Why Strive Succeeded

[@Acryte]

They hated Majin Obama because he told the truth.

[@kennythekid130]

woah its the bonkdash guy

[@rayciannello2268]

They reflected on themselves instead of blaming the beasts

[@KiingKai91]

Lmao

[@utewbd]

👏

[@sleepylo3358]

😂😂😂

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

Hahaha

[@ShawnWeeded510]

🤭🙏

[@Aldracity]

On supposed gameplay simplification - have you seen Dunkey's video? He says Strive is so much more accessible...and then describes a bunch of GG1 mechanics. Not gatlings, or IB changes, or air blocking, or throw whiffs or anything like that. Just FD, Burst, Dust, and RC. There isn't even a sideways mention of complex motions or charge inputs (he plays May), despite the last two fighting games he played having been Tekken and DBFZ. Maybe the perception of accessibility really is more important than simplification.

[@doogies]

ding ding ding ding

[@cctz_1]

Damn that last line, i think u hit the nail on the head. I remember being rly iffy to get into xrd in the last couple years cause all gg players would hype it up as like ‘the hardest game known to man’ and I ended up lovin it when i bit the bullet. The whole perceived notion of ‘easy game’ plus things like the new UI that everyone hated looking less complex and whatnot probably did miles of work in letting the game market itself

[@RatedB1]

Yep that's what hooked me, I hadnt gotten into a fighting game since Soul Calibur 2 ish

[@CamMcCoy87]

I'm surprised anyone can even listen to him talk long enough to summarize what he's saying.

[@damianjackson4112]

@@cctz_1 People who try to promote things just because it is "hard" do more damage to the things they like then help.

[@4thQueen]

98 percent of people buying a new fighting game don't give a SHIT about competing with pros

[@doogies]

facts

[@Mark-hn1vu]

What're you talking about, I'm going straight to the 1% /s

[@JusticeAngel]

They actually promoted the game

[@ganon4688]

Japan discovering the barbarian practice of "maaketingo"

[@blastfire21]

It also released after dbfz introduced fight games to a new audience

[@LikeGodzzila]

A shitton of people that never cared about Fighting Games are playing Strive, it's not promotion that made the difference. It's the presentation + amazing success of DBFZ + accessibility.

[@containeduniverselow4790]

Exactly. @Justice Angel

[@Okagemi]

Funnily enough, I bought the game on a whim. It came after FighterZ, and I always wanted to really get into fighting games. I never really saw the marketing. I saw one person's video on beta of a set lol

[@gokenhayato]

Simple, dbfz's success and they promoted rollback.

[@limear]

and promoted the game lmao

[@VerGiLL1]

@@limearPromoting the game sure did play a big part too, but if the game did not have rollback i honestly would have just passed. After Granblue I just can't buy delay-netcodes anymore specially niche ones that basically are dead playerbase wise after a month.

[@DeezNutzzzzzzzzzzz]

@@limear No shit Sherlock 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@limear]

@@VerGiLL1 yeah I'm with you. been waiting for a decent rollback fg for 10 years (other than KI)

[@aarono8979]

I see this a lot and I don't really care about DragonBall, but when I saw it I went and looked up the developer because it was the first fighting game with animation I'd cared for in 15 years. I've been tracking ArcSys and Strive ever since. Ya'll are seriously undervaluing how ArcSys has perfected a visual style that grabs even casuals and non-gamers. When I was playing the Beta at a family reunion even my Mom commented on how beautiful the game is. DBFZ + Rollback doesn't account for half of the appeal.

[@egebamyasi2929]

The betas did wonders for this game too. Those waves of content got everyone hyped in a periodic interval

[@doogies]

i hope more future releases have betas

[@owenlikesmovies]

Majin the segment about players discovered the older GGs after Strive really spoke to me. I first came to anime games from SF through Strive and chalked your dislike of Strive as only "hating". Now I haven't touched Strive since March and I just put my 500th hour into BB:CF since the rollback patch. The though of playing Strive again gives me heart palpitations but I am so happy to discover these games through it. Thank you.

[@doogies]

"Only hating" eh...? Glad you saw the light eventually

[@frostyblack1840]

Bruh when you mentioned kof XIII I Almost shed tears bruh. That game deserved so much more

[@djhero0071]

It almost bankrupted SNK didn't it? It had a (IMO) God tier mobile port, it has some of the most beautiful spritework of any fighting game I've seen, and it had some of the most wild and fun gameplay of any KOF. To say it deserved better is a DEEP understatement.

[@carlosaugusto9821]

All other fg's became almost invisible to people, because of Capcom's dominance in the early 2010s.

[@yeagmatic]

I mean it dont mean the end for kof xiii, just imagine if SNK rerelased it on ps4, ps5 and added rollback and crossplay, including the steam version. could result in some type of huge resurgence of people playing the game and people discovering it for the first time. Happened to melee at least. It'd be even more likely if the next kof turned out to be a shitter and the community unanimously agreed to just back the old stuff. A game being old doesn't sign its death sentence, as long as its fun someone out there will be willing to play it.

[@Natarcy]

I would say that the huge sales are not because game got simplified, however the popularity in the FGC is somewhat impacted by the game being more accessible. And with that some influencers that wouldn't have played the game, did play it and maybe a few more people bought it because of that.

[@solarflare8476]

The simplified gameplay is definitely not the main reason, a lot of the reasons Obama mentioned are higher on the totem pole, but yeah it does play a part. This may be anecdotal, but I've seen "Hey what's up with that Guilty Gear thing, is it any good, I've never played a fg before?" and the reply "Yeah it's pretty nice, don't worry about never playing the genre they made this one more accessible to newcomers" a lot in comments on twitter and stuff. If all the marketing, visuals and netcode and stuff is the thing that made people aware of GG (the visuals alone sold it a lot, granted) I think the simplification is what hammered home - what was the final push - for the "all right I'll try it"

[@Natarcy]

@@solarflare8476 It is possible that if xrd would have been marketed the same way it would have had similar or atleast more success than it did (netcode needed to be better too). People see the word simple and that is all they get attached to, without giving it much meaning. Xrd was "simplified" compared to XX too but it wasnt pushed as hard in marketing if at all.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

You nailed it. Not only FGC games are more popular, but "anime fighting games" and the reputation of Arc System Works have increased thanks to the success of FighterZ

[@cileavictoria1229]

I think an important angle to consider are those who were willing to try out Strive because the simplified mechanics would make the game better respect the time and effect they would put into learning it. This targets two important demographics: 1) fighting game players who either never gave pervious entries a try or otherwise dropped them because they found the learning process too unpleasant and 2) competitive-leaning people who have an interest in trying out fighting games but have held off due to the difficulty in learning them Also another factor is how they presented the learning process to new players. While Arcsys was coitized for their decision to have such a bare boned tutorial and their pride in bottom floor players barely using game mechanics, I'd say that's way better than a new player going through a "really good tutorial," getting overwhelmed, and dropping the game or otherwise feeling like they can't dare play the game yet without hours in training mode.

[@metalgeartrusty]

@@solarflare8476 i coldnt of said it better myself. this is beautifully stated, very precise, and you have a gift with words.

[@sneakman9873]

According to Ben Shapiro FGC's logic League and DOTA 2 shouldn't be as popular as they because new players would be intimidated by the legacy players. You don't need to be good at fighting games to have fun, somewhere along the way players and more importantly the devs seem to have forgotten that lesson. There is more to a fighting game than its skill floor/ceiling.

[@LikeGodzzila]

They're only popular because they have a massive influx of players so you'll always have a smooth learning curve, as opposed to fighting games that push everyone away with pointless, meaningless frontloaded depth and then only the very top players are left, bullying everyone else out. If you managed LoL or DotA how 99% of the companies manage their Fighting Games, you would wipe out every entry level character and replace them with pointlessly complicated mechanics and nuances, and just intimidate every new player away from the game while rewarding only the top players that play the game as their second jobs.

[@nixedification]

Theres also the cooperative element that pushes moba games and drives popularity. Having someone who can do all the carrying while you play support and learn the game alongside them adds a lot to the experience. Meanwhile with fighting games theres no one to rely on, and the skill differences become obvious really quickly

[@oddluck4180]

@@LikeGodzzila As someone who's played league, you do not get a smooth learning experience. There's hundreds of champions to learn, with a lot of new gimmicky items, and a fuckton of smurfs. People who get into league are gonna get fucked up for a good while.

[@LikeGodzzila]

@@oddluck4180 I played League for years since the beta of the game and introduced multiple people to it through the years (up until the point I switched to DotA and then dropped MOBAs all together). No matter how many hundreds or thousands of champions League has, it has a MUUUUUUCH smoother learning experience than pretty much any other fighting game on the market ever. First because like 90% of the things you learn is transversal knowledge to all other champions, secondly because the playerbase is so massive that you always have people on your level to mess around with, and thirdly because its a 5v5 game, where the responsibility to win or lose the game is split between the 5 elements of the team, which allows for a much smoother learning curve because you can learn from your teammates or play much much less critical roles while you're learning.

[@Renoistic]

I hate relying or leaning on other people in my games. I like fighting games because I improve as much as the effort and time I put into them.

[@edhenshuusha4666]

Thank you for mentioning regional pricing, it's something that's often overlooked and not a lot of people know it even exists, but it makes a huge impact for people in countries with poor economy. There's no way the PC community in Brazil would've been so active if it wasn't for regional pricing.

[@Yuki_1927]

I'm still extremely bitter that the games I like didn't have those opportunities.

[@mystymos3614]

Im bitter with you bud. It's not okay but it's the fucking gaming industry all around unfortunately.

[@Yuki_1927]

@@mystymos3614 I think is okay to feel that way as long it doesn't translate to hate towards the people enjoying the game. But yeah, is sad :/

[@mystymos3614]

@@Yuki_1927 Of course not. It's always been since the dawn of time "If you like it, you like it, great for you and I love the fun you're having" but it's just honestly 4 steps forward 6 steps back sometimes with these releases.

[@N00BSYBORG]

Strive was carried by the marketing and rollback. This isn't up for debate when the +R scene was revitalized after getting rollback alone. And that was for a "hard, dead game."

[@bennymountain1]

I'm Real happy that that +R got rollback. This way when boomers complain about how slow and simple Strive is you can point exactly the direction in which they can fuck off to.

[@N00BSYBORG]

@@bennymountain1 Play that boomer card shit all you want but if +R came out today with the rollback and it got the same level of marketing, it'd be popping off. I'm not even a boomer lmao. +R is just a better game.

[@RisingPhoenix05]

@@bennymountain1 but it is slower and more simplified. Those are parts of the accessibility that people like.

[@hefdef9961]

call me when sidewinder loops are in strive, i'll be waiting

[@madhatterarts1506]

@@N00BSYBORG if the graphics were modern as well, hell yeah i'd delete strive on spot. I miss my girl aba

[@FFmaxxx]

I think people should also consider the possibility that it got a pandemic boost. We are seeing that across multiple industries like movie industry. It's the first fighter to come out since the pandemic happened and I think alot of people were fiending for something. I'm Def not saying all the points you mentioned aren't a big part but that pandemic stimulus boost is real. Every movie that came out post pandemic for the most part did crazy numbers like a drake cosign in 2009.

[@hagahong3327]

Pandemic boost PLUS good netcode. iirc GBVS was actually the first fighter to come out during the pandemic and not Strive, but didn't do as well even though it was built on a well known IP - and I personally think it's because of the mediocre netcode and the reliance on an offline scene (which quickly withered when quarantine regulations hit). People wouldn't bother with Strive if they didn't feel like they were playing right next to each other, despite sitting home and being online and all. The movie industry is a bit different because there isn't a requirement for an extremely good connection to enjoy the films the way we need good netcode to play FGs.

[@FFmaxxx]

@@hagahong3327 I was just using the movie industry as an example.. Best one to come to mind. Alot of stuff blew up big that normally would have done OK to well. Like demon slayer broke every record when it was an OK movie. Strive Def did all the things right from promotion, to netcode to actually listening to players coughcoughsfcough... I just think we also need to recognize the pandemic boost as well. The pandemic made everyone realize gaming wise if anything like this happened again and they didn't work on it.. They'd be fucked.

[@PopoTCG]

Virtua Fighter 5 US came out like two weeks earlier

[@FFmaxxx]

@@PopoTCG no one was really lookin forward to that. It kinda popped out of nowhere. It was a cool surprise but not the same thing

[@PopoTCG]

@@FFmaxxx but it did come out first

[@captainmalice]

I'm really glad Guilty Gear as a whole is getting some recognition. I'm looking forward into Strive's future.

[@zepolcin2412]

Nice profile pic best references

[@bleach___]

I definitely have mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s guilty gear, and it’s finally getting more recognition, but on the other hand, it just feels so watered down. Something just seems overly casual or watered down, just doesn’t feel the same as I would playing +r or xrd.

[@captainmalice]

@@bleach___ Well atleast it worked.

[@Xenozillex]

@@captainmalice strive is so different im pretty sure if they made strive gradually become xrd there will be a schism. So i have to disagree that it worked.

[@Kawayolnyo]

Where were you for the last, like, 15-some years? GG was already quite well-known-of and popular (not FAMOUS, but popular) by the time online mod for Reload hit the PC.

[@Palladinium21]

Have a friend that hated FGs and never had any interest in them, we showed her Faust and Potemkin move sets, 2 weeks later she bought the game, the fact is people had no clue that GG even existed until strive, they just promoted the game

[@doogies]

crazy what marketing and promotion can do

[@EvilPineappl]

Strive is my first GG, I knew about the old ones and was not interested. Gameplay of those old GGs was very off putting. Trimming that gameplay fat and good netcode were big parts of what got me in.

[@NrettG]

@@EvilPineappl Dude I bought a humble bundle for steam containing all the guilty gear games and never even touched them until I heard about strive and played it. Strive did wonders to the series and made me realize I had diamonds just sitting on the table for me to play.

[@FishingForTeeth]

I remember months ago when +R got the rollback patch and how I was able finally jump on because 1) the game was dirt cheap 2) enough of my friend group and people in general were interested that I could regularly find people at my level and grow with the game. I think Strive has achieved that more with it's marketing than the streamlining of mechanics or attempt to change it's identity to be more ground based and appeal to other parts of the FGC. Unfortunately, in doing so, I think it's lost core parts of it's identity that made it unique.

[@pernieman4925]

Obama I love you dawg, but I think you really underestimate the factor that perception or marketing of a game as being simpler does for new people lookin to get into it. Obviously the way that Ben Shapiro put it ain't right, but as someone who got into FGs in the past year or two after watching them from a distance for a long time is because there were games out there that people talked about as being simpler or more accessible to "scrubs" like me. I think that it matters more than maybe a lot of people realize for those people who want to be a part of the FGC but are intimidated by the perceived skill floor. I don't wanna take away from the hard work of people pushing the game and specifically the massive marketing push that ASW clearly put behind this game. (Can't ignore the massive budget that DBFZ probably brought to the table too). Maybe I'm trippin but I know for me it made a difference when I decided to get into FGs, let me know what y'all think.

[@eduardoserpa1682]

Similar experience. Strive and DBFZ being supposedly easier helped me get quite a few of my friends into FGs, and it's always the first thing people ask me (or Reddit) when they're looking for their first fighting game. On the flip-side, the promise of easy execution probably does a lot more than it actually being that easy. BlazBlue CF fooled me and here I am still playing.

[@voidkirb5477]

Yeah I think that ppl rly do underestimate this. I like to as "Why is Apex less popular than Fortnite?" I mean, even before Fortnite had a billion crossovers, it was a billion times more popular than Apex. Apex's initial playerbase dropped off hard comparitively, not because of any lack of support though and not because of the quality of the game. The game has a ridiculous skill barrier compared to Fortnite, which has a very low skill barrier. Despite both games having high skill caps, Apex's mechanics absolutely turned many players away. A new player might ask: What do I do to get better? Do I learn movement tech? Do I just go pure mechanical? Why am I getting owned by people flying out of nowhere? I just got flick headshot from across the map? How did their team win when my aim is good? Why did their Gibraltar keep their team alive but I didn't? Apex has a lot of diff mechanics, lots of ways to get better, and lots of different things to get better at. Lots of people are confused by it at a baseline, and that's why many people dropped it. (hint hint) For a company that's supported by EA, that's not necessarily a bad thing. They have a powerful core community that keeps the servers and matches active, and that's enough. But for ArcSys, who very likely needs to expand playerbases to keep making the quality games and animations that they do, that isn't an option. Obv it ain't the only thing. But marketing and visuals alone aren't the only thing that creates a gap between 100k players vs 1 million.

[@mystymos3614]

@@voidkirb5477 Those two games are hard to compare, and kind of ridiculous to compare. Id say they both have different fanbases, and Fortnite's building mechanic makes it infinitely more daunting for someone new who would want to even think about getting into the game. In Apex? Not much to think about besides loot and positioning.

[@des757]

I think this is super true too. All my friends who preordered were the GG old guard who would have bought it anyway, but the day 1 instead of day 0 sales were new players who bought it after we showed them some gameplay.

[@RisingPhoenix05]

I picked up BBCP and Xrd when they came out cuz they looked cool, and I wanted to do cool stuff. I didnt even think about how hard they were. You get your shit kicked in no matter what game you start playing. Be it an FPS, MOBA, or fighting game. Its just that everythings your fault if you lose in a fighting game. And I didnt mind that responsibility, so I played them as my first fighting games.

[@sergman94]

We have to take in consideration that a lot of old heads started in arcades as well. It's tough to ignore another scene when they play on a cabinet right next to you. I think SFIV was the first major influx of online fighting game players. In turn, it turned into "everyone has their game" sort of deal, to the point where i have genuine met people who didn't know what dead or alive was, or had never even seen killer instinct. I think the new age of content creation kind of brought back the whole "other scenes playing at the cabinet next to you vibe back". It's a promising future for all the other series, that's for sure. As long as they all maintain the same standards, i think fighting games will have another big surge. Here's to hoping.

[@Jaynesslessly]

i think ultimately the accesibility stuff is really for intermediate players. yeah casuals will mash and dick around then quit. intermediates, like most people watching fgc content, are ones that give games an earnest try and wont really quit til they hit a wall, and most walls come from complex mechanics. one button dash gets memed a lot, but to expect someone to be able to 236956 tatami consistently to play their waifu baiken is just too much. modern day gamers value decision making and knowledge over muscle memory and mechanical execution, and strives design follows that trend which is why i think the "simplified gameplay" attributes to more of its success than people think

[@Illumernurti]

i remember watching a video with soulja boy holding a copy of Overture. he really is the first rapper to play guilty gear

[@eduardoserpa1682]

Honestly, the promise of simplification does a lot more than actually simplifying the game systems. How many people just heard "they say this one won't be that hard, I'll give it a try". That's a copy sold, regardless of how easy or hard it actually is. Also, thanks for remembering Regional Pricing. Strive would have been dead on arrival here in Brazil if Steam had not fixed the price from $60 to about $25. I hope new FGs can enjoy some of these environment factors that helped push Strive through. Melty might be next.

[@doogies]

I dont expect melty to get 10% the love this game got for some reason, but Im gonna be on it regardless. and glad the regional pricing worked out for Brazil

[@remz02]

Just saying Soulja Boi had 2 copies of GG2 overture in an old ass video where he went through his game collection. Man is an OG

[@NFMiguel]

I died when he showed that Drake Bell picture lmaoooooo

[@whoasupercrazy]

Hook exposed

[@ragnarokhead19000]

Once again, this is the nuance that’s uniquely Obama’s. Appreciate the time & effort you put into this. The hope is that developers take the “right” notes from Strive’s recent success. I’m hoping Melty does really well, seems like they took the “risky” route of being pretty faithful & just adding more mechanics on top. Could potentially disprove the recent trend of desperately trying to simplify.

[@RisingPhoenix05]

God I hope so

[@Stock090]

Type lumina is making things simple too, without the moon system it just feels like act cadenza with just a few new sprinkles on top. Dont get me wrong, it does look promising, but its still following the same trend all other fgs do when it comes to gameplay.

[@kumonojuza5583]

@@Stock090 finally someone says it. People who say that melty is going to buck the trend of simplification always seem to forget that the removal of moon styles, one of the deepest groove systems in all of fighting games, will result in the game being substantially simplified compared to its previous iteration

[@ghiidra__]

@@kumonojuza5583 it effectively means there are just less characters/matchups to learn, big distinction from general simplification

[@Zendariel87]

Didn't the moon system affect a bunch of system mechanics, like how the shield worked, how your general combo structure changed with adding or removing reverse beat, how much damage your moves output and so on, I think it might have affected how you gain and spend meter also but not sure about that, on top of adding small variations to normals and special moves which is the part of more characters you mentioned. I've only played the actress again current code a bit though so I'm probably missing stuff. I also believe it did not use to have an auto combo/smart steer mechanic, which are pretty usual simplifications at this point. Or half moon might have had something like it? Game looks good though, and it looks like melty blood from what i know, but it still seems it has received it's share of simplifications. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

[@michaelprice4467]

As someone who never played a fighting game before strive. The Art style, the characters, and the music are why I bought it and why I still play it. I’ll gladly rot in floor 7 for the next 3 months and I’ll still enjoy it Bc it’s fun and presentation is good.

[@doogies]

presentation matters, that never changed though. the presentation in the games have been solid for years. surely there was something else that brought you in? or maybe just timing?

[@Dozer22334]

If theese are the only reasons, would you buy and play xrd if it recieves rollback? (cause xrd got everything you said + cool UI as a bonus)

[@usta2002]

@@doogies I somewhat disagree. I have been playing guilty gear games for over a decade. The presentation in strive is just much easier to understand though. That makes it a lot more fun for people to watch, especially new players, because they have a better understanding of what's going on. They can see decisions being made. Older guilty gears and anime fighters in general have always had smaller player bases due the nature of their extremely quick gameplay. It can be difficult to understand what is going on if you have never seen a 2d anime fighter before, but with strive the visuals, camerawork, slowdowns, animations and overall presentation makes it way easier to get what is going on.

[@meddlingmage23]

Lol, I'm stuck in floor 7 too. Even though I feel like if I pick sol or may I could climb out. Just playing dirty Zato, Millia, and Ino.

[@DaCc71]

@@meddlingmage23 you’re doing it right

[@SakamotoSan09]

Huge agree with pretty much everything you said. Marketing, Influencers, DBFZ putting Arcsys on the map, fantastic visual presentation, matchmaking/netcode, the void of competing games; basically everything aligned to make Strive successful. While I generally agree that specific mechanics like uniform backdashes, one YRC guard cancel etc. have almost no influence on people picking up the game, I do feel like perception of difficulty has been important. I’ve been able to convince a few of my casual/non-FGC friends to try Strive because they heard it was “easy” regardless of whether or not they could substantiate what that meant. None of them were willing to try Xrd or +R because they had this notion that the game was “too hard” but the notion “Strive is new and different” was enough to convince them to give it a try and now they’re enjoying it.

[@doogies]

true! perception versus reality is a nuance most people havent touched with this convo imo

[@troyglossop1113]

I believe GGST did well because it looks and sounds amazing, the netcode is great and people were ready for a new FG since they felt abandoned by Capcom, NRS, etc. This doesn't even touch on the old GG heads who loved the series for years and would buy it because it is a continuation of a series they love. GGST is dope (my first GG) and I am super happy I got back into FG's with this title.

[@doogies]

100% agree

[@grapechu5358]

After Dbfz, the amout of "I want (insert anime) here fighting game by arcsys" skyrocketed.

[@MikeScarbro]

Once the game was done baking, they put it on the window ledge to cool like a pie and everyone just floated in on the smell. It's simple science.

[@TheJackOfFools]

Yeah man, the devs were just watching some old Looney Tunes on a break and realized they found the secret. I saw that interview too. :D

[@12thatguyinthecorner]

The reasons why fighting games aren't popular really boil down to the fact jp devs refused to acknowledge places other than japan exist. And the worst part is if they had been building the brand six years ago with xrd, strive would have been a victory lap.

[@carlosaugusto9821]

Wrong, because of the Capcom hegemony during the SF4 run. Even if it was already at the late stage of it's life cycle by the time of Xrd release. All games were steamrolled by SF4 at the time. And they all had better graphics and some had better gameplay too, but that couldnt save them. Kof 13, Xrd, etc... Another piece of the picture is that by the mid 2010s, on the 2nd generation of the "fg revival" movement pushed by SF4, Capcom somehow messed up so much that they lost a good part of their power built with SF4 and MvC3. That helped greatly to highlight other games, especially TK7. It was a very similar development with Namco: they started to get more things right at promotion and in game presentation. Then a steady pace of fairly good decisions (much more stable than Capcom's run at least) led to the shocking happening in the latest offline Evos... where TK7 was the only returning game that grew in entrance numbers compared to the past year. Even Dbfz had lower numbers. I believe the breakdown of Capcom's fg hegemony was a relevant factor in the equation. Which did good for both TK and Dbfz and GG. Now both companies look very ahead of Capcom as fg makers.

[@gigai6645]

i remember near strives release i've seen tweets like " you'll never see me fuck with a fighting games ,but strive looks gorgeous and made to be easy so i might buy it " ,so i think the big factors to fighting game success sale wise is presentation and how beginner friendly it is

[@christianw935]

I feel like dbfz has a lot to do with Strive's success.

[@dudemyballs]

that's exactly why I bought it and even my friend who doesn't normally play fighting games since he liked fighterz. then I realized that I haven't given a ton of games a chance, and now I'm a melty player. strive opened my eyes, man. games fun, but that melty is WILD

[@apacheking7256]

the only thing dbfz did was promote better netcode lmao. yall reachin mad hard.

[@mloyd64]

@@apacheking7256 no

[@magma55100]

Apache King Not true. You have players who got into fighting games from DBFZ as a gateway moving over to GGST because other influencers are promoting the game to. You have content creators like Dotodoya, LotusAsakura, Leffen, Void, and so many others making videos on it. The FGC has grown ever since DBFZ and that’s why GGST is so big

[@marcosagrero2866]

@@apacheking7256 the entirety of Lk's and hookganggod's fanbase came from dbfz

[@SDhero21]

Easily one of your best videos. That part about KOF13 coming out now makes me ask the same question for Blazblue. Imagine if CF came out during this era of fighting games, kinda hurts to think about in a way.

[@doogies]

thanks for watchin

[@morganometry]

You mentioned it in the video but I really think people are underestimating Dragon Ball's impact here. For the majority of casuals buying the game, Strive isn't the sequel to Xrd - it's the sequel to FighterZ.

[@richardchien6478]

I think Strive was in the right place at the right time. ArcSys already had a great track record going into Strive, and their well-executed marketing (along with the emphasis on including rollback netcode at a time where in-person events are still not in full swing) reinforced the notion that we could trust them to put out a good product.

[@DJDizzy8]

A year later: SF6 had 2 betas. Their training mode is shaping up to be top tier (and can still improve). It has the perception of accessibility due to some streamlined ideas, yet 1 frame links and difficult combo execution is everywhere in game. Oh, and how could I forget rollback which allows people all over the world to actually play the game with people via netplay. This man Majin Obama laid out the blueprint and gets to see it unfold. Good Stuff sir.

[@borbborb9615]

I remember playing persona 4 arena when I was like 9 years old, and then finding blazblue shortly afterwards. never really played any of them competitively before strive but arcsys really produced a lot of the fighting games i loved as a kid and it's great to see them finally get mass recognition for their original IPs like strive

[@nhall129]

I think there are a lot of extra factors that make the game more approachable HOWEVER, i think the promotion campaign is what is giving it its success Rollback netcode is another huge factor but think that will keep people playing, its less of a selling point for normal people Most of the extra factors i could praise is stuff i would usually praise GG for Xrd pushed the limit of the “anime style” in video games at the time, now Strive continues that The presentation is just as wild as it’s ever been, and it isn’t simpler mechanics that made more people buy Strive. People are buying the game because they know it exists now.

[@ElectroSonic15]

This is the analytical Obama content I like. Good stuff... I hope the future upcoming games will be able to learn from alot of these factors

[@noah__jd4883]

That part about people retroactively liking the older titles is still better than my friends going "hol up, i guess fighting games are kinda fun."

[@jerrysaint7443]

i just wished that the game gave more freedom to players to find and create cool combo routes. Strive reminds me of how drastically diffterent mk11 was from mkx.

[@captainmalice]

IMHO, I'm used to how Strive's combat system is. I was a little worried at first, but I say it's pretty enjoyable.

[@mystymos3614]

Its crazy because I played rev 2 in preparation for strive, for me to get in strive and hate the game because gatlings were different and moves were removed, when I was looking for the opposite to happen qq but its just my own sad little story.

[@captainmalice]

@@mystymos3614 Well everyone has a different tale

[@CamMcCoy87]

The collective consciousness was corrupted/affected by memes, influencers, advertising and legacy titles.

[@AndrewRKenny]

This is such a great series of takes. I have tons of thoughts on this but a lot of other people have touched on quite a few of then but really just awesome to hear such a refreshingly holistic perspective on the topic.

[@doogies]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@richardjohnson8991]

This game's success is based off the incredible net code, the overwhelming success of dbfz, and the fact it had an actual ounce of western advertising. I'm so stoked an anime game sold half a million units in its first few weeks. That shit is incredible

[@ATLZombie]

It was dbfz for me. Turned me into a fgc addict and then they started promoting the game and the design was so dope. If this game had waaaaay more complicated stuff I would have learned it. I didnt even know the game was supposed to be easier lol

[@gavin_is_gavin6292]

as a new person to GG, and very very casual fighting game player, you are right individual changes you are pointing out did not contribute to me getting the game, but hearing that it would be simpler, and that it would be a good jumping on point to GG was definitely a factor. People don't need to know the specific "simplifications" in detail, just hearing "this game is a bit easier to get into" can do the trick. I don't think it is the highest impact reason, but I think it might have higher impact than you think. Appreciate the video and take though, even if I don't agree 100%.

[@mysticj8430]

The Sakura-koi-uta in the back is magical

[@ninja5596]

What’s this song called I just searched this and I can’t find it

[@mysticj8430]

@@ninja5596 it’s called Sakura-koi-uta my bad mixed it up with that nujabes song.

[@scozzbaggs9224]

Think about dota 2 or counterstike . incredibly technically difficult. Hugely popular. Difficulty and popularity don't necessarily correlate

[@syzLETMEREGISTERGOD]

DotA and CS were both looked down on when they came around. StarCraft and Quake players thought those games were for babies.

[@trollofjom]

@@syzLETMEREGISTERGOD Weird. I've played both since the early 2000's and don't remember anything like that at all. Especially considering the fact they both were mods from pretty challenging games like War3 and HL.

[@chronology556]

@@syzLETMEREGISTERGOD they have similar skill sets but the big difference maker is solo vs team play. In Team Games, it’s easy for the casual to chalk it up to their team being bad.

[@syzLETMEREGISTERGOD]

@@chronology556 Quake had team mods and they tended to be more popular with a wider range of players, so I agree with you on that -- but much like with CS I'd argue that that's only a part of it, and that maybe just as important was that the round- and objective-based gameplay was more mechanically accessible than dying once in a 1v1 in QuakeWorld or Q3CPMA and then getting spawn killed 20 consecutive times in the span of like 3 minutes by the same dude as you respawned in with zero armor and a gun that barely did any damage. Even if you're just getting instantly domed in Counter-Strike it always at least *felt* less mentally devastating because it only happened once per round and then you got to buy some new guns and try again, and yea, like you said, maybe your teammates were going out and winning the round anyway.

[@GenericSoda]

That bit about promotion rings true when you remember I-No's reveal in Sign was a two second shot of her victory pose in a 70 second trailer. Compare that to the hyped up countdowns Arcsys did leading up to Strive.

[@MuiltiLightRider]

They HAVE to trash Xrd and prior GG games for the gameplay because if they don't, it means they were just being ignorant of a really fun game series they weren't willing to try for whatever reason. The gameplay changes HAVE to be the reason for the success, otherwise it was just them being ignorant all these years

[@djjimmaster8261]

I'm not gonna lie I saw people complaining that Strive was going to be simpler than other fighting games and thought "Oh shit I might try it out" - it may not be the simplification that helped but the fact that it was simpler than previous entries which got people to talk about it Great video as always!

[@seththeace6217]

I'm going to level with you. This was the first 'traditional' fighter I picked up. I had played ssb before, but nothing that was remotely similar to an fgc game. I got strive because some of my friends in a discord server were playing one day, and I watched a couple of sets, and it looked good, fun, unique, exciting, so I wanted to try it, and it's cool. I'm not good at it still, but I'm trying to get better every day, and I'm having fun with it.

[@doogies]

that is cool. thanks for sharing! hope you keep havin fun with it

[@alexevaldez]

As a gamedev. The moment I noticed Bamco was publishing this. I had my eyes on how things were promoted. And I think Bamco really did their job and really helped the game's marketting and development. It feels like Tekken or DBFZ's style of marketing (Maybe even abit like SC). Balancing style is also similar to DBFZ and Smash. This is really quite different to BBTag.

[@meathir4921]

What's ironic about what you've said here, is that I'd argue DBFZ and BBTag play VERY similarly when you play at a decent level.

[@alexevaldez]

@@meathir4921im not sure about this. I play highlevel dbfz, and i always try to encourage bbtag players (as its more popular than dbfz here) to play dbfz and they find it vastly different sadly.

[@meathir4921]

@@alexevaldez I felt like the general flowchart of the game was the same between both games. They were different flavours of the same elements imo in terms of how to win. That’s just my opinion though.

[@alexevaldez]

@@meathir4921 thanks for the intersting opinion

[@meathir4921]

@@alexevaldez I don’t think you understood exactly what I meant, because I don’t think match length has anything to do with what I meant… And yeah, I don’t play modern Tag. I’ve heard the game has descended into kusoge levels of mixups such that defence is borderline impossible (which is definitely not the case in DBFZ, even if blocking in DBFZ is brutal).

[@Flying_V]

Simple, the reason strive succeeded is because people like watching Sol press f.S and deleting health bars. Makes people laugh and people like laughing

[@jojobii]

Haha funni dolphin

[@chufflord]

The Altimit wallpaper is how you know Majin is a real one.

[@georgesleeth1157]

Xrd I feel like was a great starting point I mean I picked it up just for the cover at least in Europe. I enjoyed the beta for strive think I got semi decent but I didn't end up getting it at least at launch think I was just a bit sad that I couldn't enjoy it with friends as everything was focused on the online especially during the pandemic. I know you can play online but there's nothing like getting a few friends round locally and having a laugh and I feel like strive is more aimed at that competitive scene with the more restricted combos instead of just learning stuff as you go along

[@R0kushi]

I bought both +R and Xrd before the release of strive and started playing around with it, it were some fun months. Xrd pretty much is non existent where I live, but I went to some streams that I like that were doing lobbies and it was a blast. I had a lot of fun with Venom in +R, but I must say, you made me pick Bedman in Xrd and it was so fun because most people didn't knew how deja vu worked. Even though most of the time I was playing people a whole lot better than me, I felt that I was learning a bit more each match.

[@SuzakuX]

I honestly think one of the biggest factors was discarding all the notions of in-depth tutorials and "pre-online prep" in favor of just throwing beginners into a big lobby together and letting them figure it out. So many veteran fighting game players get stuck on this idea that you need to have a certain amount of experience before you start playing the "real game" and having fun. But I think they've just forgotten what it was like to mash buttons and accidentally do a special move for the first time. All those early experiences before you started taking it seriously.

[@SamsterTH]

As somebody who almost exclusively played Capcom fighters within the past 10+ years within the genre, Arc Sys did a phenomenal job advertising the game and using an open beta with rollback to promote their title. It showed me a side of the community I'd never seen/experienced before. I feel bad for missing out on older fighting games I could've been playing, but I'm also happy I opened my eyes and gave other fighters a chance now, such as Strive which I love. You already know I'll be picking up Melty Blood this September :D

[@TDog93]

I don't want to reiterate the other good takes in the video or comments, but I will say for me personally as someone that tried to get into Rev2 last year and is enjoying Strive now, the slowdowns on big counters and some RC uses helped my scrub brain "catch up" during gameplay when I started out learning Strive. It's a minor thing, but one of my biggest hurdles getting into tag games or anime fighters is being able to properly react during intense moments, and the slowdown moments kinda help with that. It's probably the only "simplified" mechanic for Strive that I feel actually helped a newer player like myself get a feel for the game and seeing my mistakes better when I started out.

[@chunkypufflover7102]

Doing my fgc research and saw a shout out to BUM! He just got the lease to his apartment so the HoC is back after a bit of a struggle, its time for him to carry DBFZ again. 😤

[@Rebazar]

Amazing what some actual advertising and promotion can do

[@saferemerald9754]

Netcode was one of my biggest factors. I skipped Rev2 AND even DBFZ because well, I moved and all my local FGC friends are back in my hometown. All my fighting games are online now. Just a fact of life. Strive's netcode was what sold me. And I still liked Rev1 and going way back to GGX. And you're 100% right about Capcom players man. Coming from the Mortal Kombat scene all the way back to the OG game, it was that and SF2. And nobody had more hostility for MK players than SF players. And it just grew as time went on. I like SF, MVC2 was my shit, but MK was just my fall back ya know? I always come back to MK. It was only ever (or at least seemed like to me) SF heads would just constantly dunk on MK players. Never really got that attitude from GG or Tekken heads. Don't know how they got such a chip on their shoulder about Street Fighter. It was so extra and unnecessary. I played SF by myself so I wouldn't have to deal with that community. But yeah, Strive netcode slaps, every fighting game dev should aspire to it. Get rid of the whack ass lobbies tho lmao.

[@utewbd]

The betas developed some hype, they ran advertisements, it got good coverage on social media, the graphics are good and the success of the rollback netcode got big initial sales. Word of mouth and good gameplay has been pushing sales since. Over half a million sales for a niche anime fighter is crazy.

[@JermaineCausticxArmaCrawford]

ive enjoyed gg casually for years but growing up in sfl at the time it was basically just me and one friend who know the ip at the time before the 09 era. by then we had just moved on. it really hits me in my chest at the same time it makes me happy that ppl are realizing the game is amazing. im mainly an online player. you know how gg online is a bit after launch :C

[@Localpref416]

Casuals really like when the simplest and most straight forward options are the strongest imo.

[@doogies]

all the shit that casual people are doing in this game, right now....you can do in the old games, if not more for less effort.

[@Partinaire]

After learning Strive (which I bought mostly because of Wollie’s lore videos leading up to release, such a smart idea) I def feel like I’ve been missing out on the older GG games. I started with Isuka and RAN SCREAMING but XRD got me interested again… but it looked so difficult. I wish I had tried it anyway but I’m glad I’m here now. All in.

[@george_winters7849]

it cannot be understated how to western audiences Arc System works are "the guys that made Dragon Ball FighterZ". Like it or not, that game gave arcys a huge push, they have continued to ride the wave and a series of good decisions and doing what they do best, Strive has been a big success. A few years back I never would have thought the series would've had all these eyes on it, and seeing people like Dunkey playing the game and reviewing it to me is just surreal

[@NrettG]

GGST made me realize who ArcSys even was. Like I knew they made DBFZ and some obscure title called Guilty Gear but Strive made me look at games and immediately go "Oh shit ArcSys made this, I gotta check this out?"

[@Thespianlive]

I’ve been seeing a recurring trend recently with fighting games and how players are branching out and trying new games and it’s a “better late than never” type of situation much like how SFV took so long to get to a good spot. Glad people are finally seeing what they’ve been missing out just sucks that it took this long to find out

[@desenhista12]

Agree with everything said. The Capcom elitists are very annoying

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

True

[@barbedwings]

Two things brought me to GG franchise with Strive: 1: People said it would have awesome netcode. 2: People said it would be a simpler game that people with no prior GG experience could pick up.

[@doogies]

which would you say had the higher impact for your decision?

[@barbedwings]

@@doogies Honestly the second one. I am an older dude, my first FG was SF2 World Warrior in the arcades when it released. Over the years Guilty Gear always seemed super hard to get into, and fans of the series talked nonstop about how hard it was to learn. Hearing it might be a good jumping in point sold it for me. I actually bought REV2 to try and learn in prep for Strive. I'm working on my VIP challenge now in Strive and joined a Discord of Strive players and we play every night.

[@maxpflughoeft6806]

I would never say the gameplay changes is solely the driving factor in this games sales success, I do however think it plays a part in why the playerbase is still sizeable a month after release. Dunkey’s review of the game actually kind of touches on these things when he talks about how once you reach the point of wanting to actually try doing combos and stuff in street fighter (and I think this applies to Xrd and XX to a certain extent as well) the games tend to really put up a wall for you that I think is really discouraging for a lot of people just trying out. Keeping a lot of mechanics but making some intuitive and effective things for bew players to use as a starting point is something the game does really well and I think shouldn’t be discounted.

[@doogies]

hear me out.... that combo dunkey does with dolphin, RC into something into dolphin.... he can do that in the other games lol...and it isnt that different

[@alvinmercado6305]

Holy fuck that kof 13 point was wild true! That kof13 evo with reynald and the Koreans may have been the best evo ever hands down

[@santiagoasprino4175]

I keep going back to your Strive videos and man, it's so crazy how much I agree with almost all your takes. It feels like so much revisionist history has happened and barely anyone actually knows why pre-2019 Guilty Gear fans were unhappy with Strive when it came out, now people just see it as "old heads were hating on new games"

[@doogies]

Shutup boomer

[@niwona_]

ArcSys/Team Red did so much right with Strive on so many levels. It's great to see Daisuke and the team finally get their flowers. Huge opportunity for the longtime supporters to get theirs too! Looking forward to how they develop the gameplay over time.

[@Ronin8300]

Dammit Obama... That clip at 12:54. It's good to hear. But at the same time straight up rage inducing. If they enjoy Strive so much. What if AC,Xrd or even Under night had half of what Strive has working in its favour today? Glad you've decided to go out of your way to debunk the intellectual dishonesty of claiming Strive is a superior title because of accessibility and sales.

[@doogies]

yeah i dont get the narrative or what people gain from preaching it when its obviously false

[@benjaminlennox4249]

I dont think praising the accessibility on it's own equates to saying it's a superior game tho

[@itsmarchii162]

With Strive being my first ever guilty gear game and the first fighting game I wanted to play competitively, the success of DBFZ was a huge part of my attraction to the game and with the addition of rollback during development, ArcSys really had a recipe for success. My favorite fighting game is JojoHFTF but the only reason I didn't take the game to the next level was the lack of players on a similar skill level as me although fightcade had rollback. It was so hard for me to find a game to stick with due to the balancing act of either trash netcode, or a dense population of players. ESPECIALLY on PC. Strive really was the perfect blend of netcode, graphics, social media presence, and a focus on fighting game fundamentals, and keeping new players playing against each other. I started entering tournaments, learning frame data, setups, and finally getting knee-deep into my new favorite genre. With the DLC character being revealed in a few hours I'm super excited for what this series has for me next.

[@doogies]

As a GG player, with this game the way it is it is super hard for me to ever see myself playing this game competitively, but I hope you have fun

[@andymrb]

I hope as time goes on the game will get better(new mechanics, return of the characters people request, etc). The positive word of mouth from people like their friends will hopefully encourage them to get Strive while it's on sale.

[@heitorbatista5392]

Dude, you mentioned regional pricing. ABSOLUTELY. There was some controversy when Strive was open for preorders here in Brazil without regional pricing. Folks made noise and ASW listened. Price got cut in half. Had a friend I have been recommending BB for years call me asking if I knew what Strive was. He heard a brazilian streamer talking about how Strive’s netcode is the Goat. Usually we only play SFV.

[@yining200]

Drake Bell is my favorite Strive influencer

[@charlygotvids]

If more people saw that announcement trailer with the 360 clash for SIGN, would have loved to hear more people talking about it. People on social media also just randomly making content for these games gives it a lot of traction as well the 'goldlewis leak trailer' and people going loopy for May's theme alone

[@doogies]

well yeah i show points about that. when that 360 clash trailer happened, scene was in a very different place, especially in the west. you gotta understand a lot of why this game succeeded is because of western community development on social, content, etc

[@Evergladez]

Also helps that it ran unopposed, the only new fighter that was coming out was kof and that got pushed back(not sure metly was announced yet). All the other fighters are 5+ years old so right place, right time.

[@doogies]

i mentioned the drought yeah

[@chancechhet3956]

You mentioned the Capcom bros really only playing SF. I actually use to be that person. I came kinda late to USF4 and was there during the beginning of 5. Went to tournaments and tried to have fun, I remeber watching a Maximilian video and someone asked during his stream about what people coming from sf4 to sf5 not having fun should do and him saying to go out and enjoy other fighting games. It wasn't until the rollback update and +r being on sale for like 2 dollars (and me still not having fun with sf5s netcode) that I branched out and finally took a dive into other fighting games and I wish I did earlier. Before strive I leaned +r, played a ton of skullgirls, I even played battle for the grid and had a super fun time. I wish I could go back and slap some sense into my old self about fighting games.

[@doogies]

dont feel too bad, a LOT of players from the west used to be that way. better late than never, but recognize it

[@Prohxyy]

I agree that dbfz really put eyes on arcsys, but you gotta remember too that these companies in general relied on tournaments and events to promote or push their games before, even if they didn't invest in them much outside of 1 or 2 events that they really pushed themselves. It was basically free marketing, and with the pandemic, it probably lit a fire under their ass. Despite the misfortune that 2020 brought, we got some kind of silver lining in the form of game devs taking tollback seriously and trying (not really there yet but) to make a more complete package in terms of content in fighting games.

[@doogies]

fax

[@Prohxyy]

@@doogies keep em in check, Obama. 💪

[@SomniaCE]

My friends and I bought Xrd back in the day purely because it was gorgeous and the characters were cool. None of us knew what the fuck a Guilty Gear was at the time but we were there day 1 cause nothing in the industry looked as brilliant.

[@Yuberz]

Xrd is the sequel to strive, mechanics wise.

[@doogies]

yup

[@EdoSaiyan]

My Man Obama Looking Clean With That Nice Looking Shirt. BTW I Mad Happy For Daisuke And The Devs People Are Playing Guilty Gear Finally As A Person Who Got Into Guilty Gear At A Younger Age. Me Being A-little Older I’m So Happy For This Series Growing. I Still Go Back And Look At Xrd And Acc+ And Say “GG has came a long way man”

[@zocious000]

I literally just bought the game cause it looked cool, first fighting game I've ever played lmao

[@recklessnick8955]

I think its because their marketing team understands how the west consumes media. They put out content that creates hype left and right. Rollback is a big issue, announce you got it. Influencers run with it. Put on a open beta twice. It becomes a big event. twitter page dropping memes left and right. Theme song that is almost as catchy as Indestructible. Bright colors big damage, and that big ass COUNTER. If it had a intro that was hype as the Cell yell it might become the perfect storm for stream hype

[@tarkuslee7278]

It's funny watching this video after seeing Jiyuuna making a passive-aggressive subtweet about how strive being simplified is responsible for the sales. Anyways, keep it up, king.

[@doogies]

I just want people to think about it. Ask yourself if that makes any sense while some games flourish the way they do.

[@PipeRetrogamer]

Y just remember that in the first few days of playing it, just playing felt so satisfactory, either I won or lost. Then I fell out of it exclusively because of the long ass time it took to load. And now that they fixed it, there's almost nobody playing it in my region 🙈

[@ThatWolfArrow]

No one gives as much of a shit about gameplay as people claim they do. If they did, MVCI would've popped off. It's always been about the characters, presentation, and content first and gameplay second. But when a game can do both (Like your Accent Cores, MCV2's, Melees, ETC) that's when a game becomes immortal.

[@chronology556]

You haven’t played KOF2K2UM? KOFXIII is trash compared to it.

[@ThatWolfArrow]

@@chronology556 Ok 1.Why are you assuming I like kof13 better 02UM? I can't even play it because the online for it is terrible and no one in my region plays kof. And 2. 02UM still falls under what I said. That game has a huge roster, great characters, and solid mechanics. Coupled with the netcode, it's for sure an immortal game.

[@Belive7heHype]

why does everyone say that MVCI gameeplay was so good? To me it really wasnt very fun. There was zero neutral its just full screen super into swap then high low mixups forever. Its pretty much every team had a marlin pie super set up. Dont even get me started on the reality stone. MVC3 was better in every way even gameplay.

[@yeagmatic]

Song is sakura-koi-uta, took me way too long to find that comment

[@koolaidfoxdie9847]

Ben is a May player

[@finallyanime]

GGPO & it FEELS good in terms of game feel. Juicy or crunchy or whatever weird terms people use for that satisfying feeling making people wanna comeback. I still hope they open up the game a bit in the future giving more skills

[@toynewspaper]

I bought it because the first in class rollback. Every other fighting game has to compete with it now and that alone is worth my $60. As dumb as it sounds, the gameplay was secondary for me (I do like the gameplay though).

[@kimosavage7478]

what's the first song in the background please?

[@scozzbaggs9224]

The lack of freedom of expression is what's whack about strive

[@internetmemeplace6886]

Yeah they literally removed everything that made it fun. Slap their older fans across the face with strive. Fuck strive

[@bhx6252]

@@internetmemeplace6886 Literally everything? That seems a bit much

[@Vitz_atelier]

I hope they just do a revision that finds a way to give said expression back to GG... a man can dream... Or just play Xrd instead lmao

[@PlumpPotatoRump]

I love hammerfall breaking and being -34. Honestly, i do really love the game but you definitely hit a nail on the head there!

[@edwardedward842]

What bothers me about Strive is how hurtboxes/hit stun are really jank when you try to play outside of the box. Meanwhile if its something they intended you to do it feels almost impossible to drop. I also despise COUNTER because its not really a mechanic because alot of games like BB have FATAL and GG games just always added more hitstun like any fighting game on CHs. Its intrusive and ugly to look at. I feel like years down the line when the next games come out Strive is gonna be laughed at for stuff like that. Because it ultimately adds nothing to the game but ugliness.