I recently bought an Atrox for Xbox One because I’m starting to really like Killer Instinct. I first got into fighting games when SF4 first came out and I played it on the 360. I remapped my buttons so I could use my Atrox on the PC and played USF4 on steam for about an hour last night. Now I have an issue, I can’t decide which game I want to play! My relative skill level is low (I destroy all my friends on both games but lose 90% of my online matches). I want to get better at KI, and I also am interested in getting better at USF4. Will playing both games simultaneously and trying to improve my gameplay on both actually be a roadblock to getting better at them? Or will learning multiple titles be better for me as a fighting gamer?
Hey! guy in your same boat here!
The thing I was told by Paul B was that there’s no shortcut, grind it out. Time is what will help you get better. Where as I was trying to get help on playing the game and start from scratch with a fightstick, the endgame is still the same. We want to get better, hell, great and competitive level.
So whether or not you want to make one game your primary or not, it definitely is still going to be the same investment: A fuckton of time.
So the only benefit to one game over the other is that to be good at both, you’ll need to grasp the advanced concepts like timing, manuals/§linking, frames and so on. Both will teach you that but the mind games and styles of gameplay for each game are different, as well as the pacing of the fight. SOOOOOOOOO pick one. or both. Just be aware that they are two different games. And just play a bunch! It will come with time.
Multi-game player right here. I play USF4 and GGXrd (have yet to play competitively, though). I like to dedicate equal time to both games so they both stay fresh in my mind and I don’t start to get rusty at one or the other. Also, my characters (Guile, Gouken, Bedman) all have similar playstyles, so I’m pretty much always doing the same thing.
Like Eijiken said, it’ll certainly take some time to get good, but I’ve put in the time and feel happy about my execution and spacing.
As a beginner to fighting games it will be a roadblock, as in it will take you MORE time than it would have taken you to get good at just 1 game.
In general it is a big plus to play more fighting games, or atleast have had that experience to draw upon. Things you learned in one fighting game can help you improve in others. Be that reactions, excecution, improved spacing, a new way of looking at situations, better understanding of player mentalities etc
Honestly i find having atleast 1 other fighting game that has your interest helps you from getting burned out on the other, your “main” fighting game.
If you prefer to play KI then spend most of your time on that game and occasionally switch it with USFIV, or vice versa.
So I just tried going back to KI after a week break and several hours of SF4… and the combo system that felt familiar felt somewhat distant… that and I think I’ve been having more fun with SF4, and I also tried skullgirls for a few hours and liked it pretty good too. It’s a tough call but I think I’m going to end up playing more SF than anything. Now I just need to find people to play with on steam that have headsets like I did on KI so it’s more of a social thing too.
i would suggest one of the “stupid” fighters like world heroes on neo geo, or super fighter on pc
or a brawler, those kinda died with the 90’s… double dragon, knights of the round, x-men etc.
There is no real answer to this question, it depends on your brain. Some brain thrive and do better learning multiple titles, some brand thrive learning one first. Another example of one size does not fit all is the debate on weather to learn plinking before or after you learn how to do link combos in sf4. Some people do better learning plinks later. I however should have learned plinking first because now that I can do links, it is taking me longer to learn how to add the plink in a combo than it took me to learn the combo in the first place.
I would love to be able to play multiple titles, but I have issues with it. Like when I got into Soul Calibur, and went back to Tekken–I found myself trying to block with the block button as if I was playing SC. It’s like I can only handle playing one 2d game, and one 3d game at a time.
it helps for variety. Eg if you think you are too good at SF4 or any other game and matches turn boring, you can try learning other games where players that you’d beat easily on SF4 , would totally surprise you.
Obviously you’ll get better at one if you put all of your attention into it. But I think as long as aren’t taking long breaks between games, you can play multiple titles and get better at them simultaneously. You’ll just take longer to reach your goal.
Playing more fighting games probably will improve your general fundamentals across all fighting games , but unfortunately if you do play several fighting games at a time , you’ll find that the different control schemes will mess with your brain and your muscle memory’s auto pilot will get you into trouble in more than one ocassion.
For example a couple of years back when I was playing both UMvsC3 and SF X TK at the same time, I was sometimes subconsciously using the tag command from SF X TK in UMvsC3 instead, while online … that got me a good few losses quite quickly.
But playing more than one title is good for building different styles and mindsets , between the different games and mechanics and of course learning from as many players from other fighting games can put a new perspective on trying different things and just contribute to your accumulated knowledge/experience in the genre in general to make you more versatile overall.
Multiple fighters is a good thing.
I just picked up MKX and while I suck at the only other game I’ve been playing before (USFIV), I’m dropping fools left, right and center in MKX right now, just because I know how fighting games work.
It depends on what you want to achieve, how much free time you have, and the level of competition available to you. while there’s probably some stuff that’s helpful to transfer between games, I definitely think that at the highest level it requires a lot of game and matchup knowledge to win, and this is something you’ll be lacking in as a multi game specialist because you don’t have the time to invest to learn the details.