Fighting games need more options

I’ve always been a huge fan of the concept of fighting games. I don’t follow the scene religiously, but I love loading up a VOD of Street Fighter or Skullgirls and watching the madness unfold. The neutral game, the knowledge of how difficult the inputs can be, it’s all so engaging and fun.

There’s just… a giant brick wall in the face of many people who’re interested in seeing how this works. I don’t wanna mince words, 95% of the fighting games on the market don’t care about new players. Which, I mean, that’s fine. Starcraft, DOTA 2, etc., a bunch of popular games aren’t friendly towards new players and that’s very OK! The problem with fighting games is the abject lack of any games below that very high level of play. These games will likely be at the top of their field in complexity and popularity because, but we shouldn’t be limiting ourselves to the most complex ideas only.

ARMS is a fantastic example of a game with all the cool parts of fighting games, while also simplifying it a ton so that anyone can start to work on improving themselves right away. You have very few inputs: punch left/right, dodge, jump, block, rush. That’s it, along with all those moves being one button press. Despite all that, the game manages to have an engaging, super complex rock paper scissors type flow, and concepts like the neutral game and zoning are still in full force here.

Which isn’t to say I’m claiming ARMS is just as deep. No, it’s just not as deep as your conventional 2D fighter. Those fighters get their depth by that huge skill wall you’ve gotta climb, and I wouldn’t want to change them for the world. ARMS, however, represents something this genre needs more of: steps in between. We need more games that are less complex and do dumb things down, so more people are able to play them and realize the potential behind fighting games without having to climb a brick wall first. The fighting games with the highest complexity are stunning displays of skill, dedication, and spectacle. I’d really like for more people to be able to climb that cliff.