Long story short, I started playing fighting games seriously (with a stick and actually trying to learn and practice) about a year ago with Marvel 3, and it’s pretty much the only game I understand or know anything about.
So my problem is when I try to play P4A or other Arc games I guess is I feel like nothing combos yet I know big combos are possible. Are the timings on Arc games wayyyyy tighter than Marvel or what?
Tighter? AFAIK, the newer ASW games have like a 5 frame buffer window or something like that which makes combos easier than say Guilty Gear.
I felt that at first too; it’s just a matter of getting some practice and getting used to the timing in this game. It’s not really any harder than Marvel, it just takes some adjusting to the fact that you’re not doing BBCS-type chains anymore.
The thing that took me the longest time to adjust early on playing Mitsuru was having to take small pauses mid-combo all the time and adjust timing and/or spacing. It felt a bit weird compared to playing like…Doom or Viper where you’re just continuously either pressing something or cancelling something into something else non-stop until the combo’s over. It’s really not any harder though, it’s just…a different style, I guess?
I find combos to be easier here because it relies more on chaining than linking (but I dunno if links are in UMvC3, I do not think they are…). Do you want to know where to start in general or just in relation to combos? For the latter just go into Challenge mode with the character you are using, the vast majority of combos you learn there are incredibly practical especially in the beginning. They’ll give you your go to converted pokes, punishes into super, counterhit setups, anti-air, everything, as well as give you ideas on what goes with what so you can start building your own.
For the former I know a guy who wrote some very good pieces on adapting to the P4A mechanics and flow and how to practice it.
Naturally I think the important part about picking up a new game is knowing about movement/options/etc above pulling off the best combos or else you’ll never have a chance to use them in the first place. Or maybe I’m just lazy and hate learning combos.