Alternate post title: That Time I Almost Gave Up On Fighting Games
You can blame Dragon Ball FighterZ for that. And to be clear, I still think it’s a fine game. It’s just that as the days go by, I realize more and more that it’s not for me. All of the mechanics that make it what it is -- and a current darling of the fighting game community -- are specifically tailored to be anti-Voltech countermeasures. While the wall isn’t impossible to breach, I certainly threw myself against it recently and walked away with a broken spirit, sore hands, and a headache that lasted for about sixteen hours.
Or maybe eighteen? I don’t know, I wasn’t keeping track. I was just lamenting my existence at the time.
I’d been slacking off on my DBFZ play, and my brother punished me for it dearly. I hadn’t touched the game -- local matches, online matches, or training -- since Base Goku/Vegeta came out, and only touched it again because dear old big bro wanted to “try out” the new characters. And I have to use quotes, because “try out” means “Only I get to play, and you just stand there and take it while I slaughter you with the combos I’ve been perfecting for months on end.”
I can’t even blame him, because this has been his consistent play style for years now. Hell, it’s even been consistent outside of video games; back when we used to play outside, we’d shoot hoops and he instituted the “make it, take it” rule so every successive shot gave him more chances to shoot/dribble/touch the ball/play the game. Oh yeah, sure, I could theoretically play if I was good enough to get the ball and land a shot…which would have been a lot more feasible if he wasn’t more than a foot taller than me at the time.
No wonder I stopped playing outside. Well, it was a combination of that and the constant, blood-spewing injuries I sustained.
Playing DBFZ this past session hearkened back to those bad old days, because the mechanics favor my brother -- not to mention the hundreds of hours he’s put into the game since release. I’ve logged 40-60 online matches in total since release day. He had ten times that within the first couple of months. It was always going to be an uphill battle, but our last showdown turned that hill into a rain-slick vertical plane. And it’s never been more frustrating.
Try to attack? Nope. Projectiles are easy to counter, can’t get in attack range without getting clipped, can’t approach from the ground or air without eating a combo. Try to defend? Please. It’s a hyper-fighting game, so you have to be a Precog or else you’ll get attacked from one of four directions in half a second, and even a stray jab can convert into a full combo/dead character. You only have one unreliable defensive mechanic, assists can keep you locked down for days until your opponent lands that one stray hit, and attempts to fight back are a gamble at best.
So as I was sitting there, getting my health whittled down to zero by Base Vegeta’s air combo loops -- after he had dashed over my head, then dashed backward (back over my head) to negate my blocking -- I felt so frustrated. Frustrated, and bored. “What am I even doing here?” I thought. And then I thought about all the better things I could have done instead of get murdered. I had more than enough time to do it.
The obvious solution to this problem is to “git gud”. But to be clear: this is “make it, take it” all over again. I have to claw my way up to reach someone who’s got a clear advantage (my brother’s still taller than me, after all), and someone whose sheer ability can decide “it’s my turn again” whenever he wants. More to the point: how am I supposed to git gud when I have no opportunities to git gud? I can think of four separate games, at a bare-ass minimum, that I want and need to play more of for the purposes of this blog (and my own personal enjoyment). I can’t play those OR DBFZ at my leisure, because big bro is consistently using the PS4 for his personal enjoyment and DBFZ training. And because DBFZ is the game that it is -- in the genre that it is -- playing catch-up is basically the equivalent of a full-time job.
Gotta choose your characters. Gotta learn their normals. Gotta learn their specials. Gotta learn their combos. Gotta build your team. Gotta learn team synergy. Gotta learn assist combos. Gotta learn how to defend. Gotta learn. Gotta learn. Gotta practice. Gotta practice. Gotta practice. It’s so much to compartmentalize and commit to memory -- and it might as well be three times more than the norm, because -- as a 3v3 fighter -- you have to know three characters, and your opponent’s three characters. Again, and again, and again. And all for the sake of a game (and a genre, if we’re being honest) where you can lose just because your opponent gets one lucky hit.
*sigh*
You know what? I get it. I’ve always gotten it, but now my sympathy is at its max. I’ve consistently been the guy that says “Hey, pick up fighting games, they’re cool!” and “Trust me, it’s easier than it looks!” And it is easier than it looks. But I’d be a damn liar if I said the wall wasn’t there. So much work put in for a game you may not even get to play, or for a chance to win a match whose outcome might as well be decided by luck. By the metagame of “Which Way Do I Block?” and you lose if you guess wrong…and have to guess a dozen times in the span of a minute.
I was ready to give up on fighting games. Now I’m not. (For now.)
You can thank Soul Calibur VI for that.
Like a lot of people, I have fond memories of the Soul Calibur games. With the exception of Soul Edge, SCI, and Broken Destiny (and Legends, but that doesn’t count), I’ve owned them all. Note the past tense, given that SCIV and V ended up being trade-in fodder. For what it’s worth, though, I really enjoy the franchise. The conflict over two mythical swords, powerful yet corrosive in their own ways; the myriad fighters from across the globe, ready to claim their respective prizes; the smooth-as-butter combat that takes full advantage of the 3D environments; the Guard Impact wars that have parries on top of parries on top of parries. I couldn’t get enough of it.
…Is what I would like to say, but the later games wouldn’t have become tribute for other games if I’d stuck with them. And it’s not like I thought of them as utter failures. I just didn’t get around to playing them much (because fighting games), and I had to try and keep pace with my brother who put most of his time into the Capcom stable…like Marvel 3, another hyper-fighter that also induced massive headaches for multiple reasons. Whatever the case, SCVI is here and is trying to provide an alternative in an increasingly-crowded market. What chance does it have against Street Fighter, DBFZ, and more?
Here’s why I’m excited: SCVI is simple.
I think I’ve reached a point where I’m wary and weary of fighting games with nonstop, lightspeed action that rely on a dozen different variables and mechanics at once. I want a back-to-basics approach. Something more direct. Something traceable by the human eye. And to be clear, I’m not saying that SCVI is “easy mode” or stupider than other fighters. I’m saying that, as of this moment, I like its approach to the question of “how do you make a good fighting game?”
I’m speaking 100% personally and 0% objectively here. Still, to summarize? I want to play a game where, when I lose, I can actually understand where I went wrong -- where I can say “it was my fault for doing that” in every single match. I want to be able to put up an offense, but maintain a defense. I want to be able to perceive what’s going on, not just guestimate and eat a monster combo because I blinked. I want to be able to defend myself and push my way out of a pinch -- though to be clear, I don’t mean that to say “I need a get out of jail free card”; just options that can help me without holding my tender little hand. I want to have time to go ham or back off safely, then have the chance to react to my opponent. I want to have a real fight, not just a race to see who can land the first lucky/sneaky hit.
I guess what I’m getting at here is that I’m not done with fighting games. Just hyper-fighting games. Those are wearing my patience thin and making me risk a seizure each time. So based on those factors alone, thank all the gods for SCIV.
Maybe…maybe I just need to give up hyper-fighters.
Having played the beta (at the very last minute), its back-to-basics approach is a revelation. You’ve got three attack buttons, a block button, and full range of 3D movement via the 8-way run system. Vertical attacks can be dodged entirely with the run, but get clipped by horizontal attacks…which in turn get crushed by ducking or jumping. Kicks are fast, but comparatively weak and don’t guarantee big damage or combos. As always, attacks > throws > blocks > attacks. Guard Impacts let you deflect attacks with forward + block at the right time, and open up your opponent. Supers are in, but only if you have the meter for it. There’s also a power-up mechanic called the Soul Charge, but I did all right without even knowing how to activate it. (Thanks for the intel, bro!)
That’s basically it. Well, excluding the nuances and particulars that the pros can put under the microscope in the months to come; still, the simplicity is a delight. You just have to block high or low accordingly. Some attacks are harder to see coming than others, but it’s not impossible -- and it’ll get easier once A) you learn what your opponent’s character can do, and B) you learn your opponent’s habits and strategies mid-match. It’s not an execution-heavy fighter, either. You don’t need frame-perfect inputs to get your combos going; as soon as you find your character’s most useful moves, you’ll be landing stunning attacks and juggles -- including combos into your super -- in less than an hour, without needing to watch thirty-minute tutorials first.
There are two things that I feel are the worst parts about fighting games. The first? Not knowing what to do with your character, which can be fixed with training mode sessions (assuming you have the time and will). The second, and worse of the two? That feeling of helplessness -- the sense that you have no hope of victory, and can’t even begin to understand how to grasp it. I’ve seen it happen online and off, in person and by proxy. In SCIV, it seems like you always have a chance to come back from the brink. Nothing is ever guaranteed, granted, but you have just enough tools to eke it out.
I got my ass blown out multiple times during the beta, but I was never salty about it for long. More importantly, I could still at least say “I lost because I didn’t block X” or “I lost because I gambled with Y”. It never reached the point of “I lost because ????”. I would think that I inspired the same feeling in my opponents, largely because my wins came from finding the right answer to their tactics and habits and countering accordingly. (Use the 8-way run to make vertical attacks miss, then hit them with your super. That’s a free gift from me.)
I don’t know what kind of longevity this game will have with me or the FGC. But I hope it has legs. Long ones, too -- the chance to make it to EVO 2019 with solid representation and respect. Will there be more complex tech and strategies that make what I’ve said here null and void? Possibly. But the playing field is more even than it could be elsewhere. It speaks to the core of fighting games without getting inundated with mechanics and particulars, AKA the details that keep the genre permanently locked in obscurity. There’s a middle ground between “mindless” and “utterly impenetrable to all but the psychopaths who sacrifice their souls for 5% more damage output”. I’d like to think that SCVI represents that middle ground. And as such? I’m definitely looking forward to the full release.
Until then? I’ve still got more to say about the game. And I will -- sooner rather than later, I hope. Because if nothing else, it’ll give me a chance to talk about best girl Sophitia.
See you soon. But not Groh, though.
Fuck that guy. Fuck that guy preemptively.
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