So guys, as you all probably already know - the common trend in the gaming industry is partial simplification of the gameplay, which is a design decision by many companies to attract bigger audiences to the different game franchises. Sometimes it works out, other times it might cause players to lose interest, and sometimes it actually hurts the games more than benefits it (i.e. stripping out some essential elements that were the staple of the series for many years)
And, as you probably also know, Fighting Games are no exception to this trend, with various companies taking a new approach to the gameplay of their famous fighting game franchises. Examples given below:
ArcSystem Works eased up the learning curve for Guilty Gear Xrd and in general it’s the easiest game in the entire series to pick up and start playing, which features like advanced tutorial and missions help it.
The same developer added a “Stylish” mode to BlazBlue, its other fighting game series, which simplifies some inputs for the entire cast, and if you were a DualShock 3 user (or a pad player in general) - you could perform certain special moves by just moving the Right Analog Stick. Basically designed to help people get familiar with the game before proceeding to a higher skill level. It’s also worth noting that Stylish mode isn’t banned at high level tournaments (in Japan anyway), and the feature is also coming to Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-
Persona 4: Arena, which is yet another game by ArcSys, has an All-Out Attack, that is performed by quickly mashing one of the attack buttons, and can be used as a combo extender to proceed into a finishing move or a super etc. While not popular among competitive players (rarely ever used in tournament play) - it can be considered one of the beginner-friendly tools executed with just one attack button rapidly press, while delivering relatively solid damage
Iron Galaxy added an Auto-Combo/Combo Assist mode to Killer Instinct. Unlike Stylish mode, Combo Assist keeps the special move inputs intact for the entire cast (note that in BB even charge characters’ specials can be performed without needing to charge while in Stylish mode), but simplifies the actual combos. So, normally you would need to not only push buttons but also do various directional inputs (mostly quarter-circle or half-circle), and Combo Assist removes the need to perform them entirely, requiring players to only push correct buttons at correct times
Another recent example is King of Fighters XIV. This series, similar to Guilty Gear, is known for its rather hard and precide execution requirements (see any of KOF13 trial videos - you’ll be amazed by their difficulty), and in an attempt to cater/attract some new casual audience to the series and soon to be released new entry - SNK added a So guys, as you all probably already know - the common trend in the gaming industry is partial simplification of the gameplay, which is a design decision by many companies to attract bigger audiences to the different game franchises. Sometimes it works out, other times it might cause players to lose interest, and sometimes it actually hurts the games more than benefits it (i.e. stripping out some essential elements that were the staple of the series for many years)
And, as you probably also know, Fighting Games are no exception to this trend, with various companies taking a new approach to the gameplay of their famous fighting game franchises. Examples given below:
ArcSystem Works eased up the learning curve for Guilty Gear Xrd and in general it’s the easiest game in the entire series to pick up and start playing, which features like advanced tutorial and missions help it.
The same developer added a “Stylish” mode to BlazBlue, its other fighting game series, which simplifies some inputs for the entire cast, and if you were a DualShock 3 user (or a pad player in general) - you could perform certain special moves by just moving the Right Analog Stick. Basically designed to help people get familiar with the game before proceeding to a higher skill level. It’s also worth noting that Stylish mode isn’t banned at high level tournaments (in Japan anyway), and the feature is also coming to Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-
Persona 4: Arena, which is yet another game by ArcSys, has an All-Out Attack, that is performed by quickly mashing one of the attack buttons, and can be used as a combo extender to proceed into a finishing move or a super etc. While not popular among competitive players (rarely ever used in tournament play) - it can be considered one of the beginner-friendly tools executed with just one attack button rapidly press, while delivering relatively solid damage
Iron Galaxy added an Auto-Combo/Combo Assist mode to Killer Instinct. Unlike Stylish mode, Combo Assist keeps the special move inputs intact for the entire cast (note that in BB even charge characters’ specials can be performed without needing to charge while in Stylish mode), but simplifies the actual combos. So, normally you would need to not only push buttons but also do various directional inputs (mostly quarter-circle or half-circle), and Combo Assist removes the need to perform them entirely, requiring players to only push correct buttons at correct times
Another recent example is King of Fighters XIV. This series, similar to Guilty Gear, is known for its rather hard and precide execution requirements (see any of KOF13 trial videos - you’ll be amazed by their difficulty), and in an attempt to cater/attract some new casual audience to the series and soon to be released new entry - SNK added a Rush Combo mechanic. It’s a relatively simple to use tool designed for new players, that performs a short combo with 2-3 normal attack into a special, and, given the player has at least 1 meter bar stocked, adds a super at the end of the combo. The Rush Combo is performed with rapid presses of one attack button, and to prevent the abuse of this - the damage of Rush Combos is slightly reduced compared to the damage the same combo would deal if the player performed it manually. I think it also eases the familiarization process as players slowly dive into the game, and since it’s a universal mechanic that works across the entire cast - it’s also a nice demonstration of one of the basic BnBs available for specific character(s) since KOFXIV combos are generally short compared to the previous entry, which also would push players to learn these combos manually in the future, since a reward for that would not only be higher damage dealt, but also bigger combo opportunities with the use of Super Desperation Moves, Climax Moves and the MAX mode returning from the classic KOF titles
Mortal Kombat games are as simple as ever, while also adding some smaller things like Input Shortcuts (similar to SF4) and Alternate Inputs (to make the game more familiar to, say, Street Fighter players since it changed the special move inputs from something like back-forward + attack button to half-circle forward+attack button), nevermind that Mortal Kombat was and still is generally a rather easy game to pick up and just mash some buttons with friends or online, which easily explains why the series gained its popularity in addition to the famous gore that helped it to become viral back in the 90’s
And then we have Street Fighter V. Sure, Capcom has done quite a job to cater to the casual audience, i.e. they removed the 3-kick/3-punch inputs for Supers, the Supers themselves are generally performed by two short QCF motions and an attack button, the combat system is simplified due to the absence of Focus Attack and easy-to-use V-Skills and V-Triggers, there’s a 3-frame buffer present to help with performing combos, and such. But, even while having shortcuts for specials - those are still not quite the same thing that other companies are doing. So for example, if a newbie picks the game up today and likes Bison or Guile - they’ll be completely destroyed by the unusual charge inputs for their special moves, with which many players struggle even on the competitive scene, resulting in such character variety, and there’s no in-game tool that would help/explain the Charge mechanic or simplify the inputs for them
So, long story short - do you think Capcom should add something like a Stylish Mode or Rush Combo or even Combo Assist to Street Fighter V to emphasize the casual-friendly nature of the game even futher than now? Or is the game fine as is and it shouldn’t copy/paste what other studios do with their franchises?