 or 2 on 1 team battle! It's just creepy that he occupies the headspace of whichever fighter he takes control of! He comes in different difficulties. I've played against 4 through 6. I wonder if he goes up to 10?
END SPOILERS

Anyway, I REALLY have to study how to play Twintelle as she still has much potential. I guess I got too spoiled by using Mechanica. But, I'm glad that the level of the other players has improved drastically. People are thinking, making smart moves, capitalizing on opportunities. ARMS is starting to get competitive!

@NEStalgia Yeah, its strange. I never had any real interest in it.
Much like Splatoon, its mainly a competetive online game, so generally not my kind of thing.
Then i saw more videos and it seemed really fun, with all the jumoing and dashing around, the arched shots etc.

But playing it ? It left a rather bad first impression. I like the whole concept, but its really nothing i would want to play seriously.

In all honesty, this would be a great free 2 play game in my opinion. But nothing i would want to buy for full price.
Its just not "fun" enough for me, for whatever reason.

@NEStalgia Me too! Way more fun than I was expecting. I've always loved fighting games, and this one is so original and fun I can't wait for the real thing. I found I was only any good with the big mummy guy, though. Really wanted to like Helix, but I sucked with him, lol.

Splatoon was called the online shooter for people who dont like online shooters, which i found personally true. Arms seems like the fighter for people who don't like fighters.

Normally I'm just like you describe above.... not interested in online competitive games. But splatoon hooked me unexpectedly and arms seems to be doing the same.

Its love - hate though. Posts like masterleons above make me cringe and made up a lot of splatoon community posts (many of which came from fighting games to start).... that drive for "YES! Competition is getting harder. I have to learn the meta potential!" is kind of everything that's the opposite of what i like about games And ends up turning me off from the community and game as a whole (i also dislike sports and generally sports fandom.... And the culture/ mentality of it, and these games become an extension of that)...... And yet these two games seem to be addictive.... well, there's arcade mode..... I'll enjoy that part If rather not descend down the rabbit hole of online metas and competitiveness. Got half way there in splatoon and noped out. But the gameplay still seems fun

Looking forward to the game, but also looking forward to Nintendo hopefully leaving behind all these online competitive games for a good while!

@FlashFan207 for me I've never had an interest in fighting games but this one sure hooked me. Though USFII is getting addictive too, so maybe switch is starting to convert me to a fighting game fan

ARMS seems like half fighter, half action game... That's a really unique genre blend!

Edit: i don't like playing the mummy, or slow characters in general (E. Honda!) But I'm sure getting trashed by him!

Reached a point I'm fairly consistent with Mechanica, probably will be my go to, ironic given I usually don't care for heavy characters. But I've reached a point I not only win with her, I can pull off some perfects (win with full health). Twintelle was the one I was considering but I think Mechanica it is now. My only serious weakness is fighting Helix right now...

Also, I wasn't a fan of volleyball but the other mini games aren't so bad. Definitely gonna enjoy this, and I've never been a big fan of fighters (played Smash casually and that's it).

@NEStalgia Yeah, the genre blend is turning out to be some crazy fun. And I also traditionally have disliked the slow characters in fighting games, but for some reason the mummy felt natural. I guess because it's a different kind of fighter, all the old rules are off, lol!

That was great fun again this morning! Ended with 102, my highest yet!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to play the Testpunch last weekend as I was camping and I've just been able to play in the 1pm (UK) slot; I still feel the exact same way about ARMS I felt after playing it at the Switch event back in January - I absolutely hate it! I thought motion controls were the problem, but I've just been using the Pro controller and haven't fared any better. I REALLY want to like this game, but I genuinely suck at it and have no idea how everybody else seems to be naturally catching onto it except for me... it's frustrating as hell and simply not enjoyable losing every single match you get put into. Any tips for actually gitin gud at this game?

@Markiemania95 I actually love the motion controls as it gives me a lot of options for how I want to strike. Experiment with the different arm combinations for each character. Go to the extras menu to learn about each character and their unique talent because the game doesn't make those obvious when you're playing, but they make a big difference when you're trying to use a particular character over another. And most of all don't just punch and block. You have to move a lot by dashing or jumping and dashing and striking just as you dodge and find the opening.

@Markiemania95
Blocking and Dodging are the secret.
Do it oftenly when your opponent is about to punch you.
Punching without Blocking is very Risky.
Dodging all Projectile attacks if possible.
Choose the right character + right gloves + right places + right opponent also will determine who will be win or lose.

Oh, one thing. ARMS = Punch Out + Moving + Street Fighter Super Art. Move & Dash oftenly. Don't stuck on same place + unleashed randomly punches with wrong timing.

@masterLEON I love using Twintelle, her ability to slow down punches is so useful!

I won the 1-hour-match in the 3rd ARMS Testpunch by score. I might be able to join today and check out the new modes, arenas, and character.

My biggest hate on the game is when you beat someone down to NO health and the game lets them continue on. Or when you somehow don't block a grab while punching. Very frustrating

2nd biggest complaint is people not realizing that THERE IS FRIENDLY FIRE when you're on the same team. Do not stand behind your teammate and punch through them as you are instead being a jerk and stunning them. Same goes when playing against Hedlok, FAN OUT and attack from multi angles

Was finally going to try this unlike Splatoon 2 but, then my grandma died. Nintendo needs to give us more than an hour.

How about in basketball when you use a special move. How many times do you have to keep swinging and hitting before it bounces them? I hit the person 10 times already and expected him to bounce to the hoop but no....he moved on like i barely scratched him.