
It's the Nintendo way to take a modern-day trend and apply its own spin, so the idea of early-access was turned into carefully timed and managed Global Testfire events with Splatoon on Wii U. We've already had one such session with Splatoon 2 on Switch, but the ARMS Global Testpunch arguably evolved the approach further. Not only were there multiple sessions over the course of an initial weekend, but a second set came in the past weekend with more characters and minigames to try out.
As a result those on the fence have had an opportunity to try out a lot of what ARMS has to offer, with the time limits also meaning that players won't have had much chance to become over-familiar with the fighting game. As a strategy to earn sales it seems smart, and has also helped fill a relatively quiet pre-E3 period for Switch owners. The question is, did it work?
We're interested in what you thought about the Global Testpunch over the course of two weeks. Did it re-affirm your decision to pick up the game, or change your mind one way or the other? Hit up the polls and comments below to let us know.
Comments 105
Such an incredible game which manages to balance out casual friendly and hardcore competitive. Plus the casts is filled with personality. Looks like a winner to me.
The testpunch bummed me out. Really wanted to like Arms but it didn't click with me. Cancelled my preorder, but I'll probably pick up the game if it drops in price or I find a used copy. It was fun for a few minutes, but I decided I'd only want to play for a few mins once a week, so not worth full price to me. Hope everyone else has a good time with it though!
Wanted to give it a try despite not finding it appealing enough to preorder and the test punch was perfect for that. I found it was pretty much exactly what I expected. I'll pass.
I won't be buying it. The game is nice visually but looks boring. I won't be buying the Switch until at least Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade 2 are out. And when it's had a proper price drop.
Btw, Who is Hedlock anyway ??
(Saw from Youtube)
I was going to buy it anyway, but after the Testpunch I'm extremely excited for it. You wouldn't believe how quickly my kids bought in also, my youngest has been running around the house pretending to be Ribbon Girl and drawing pictures after she watched the first two sessions.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I will buy ARMS on early July 2017.
And I will show it to you, again.
Too bad, you can't enjoy ARMS with Free Online. (Early 2018 will be Paid Online service)
@BensonUii @Anti-Matter Hedlock is under NDA... but you can catch a glimpse of it in action at 6:42 and 27:44 in the video below from Saturday.
I liked it and my daughter did but I won't buy it day one
The first week-end was okay. I'm not a fan of online gaming, so I was really enjoying the mechanics and gameplay, but fighting all the time was boring. The second week-end brought some game modes that were so much fun. Fighting an AI enemy alongside strangers was awesome. Punching targets faster than your enemy too.
This is definitely the kind of game mode diversity this title needs. I'm still surprised I liked it this much.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Soooo. you didn't play it, then. I can assure you it's far less boring than it looks. Hope you'll be able to try it !
Didn't like it, not for me but will pick it up for the kids
It was basically what I thought it would be. Very fun game.
@Shiryu
Ah...
Hedlock is like Parasite / Yu Yevon (Final Fantasy X).
I was already getting the game right when I first saw it was a new Nintendo IP. Watching the direct and playing the TestPunch made me feel a lot better and it was tons of fun.
I haven't caught many sessions and the ones I did catch found me with the Switch in my lap at best. Even in these conditions, motion controls were mostly quite responsive but I never managed to move around properly, so apart from several matches spent testing the control mode, I sticked to handheld form most. By the way, the in-game instructions somehow omit the fact that besides A and B, punches are indeed tied to ZL and ZR triggers as well.
The game itself proved really fun. Not really an immediate purchase for me since there are more higher priority projects than I expect to have money for months to come, but I'll certainly keep this game on my radar. The characters are charming, the modes are diverse and fun, the combat is fast-paced and full of things and tactics to account for. Nintendo has created a solid fighting game IP that's fun to play AND offers an intriguingly quirky lore and roster on top of that.
Enjoyed the Testpunch...but not enough to buy the game. So I was on the fence, but now it looks like I'll pass.
It all depends on the single player campaign for me.
Didn't like it really. My sons didn't either which was surprising. Seems like it could be a good party game but not worth full retail price for what it's launching with. Perhaps with the updates it will be more appealing to me but with Injustice 2, Tekken 7 and MvC Infinite coming out in a few months can't see me getting it for a while if ever. Super excited people are enjoying it though. Great to see nintendo put out a new ip that's a hit!
I played a decent amount of the Testpunch but ARMS started getting a little stale fairly quickly. I don't think I'll play it nearly as much as Splatoon 2.
I feel the same as many others that already posted, I enjoyed the Test Punch, it definitely changed my opinion of the game, but I just don't feel compelled to purchase. I now I will be all over Splatoon 2 once that releases and I feel this game will just go dark at that point.
I'm not interested in the full version, but it is put together very well. I've been wishing for a fighting game that has no purpose but to train new players on the fundamentals without the pressure to learn thousands of idiosyncratic mechanics and Arms might just be that game. There's nothing resembling execution or combos but it instead focuses on such things as timing, punishing, spacing, and reading the opponent, all things that are universal to fighting games of every type. If it's played up right, it might just be a benefit to the entire fighting game genre even though it may not be a traditional one.
I also like how there's voice acting , but it's deliberately mixed quieter than the rest of the audio and deemphasized. The personality is there but it's not the most important part. Unlike certain other fighting games where the air has to be filled with both characters screaming at each other 100% of the time.
The testpunch was fun, but I see myself getting bored pretty soon.
I honestly thought it was garbage but I am in the minority I guess.
I just played a little and it was enough to convince me this game isn't for me. I wanted to like and I was seriously considering buying it but I was put off almost immediately, unlike the global testfire for splatoon 2.
Controls are nonreactive, gameplay seems extremely boring and based on luck, a little like rock paper scissors.
I'd be happy to be proven wrong if I have the opportunity to play the final version
I played a good bit of the demo weekends, and I liked it, but I didn't love it. I may grab this one later, after the reviews and a clear indication of what the new content release schedule looks like, and how substantial it is. Their big mistake, in my eyes, is putting this out a month before Splatoon 2. I just can't justify another retail priced, multiplayer-focused game a shade over a month before Splatoon, which I have pre-ordered. I think dropping Splatoon in August or September would have increased the odds of a purchase for me, but alas. I don't have room in my life for that many multiplayer games. I do hope others do, however, since it'd be a shame for this title to fail. I want Nintendo to keep taking risks and making new IPs.
I'm not getting it unless Arms is playable.
Seriously know, it was armsome! Such a simple idea with plenty of strategy and depth. The motion controls actually work correctly (unlike that mode in Ultra Street Fighter). Time to stretch those arms and punch that pre-order button!
Had no idea the testpunch was on...
I enjoyed the test punch, I was undecided on whether I'd get it at launch but after getting to play as Twintelle I definitely want to get it!
inb4 people don't give this game a chance, the game flops, Nintendo announce they won't be continuing to support the game and the same people who refused to support then female dog and whine about how nintendo are too scared to create any new franchises and milk their old ones.
Hopefully they'll release a single player demo. I'd like to try this out, but I couldn't do the Testpunch since I haven't yet bought a Switch. There's no way I'm buying this without first trying it out.
I tried to get involved with the Testpunch on a few occasions but wasn't able to ever get online, so I was stuck playing the opening fight against a CPU. I am in the process of upgrading my internet though and recognise that as not a fault of the game.
Motion controlled games can never seem to keep my attention for too long as you can't just sit back and relax. There's a time and a place for games like this and I don't think I'll be in that time or place often enough to justify a purchase day 1.
I did enjoy it, though. I might wait for a sale and eventually pick up 2 copies so I can play with my partner.
@Moon Button controls worked great for me, most people either went into the motion control camp or the button controls. I can say button is a very responsive scheme.
Advantage wise button is better for movement as you can stop on a dime but is worse at turning your punches compared to motion controls.
Got very annoying with everyone rage quitting the Hedlock stage!
@ieatdragonz I did actually try out the pro controller breifly and agree it worked well. But as with Splatoon I can't help but get the feeling that being good with motion controls vs being good with pro controller will give the advantage to motion controls, and I'd likely just get beat down online if I went with button controls.
Decent game no doubt, just not for me.
i only found time play 1am sessions. & have arm all strapped up so only used pro controller. Enjoyed it but not 100% convinced really didnt like volleyball or the dunking one
I play 7 sessions, and I had a lot of fun. The one v one matches and bosses fights were my favourite, and Mechanica is my favourite fighter. I'm definitely getting the game now.
@Moon Good that you tried it out, but trust me when I say you wont be outmatched by motion controls.
Of about 6 testpunches I had went back and forth with button and motion. By the end my last button session I had 109 credits and for motion I had 103.
Even online I saw some reddit posts that proved the advantage of moving for button through tests. While I havent seen any proving advantage for motion (although turning individual punches is probably the most blatant).
I'm really on the fence about it. My nephew really enjoyed it and wants me to buy it but I'm not sure I can justify buying it especially for an adolescent with a very short attention span. I can't count the number of full retail purchases I made because he really wanted it and swore up and down he'd actually play it just for him to go back to some pc game a week or two later.
I had a blast playing the Test Punch! Can't wait till the 16th!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Hmmm doubt there'll be a price drop this side of christmas, they can't sell them quick enough at the price they're at now
@Samwise7 Ya, I can't see it happening either at this point. Maybe in 2018.
Really enjoyed the 2nd weekend and will pre-order, as long as the reviews don't raise any unforeseen concerns. Longing to spend more time trying out the different ARMS / fighter combos and testing their effects.
Don't think it'll be a game I play for 30 hours straight. More the kind of game I'll play regularly for 15 - 30 minutes over a longer total time.
Also my son had a blast and 2 player worked really well in party mode.
After coming into the beta really excited for the game, I have to say I came away a bit disappointed. But I think that was more me than anything else - I struggled to get into it, found the motion controls clunky, etc.
Those are things that I'm sure would disappear as I get more used to it, but the main issue I have is that I just can't see the game fitting into my schedule. Games are getting better while my free time is getting rarer, so I really needed to feel a Rocket League-esque compulsion to keep playing, and I just didn't get that over the testing period - if anything I had to force myself to play it, and I kept thinking about how I could have been playing other things.
So at the moment I'm thinking I may pick it up eventually, but something like Smash bros or Rocket League is announced at E3, then that 'eventually' is going to get further and further away, which is a damn shame.
It looks boring, but it plays awesome. Definitely will buy it after testpunch
I don't own the system yet, but ARMS is the first Switch game I'm interested in. Come 2018 with Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem and hopefully Shin Megami Tensei for Switch already on the stores, I'll buy the console.
I didn't much care for it. Maybe if I was able to just try out local play with my kids I would have enjoyed it more than online play. The kids liked it so maybe when there's a sale or they have a gift occasion coming up.
I gave her a go, didn't sit well with me. Then I went right back to Fire Emblem Echoes. Just not my sort of thing, ya know?
I was already thinking about picking up ARMS, but the Testpunch solidified it! My girls and I had a great time playing in 8 of the sessions over the last 2 weekends. I did not find it boring at all, and was starting to develop my own tactics as well as react to others. Very fun, but I can see how it will not be everyone's cup of tea.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Thank you for informing everyone when you plan to buy a Switch.
Only watched an hour of gameplay and it just looked boring.
Perhaps it is more fun to play but watching the gameplay made me not regret not picking up a switch.
The testpunch definitely was fun. It was on my probably not list before, but now it's on my eventually list. That's actually a good thing, since typically I don't consider fighting games at all. The only ones I ever bought were the Smash Bros series, Soul Calibur 1/2, and Tekken 3. Only Smash Bros gets me interested these days.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE did you play the Testpunch?
@PanurgeJr lol. Your comments lol. Every article your comments are nothing about the article but only a dig at him. It's getting really boring to read. I'm sure he must ignore you as he never replies to you. I just can't see what's your fascination with him
@Rhaoulos I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the Testpunch. There is a little bit of a learning curve with it's mechanics. I think controls may have felt unresponsive to you because they are very sensitive to the Joy-cons positioning.
I will say it's actually not based on luck though: everything is interrelated and balanced. You're chances of hitting your opponent is dependent on how you move the Joy-cons, as that determines whether you throw a straight punch or curve inward or behind your opponent.
I really enjoyed it. I thought the game looked like absolute garbage at first, but actually playing the game made me completely change my mind about it. I'm gonna wait for E3 and see what games get revealed for this year, but if there isn't too many that I want, I'll definitely be picking it up sometime this year. I'll get it eventually, though, regardless.
Thanks to a fellow NintendoLife user, I found out you can punch and grab with the ZL/ZR buttons rather than using the uncomfortable A/B/X/Y layout (for this type of game, the face buttons do not work). Interesting how Nintendo didn't make mention of the trigger layout at all in the menus for the TestPunch. Once I discovered it though, the game became much more enjoyable. Also, Twintelle is my favourite!!!
"It was fun, but not full price fun" = The food was good, but I only want to pay for half of it.
I understand if you have limited funds and you didn't enjoy the game enough to warrant a purchase, but then just say that. We all have limited funds, but more-so we have limited time, so we can't enjoy everything anyways, even if all games were cheaper.
Digital gaming has been a blessing and a curse, it has allowed much smaller studios (even one person at times), with tiny budgets to connect with a huge audience, but it has thrown into question how much a game should cost, from a $30 indie being too expensive, to the amount of content in a AAA release.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be questioned, Capcom clearly thinks it's okay to charge what it did for USF2, and most people have spoken with their pocket books. Retail games are pricey, and it's good that the digital indie race has interrupted the idea of what games should/can cost.
the less we spend on games, the less likely we are to appreciate them. I don't mean that cheaper games have less of an impact, I mean the more on-sale something is, the more we see them as disposable, and move on much quicker.
@EternalDragonX I was disappointed in ARMS also, the gameplay felt mediocre to me to be a full priced $60 game, I canceled my preorder. If ARMS was priced cheaper maybe I will buy it one day.
I will be getting Splatoon 2 day one that's for sure!
Quite enjoyed it, although the testfire did highlight that my Left-hand JoyCon seems to drop out or become non-responsive, making it really difficult to play/move around.
I pre-ordered the game pending my Testpunch experience. My kids and I enjoyed it so much that I ordered up a set of yellow joycons right after TF#1 so we can play together.
ARMS is obviously not a 150+ hour game like BotW, but I think it's unique and will be a great add to the Switch library.
Enjoyed the testpunch even though I wasn't any good at it, won just 1 match and tied another. Many losses, but I didn't really know the controls well. It doesn't matter anyway, I'll be buying this the first weekend it comes out & will learn the moves. Looks to be a great game!
I didn't really enjoy the first 20 minutes or so that I played, but once I switched to the pro controller and learned some of the mechanics (like the character specific abilities and charging up punches) I started to love it. I think I'll have more motivation to play for longer sessions when the full game comes out too since there will be arms to unlock so I'll feel like there's a purpose to fighting. Can't wait for the 16th!
Testpunch certainly made me want to buy this game more, but still not for full price. It's worth €40 for me, not any more than that.
I was really hyped about the game but then I played it. I am glad I played the Testpunch demo as I will not be buying this game. I played it for 2 hours in total with given each time trying to give it a chance and there was just no fun in the style it offered me and felt very boring quicker than it should have. If they would have just released the game with out a demo they would have got my money as the hype was there but that was it. I was upset and let down but hey at least Splatoon 2 will be out next month. This is just my experience with the game.
@ThumperUK That was a common problem with the left joycon upon console launches. You can either send the joycon in to get fixed or buy a new pair. Make sure it's a new make, I am waiting for the yellow joycons just to be safe
It did deliver a killer blow. To my interest in the game. Not my thing at all.
I had pretty low expectations for Arms at first, but WOW, the testpunch was pretty awesome, mainly the 2nd weekend as there were more game options, all we can do now is hope that Nintendo delivers one final blow at E3 or relatively soon to give people that last boost of interest they may need
I had a chance to play it yesterday finally. My joycons weren't fully charged, so I didn't get to play it with those and had to go with Pro controller method since I was playing on the TV. I actually had a good time with it. Hoops was surprisingly more fun than I thought it would be. I learned late that you can hit ZL or ZR for left and right punches respectively, which works a lot better than pressing B or A as my right thumb only had to manage jumping and dashing on X and Y respectively. My impression was that the game was very fun, but alas, it's more of a rental for me. Easy to play, and deep to master if you hang with it long enough. If I was younger and had a lot more free-time, this would be a must have for me on the competitive scene and would go nicely with Mario Kart and Splatoon. Either way, I think it'll be a winner with Nintendo this year, just not GOTY type success.
This is the game you load when you need an hour or two of fun and a 6 pack. Party Mode was a blast.
Wow, comments vs poll results.
The game is great and hope it does well enough for them to keep the IP going.
I really don't see it as a quick blast, type of game which a lot seem to resign it to. I can see this being a time sink, tweak your playstyle kind of game. Right between casual and serious.
@UK-Nintendo Fair question. The comments in this thread should answer it. Note that I've already discussed whether or not he ignores me.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/06/nintendo_uks_online_store_has_themed_switch_bundles_for_sale
I'm not a fan of fighting games (so didn't get Smash or Pokken) but did try a couple of the TestPunch sessions. It was fun the first few matches, but I saw it as more of a novelty that quickly wore off.
I was on the fence before the Testpunch, but I went out and preordered after the first weekend. I had a great time with it! And now the single player is a lock for me because Hedlok is a great boss, I can't wait to take him on solo! The second weekend also gave me confidence in the multiplayer because players are "gitting gud". All that's left is to see if ARMS has legs to stay popular!
Here, have an hour of Twintelle on me https://youtu.be/EU5qek8zbn0 It took me all weekend to get used to her, and I still have a ways to go.
I was going to buy anyway as it looked like it would offer some fun and something different but I wasn't terribly hyped for it...it seemed like a fun filler game to me between real releases.
Test Punch has me addicted and begging for more (why 2 weeks away...whyyyy?) I did not expect it to addict me like it did but it's all the addictive "let me just try again until I get it right" gameplay of Splatoon and a fun mix of fighting game and action game I'm really surprised by it!
@Shiryu How is Hedlok under NDA if we've all spent a few hours being bludgeoned by his ugly mug already?
@Shiryu I know why you are saying this .. It's because .....lkjdshfauhkajsbksudhkajb.tkuw;ekugliauskasjbfajhvdhgcyeghnkvinkuhv.ksubkaufgaubg.kugfiysfhgcs5y;oreighdufhvksdhfkudfkabkaugfqugfqur,
@SLIGEACH_EIRE "looks boring" ( misses out out on loads of fun) "not buying a Switch yet" ( misses out on loads of fun)
Shiryu's impression is correct methinks
Only managed to play one. Got kind of bored of fighting 30 minutes in, I can't see myself playing it for extended periods. I'm wondering what the single player will offer too. Seemed to me like it was just a 10 fight mode, which is really not enough imo. I'll wait for the review but all in all the game seems really well developed and I can see a lot of people having fun with it. I just don't know if it's the game for me.
@NEStalgia Excellent question. I was as surprised as all of you when I read over at the Japaneses ARMS twitter account that Hedlock was challenging player on this Global Punch. NDAs are weird, but we must abide them.
@cfgk24 Indeed it is.
Arble garble, I missed it!!! Ah well I have the game preordered.
I've tried it twice on two different test fires and it was fun for the first hour and I was done. A game that is a quite burst for me every now and then.
New IP? Isn't this a new Punch Out?
@frogopus According to the official twitter (in Japanese), Twintelle was the 2nd most picked character this weekend (Ninjara was 1st again). But from what I noticed, it was the Min Min situation all over again. People would pick those characters first, then later switch to someone else when they found out it wasn't what they expected. I noticed that happening a bit in my lobbies. Heck, even I had to switch back to Mechanica in the middle of the first session to save face, LOL! Min Min and Twintelle don't seem to be characters for beginners, at least with the stock Arms they gave us. Hopefully, there's going to be some Arms combinations I like better. Like that vertical 3-shot Arm that Kid Cobra has + the Whammer.
https://twitter.com/arms_cobutter/status/871580295253770240
test punch almost put me off the game, I was 100% before. but after first i thought i'd give it a miss. I played 3 and only on the 3rd did I really get the game properly and now i'm back 100% day one.
I gave it a go at a friend's house and it was not for me.
I wish I would have tried the button controls, but I kept thinking that the motion controls would eventually 'click' for me. Unfortunately they never did; character mobility seemed very sluggish, curved shots tough to execute & my blocks frequently resulted in an inadvertant punch thrown. A good, thorough in-game tutorial could probably remedy all of that and hopefully, the full game has it.
Additionally, I won 6 or 7 games in a row simply by alternating left and right punches and constanly jumping which seems a little light on strategy.
All of that nonwithstanding, I still intend to purchase as I strongly suspect there is a lot more finesse involved than what I was able to glean from a limited demo. I would gladly invest the time it would take to learn its intricacies.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I can see waiting for Mario and Xenoblade (Especially Xenoblade), but do you really expect a price drop on the Switch when they can't keep them on shelves?
I Guarantee there won't be a price drop until at least you can walk into a store on any given day and just pick one up.
I enjoyed my first round, but not as much as I had expected. Everything improved from there, though (especially during the second weekend). I'm really excited for the game's launch!
I only managed to squeeze 5 minutes at the end of the recent Saturday evening session - didn't make it past the first offline bout you go through. As such, it's left me feeling a bit unsure about it, because it wasn't enough time to get a feel for the controls at all, let alone begin to gauge how much longevity there might be in it for me.
I pre-ordered the game with a £20-off voucher, but I'm still thinking of cancelling and hopefully being able to put the voucher to Splatoon 2 instead. For a new IP it's overpriced in my book and I think I may want to wait for reviews etc.
@CTMike I was thinking the same thing in regards to the poll responses compared to the comment section.
I always loved the look of the game but trying the gameplay and controls on the first weekend convinced me to pre order.
This was validated on the second weekend where if anything I enjoyed myself even more.
I only got to catch the last session. It was a whole lot of fun! I always knew Nintendo would be able to figure out how to make this concept into something fun, like they always have.
If any of you've missed it or anything, and aren't sure about it, definitely play it in stores or something. It's really something you need to play to truly get the gist of just how surprisingly deep this game is.
I really expected the game to be terrible. I woke up at 3 AM for the Treehouse Live back in January, and it went on for an over an hour. It set a really bad first impression. My opinion improved dramatically with the ARMS Direct, but I still didn't think it could even come close to being a retail price game. But this testpunch was so much fun. I'm still undecided, mostly because my dad still utterly mocks the game, so it'll only be fun at mum's house (He's a great guy, and he's also a hardcore gamer, but subsequently he has strong opinions on games that don't please him.)
Highlight was beating a level 6 Hedlok in the final hour! The more I played, the more the game grew on me, and I'm so much more excited for it now.
I loved the game and had a lot of fun, but I think there were some big issues I hope they can address. I found the game to be inconsistent 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 straight in front of you. 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 they don't...so you have to keep swinging wildly i guess? Lastly, 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. The game did not explain things very well.
I went from being mostly uninterested to warming up to it enough to maybe get it on sale. I'd rather just play some other unconventional fighting game like Nidhogg or Divekick, but I'm pretty sure those scenes are dead.
I wasn't impressed, but I still had enough fun to warrant giving it another chance. I'll give it a rental some weekend and see.
It was exactly what I expected. Fun, but lacks deepnes as a fighting game, honestly I can't understand why would someone think this is fantastic. Online did surprise with basicaly no lag, a lot better than smash 4. But not worth the full price just for that. Some modes were terrible, like that target thing. I only really enjoyed 1v1, 1v1v1 and 2v2, and a little bit of voley.
@neufel I thought It played just like it looked. It didn't change my mind like Splatoon did.
I think Splatoon has more value / gameplay time overall, due to some kind of separate single player experience, and a general larger variety overall (the mechanics allow for more diverse / interesting stages, and more tactics/playstyles and ways to change things up).
That said, while there are a lot of Arms and customization options, I feel like ARMS is more 'two dimensional' than Splatoon, or even than some fighting games (the characters are unique, but not as unique as traditional fighters having different movesets and hence fighting styles. While being able to interchange Arms is interesting, is also make each character less unique than if certain characters could only equip certain Arms).
That said, I feel like there's less overall gameplay value in ARMS, such that $60 is a bit over priced. A better price would probably be $40-50 range, imo. I do feel like ARMS controls very well (particularly concerning the motion controls), and is very polished for what is on offer. I do appreciate what Nintendo is doing in released new IP and changing up the genre to bring us something new, so I pre-ordered and plan to keep it in a way to support it, but as is I feel like gameplay value-wise it lacks some variation (and/or characters would feel more unique/ special if all Arms weren't interchangeable), and a lot of what you do per modes tend to feel pretty similar, as the gameplay inherently is less diverse than splatoon (as each weapon type is quite unique, and the goals can be more diverse whether it be splatting, painting area, or being squid stealthy)
@the101 I get your point, but it isn't about the curves. I actually managed to do quite well, but it is the delay between throwing a punch and being able to block. That was the biggest blocker for me.
For example if you try to do a nice curve and the guy in front of you just throws straight punches, you never have a chance to block. It feels a little like street fighter to me. As long as you try to hit continuously, you manage to beat anyone.
The more I played it, the more I liked it. It always takes me time to learn control schemes, and for the first few sessions I was just getting annihilated as the controls didn't click for me. But by the end of the second weekend I started getting better and really had a blast. I may never truly "get gud" at this because I have sucky old-person reflexes and don't have a ton of spare time to practice, but it was so much fun.
My younger daughter is absolutely in love with the game. She played every Testpunch session we were home for, and learned fast. I would probably buy the game for her even if I hadn't enjoyed it so much, as I can see her putting a lot of work into it and getting very good.
I didn't care for all the modes. The "hit the targets" game was such a drag, and Hoops and V-Ball were not much better. I signed on for a fighting game, not these things. And I wish we could have a demo to play some local games, as our Internet connection is terrible. We lost connection dozens of times during the Testpunch. That's bad enough when you're just messing around, but when the game goes live and lost connections start to actually count as losses that affect your online status it's going to be a major drag.
Overall, really excited for a fun new franchise that my spawn and I can enjoy. It's not going to be my game of the year, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
@Darius_Truxton
Sorry for the delay in replying, many thanks for your advice - was much appreciated. I've ordered the yellow JoyCons too!
I didn't have a switch at the time of the testpunch. I'm getting mine with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Arms on the 22nd of June!
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