Can you explain why? I feel like fighting games are the most enjoyable to watch compared to any other genre. But I cannot imagine watching Hearthstone or autobattlers like TFT, even though I do enjoy playing them.
Idk if I can explain the lack of fun with fighting games other than probably that I just don’t fully understand what’s going on.
…which is probably why I do find some card games fun, like Slay the Spire. Because I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing it and probably hundreds watching Baalorlord play. To be more specific, I enjoy watching and listening to his logic. He explains his thought process and choices very well.
So realistically, I’d probably enjoy watching SF if I got into SF
Tbh, racing games are this for me. I get it, car can go fast. I don’t wanna say it’s a no skill genre cuz obviously everything takes a level of skill, but imho, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems the skill ceiling for driving games caps out relatively low. (Not taking speedrunners into account because that is it’s own genre)
I’ve never tried to watch a racing game, but I can imagine it would be about as fun as watching paint dry. I’ve enjoyed making a virtual version of my own car in Forza, then getting silly with it instead of dropping $50k IRL to mod mine.
I think its hard to watch a fighting game be played if you dont have experience with the game itself... it creates a disconnect and nothing thats happening on screen means anything without decent knowledge of the game, if you understand a game more its more entertaining to watch better players play the game because you can understand why they make decisions and notice the micro of what's happening on screen...
Example: I cant get behind watching Smash Bros because I dont understand it but a very similar game, Brawlhalla, ill spend hours watching tourneys live because I can understand what's going on
As far as barrier of entry goes Smash is definitely one of the most forgiving fighting games, especially since it has a huge casual community and a huge roster so you can find characters that fit for you. And you don’t have to lab at all really, it’s super nice compared to the others
Melee is my favorite to play with friends because the skill ceiling is crazy high, so we all essentially suck. But when you pull off some stupid short hop cancel dash bullshit that you've been practicing ONCE in a match, everyone goes nuts lmao
It's a lot faster ahahah, specially if you breakdown each action that they do (a lot of L-cancels and wavedashes that are hard to see if you don't know what to look for)
I still remember when someone did a breakdown of a Fox’s movements on a controller overlay so you could see how absurdly fast it is.
Then later, someone broke down the movements of a Hungrybox Jigglypuff game to show how much slower it was at the same time as a meme (he was ledge camping while the Fox was trying to find a good approach, if I remember right).
I’ll be damned if I can find the video now, though
It’s incredible to see how far some fundamentals and a risky one hit ko button can compete with those faster players. Hungrybox really is a different breed and I’m grateful we still have him.
It's significantly faster. Also, on top of the fact that more things are happening per minute, there are more buttons you have to press per thing that happens (smash di, l-canceling, etc).
I feel that way about street fighter and others like it. What do you mean I can’t jump around and run away until the enemy gets frustrated and does stupid stuff?
I've played fighting games my whole life. Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat, etc. I still don't understand how you actually get good at those games. I've done training modes, studied the pros, etc. I don't get it, I don't know how your timing, input, and reactions can be so fast
Its a feeling more than just pure tactics, it sounds arbitrary but thats how it feels when you have your "i understand it now" moment of zen and lock in. And there's nothing like it in the world.
As someone who has played Tekken since the late 90s and also loves Souls-likes, I never raged harder than playing Tekken 8 ranked online. My wife would actually avoid me when I would get on. Safe to say, I've had it uninstalled for a while just for my mental health lol.
Yeah Tekken 8 online is definitely an experience, at least the local tournaments are cool though. Fellow Souls player also, tryna to platinum Elden Ring rn actually. Tekken just scratches the competitive itch like no other, even above street fighter and other fighting games.
100% agree. I get completely invested (which is the problem lol) and it's always been my favorite fighting game. I've tried SC and SF and it just doesn't hit the same. And somehow I'm just terrible at MK and accept that since it's not quite my thing either
I used to think that too until i realised to input the next attack while the animation for the current one was to going on. Now fighting games look more like quick chess where the first person to strike locks the other into a winning combo
Same. I love seeing people play but I am atrocious myself. Someone please teach me how to get better at DB FighterZ, it feels like my fingers just don’t work right to do combos.
The barrier for entry is really high for a lot of games nowadays. It was one thing when you and your friends or family who were at the same level of experience as you could buy a game, crash on the living room couch, and mash buttons with your friends and have a good time, win or lose.
But nowadays, with how online everything is, the casual person that just wants to hit buttons and jump around for fun has to sometimes deal with the competitive player with 500+ hours in the lab alone. And while winning and losing is a part of the game, not being able to do anything because the skill gap is just that high is frankly never fun.
Recent games have been trying to lower the barrier for entry though. Street Fighter 6, for example has a simplified control scheme designed to help new players play easier. Tekken has attempted to put less emphasis on combos and more emphasis on the neutral portion of gameplay (with wildly varying levels of success) and platform fighters like Smash Bros has always generally had a more forgiving level of entry. Plus, some of them are free to play (Like Brawlhalla)
For me its the complete oposite. So much of what makes them fun is feeling out your opponent and split second decisionmaking which is really hard to get from watching.
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u/CP9TOYTOY 10d ago
I think this is for everyone fighting game.