ARMS

[Shay Chaise]

If you played the Testpunch, you'll know pretty much what you're getting, unsurprisingly. I'm finding the single player bloody hard, to be frank. I tried to complete the Grand Prix on medium (level 4) to unlock ranked online but it just made me realise I'm a long way off being ready to play against anyone who can beat that mode. I finally did it on level 1 (!) and I'll put a couple of hours in this evening but I'm starting to get a grasp of the skill ceiling, and the way this game needs to be played.

In short, keep moving or get rekt.

[Shay Chaise]

I'm getting a bit better at this but I'm probably going to kill myself in the next few months because of it. It's genuinely one of the most frustrating and irritating games I've ever played. It's satisfying every time a punch lands, it feels great, but whenever you get hit, you just want to execute a postcode. I always seem to lose to a late rush attack in the final round. I would kick someone if there were someone to kick. It wouldn't be my wife, certainly, but she's gone to the spare room because I'm being such a twat about this game. It's actually damaging my marriage and the emotional bonds and basic respect between me and my wife. We had a great night together, then I decided to play twenty minutes of ARMS and I've ruined the evening. I even feel emasculated that I should be taking more personal responsibility but it's robbed me of my dignity and independence. I don't feel like myself.

I'm gonna kill EVERY guy that made ARMS.

(Police note: I'm frustrated by a computer game, I'm not going to hurt anyone at all).

[Bhazor]

[Shay Chaise]

Actually, I'm getting the hang of this, it's fucking great. It's such an unusual game to get into, though. It seems like it should be a knockabout type of thing, especially with the motion controls but it requires real skill. I suspect that this will do well with the more hardcore crowd, despite my previous reservations, but most people will just throw it on for some local multiplayer motion controls after a piss up. I'm sure it'll work well on that level, like any beat em up, but it's got a really interesting skill ceiling which I think people will be figuring out for ages. It's different.

[Shay Chaise]

Edit: Finally beat Hedlok and unlocked Ranked. When you get close to killing yourself, come speak to me and I'll help.

[Shay Chaise]

I know I'm partly just banging on to myself but I think it's interesting how my feelings have fluctuated with this, and I reckon the muted response here says quite a lot. I've read a lot of people who quite enjoyed the testpunch but thought it probably wasn't their thing for fifty quid, or thought it was well made but not particularly instinctive. While I think the network test and demo elements were obviously very popular and useful, I also think that this is a game you need to sit with and dedicate a few hours to getting the basic mechanics down. I don't even mean the controls, I mean the pace of it, the range of different arms, your main's jump and dash speed and distance, dodge timing. I can feel it now when I stop playing, a surefire sign that my brain is adapting to it.

It does admittedly seem a bit chaotic and spammy for a good couple of hours and it's pretty fucking frustrating as you're learning. The CPU is bullshit and playing online against grab spammers is really irritating until you learn to dodge and punish properly. Once you settle on a character though, and settle on a couple of options with your arms (which you unlock), it has such a unique rhythm and feel to it. It gets under your skin.

I've gone with Kid Cobra, and I'm using two different but similar arms - the Slapamander and the Slamamander. They obviously fit the serpentine aesthetic but they also seem to suit my long range style. They both have unusual trajectories, but at different angles. One has a wide arc and hooks round, preventing dashes to the side. The other is like a whip, it seems to almost corkscrew and comes down vertically. In combination, they are tremendously good fun. Playing on any stage with obstacles is fantastic because I can either bend round the side or dip just over the top. Either way, I keep catching people who obviously thought they'd be safe. Throwing two at once at different angles and curving them towards my opponent is absolutely magic, just what I'd hoped the game would be. I would love to know what it looks like from the other end because it seems so difficult to read.

Long story short, ARMS is a very good 8 and it's getting better by the hour. If they give this the support they offered to Splatoon, I am really excited to see more of my friends list getting involved.

[Kelvin]

I know I'm partly just banging on to myself

Nah, I'm reading it all. But I'm moving flat this coming week, and I've sworn to myself I'll only buy the game once I've packed everything. I'll be joining the thread in a week or so.

[Shay Chaise]

I've not thrown myself into this but I've played a good few fights each day, pretty much. It feels markedly different every few days, players and tactics are becoming more and more sophisticated and skilled and I'm seeing that there is a beautiful rhythm and mindgame to ARMS. It's top tier gaming.

Almost everyone I hear from went through a similar process. It seems fun, then frustrating, then fun, then more frustrating and then it clicks. It is all about footsies and keeping your opponent guessing. You really benefit when you know how long each ARM is and know the trajectory and how much you can curve it, and what it will beat from your opponent, and whether it is still useful without charge and so on. It's such a deep game once the systems and variables start to sink in.

[Shay Chaise]

So, ARMS, then.

This seems to have been only a moderate success, 13th biggest seller on the Switch, and with the release of Splatoon 2, it's pretty much dropped off the radar for most people. Am I right that nobody else on here picked it up? My updated opinion on the game is still that it's excellent but I absolutely understand why it's not sold especially well and why it hasn't achieved anything like the appeal of Splatoon.

In short, while I quite enjoyed the test punches, from a gameplay point of view, you do have to be quite good at it before it becomes really fun. It doesn't have the Splatoon or MK8D sense of pick up and play and compete/contribute. Worse, it's often very irritating until it clicks. I certainly had very mixed feelings during the test punches (as seen above) but the reality is that I just wasn't good enough to play well and reap the rewards of genuine competition.

Yet, when you do get an evenly matched opponent, it's probably my favourite multiplayer experience on the Switch. There's little as satisfying as a late comeback with a well conceived double punch trap. I had an absolutely brilliant fight this evening, three very very close rounds and I just got over the edge in time. Even Ultra Street Fighter 2 would struggle to compete with that intensity. But many of those who bought it may not even reach such a point.

Beyond the base gameplay and mechanics, I don't think it's a very rich world and although the ARMS subreddit is still full of fanart shite, there's just not the same appeal or fascination as there is with Splatoon. It's also lacking in progression and variety and most matches do tend to come down to similar starts, with differing degrees of skill and application. It's not especially interesting to watch for that reason.

I would struggle to recommend it just because it's so different but I genuinely feel it's also given me some of my most exciting moments on the console. A strange but beautiful beast and I really hope they continue to support it with more free DLC.

Anyone still tempted?

[Kelvin]

I actually did buy it the day before I moved flat, but then had no internet for a month, so couldn't post my thoughts on the game. By the time I had internet again, the conversation had moved on to Splatoon.

Anyway, much like you, I really like the game. It reminds me a lot of Smash Bros, in that every character has the same basic set of moves available to them, so it's easy to learn anyone, and for anyone to jump in, but subtle variations between characters, "Arms" and playstyle transform that base control scheme into something much more sophisticated and advanced. In other words, it's both much easier to learn a character than it is in a traditional beat em up like SF or MK, but also has surprising depth once you git gud.

As usual with Nintendo, though, they've made a few really weird, in my opinion misjudged, decisions that hamper the experience at times. For example, there just aren't enough options in multiplayer (it needs a way to reset the arms assigned to each character, for example), and the online multiplayer is pretty awful, with one player often left watching, while the other fights in a 2 or 3 way battle. My friend and I loved playing Smash U online, so it's frustrating to come up against such basic flaws in the experience here.     

Overall, I liked it, though. Although unlike you, Shay, that's not so much because I got particularly good at the game, but because I just find the game a lot of fun to play brainlessly in solo player, co-op, or vs a friend.

[Shay Chaise]

Totally agree that there needs to be more multiplayer options. While Ranked Mode does eliminate some of what you mentioned (one player just watching or abusing their spectator status), I wish Party Mode weren't the only other option because most of the modes are just daft. Something like a 1v1 lobby would be perfect, single round fights against a rotating group of players. I just want to do loads of fights without being concerned about ranking up and so on because that really affects how people play. Near the end, almost everyone goes super cautious and just waits for a dodge-grab. In a lobby where only arm points and entertainment are at stake, I think it'd encourage more experimentation and a less cautious playstyle.

I have actually got back into it over the last few days, finding myself slightly bored and overwhelmed with Splatoon.

[Kelvin]

Nintendo decide to break with convention by designing the ugliest character imaginable:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzHZUo9M2ZQ

[Bhazor]

Would

[Shay Chaise]

While I feel like I kinda got my money's worth out of Splatoon, and I'm sure I'll jump in again at some point, I have always felt slightly short-changed by ARMS, and not just in terms of content. It's more that it never quite matched up to the game I thought it would be, in my head. Without repeating my post above, I do think that if they simply increased movement speed and incorporated some kind of air game, it'd be much more exciting, it just needs that touch of chaos and RNG/rock paper scissors which the best fighters have.

That said, I've pushed myself to give it another go over the last few days, in light of the recent update, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed it. I've been playing as the new girl, Lola Pop...oh, I've honestly only just got that that's a pun...and she's great fun. I've been having more success with her than any other character since the very very early days when nobody knew how to play. Her default arms, particularly the nunchuk and the shield, are superb and I've started to figure out how to frustrate and do some damage. The nunchuk in particular seems great, like it travels through opponents' punches or something.

Anyone here touched this in months? I'm feeling myself getting back in, I want to play it and I'm thinking about playing it.

[Kelvin]

While I feel like I kinda got my money's worth out of Splatoon, and I'm sure I'll jump in again at some point, I have always felt slightly short-changed by ARMS, and not just in terms of content. It's more that it never quite matched up to the game I thought it would be, in my head. Without repeating my post above, I do think that if they simply increased movement speed and incorporated some kind of air game, it'd be much more exciting, it just needs that touch of chaos and RNG/rock paper scissors which the best fighters have.

That said, I've pushed myself to give it another go over the last few days, in light of the recent update, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed it. I've been playing as the new girl, Lola Pop...oh, I've honestly only just got that that's a pun...and she's great fun. I've been having more success with her than any other character since the very very early days when nobody knew how to play. Her default arms, particularly the nunchuk and the shield, are superb and I've started to figure out how to frustrate and do some damage. The nunchuk in particular seems great, like it travels through opponents' punches or something.

Anyone here touched this in months? I'm feeling myself getting back in, I want to play it and I'm thinking about playing it.

I've picked it up again for a couple of matches here and there, but honestly, the more time's passed, the more I feel underwhelmed by the game. Without repeating what you've said above, I really feel like it suffers from a significant lack of options and content. Online is terrible; you either play against newbies in a series of gimmicky single round matches, or experts who thrash you within seconds. Throws seem insanely over-powered, even if there are apparently ways to counteract this once you get good enough. In fact, in general, the combat itself feels terribly repetitive compared to other fighters, or Nintendo's own alternative offering, Smash Bros.

Other than the colourful, chunky art design there's not really anything positive that stayed with with me long after playing it, and I think you're absolutely spot on about the speed being the problem; movement is too slow, jumps too small, attacks too predictable. I actually quite enjoyed it as a mindless single player when I first got it, but after putting it down to play other, better games, I've felt absolutely no incentive to return to it, and very little pleasure on the handful of occasions I've picked it back up for the 2 player.         

[Shay Chaise]

I think your point about throws and about experience levels nails it. I did find quite early on, like, in the Testpunch, that I could wipe the floor with someone just starting out. They had absolutely no chance whatsoever, and likewise I would get annihilated by anyone who'd figured it out better than me. And OK, that's more or less the case with SF2/4/5, as well, but pretty regularly one of my mates will beat me at that, or take a few rounds at least, even when I'm playing my main. There's just more capacity to do damage in clusters because of the combo system, and there are more attacking variables to contend with, so probability dictates that these things will align from time to time. That's not the case with ARMS.

Since you can only typically score two hits at a time, plus potential elemental damage which might result in a follow-up grab, every fight becomes a war of attrition. In those circumstances, the more experienced player has more time and opportunity to make that experience and greater skill count every time. Also, the number of fights which time out shows that there's something off-balance, either regarding standard damage output, health bars, damage potential or, in fact, most likely all of the above. There's too much emphasis placed on a successful rush combo each round and, as we've both said, throws are still pretty broken. Even if, as you rightly point out, it's easy to punish a poor throw attempt at higher levels, it's ludicrously overpowered in the early stages, and I can't imagine how frustrating and off-putting that must be for new players.

Err, that said, I've been having a blast with it again today and I'll keep dipping back in regularly, I'm sure.

[Shay Chaise]

I thought this was worth a bump in light of some pretty hefty updates.

Most significant is the new Party Crash event which is in the middle of its second session, on til Monday. It's basically Splatfest, and exactly what the game has needed in my opinion. It lasts about three days but within that, there's constant rotation and variety. In fact, the modifiers change every fifteen minutes. Probably most enjoyable for me are the Lab Selects fights, where you are assigned a random combination of arms every round. It really helps shake things up and gets you figuring things out on the fly. I've used some stuff I'd never unlocked with my main and therefore never used before, really good fun. There are also rotating bonuses for using certain characters and specific arms and you steadily rank up over the course of the event, putting you against players of a more suitable level, and you get a shitload of badges at the end, more of that in a sec. This is just what the game needed to shake things up and encourage variety. I'm as guilty as anyone of getting stuck with one regular combination and character.

Which brings me neatly...One of my major criticisms of the game was that grinding for credits was too slow and worked against the thing which gives the game depth and variety - the ARMS! Sure enough, they've brought in badges, which work kind of like achievements, and which give a steady stream of good rewards. If you've put any time into it at all, you'll likely log in to find you've got a handful of badges and several hundred credits, even without any involvement in the Party Crash. That would have taken hours and hours to achieve previously. It meant that I went from four or five arms per character, at most, to perhaps a dozen each, very quickly.

They've also added two more new characters and stages, with some pretty cool arms. Lola Pop came in with update 3.0, as I mentioned above, a kind of candy clown with a cool inflate and bounce mechanic. I don't know if it's a good tactic but I'm constantly bouncing around just because it's fun and slightly hard to read. It just feels good, feels Nintendo. She's also got some fun arms, especially the spiralling Funchuks. I seem to always get some chip damage or bonus hits every time I fling them out. The recent update 4.0 added Misango, a Mayan-type character who uses scorpions and poison and other such unusual tools. I've not played with him much but he's a fun addition, fits the tone but also takes it into a new area. Springtron was also added in the last week or so, a robotic bastard version of Springman with a crazy defensive EMP blast.

I think this is a much-maligned and misunderstood game (and by me!), partly due to the cognitive dissonance of its Pixar-esque presentation vs. its slower-paced tactical gameplay, but I really really love what it does at its best, and there isn't a game quite like it when you get into the rhythm. I've been coming and going with it over the past six months but it's never been better, more fun or more varied than it is now.

As I've improved at the game, too, and seen how important different loadouts can be, I've realised that many of my earlier criticisms are simply wrong. By making sure to have one straight arm available, I can pretty much ruin anyone spamming grab by punching straight through on reaction. It's harder with wide arcing arms, obviously, or slower arms or those with unusual trajectories but at the same time, learning how to use them properly will give you different advantages. Equally, I used to feel that every fight was at midrange and rushes were a guaranteed punish for anyone daring not to turtle. Wrong again, and close pressure is a very valid and intimidating approach, depending on your character and arms. It's proven me wrong time and again and it continues to get better. I wonder how long they'll keep up this support, but for anyone wavering, there's never been a better time to get into ARMS.

[Kelvin]

I must admit, the party crash mode has revived my interest in the game slightly, and I have enjoying playing in both events - albeit, not between. I think it helps that the modes and conditions are really varied in Party Crash, which avoids the tedium I usually find the game devolves into.

[Shay Chaise]

I think that's a decent call and to be honest, that's how I play Splatoon these days. Seldom play outside the Splatfests but jump in for the events and a bit of chaos. I did play ARMS last night with my mate for a good couple of hours, though, and we had a brilliant time just playing on random 1v1. His missus is getting him a Switch for Christmas and so I took mine round to whet his appetite a bit, play ten minutes of twenty games basically just to give him a few ideas about what to get with it. We ended up hammering ARMS in the end and I'm really pleased he was into it. He was also impressed by how much Nintendo support their mainline games, hoping for another good six months or more of updates to this. It's something which will only get better the more they add to it.

[Shay Chaise]

Party Crash is back, people! (Kelvin) There's a new data mode in rotation where your arms are gigantic and do triple damage. Good for getting the bonus points in!

I love ARMS and one of my best mates just got a Switch and says he loves ARMS, too.

That's ARMS for you!

[Shay Chaise]

A little glimpse of the new One Punch Wonder mode: https://twitter.com/_Stanshall/status/947199781608218624?s=09

[Kelvin]

I played it for an hour or so tonight, and I'll probably play it for another hour or so before the Party Mode ends.

It's definitely the most fun way to play the game, and I actually wish it ran every weekend, as I'd be happy to put an hour in every week, if that was the case. They had a mode where you compete to play as Hedlock which I haven't seen before, either.

[Shay Chaise]

Totally agree. It's so much fun this way. I also think they should incorporate a TestPunch into it, so people could see how much they've added to it and how much better it is now. Maybe just a couple of hours over the weekend.

[Shay Chaise]

Currently on sale and via the SA eShop you can therefore get it for about thirty quid.

I hammered the recent Party Crash, got up to level 25 or so and nearly got all arms for all characters now. It's also given me a decent insight into using Twintelle, who I rather love. The slo-mo is sickkk. I also love the trajectory of her brollies. Twin brollies is often my game, love it, but Dr. Coyle's electric parabola parasols are a great way to mix it up with her, too. Such a damn good game.

[Thursday]

Currently on sale and via the SA eShop you can therefore get it for about thirty quid.

I hammered the recent Party Crash, got up to level 25 or so and nearly got all arms for all characters now. It's also given me a decent insight into using Twintelle, who I rather love. The slo-mo is sickkk. I also love the trajectory of her brollies. Twin brollies is often my game, love it, but Dr. Coyle's electric parabola parasols are a great way to mix it up with her, too. Such a damn good game.

Mate, we all know why you like using her

[Shay Chaise]

That's a big part of it. French accent and all. I always go blonde, though, over the default platinum.

Did you ever try this? I can't remember. Test Punch?

[Thursday]

I played a lot of the Test Punch, and enjoyed it, but didn't feel like it would sustain my interest for very long.

[Shay Chaise]

I'm repeating myself but really wish they'd brought the Test Punch back for the Party Crashes. Even if just an hour or two each day, I think it'd sell a lot more copies of the game.

[Kelvin]

I'm repeating myself but really wish they'd brought the Test Punch back for the Party Crashes. Even if just an hour or two each day, I think it'd sell a lot more copies of the game.

I agree. If I hadn't played the Party Crashes, I'd have permanently remembered the game as a busted flush. The Party Crash modes have really succeeded in re-engaging me, in a way that even Splatoon's updates haven't managed.

[Shay Chaise]

I'm really pleased to hear that. I think there's even more they could do with it but it's definitely a much better game now than at launch and the Party Crashes have been some of my gaming highlights of the first year of the Switch. I do hope it's done well enough for a follow up, or at least a few more little updates.

It also seems to have done well in quite a lot of GOTY lists. Top six or so in Edge and Eurogamer, from memory.