Evolution of Accessibility in Fighting Games

[@user-nt1yb5kr8x]

Combos should be a risk/reward mechanic. Highest damage combos should require some kind of skill check, be it speed or timing. This is where skill and tension is found. The chance of the player missing the cancel/link being the point of tension. I think bnbs being low barrier to entry with barely any tight cancels or links is fine, but I think there should be higher damage options for people to elevate to and express their skill and dedication. The same game should have bnb combos and 'OH SHIT! combos'

[@Nyagro]

Nice little essay and some valid points. One thing to underline though is that in a general sense "accessibility" never takes away from the gameplay. Think of color blind modes for video games, solid access to information and resources to learn in-game, good training mode features in fighting games etc. But essentially since Street Fighter V, it has gotten an increasingly negative connotation because the devs used the word as a pretense to deliberately lower the skill gap between players. The most recent example would be the core design of Guilty Gear Strive which was designed to be quote: "More like a game of Mahjong where the lesser skilled player can still win games against a more experienced player by making a few good reads. Compared to before where it was like chess where the more experienced player would nearly always win." And I don't think designing the core game to be more akin to gambling with high volatility is the way to go about "accessibility". If accessibility was done right, nobody would have a problem with it. But that is rarely the case and accessibility alone isn't the goal. As it stands now it often takes away from more experienced players in order to bring more people in thus making the game "more accessible".

[@thelasthellfish6719]

Accessibility is key, not everyone can dedicate 3-5hrs a day just to get into learning combo routes Being able to pull off a good nice combo should be something everyone can do.

[@KenSTACKS]

I think Alanah Pearce said it best, Accessibility is something that has to be thought about from a production's beginning. It's something that you design for, you don't add it as an extra. I think Killer Instinct (at least for season 1) did accessibility best too, its combo mechanics don't require much to thought to be done however they counter that with the play-by-play strategies you make, and the combo breakers. The Skill barrier is not that high but it does take a bit of skill to master them, and a whole lot more skills to use them knowing that your opponent can easily be on the same level as you even if they are button mashing, which makes it dicey and interesting cause as much as great plays come with great skills, the people who suck are unpredictable. Nice Video, pretty interesting conversation.

[@MegafanX123]

Underrated ways to add accessiblity, aside from tutorials and good UI: 1 normals canceling into each other 2 - 3 button layout with a 4th one as system functions 3 - NOT HAVING THOSE BITCHASS CIRCULAR INPUTS, AND NEITHER THE DOUBLE ONES 4 - Guts 5 - making all combos escapable by some meterless gimmick such as a combo breaker or counter shift

[@rodrigoreismarinho9552]

letting everyone do combos seems like such a good ideia but the amount of people who just cant play neutral is abysmal, i feel like every person i fight who isnt a veteran just cant fathom this concept, but they still win because every once in a while they land a hit and combo, which inevitably outdamages me on the long run. I think there should be more enphasis on teaching neutral, idk, maybe a gamemode without comboes? having a level up sistem that unlocks comboes after a certain time? idk, but it seems way too comon for people to learn comboes and nothing else (because it doesnt do "a little bit more damage", it outright win games), so when they get to play with veterans they are destroyed because they dont know neutral. also, i've been playing FGs for at least a year and yet no comboes, i just accept it at this point. (and the games i play have no autocombo so i'm just cooked)

[@wakeupsweep8278]

These new games feel like a new franchise entirely instead of something I cared about. I wish they would just revive an old series or make something new, but they don't because that's a risk.

[@vergantexv]

To be honest, just take a look at sparking zero. The game genuinely has so many problems, but people are so willing to cope and ignore them because it's "Budokai tenkaichi 4". I don't like it as much as you might not, but people are really voting with their wallets. If that game was a new franchise, it wouldn't sell anywhere near as much as it did, and people will tear down the hell out of it. I also wish sometimes they took more risks but... People are people y'know. These names are big and correlate to the sales numbers more often than not.

[@wakeupsweep8278]

@vergantexv Honestly, I think fighting games don't have accessible alternatives like they used to.

[@jaughnekow]

Wake up babe, Vergante has posted another one. Get some coffee ☕️ Edit: i am no pro at fighting games, just a casual player. I enjoy fighting games because of the cool characters and awesome combos. Multiversus and thems fighting herds are some that I play regularly but i play multiversus more because the combos are easy to input and grasp. Thems fighting herds? Not that much cos the combo structure is just too much to take in. I do try but still suck lol. I agree with your points about making fighting games more accessible.

[@selorm5188]

great rounded story on the accessibility narrative for the genre

[@KenSTACKS]

ohhhhh

[@DCMCOSPLAYdotCOM]

Combos are going to be the death of the genre. Tekken 8 for example is more of a hacky sack simulator than it is a fighter. It's a game that rewards labbing more than playing. Right there you have a disconnect that appeals to a small niche of the genre. Fighting games are suppose to be all about good reads, reaction, the right move for the right job. Having combos on the norm that do over 50% damage is simply bad product.

[@vergantexv]

@@DCMCOSPLAYdotCOM the simple mode combos I refer to in the video are not what deal 50% damage. Simple combos in Tekken don't deal 50% damage either. The key here is luring players in and keeping them invested so they keep playing. And naturally, by extension, they learn other aspects of the game. Fighting games take time to learn. Being able to keep someone within the genre and enjoy the game will naturally lead to them learning the rest of the aspects that are incorporated in fighting games. What accessibility should be aiming to do is taking down the mental barrier. But not everyone will stick with the game or learn the extras either. They are just looking for a temporal good time. Not to compete or to necessarily be a veteran. Most players are perfectly contempt hitting shinryu alone.

[@MegafanX123]

Thats why burst, combo breakers and counter shift (from es laff ) should be universal just like counter or jumps