Fighting Games

[oqueo]

Honestly I've been wanting having a silly little group to play fighting games for a while, but most people I know don't play them. It could be very cool having one where we can play random games like Sailor Moon S or Asuka 120% as well as some modern ones (Used to play BBCF and now I play SF6 and it is really fun). A discord could be fun!

I will grapple you.

[Weasel]

Fellow grappler!

Unfortunately I'm going to be busy this evening with Social Plans, but I'm sending positive energy to those attending the first fight night! If a permanent location is established (like a room in a Discord server), please post the details here for the rest of us scrubs.

[Lilium Mortem]

I've always been kinda fascinated by fighting games, especially when I got a friend who talked about them a lot. when SF6 dropped I decided to try it because of modern controls easing the barrier to entry. I kinda dropped off but I had some fun.

Recently though, that same friend gifted me Guilty Gear Strive, which has been on my wishlist forever. So I've just been spending a lot of time in mission mode and arcade trying to learn the basics, but I feel like I'll never be good enough to not button mash in a panic lol. I'll get there(If I don't lose interest), but I still feel too new to GG and fighting games in general to really have any fun playing against real flesh and blood opponents.

[Weasel]

I hear that, any practice I do seems to go right out the window the moment a real fight starts.

I find that it helps to try and force what you were learning, even if it's not optimal or safe. There's nothing on the line in the fights, losing doesn't matter, so why not.

So, if you were practicing a specific combo, instead of waiting for the situation to naturally come up (let's say you punish a whiff), when you'd normally panic and fail to follow up, just force the starter every now and again, so you're focusing on following it up if it lands.
Then after it happens a few times you'll slowly get the confidence to do it when it happens naturally.

[Phorm The Vixdjinn]

Gosh I love fighting games!!

I've been playing fighting games since the original SFII was in the arcades. I've loved them ever since. When I was growing up, my friends and I would smuggle a NeoGeo emulator and KoF `98 on Zip Disk into the school computer lab at lunch, and battle each other 1 v 1 with each player using half of a keyboard. Good times!

In more recent years, I've tried my best to keep up with Fighting Games. I've been poking at Guilty Gear: Strive and (more recently) Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes], and they're both tons of fun. I confess I tend to stick to the 2D character fighters these days, despite playing a whole lot of Soul Cailbur and Dead Or Alive in the past.

I'll confess something, though: I'm horrid at fighting games! Just absolute garbage. I know how to do just about any move you could ask for, and I can carry a simple combo - But once the combos get longer, or the systems get complex (Holy cow, UniII has so many systems) I just fall to pieces. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that, despite my long history with the genre, I only play occasionally - And even then, I usually don't have the courage (or friends) to play against real people.

But fighting games rock, and I adore them so much!

One of the best things that's been happening online recently is that I've been watching some indie VTuber invitational tournaments. They're remarkably hype!! Even if I'm not playing, I find fighting games to be an excellent spectator event.

So, yeah!! Go fighting games!!

[Ivy-IV]

Alright! Tomorrow (Saturday, 18 July) at 8pm GMT I'll be around for Blazblue/SF6/whatever on Fightcade (Toy Fighter perhaps? But I'm down for most things), I'll post my various deets a bit closer to time.

Though if we wanna chat while playing how should we handle that actually

Steam Friend Code: 91274259
SF6 User Code: 3432212444
Fightcade ID: Ivy-IV

Okay! If anybody wants to play BBCF, SF6 or anything on Fightcade reply to this and lets get some games in! If you wanna play something else feel free to suggest and see if anyone's up for it, those are just what i'm in the mood for currently

[kandyelmo]

Hi, hi! So glad that this is a thing!

Love hearing about this stuff as a spectator. Been meaning to lock into the genre a bit more with the games I gotten throughout the years, but I haven't had the push to do that juuuuust yet, but here's hoping that lurking here might help fuel that desire haha

(And if I do lock in, it might be something like Guilty Gear Strive or SF6; I mostly peaked with Smash Bros. 4 and Ultimate competitively.)

[RueAzure]

When it comes to fighting games, I've always been a Melty Blood player. idk why, I don't even like Tsukihime or any of the Fate/Stay Night stuff. But Melty Blood scratches a particular itch for me.

[SomeAxolotl]

I get bored a lot and poke around with more obscure fighters, such as forgotten retro ones like those on NeoGeo, or indie fighters. I've found a lot of funky ones, if you ever need something to break out at parties, let me know!
Some fun free ones:
Uchu Mega Fight
Pokemon Close Combat
Untitled Risk of Rain Fighting Game
Among Us Arena Ultimate (yes hear me out on this one lol)
Idol Showdown

And while it does cost money Mofumofu Sensen is a furry fighting game made on the switch by one person and is quite fun

[Weasel]

Mofumofusensen looks great, I love that the only reason it even got released in the West is because people on social media begged the solo dev to do so.

[Phorm The Vixdjinn]

Oh! Here's a quick question for everyone: What's your preferred controller?

Are you on a gamepad? Arcade stick? Keyboard?

Personally I confess to being a die-hard leverless fan. It probably has a whole lot to do with the fact that I learned how to play fighting games mostly on keyboard. Now I can't handle a stick or pad because I always over-input. I love my leverless options!

Presently I'm bouncing between various flavors of hitbox arcade. There are much better options available in the leverless space, but the hitbox arcades just hit the sweet spot for me.

Though I will note: The best fighting game controller is the one you feel most comfortable with personally!

What's everyone's favorite?

[Ivy-IV]

I bought a stick to play Birdie in SFV to make his negative edge stuff easier and I never looked back! feels great to rip out any given input in. The exception to this is 3D fighters like Tekken and SoulCalibur, those where what i played mostly when i was a kid so pad is too ingrained for me to switch away.

[Sugar Meowth]

Top 8 in Street Fighter 6 is starting for Blink Respawn rn

[Enbyeon]

Oh! Here's a quick question for everyone: What's your preferred controller?

I prefer pad with at least 6 face buttons for most games, but I've been learning the padbox (d-pad + arcade buttons) the past half year.

I tried learning stick like 8 years ago, but after 6 months of trying, I realized it wasn't for me.

[JackieTheJackie]

The Oxford English Dictionary defines fighting games as Cool, Dope and chiefly, Hip.

I've always been fascinated with fighting games, however having grown up a PC gamer the picks were slim, and chance to learn stick inputs slimmer (though I'll go bat for One Must Fall 2027 any time!), however I've put more of an effort to get better at them lately, starting with Pokken and then moving on to Tekken 7 (and now 8).



Am I any good? Heck no, but I'm having fun. The proliferation of leverless controllers has really helped me, because I am absolutely terrible with stick inputs.

So come nerd out about your faves, show us your stick, heck, maybe find some new rivals!

POKKEN MENTIONED LET'S GOOOO
I'm also terrible at inputs lmao, got me a hitbox to help out but I can still barely DP on purpose but hey, mashing is fun.
Been meaning to try Tekken more, but it kind of terrifies me, so I mostly stick to air-dashing anime fighters like Blazblue

[JackieTheJackie]

Oh! Here's a quick question for everyone: What's your preferred controller?

Are you on a gamepad? Arcade stick? Keyboard?

Personally I confess to being a die-hard leverless fan. It probably has a whole lot to do with the fact that I learned how to play fighting games mostly on keyboard. Now I can't handle a stick or pad because I always over-input. I love my leverless options!

Presently I'm bouncing between various flavors of hitbox arcade. There are much better options available in the leverless space, but the hitbox arcades just hit the sweet spot for me.

Though I will note: The best fighting game controller is the one you feel most comfortable with personally!

What's everyone's favorite?

I initially bought a fightstick (Hori if memory serves) which lasted me for a few years. When Razer dropped the Kitsune hitbox (fuckin GORGEOUS piece by the by) I immediately bought that and haven't looked back. The buttons have felt a lot easier for me to consistently hit inputs, but I do unfortunately still mash my way into trouble lol
Cannot use a gamepad for the life of me unless it's a platform fighter like Rivals of Aether or something

[Weasel]

Hidden text.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines fighting games as Cool, Dope and chiefly, Hip.

I've always been fascinated with fighting games, however having grown up a PC gamer the picks were slim, and chance to learn stick inputs slimmer (though I'll go bat for One Must Fall 2027 any time!), however I've put more of an effort to get better at them lately, starting with Pokken and then moving on to Tekken 7 (and now 8).



Am I any good? Heck no, but I'm having fun. The proliferation of leverless controllers has really helped me, because I am absolutely terrible with stick inputs.

So come nerd out about your faves, show us your stick, heck, maybe find some new rivals!

POKKEN MENTIONED LET'S GOOOO
I'm also terrible at inputs lmao, got me a hitbox to help out but I can still barely DP on purpose but hey, mashing is fun.
Been meaning to try Tekken more, but it kind of terrifies me, so I mostly stick to air-dashing anime fighters like Blazblue

Yeah, Tekken can be intimidating as it can get quite technical (and I am not very good at it!), but like with any fighting game it's just a case of going "ooh, I like how this character looks, let's try and get good with them!"
Though at my ranks, it's still largely people learning their character's gimmick and then relying on that to win (hoping the opponent doesn't know how to counter them), rather than actually scratching at depth.

Man, I miss Pokken. Loved it on the WiiU and then rebought it on the Switch, even begrudgingly paid for the otherwise-useless Nintendo Online for 6 months and played Pokken during my morning cycling routine.

Looking it up, and it seems like there's still a playerbase for it; if I didn't have to pay for the online component I'd be tempted to dip back in.

[JackieTheJackie]

Hidden text.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines fighting games as Cool, Dope and chiefly, Hip.

I've always been fascinated with fighting games, however having grown up a PC gamer the picks were slim, and chance to learn stick inputs slimmer (though I'll go bat for One Must Fall 2027 any time!), however I've put more of an effort to get better at them lately, starting with Pokken and then moving on to Tekken 7 (and now 8).



Am I any good? Heck no, but I'm having fun. The proliferation of leverless controllers has really helped me, because I am absolutely terrible with stick inputs.

So come nerd out about your faves, show us your stick, heck, maybe find some new rivals!

POKKEN MENTIONED LET'S GOOOO
I'm also terrible at inputs lmao, got me a hitbox to help out but I can still barely DP on purpose but hey, mashing is fun.
Been meaning to try Tekken more, but it kind of terrifies me, so I mostly stick to air-dashing anime fighters like Blazblue

Yeah, Tekken can be intimidating as it can get quite technical (and I am not very good at it!), but like with any fighting game it's just a case of going "ooh, I like how this character looks, let's try and get good with them!"
Though at my ranks, it's still largely people learning their character's gimmick and then relying on that to win (hoping the opponent doesn't know how to counter them), rather than actually scratching at depth.

Man, I miss Pokken. Loved it on the WiiU and then rebought it on the Switch, even begrudgingly paid for the otherwise-useless Nintendo Online for 6 months and played Pokken during my morning cycling routine.

Looking it up, and it seems like there's still a playerbase for it; if I didn't have to pay for the online component I'd be tempted to dip back in.

Only ever played Pokken on the Switch with a few local buddies, didn't even consider online lol. Might try picking it up again, but also your post inspired me to reinstall Tekken 7, so that might take most of the gametime.
The part that's spooked me is that I can feel that it's about to click, and then suddenly nothing works. I'll occasionally hit that flow state, whip out a combo then fumble and fail to block damn near anything XD
Plus the crouch block only blocking lows and not mids completely goes against all of my muscle memory, which at least is learnable

[Twonny]

Oh! Here's a quick question for everyone: What's your preferred controller?

Are you on a gamepad? Arcade stick? Keyboard?

Personally I confess to being a die-hard leverless fan. It probably has a whole lot to do with the fact that I learned how to play fighting games mostly on keyboard. Now I can't handle a stick or pad because I always over-input. I love my leverless options!

Presently I'm bouncing between various flavors of hitbox arcade. There are much better options available in the leverless space, but the hitbox arcades just hit the sweet spot for me.

Though I will note: The best fighting game controller is the one you feel most comfortable with personally!

What's everyone's favorite?

I prefer playing on an arcade stick for all fighting games.
I think the only exception might be BBTag, but I BARELY play that game now.

[batsodas]

I've pretty recently gotten into fighting games, in the grand scheme! My college roommate and I both were like "Hey, let's get really into fighting games" back in like 2022, and it was hella fun... I really miss gettin' the stick out and havin' fun with a nice fighter, I really wanna get back to it but the lack of energy and discipline really kicks your ass orz

I really wanna get back to Tekken n Guilty Gear, probably try out some other stuff too... Just the frustration of not being great, even though I know I'm not gonna be good at the start :p Regardless! Fighters fun!!

[Weasel]

Yeah, being able to play with people locally is truly something else. Playing with friends online is also Fine, but lordy, playing with randos online is just... so different.

Even ignoring the comradery and banter of playing with someone in person, for some reason my anxiety just peaks when playing with strangers online (which doesn't help with getting better at the game!).

[Moot]

one day i'd like to maybe resurrect my previously failed attempt at a fight game discord zone for people who don't know how to play fight games because i always felt like that sort of thing would prove better than throwing yourself at randos online and getting bodied nonstop

maybe this is just me being a socially awkward gimboid but like. whenever i think about doing any competitive thing online i instantly because a sweaty anxious wreck lmao. so i just play arcade a bunch and look at online as a thing that would be really fun to try out if i could get my head around it

[Weasel]

Having a place where people could be onboarded without just getting stomped on sounds like a great idea, the learning curve for fighting games can be... steep.

And honestly, if you're learning with another friend of similar skill level, that's fine, great even. You don't need to understand the underlying systems to have fun, and learn at each other's pace.

But boy is this genre terrrrrrrrrrrrible at explaining itself. Even nowadays, with Practice mode and sample combos, I'm not really sure any of them explain how they expect to be played.
"This is how this move is performed."
Cool, cool. So... when do I use it? What is it for, what are its downsides?

Heck, they generally don't even explain how a character is supposed to be played, which is wild to me. For an actual example, in Tekken (and I'm going to ignore its current season balance issues that throw a wrench into things), Bryan is a character that is all about counterhits- that is, he benefits massively from interrupting the opponent's attack with one of his own.

What this mean is that he is not that great in straight offense. He has a decent low attack, and some pokes, but they're not intended to be his winning strategy, he has them so his opponent can't just turtle- if you sit still, he will slowly peck your health down, and you'll lose to timeout.
So, the opponent now wants to go on the offensive. And Bryan will get beat up, especially in round one while still getting the feel for his opponent. But then, a good Bryan player will start seeing their opponent's patterns, and begin to punish them. Oh, you like throwing out that move? Okay, I'll bait it out, then punish you.
And when Bryan punishes you, you lose half your health bar.

That's a really fun design that encourages a very specific playstyle... and the game does absolutely nothing to tell you any of this, you need to listen to pros explaining it. Why game? Why?

[Moot]

i know strive and sf6 will give you a very brief roundup on what your character can actually do, say if they're a rushdown or a zoner or a grapploid or whatever but also like. if you're new to it you aren't going to know what that is lmao

didn't sf6 have character specific tutorials and shit for showing you the basics of their moveset though? i'm sure back when i played it a million years ago it went into some of that which is useful, and i remember KIs tutorials also explaining in a decent degree how things worked, but most of the time i get the itch to play a fightgame again i have to have infils glossary open in another tab

[EdenCoven]

SF6 has actual character-specific tutorials that at least get you started. Haven't seen anything that good in other games. Strive does have very good tooltips for its moves though. We always have to bring wikis up and research too, but on some level that's... not overkill but it's geared towards really high level play right? Fighting games!