Why We Like to Play HARD Games

hard games are sick
Music
Ride the fire
Bbcf title screen music
Melt blood type lumina lobby music
Awe of she
Anjis guilty gear xx theme
Holy order sol guilty gear xx theme
Haven't you got eyes in your head
Fight like a tiger
Must die Susanoo theme bbcf
Stage dreamer mbaacc
Uni clr chatter select
#Lucid
#GGST
#Slayer
#GuiltyGear
#GGST
#guiltygearstrive
#Xrd
#ggacpr
#rollback
#bbcf
#meltyblood
#killerinstinct
#FGC
#fightinggames

[@ERRandDEL]

More people need to be shouting out live replays as a training feature, it's incredibly powerful.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It's fantastic

[@geminifiend5775]

Live replay needs to be in all fighters it's such an amazing tool

[@RealKatTea]

Well Tekken 8 just got it lul

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Meanwhile they don't have rollback

[@RealKatTea]

@@LucidButtonMasher Equivalent Exchange

[@ryanrcosta]

i'm not particularly good at FG, so whenever i learn a new combo in +r i feel just like i won a tournament (before being put back in my place in the online)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Learning is half the fun. Pulling it off in a real match is just icing on the cake. Keep up the good work bud

[@TyreeseTheAscendedOne]

In strive, I just got back into online and when learning combos, I feel like I’m invincible yet I sometimes can’t pull them off. Good thing most I can pull off but I gotta work on the others

[@junojun722]

I dont even learn combos (i find it boring lmao) I just try to do cool stuff, and when it works? Great asf!

[@KiryuEnjoyment]

+r sol is one of the most euphoric characters i've ever played in a fighting game. I've been wanting to switch mains to johnny but then i play sol and i manage to frc a counterhit gunflame and procced to do the most dopamine inducing sw loop ever. i cant stop its like a drug.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Side winder is so tight

[@PlasmaLink64]

I honestly really like having both. I love Xrd because I'm still on that "learning something new every match" curve, and it feels like both me and my opponents are scrambling to piece together our game plans once something goes wrong. I love Strive because while I feel like I've stopped improving on my main, I can still pick up a character, remember what people did to me using them, and string something together. That, and my less fighting game brainrotted friends can pick it up and become competent way sooner without tremendous effort. Sometimes I don't feel like performing a concert on my fightstick just to run my game, sometimes I decide it's time to learn Kum Kickloops and experience nirvana as I drain the opponent's healthbar. I love these games, man.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I love them too. At this point I'm able to pick up a character and piece it together in xrd from what i saw. I love doing that too

[@arbynflowiter]

I've never played a fighting game before, and Strive's simplicity provides me an opportunity to understand what's going on and how pushing buttons to achieve combos works, so it feels like I can use that to have some fun; once I play it anyway, and maybe it'll help me springboard into other games like it

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I think that may be its intention and honestly it does that very well

[@alx0tl]

@@LucidButtonMasher can confirm Went from strive to +r Thanks arcsys for regional pricing, wouldn't have gotten strive+dlc at 80, and since it was cheaper, new and looked amazing, and everyone was saying it was easier, it got me into the fg mentality and am enjoying fighting games more as a result

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Hell yeah dude

[@ThatClassyWhiteD]

Gonna piggyback here and say that I completely agree. Never really played fighting games until Strive (bless Daisuke's musical genius and YT Music's algorithm for giving me Guilty Gear music last year), and playing with what I can only assume to be simpler buttons and combos still feels rewarding. For me, learning is rewarding, but so is straight up winning, perhaps even moreso than learning. Because, sure, I can learn some tech for my character, but winning an intense match, regardless of whether I use the tech or not, is infinitely more rewarding and adrenaline pumping. This is coming from being a Leo main, and just a few days ago actually being able to get his DP input after 37 hours of gameplay, and there's still TONS I can learn. Perhaps it boils down to a matter of perspective. For veteran fighting game players, they might be able to pick a character, jump in, and get rolling with stuff. But, for casuals/newbies to fighting games, it's a whole different set of motor skills to learn, plus tech which can change from character to character. The sky is high, but we're ready to rock.

[@stanzacosmi]

@@ThatClassyWhiteD same here. I mainly dabbled in fighting games with friends, but strive is more at my level that I actually want to get good (also helps that bridget perfectly meshes with my playstyle I've noticed)

[@nanor4214]

Honestly, all fighting games, simple or not are extremely hard. Inherently, competitive games are always going to be hard. The mechanical load you have to work through before you get to the person to person aspect seems like the part you enjoy the most and I kinda understand why. But I think I've gotta say I enjoy gaining knowledge of my options in a situation or improving my risk/reward sense a lot more. I think I like knowledge checks and stuff to an extent, but it can go overboard. Strive reduces the amount of options I have to learn before I start doing the things I enjoy in fighting games :) (+R Is still godlike tho, even if I don't know how to play it lol) PS: I wasn't expecting a video essay from Lucid button masher anytime soon but here it is XD 10/10 was entertaining lol

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Big appreciate the support. And yes i agree strive does a fantastic job of letting you do the fun stuff asap. But as i said, there's just a lower ceiling and i run out of the fun juice sooner in the long term of a game

[@botero01]

@@LucidButtonMasher oh so you win the Strive tournaments easily?

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Learning how to do things and executing them in a tournament is a completely different thing. Just because i can hit the combos doesn't mean I'm going to block or play neutral lmao

[@nanor4214]

@@botero01 yeah, just because he can execute something doesn't mean that hes gonna win in a tournament setting. You don't get that far with just execution. You'll hardly even win online if you just rely on execution alone.

[@botero01]

@@LucidButtonMasher yeah Strive´s ceiling is way higher as far as number and nuance of options available, I am a huge XRD fan, but the leap forward in Strive as huge, more streamlined and elengant, but much more rich in practice as well.

[@guiltyoregano7131]

I'm really glad that both games like stive and plus r/rev exist. I think strives more simple design can get people into the more deliberate play then just mashing. This can help more people injoy the genre and they might end up picking up the older games like plus r like I did.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Which I'm eternally grateful for it doing

[@achair7958]

Depth and complexity are the reasons why people still play +R and Centralfiction, it enables experienced players to express themselves and be endlessly inventive in their gameplay, so the game is always fresh

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It never gets old

[@thatshadowguy1005]

On the topic of staying engaged even when you're stuck in a combo, I'm surprised you didn't mention Skullgirls. That game really teaches you to pay attention to your opponent's combos and be ready to start defending yourself again at any moment, because otherwise you're just gonna get reset over and over until you die.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

That's true, i actually took out footage of sg to fit in KI since it was easier for me to explain lol. Only have about 100 hours in sg so I'm not as knowledgeable

[@doncinati7644]

a real TRYHARD game. I love it lol

[@fryenchill2817]

Now I love complex games that keep you constantly engaged (KI and BBCF are my favorite FGs) but there is a certain charm to "simpler" games. While you often run out of significantly better new combos, confirms, and mixups to lab and get better at, there is absolutely still a mountain to climb for improvement, it's just that the steps are harder to see. Getting better at those games are about the small things, like spacing, mindgames, switching up your options and timing in neutral ever so slightly to throw of your opponent, and getting the read on how your opponent is using those options. It goes without saying that these things are in complex games, in fact there's arguably (definitely) more of it at a hypothetical perfect level of play. But on the flipside, you often see people who only play complex FGs get better at their character's combos and offense for the first few months or even years that they play the game, which will win them games on ranked but won't truly prepare them for tournament play (though that's not everyone's goal of course). However in simpler FGs those small things are how you win, so they naturally encourage that you utilize and improve those skills as soon as possible. Now is that actually for me? Hell no. I want to spend every waking hour labbing new combos and setups. But I think you saying people that like "simpler" games don't want to invest more time is not exactly correct, since often times they're labbing different things (You won't often see an anime player lab whiff punishing a normal on reaction from different spacings, but Street Fighter players do that shit for weeks on end)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

For sure, different strokes and all

[@OGamelon]

Honers vs innovators by core-a gaming great video on this idea

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Love that guy

[@le_panzerotto7145]

I remember picking up AC+ and the 8-year-old me being completely clueless about the game. It was one of my first experiences with the FG genre, if not the really first one (maybe not really the best starting point, but hey, I wouldn't be here writing and discussing about these games if it wasn't for it) and it took a bit of time before I got the hang of at least the basic mechanics (you know: movement, gatlings and so on). I started hitting Training Mode and Mission Mode with pretty much everyone in the roster ("Random Select is my main and I'll never drop it"), I was climbing that learning curve little by little starting with short combos and then moving to more complex ones, integrating all the tools the game and the characters offered and testing them in different scenarios. I got a few calluses for the D-pad abuse, but hoo boy that was satisfying. I was finally learning how to play the game in all its aspects. Too bad here in Italy FGs are pretty niche, let alone anime fighters like GG or BB. A few years after Internet came to help with sites like Dustloop, combos exhibition videos and small or big communities to play with. I even jumped online when Xrd (which I still consider the perfect mix of good gameplay and beautiful 3D aesthetics) dropped. I got washed, like, really bad. But hey, it's still part of having fun and learning; as I improved with Leo and Sin match by match and I felt nice: knowing the tools your opponent has at his/her disposal and guessing which one will he/she use makes you feel smart, countering it makes you feel even smarter and close the match with a combo you spent so much time labbing makes you feel like a beast. "Satisfaction" could be the key word that sums up the whole experience, since it's the sensation you get for all the effort you put in order to master the game; despite knowing you can improve even further. This is where the problem with Strive starts: don't get me wrong, I still like the game despite the different way it plays; but I understand people might not like the "straightforward and big damage from anything goes brrr" gameplay. All FGs are hard, OK? They all require a decent knowledge of frame data, MUs, good eye-hand coordination and quick thinking. They just have different levels of depth and Strive simply doesn't have the same depth level of the previous games. Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily, as more people can enjoy the same franchise with different iterations. Does the "satisfaction factor" vary between these games? Of course it does and you can notice it when you play the fixed entries of the series (Chipp was a good example), combine that with some changes/adding/removal of certain mechanics (the FRC-YRC comparison for example, as FRC doesn't alter the flow of the round at all) and you might understand why a player may prefer the XX formula over the Xrd and/or Strive ones and viceversa. Btw watching this specific video was kinda funny, considering I spent the last month playing between these three different games to test the different "feedback" each of them gives me; so hearing you discussing about this topic was a pleasure. Btw I got +R on my Switch for €1.49 (a true bargain): oh, the irony of playing it on an handheld console again, after 10+ years! I'm messing around with EX/Shadow/Gold characters and singleplayer modes rn: I'm done with pretty much everything, aside for some Story Mode routes and I'm thinking of joining the dandy bandwagon once I'll go online; but for now I'll stick with labbing and vibing to the Korean OST. Great content as always

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks for the insightful stuff. Glad to hear the satisfaction train keeps us both rolling, enjoy ex slayer!

[@OGMudbum]

This video is damn near perfect. You explained most of everything I've been wanting to talk about for a long ass time when it comes to fighting games being easier and accessible to newcomers throughout the years. Not to be anecdotal, but when I played MvC2 and got my ass handed to on a platter by my older brother, there was no auto combos. no stylish one-button optimal combo that you could mash out in a pinch. I LEARNED from my defeats over the years (of course my brother wasn't a complete jerk--he taught me how to play and fight his high tier team). Once you've understood at least most of the of the gameplay for any fighter, you can earn those epic moments and victory in fighting games that are challenging. You don't have to be like Daigo or Justin Wong, unless you're really trying to compete in professional tournaments. Just keep practicing and practicing--nothing is earned from not even trying to pick up some skill. that's not just in fighting game, but life in general. That's why I love XRD with a passion. Arcsys managed to make a spectacular game that tweaked the learning curve for newcomers to be able to play like pros, but not sacrifice some of the execution that made older fighters seem like a spectacle during fights, if you knew what was going on. the YRCs and the speed of the gameplay is tuned to a perfect degree for people new to Guilty Gear. It was enough to still eyeball what you had to do in a fight, whereas AC+R and older fighters were unforgiving and still insane to pull off most advanced techs, like red parries and blue roman cancels. I literally saw XRD newcomers eventually throw down like badasses without "Stylish Mode" within 4 months (Mecha Skunk and his I-no on PS4 is a perfect example.) XRD is easier compared to AC, but still required the skill level like old school fighters when you were ready to ascend to fight the big dogs. That's why I ramble on about wishing for a Rev 3. XRD was perfectly balanced between advanced players and folks who want to be good at Guilty Gear, if not fighting games in general. You really summed up alot of details that needs to be heard by real fighting game players that are left in mostly obscurity, thanks to sponsored fighting game shills that pretend to be onboard for easier one-button victory mechanics in newer games that keep getting patched constantly to appease the wet-eared newcomers that mash Sol's f.S 95.5% of the time during neutral in STRIVE. I really wanted to get into the new Melty Blood that came out a while back, but immediately, I was turned off by the built-in auto combos that you can't turn off optionally. Same with Dragon Ball FighterZ. I have too many reasons to dislike STRIVE, but I still pray for it. Hopefully....we can return to the fighting game days where people can respect challenging gameplay and be inspired to "get good". I died, btw. Death from holding my breath for Rev 3.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Rev 3 with rollback when, brother. And yeah big agree

[@baboogah]

Great vid! Really interesting to hear a different opinion. I'm grinding out both Strive and Dark Souls 3 Sl1 right now and it's great to hear someone's perspective who also loves hard games, but doesn't like Strive as much as me.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

"something something dark souls" lol. Thanks bud

[@spaceheart7513]

Thanks for mentioning lethal league. Even if it was only for a brief moment. I’ve been part of the LL and Subsequently LLB community for a pretty long time now and have come to become a good player in that time and have invested a lot of hours into it and the game is a lot deeper than it is often taken for at face value. So thank you for that! :D

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It's fantastic and i only really play with my friends

[@idontcheckmynotifications]

I feel like that’s a game everyone should have but nobody does and that frustrates me

[@OmegaTaishu]

God-level editing. Writing was plus on block. S tier video, but plz don't nerf. I'd say more stuff to learn is a very good thing when it's not mandatory for you to learn them all just to play the game, but when they're like extra steps for you to take. I believe the base of the game should be easy and accessible, but there should be lots of hidden features to keep the players engaged in discovering more... Low skill floor, high skill ceiling. The "fun" (also) comes from the player realising they're levelling up their abilities, and being able to notice the results of their training. As examples: in BBCF I probably have over 10 hours of playing Bang alone, just because of how high his skill ceiling is... I never got tired of trying new stuff with him, and most of the tech I trained and applied wasn't even "necessary" to play him at a casual level. Likewise, I've played Ky a lot in Xrd, and despite the fact that he's an "honest" shoto character, there are still so many extra techniques we can learn, which, again, feel incredibly rewarding execute consistently in a serious match. Also, you did the thing I'm always laughing at~ 10:54 I'd subscribe again just for stuff like that xD

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lmao glad you can relate and enjoyed

[@shokvalu8819]

Yeah, personally I haven't played too many fighters but I feel simpler games like STRIVE do help serve as a good gateway towards people who want to get into fighting games without the fear of feeling embarrassed or "punished" for not knowing everything there is to know right away, especially speaking from personal experience as it was one of the first fighting games I played and really got into. I felt I could do cool stuff even if I do know I still have a lot to properly learn. Even in other games with autocombos or simpler inputs, you are still highly encouraged to learn skills like more complex combos, footsies, and proper gamesense unlike what I feel a lot of elitists will say. Whether you prefer simpler or more complex stuff is an interesting discussion, and there's no real definitive answer since it is just preference. TL;DR: Things like autocombos for accessibility or lots of complex mechanics are fine depending on the game, let's stop being babies and learn to get along please.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Agreed. Ones in melty aren't that bad, ones in dbfz are bad only because some autocombos have super good uses and properties. Tldr, keep auto combos but make them give very little reward

[@OldSaltySean1]

Great video, great points, great editing, and I looked like an idiot in (almost) every clip. Yeah it's a Lucid upload alright. Great job buddy, proud of ya.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks, and working as intended bud

[@Tomobe03]

Hi Lucid, for some reason every time im struggling while learning how to play slayer in +R I comeback to this video. I have dropped the game a few time already, but everytime i see how you play, idk what it is, but i get the feeling that the one that does all the combos could be me, maybe its just the love that you have for the game and the character, after all you were the one that made me main slayer. The fact that i feel the same way that you do when trying to learn all the links and backdash cancels and counter combos is what motivates me, the feeling of finally getting it right(even though im REALLY bad) is what gets me going even further, one step at a time, thinking that some day i will be able to do all the things that you do in your videos (which are really sick btw). I hope that someday we find ourselves in a match, to show you all the things i have learned, and if its possible even beat you!. I hope you are having a good day, and if not, i hope that after seeing this you know theres people that get motivated to play the game by just watching your videos. Thanks Lucid, and keep on mashing! (Sorry for bad english its my second language :) )

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Appreciate the love and dedication. I'm sure you'll be able to do what I do with a great attitude like that. Plus r is a labor of love to learn and it's not easy but it definitely is the most satisfying thing I've experienced in recent years. Keep up the good work, and if you ever need more tips feel free to join the discord or watch some of my old streams to get more gameplay. Have a good one bud

[@achair7958]

Another thing that annoyed the hell out of me was how people used older GG's high damage potential to justify how easy it is to get high damage in Strive. If you like Strive's high damage that's fine but don't try to cherry pick examples from older GG's like Strive-levels of damage were the norm in xrd and +R, that's disingenuous and unhelpful.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

They usually show Slayer ch pb with huge risc or the super proration hitboxes. Like yeah duh lol

[@Flubbadon]

I do this ironically, as a joke.

[@Gabduphoenix]

Amen

[@jakchaolan]

I know I haven't been subscribed for super long but a video essay like thing wasn't what I was expecting. Still a good video and I definitely appreciate it. I played AC+ on PS3 and Xrd casually but Strive was my first competitive GG experience since it was a good jumping on point for me. I still enjoy the game but I do want to play +R at some point. I play Tekken so I have no problem playing harder games, but at the time I was scared of it because I didn't know if I was ready for a complex 2D fighter. There's also games like UNIST that I want to play but either the connection sucks or the community is small (or both). When I feel ready I will get +R. Hopefully we'll play someday. Your videos actually make these games look super fun regardless of difficulty so thanks for spotlighting all these games!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Much appreciated man. Hope you enjoy plus r if you get it, great connections with rollback and plenty of people online

[@hhaammzzaattaarraaff3313]

I agree with you in much everything you say except for the burst throwing. As hype it can be its very frustrating and sometimes leave you without a chance

[@LucidButtonMasher]

As explained, it's not infallible and just blocking it is better, so it's really just for style at a determent to yourself

[@bobsledboytrwzz9615]

X’s native port on the ps2 was what made me become a big fighting game buff, love this series to death

[@LucidButtonMasher]

A great introduction. Wish i was introduced sooner myself

[@ArkRiley]

I dunno, I remember when SIGN came out and the XX oldheads were calling it a simplified game for kiddos (it wasn't, really). But the game's grown a lot and now it's got the reputation of a game for demons, just like +R. I feel like Strive has a long way to grow and the devs and players both will continue to grow the game. XX and Xrd both had a pretty solid foundation to build off, maintaining most of the previous base game. This time they've started it off more pared-down and are building it up with each patch. Anyways, I can't say I'm ever that excited about the hard tech part of the games. What I like about any of the guilty gears has very little to do with all that. The part I find satisfying is reaching the level of fluency with controlling a character in an actual match that it feels like I can do anything I want - the level of difficulty it took to reach that state has very little to do with the satisfaction of playing the game. For example, I don't find Baiken more satisfying in XX because her parries are more difficult to perform than in Xrd. I find her more frustrating to play because her tools are cumbersome even when they're working. You know, like the way you say you don't play I-No in that game, lol.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah there are definitely limits on what i will attempt in terms of difficulty. Your threshold is different than mine and that's fine

[@gatorssbm]

Hope this blows up, very nicely explained

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks bud, spread the good word

[@blitras8102]

Amazing video lucid, your style of editing really shines here

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Appreciate it, this was a labor of love

[@EliteSpectre32]

As someone who loves difficult games I always had a problem with fighting games and Strive was the first one I managed to get into and after some good 100 hours and doing research on other fighting games and older fighting games the conclusion I've come to is that fighting games feel very outdated design wise. A lot of older fighting games invoke the same feeling as playing old nintendo games where I feel like I'm fighting the game itself and it's systems rather than the opponent and it only feels worse in a game genre that is almost exclusively 1v1s against other players since fighting games have never really had good single player from my experience. Things that a lot of fans of fighting games seem to find good such as oddly constrictive execution and constant specifics depending on so many factors that tend to be invisible make the games very unapproachable as there is little to no feedback on what you even do wrong when someone beats you. A lot of time it leaves a feeling that the game wasn't designed with half the things happening in mind and makes figuring out how to play or play against something very nebulous and frustrating. Having what is supposed to be well defined rules only for them to have like 12 different "but"s is very annoying (the perfect example being burst in Xrd being a supposed invulnerable reversal option while actually it isn't) It's very interesting(and fitting) that you bring up League and Dota because it's actually a really fitting comparison. Dota has a lot more depth than league but it's mechanics felt very inconsistent because of the way it was made and due to it made it a lot less approachable and intuitive. For example in league after a neutral camp dies it takes a minute for it to respawn. In Dota it respawns at the start of every ingame minute meaning that the downtime of a camp is different depending on when it dies. On top of this due to Dota being made by a bunch of modders it ends up having some unsophisticated systems like that the game doesn't check if the camp is dead but rather if in a region around the camp there is nothing alive and if yes then it spawns a new one leading to unintended strategies like hitting a camp to get them to follow you and leading them out of this invisible region right as the minute passes to spawn a second one. While this adds depth to the game it is also not something you can really expect someone that hasn't heard about it to know or even figure out and players should never be left in a situation where they're doubting the information the game itself provides. Combos being rather short in Strive while helping with the execution barrier also really help with game pacing. It is very demoralizing and frustrating to get hit once by something you never knew existed and the having to spend the next 20 seconds doing nothing as you get tossed around the screen only for it to happen again and be even more frustrating as you watch it for 20 more seconds before your character finally dies. The fact that a lot of Strive's game rules are universal cuts down a lot of the feeling that you need to learn how every single character works before you're allowed to play the game otherwise you'll have no idea how to deal with them or even approach them. I am very happy that you seem to have a pretty open and accepting view on the whole matter as a lot of the fighting game community tends to garner a lot of elitism about this (or at least the vocal minority). tl:dr Feeling like your fighting the other player rather than the game itself helps a lot.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Decent explanation tbh. I understand the universal nature of making everyone similar to make picking the game up easier but it tends to get old quick of you stick with the game past the first few hours. Dbfz was a prime example until dlc really diversified the cast thankfully

[@kozgert]

Strive's accessibility got me into fighting games, I tried a few before but I could never get a grasp on them and it helped a lot. That being said, I do agree with your stance on Strive and I have started to play other fighters lol

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Good on ya. It's a solid stepping stone

[@MrMeat-jv1hx]

I started playing Rev 2 back in March of 2021 before I even knew about Strive, I ended up loving Rev 2 so I got Strive for Christmas and I love that game also, I also recently bought the og gg and plus r on the switch. Unlike most people l just love anything that's Guilty Gear related lol Edit August 2023: ok I'm actually not a fan of strive anymore lol

[@LucidButtonMasher]

"Guilty Gear is a good game, and you should play it"

[@flayncele]

bruh wtf I also started playing rev2 in March 2021, tried +R and couldn't go back to delay based (maybe I could if brazil had a bigger player base on rev2 but whatever there's a decently sized brazilian +r community) I also love anything guilty gear related but tbh strive is definitely the one that's the least appealing to me, a few months ago I had a ton of fun for like 2 hours straight labbing random things in fucking guilty gear petit 2 LOL tbh the only thing that would make me play more strive would be robo-ky, and for story reasons I don't think he has a chance of getting in until at least the next game, like mans doesn't even have a body anymore him and venom are running a mfing bakery to get money to fix him ☹️

[@LucidButtonMasher]

God robo ky in strive fits so well

[@TyreeseTheAscendedOne]

I can’t wait to try out +R. It seems fun and watching the livestreams make me want to play. Ima pick up the game whenever I can

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Summer sale im sure will have it cheap

[@thepirateage6396]

i definitely get what you're saying i highly agree. but i personally kinda have a limit or a line where im like nah thats too difficult im not willing to work this hard for a game anymore , usually after i've already put in a ton of work and felt very little progress. a perfect example of that would be +r I-no as you've mentioned. and i play on pad too i can't imagine how that would be tbh rev2 chipp felt refreshing to play compared to the struggles of landing instant air alpha combos with him with any consistency in +r . i almost mastered his frcs but his combos are a different monster that i just could not get down. who knows maybe i just needed a bit more patience. rev2 chipp is hard and will take a good deal of practice but with enough hard work eventually one starts to get pretty consistent and you can do some cool jump install combos and mixups. anyway thats some cool video love this type of content . would be great to see every now and then

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks. And yes ino and chipp in plus r are wildly hard but don't need to be played at that level to be fun. Xrd chipp is a perfect balance imo, enjoy learning him!

[@PixelatedFear]

As much as I wish Strive was more complex, it is the GG game I've played the most of and have the most fun with. Not necessarily because I love its system mechanics or because it's the most popular but because I'm actually able to play the game and enjoy it. I've been with the game since the first open beta and I've been there for every update. I've had ample time to learn how to use the system mechanics, figure out what characters I enjoy playing the most and learn their matchups. Do I wish every character had more options so the players could better express themselves? Absolutely, and I understand that there are two games that give me exactly this. However... everyone who plays those games is really, REALLY fucking good at them, especially +R. I love +R, I really do and I could see myself saying it's my favorite fighting game, but I absolutely hate playing it because I don't get to play it because everyone still playing it has several years of experience more than I do and I'm basically a training dummy. It's not fun for me and I feel like I'm wasting my time and my opponent's time attempting to play it. It feels like no matter how much time I may put into learning +R, I'll never be good enough to just have fun with it. This isn't so much the case with Xrd, but I've mostly avoided playing that game as it didn't have rollback for a while. Maybe I should try it again now that it has rollback. It's not that I don't like hard or complex fighting games, BBCF is my second favorite fighting game behind Strive, but I've always found +R to be extremely unwelcoming and futile to learn due to everyone else already being so damn good at it.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

A smaller player base and a rough entry curve is indeed not as fun. I will definitely say if you're not having fun, it's okay to stop playing. Sometimes i feel this way learning a new character like Axl, just getting stomped by players that i know i could beat if i switched characters. I will say though, the more you try the easier and better you become no matter what, and that feeling of noticing your improvement is one of the greatest feelings. Not even being better, but just noticing that you are improving. Hope this helps. Please continue playing what you like, but i know you can do it in other games too!

[@mariocraft3067]

This is such an awesome video, and really highlights what makes hard games fun and sooo addictive. However, I also want to highlight what makes easy games like GGST (haven’t actually played that one lol) fun in a different way, at least to me. I think there is a great joy to be found when you reach the level in a game where you feel like you really understand a game, and are fighting against an opponent that also understands it. Sure, you can have a better version of that experience in a harder game which can be worth it for the reasons in your video. However, it takes real time and effort to get there which is rewarding for sure, but it adds a huge delay between starting to learn a game, and that joy that comes from understanding, which may not be worth it either to people who don’t enjoy the learning process that much, or those who want a break from it. To be clear I’m not implying that you don’t appreciate easier fighting games, just giving my take on what makes them uniquely appealing to me.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Oh i totally understand. Strive is very good at making it fun to play from the start and i commend that. It lowers the floor but inadvertently lowers the ceiling also

[@galaxyman7026]

I started with strive back in 2021 and I haven't yet felt that fatigue that you described in your video. It's definitely because strive is the first fighting game I really began to sink my teeth into, so as someone learning fighting games as a whole from the bottom up with strive, it's definitely much more of a gold mine for me than it was for you. I tried other games before like MVC3 and Skullgirls, but those games didnt click for me immediately like strive did. although, after getting my bearings with strive, I went back and played older arcsys titles like blazblue CF and Xrd, and i gotta say those games really do feel like an endless pit of knowledge waiting to be tapped into, especially compared to strive. The only thing holding me back is that I am especially uncoordinated and have a hard time with the movement in faster games without a dash button, and strive is the only one that offers one LOL. I think that's why it clicked for me... On that note, it makes me wonder why developers feel the need to erase certain aspects of character's movesets and specialize their gameplan to the point of every character having only one style of play, when they can just give extra control to the playerbase to set their controls to what suits their needs. There doesn't even need to be as much of a disparity as there is between modern and classic controls in SF6. Infact, I'd prefer they stray away from altering character movesets between control schemes. tangible character differences between movesets is just adding fuel to the flame war, giving people who like to put down new players a new way to belittle their victory. All developers really need to do is just give the players more individual, smaller settings to turn on and off as they please! this helps players feel like they are improving as they disable each setting at their own speed, while enabling players with poor coordination (like me) and even those with disabilities to consistently go head to head with the competition. in a similar vein, it greatly confuses me why Arcsys did away with the developer-made combo trials for every character. Those trials show perfect examples of beginner BnB's, and give a structured ciriculum to learn it all on a silver platter. Doing away with that runs counter to what their design philosophy seems to be, which is beginner friendliness... I am really sorry to hear that legacy players such as yourself are disappointed with games like Strive and others, that simplify the gameplay at large to the detrimine of the overall skill ceiling. Also, thanks for not blasting simpler games as being lesser experiences than the more complex and challenging ones, like some do. It helps conversation among the community a lot to hear the other side of the coin without being called an inferior.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Great response. Yeah no problem it's fun to talk about. I can be hard on Strive at times especially with how they did chipp but overall it's a good game that has propelled the series and that i am thankful for

[@aganaom1712]

something that needs to be acknowledged here is what people consider to be good jank vs bad jank and also what people consider to be jank at all all fighting games will always have jank to them that is a result of what mechanics the system uses to craft the experience as a whole and different mechanics create different jank and more mechanics means potential for more jank. how you feel about what jank there is will vary from someone else and what experiences you've already had will determine what jank you are willing to engage with and what jank you avoid engaging with +r has jank around hit placement and hitbox positioning Xrd has jank around moveset clutter and meter usage Strive has jank around proration and hit properties additionally, the perception of harder vs easier is a non factor in and of itself when considering an individual's experience. the thing that people attribute more to what they see as harder games being more rewarding to play stems from what challenges those games present the player with and whether or not the player finds the process of dealing with those challenges rewarding. using myself as an example, i find several things about +r to be needlessly contrived and unintuitive to use, i think Xrd's meter system devalues other aspects of the game to make it a lesser experience overall than what it could be and i think Strive mishandles damage proration as well as what active defensive options it chooses to have and not have and out of those 3 games, i prefer to deal with the challenges and problems that Strive presents me with. it's not because i think it's just an easier game. it's because i prefer to deal with the problems Strive presents me with than the ones the other two do. i don't think Strive is easier or harder than +r or Xrd and the same goes for the other two relative to each other, i just like to deal with Strive's issues and bullshit more and i enjoy the overall experience more than the other games as a result. edit: for reference, if Strive didn't exist, i would prefer +r over Xrd. not because +r is harder or that Xrd is harder. because i would prefer to deal with the bullshit that's in +r over the bullshit that's in Xrd

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lol totally fair. Gauging your games based on what you wanna deal with is respectable

[@natyinc9611]

Beautiful, more videos like this please! Highlight reals are great, but you really have something in the fighting vidya essays department. Good job, keep it going :)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Been thinking about it for awhile

[@myniko]

Was not expecting a thoughtful video from monkey vampire man, but yeah. You kinda hit it on the nail. It’s why I prefer smash melee over smash ultimate there’s just more things to do. I think “just more things to do” is the tldr of your video, Sadly for me strive is my breaking point since I’ve got multiple games and school all at the same time. I love strive, but I’ve played my fill with even the complex characters like chip and chaos. I wonder what would think of a game that’s easy to play (input wise) but is very complex in what you can do? I would love it but I wanna see what you think

[@felixc.4294]

If that’s what you’re looking for, P4U will have rollback this summer!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I could relate that to lethal league tbh. Simple mechanics but super easy to play and the mind games are all the fun. Also thanks for the support, much love and keep l cancelling my dude

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Wish it was sooner, would've purchased already

[@myniko]

@@felixc.4294 already bought it

[@subb9011]

to be honest i cant really add that much to the conversation since i wasn't a hardcore fighting game player before and currently am trying to get better in strive (sure you've heard that a lot by now lol) but i really appreciate how civilized and open the comment section here is, with everyone giving their own perspectives on this type of stuff and being respectful about it, it's pretty nice to see people talk about it like this cuz i feel like theres a bit of nuance to it yknow (and just a nice change of pace from some other places where people just kinda take everything way too personally)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

There definitely is. Some times you have to open up the communication and be civil for the comments section to do the same

[@subb9011]

i'll prolly try out ac+r and xrd once they're on sale and get my fill of strive they all feel so interesting and unique its awesome

[@subb9011]

@@LucidButtonMasher yeah, i also respect you too for just being kinda chill in the video and talking about everythn in a civilized way

[@subb9011]

also you replied to that so fast goddamn

[@LucidButtonMasher]

You just so happened to comment when i was checking lol and yeah give them a shot, they're all worth it

[@doate4169]

Instalike, great video man!, in my case i always had troubles in this type of figthing games because of the commands and seems like i'm clumsy as fuck, but i keep trying. Keep up the great work as always!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

And you keep up the great work playing games bud you'll get it

[@user-bkey]

i love the addict being brought to an intervention bit i think that describes how people feel well

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Definitely how i feel

[@Fluid_O]

I completely missed this one, so I'm a bit late, but not a bad video essay for something cobbled together in a day or so! I hope you're looking forward to UNI 2! The game's director Kamone has talked on stream a couple times about the difficulty of the process for someone who's inexperienced with GGPO, but that's more reassuring to me than anything that the game will have rollback when it does come out! The game's knowledge ceiling is only a little bit higher than MBTL's, and a fair bit lower than MBAACC's, but due to the system mechanics the differences from character to character will feel more pronounced. And on the bit about Melty Blood Type Lumina - the finer interactions are definitely nowhere near comparable to those found in Xrd or +R, but I really enjoy the neutral in that game, and character specialists are finding hella grime (I think we're up to 6 crossup breaking characters, 3 of which can actually loop it). I'd say definitely give the game a watch when EVO comes around - that'll be the first notable clash of the rapidly developing NA and JP metas, which seem to hold different tools and some different characters in high regard.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Oh for sure i emote mbtl, i even unironically like the shield

[@GuyFromCanada]

I do appreciate you acknowledge the other side, lots of more toxic people just call newer players like myself babies for playing simplified fighting games; I personally have tried to get into more complex fighting games (Namely +R and Melee), but their overwhelming amount of effort to get to a playable level felt incredibly unfun. The sheer mechanical depth and years of experience for the playerbase make the games difficult to approach, and while it may be worth the time investment to really learn the games, I'm not sure I'm willing to spend the upwards of hundreds of hours to get to get to a point where I MIGHT have fun and be able to win some amount of the time. So, I play Strive and Ultimate, their simplification makes the game more approachable and makes it easier for me to feel like I'm getting better. At the end of the day, it's personal preference, and I'm glad that the conversation can stay civil.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Try my best. Good luck and try to go into learning with a healthy mindset

[@nubbert6887]

I love +R, Xrd and Strive, but the talk around Strive makes me wonder what people wanted out of it. I feel like if Daisuke went in the direction of making Strive like Xrd and +R it would just end up being a Rev 3 in a way, I don't know though. I love all 3 games for what they are and I'm incredibly excited to see what Strive could eventually become. Guilty Gear is awesome, FGs are awesome. Thanks for the well written video! Very thought provoking.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Appreciate it bud. Fighting games are sick

[@stanzacosmi]

actually fun fact, in the files for the game, it says Guilty Gear Xrd3 in an unused image

[@dj_koen1265]

i think xrd rev 3 is what a lot of people wanted but i think simplifying the game to attract newcomers and to set it apart from the previous games was a good business move, however i do also think that they might have went too far away from the core guilty gear gameplay experience to the point where a lot of veterans felt disillusioned with it and the future of the franchise, xrd already had a lot of simplified movelists and mechanics and they only really needed to streamline the system mechanics more i think, ie. maybe no character specific combos or character unique wakeup timings and things like that, also a lot of characters have very barebone kits, and a lot of the characters feel bland because of it (based on spectating games only) and although i have only played +r as of now and only a measly 20 hours, i have watched a lot of content around the strive release and i was very interested in the game and the situation around it, i dont really know what to think about it in the end but i do really enjoy playing +r and i fear that i wouldnt enjoy strive half as much despite being a newcomer to fg's, the amount of moves a character has is what makes the game interesting and imo simplifying that really kills all the joy for me

[@guyoguy]

i've been trying to get into FGs for a while, and Strive has motivated me a LOT. i understand how people can be frustrated with its lack of depth relative to older GG entries, but i have a lot of fun with it because it feels nice to play, the presentation is good, and it doesnt hurt my fingers! i might pick up UNI2 though, since everybody hates on strive :( maybe i'll get to playing some of the harder entries eventually, i just dont want to be complety required to sweat super hard and learn a ton of stuff to not get completely demoralized by other players

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Totally fair take your time with it.

[@slayerYurrie]

video genuinely made me reconsider how i think about playing fighting games so pretty good, great work

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Appreciate the comment bud

[@TheVeryGenericUsername]

Coming from the modern competitive Tetris scene and whose first big dip into competitive fighting games was Strive, this very much reminds me of the Classic Tetris crowd and the Modern Tetris crowd. Both are completely different games utilizing completely different systems, with modern being much more lenient and forgiving. Although, the thought falls through when modern has the same skill ceiling as classic as opposed to Strive having a much lower skill ceiling.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah it's an interesting comparison

[@horacehorace6793]

Personally, I think skill ceilings for fighting games aren't actually definable. There may be mechanical skill ceilings, where the peak of execution is easier to access, but the person-to-person interplay and adaptation is found in every game. For example, in strive, achieving optimal damage is a lot easier than +R, but the I don't think the mindgames between them have changed very much at all. Strive may have removed defense options mid combo such as air teching, but in my opinion that just means more emphasis is placed on other areas of the game. There is always room to improve in fighting games, even after you've achieved perfect execution, because the human element still exists

[@horacehorace6793]

In fact, I would like to ask you exactly why modern tetris has the same skill ceiling ad classic tetris. My guess is - and you can tell me if I'm wrong - my guess is that even though the mechanics of the gameplay are more lenient and accessible, the mental portion of it, the planning of it, remains basically the same.

[@LoraLoibu]

@@horacehorace6793 Another modern tetris player here Modern Tetris, especially in PvP games (eg tetrio), does very much have a high mental skill ceiling, 'cause unless you play at literally *twice the speed* of your opponent, you *will* going to need some strategy.

[@horacehorace6793]

@@LoraLoibu right, that's exactly what I'm saying. reducing mechanical skill ceilings can just give more room for mental ones to thrive

[@kittywampus7919]

+r looks insanely cool and fun my main reason for playing the newer games, particularly strive is the comparably large amount of resources available for new players. I've seen Guilty Bits and the +r dustloop but it unfortunately had relatively little info on the characters I was looking to learn and just don't feel like I'd be equipped well enough to play against anyone in any capacity. maybe one day I'll give it a shot just for that replay function tho!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

The plus r discord is a wealth of knowledge but yes, experience and replay is going to be your best friend

[@kittywampus7919]

@@LucidButtonMasher Somehow missed the discord link! gonna hop in and check it out :)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Please do!

[@ignoremycringecommentslol.8274]

One of the reasons why I got into fg was because of shoot em ups weirdly enough. Both of the communities feel a bit similar in some ways and probably one of the reasons for that is how they both had their origins from the arcade scene.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Ah like a time crisis?

[@raidenkazeryu]

I started investing time into fighting games from 2020 properly and the first game I started with was +R I picked May, which was both good and bad for me cos I knew combos were long dolphin loops which feel hard to do and I don't like doing them Took me two years to finally sit down, read the combo theory and understood what I should be doing and I did dolphin cancel hard knockdown super otg which feels amazing So yknow what, hard games are great, I understand it's harder to get someone to pickup those and stick with them first but let's be happy that easier games down the road are doorways to the harder games with more cool features, thanks for the video Lucid (How could you say May players deserve no sympathy, we tread between having to risk the grappler range and/or getting outpoked by normals unless we get a nice CH 5H) Melty Blood is a great game, TL and CC should be looked at differently, they share a name but both should not be judged for what the other does better, they are pretty much different, and should both be enjoyed for what they are I will say tho that I liked CC more because my brain still needs to learn autocombos are a thing (C-Roa is a warcrime but F-Roa is funny, j[C] fatal counter combo conversion is 5k+ apparently)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Much appreciated and nice response. I respect some may players, and yes melty c roa is my favorite

[@stephen_cloud]

Oh, I feel you when you talked about I-no. Before I first got to ACPR, I never knew her CL buttons were that convoluded. And those FRC-s ONLY on specific frames ONLY for a couple of frames was unbelievably amazing to look at in combo videos. That's exactly why I didn't give her up there. I have been struggling (still am) with the dash cancel, but after almost a year I can perform it more than half the time usually (although I never escaped training mode in that game). But yes, despite this I-no being much harder, she feels much more rewarding to play right. And with Xrd I-no I'm glad to have her cross-up super with j.d cancel on her fast fall. And I play on a keyboard :^) Nonetheless, you have a good point, love it

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lol thanks bud, bless your poor hands

[@stephen_cloud]

@@LucidButtonMasher ma hands hurt so ma brain can be briefly happy 😅

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Hell yeah

[@Beans-do6wc]

And now strive is at the point where bursts are full screen 😁

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I'm sorry what

[@HyperDogeGaming]

Such a great point about Killer Instinct. At one point during my short KI career as an online warrior, I was specializing in Mira, who uses her own health as meter to deal more damage. I was able to pull off two 100% damage combos in a row, which earned me the victory (two consecutive rounds) based on counter-breaker reads. I got soooo hype I decided to upload that clip on KZbin. And that was the start of my mini-channel. Video is still available and quite disliked because I unfortunately teabagged the opponent like a douchebag, lmao. Haven’t been active over the last years, but the point is how massive an impact that engaging fighting game mechanics can have on players. They build long-lasting communities and incredible moments we can experience together.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Loved reading this. That's super sick and glad you got to have that moment

[@HyperDogeGaming]

Thanks, and keep up the good work and sharing your passion, love your videos! Cheers!

[@ThatCreepyReading]

Your vocal audio is a bit low, I typically boost it to about -6db in post and keep the music about 1/4th of that volume. Thanks for the vid it was awesome!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah volume balancing hard

[@deatharcana4226]

note for what you said on UNI, next game is confirmed to be in development and its confirmed to get rollback as well from what I know so GET HYPE and other than that this video sums up my thoughts on the topic and why I am hopping back on the +R grind tomorrow now that I'm done with high school

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Oh hell yeah I'm hyped

[@jonnysac77]

the easier the fighting game, the faster you get to the stage where there's little to optimize with your character or less big revelations in a match-up and you get to a stage where you have to grind the things that make fighting games really hard inherently, competition with other people who are also trying hard which means grinding more abstract things fundaments and your opponents rhythm become the main thing, I like it when games are hard enough where there's always room for both, in +R, it's debatable that no one has every played this version of Baiken to her full potential because of how high the skill ceiling is/ridiculous the execution is for her at her max potential and that's really exciting, to no matter how good you get at the game, always have something new to learn that changes how you play

[@jonnysac77]

not to say simpler games don't have any of this but not nearly as much stuff to learn and dive into as a more complex game like +R

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Agreed. I feel like i just do the same stuff in every matchup in strive. The only one that makes me reconsider is happy chaos

[@beaver_eater2447]

My first GG game was Strive, then i moved to Xrd, and i recently started playing +R, so i hope there is no bias or nostalgia factor in my perspective. Here my 2 cents take, There is no denied Strive is the worst game in the series out of all three, its a good fighting game but not a good GG game. That's said, there is something really cool about the clean and focus design of Strive, the game is holdback by system mechanics more than anything and its look like Arcsys is experimenting that with HC and Testament with the ability to link any gatlings into a full combo. Strive is not a completely lost cause as many folks say, i think its could turn back and be a great guilty gear game ..... in the future. +R on the others hand is a great game, its completely opposite with Strive in term of design, its an unapologetic hard and i love it, i always hate the term "player's expression" and "loose gameplay" because most people dont understand what the fck that mean and just think more combo route = more freedom gameplay, but your videos capture it perfectly, good job man

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Much appreciated. And yeah strive does what it does well. It's just not for me

[@firework0097]

I understand all of your ideas about strive but I have to say a thing, even in the anniversary stream daisuke specifically said that he wanted to do A COMPLETELY NEW GAME because he was tired of doing the same play style for every guilty gear and wanted to try something new and more refreshing, especially because his first priority was to make new people come and try guilty gear. For me comparing guilty gear strive and guilty gear xrd or +R.... It's like comparing SFV To blazblue.... The game is not like the previous one's.... BUT FOR ME THAT ITS COMPLETELY FINE... as a fighting game ENJOYER I'm happy to say that guilty gear strive was the most welcoming game I ever played and personally one of my favourite.... If you see at the previous games he is no match.... But it's because it just maintains the depth of the previous guilty gears.... ITS STILL GUILTY GEAR... But it's a game that experimented with completely new ideas... ideas that for me needs to be appreciated more than what they are getting. Now it's fine to dislike a game from the previous ones... But for me with strive... We should just see it as a child of XRD with his true personality

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I commend strive for what it is. It's just not for me

[@kinghearts4497]

​@@firework0097 100000000% agree with you here. I've read the interviews and seen what's been done with Strive and I am very curious as to how he'll approach this experiment. We have to remind ourselves too that Guilty Gear isn't just a fighting game series *it's also a franchise* meaning with side games (and one main game Guilty Gear 2 Overture) they've been experimenting with the series like Isuka or that one DS party game. I very much hunger for a bit more complexity and options in Strive but I'm reminded that maybe they're going to do *something* big that will still keep the simplicity but add another layer to the game for both newcomers and veterans. These ramblings are from someone who started with Strive as their first fighting game then branched out into the other entries and BlazeBlue Central Fiction.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

BBcf is sick

[@Elguilty]

Considering the fact that I play GGX way back in 2008,that was my first taste of fighting games, and a couple of months ago i decide to play Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code(Or MBAACC), and find an interesting character that didn't have a complete Wiki and slowly begin to understand how to use her(Full Moon Sion TATARI).

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Good timing

[@NewtypeEri]

This video was siiiick XD I may not be the best at FG, but it's always nice to learn a thing or two about 'em; thanks :)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Hell yeah, happy learning

[@collinsgichuhi8255]

I remember getting into fighting games and did no research whatsoever. I happened to pick up SFxT because: 2 games are better than 1 lmao. Anyways I played using gems and only played about 3 hours overall. Shit was not cash at all. Bought a bundle that had Xrd Sign and +R and started playing Sign because I thought it was the older game because of the shorter name. Yeah Im not very smart kek. Anyways, I played both games and instantly preferred +R but at the same time didn't like it because of no tutorial and I was tired of getting bopped by Millia with the same 32 hit combo. I played the Xrd Sign tutorial and combo trials, to try to translate that info over to +R and not once did I try to look up info over the net. Things worked out pretty fine. I was testing my ability in arcade mode. I started on normal difficulty, then to hard, then to very hard and can now beat Maniac with ease *Gigachad face* All this was back in 2017/18 I played the game religiously since then; just the single player modes. All that paid off when rollback hit the game and it was like I was playing a different game. Sure, beating a super hard AI is one thing, but another person? Its like a whole different game. Got the achievement for 10hrs spent in training mode during the beta and shit was phenomenal. It was like I had reached the first peak of a 3 peak mountain if that makes sense. The second peak is when I stole my first burst online. Go check out the vid on my channel.l, its called Orgasmic. That was the feeling I got. Holy fuck it was literally: Neuron Activation; Copious amounts of dopamine released Never felt anything like it before. And that's why +R is my favourite game of all time. In the year 2069 if my arthritis wont be problematic I'll probably be doing HOS Double dust loops religiously lmao

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Stealing a burst is fucking sick

[@bernardops7138]

I really like complex/hard stuff because i love learning and like complex/hard stuff. Amazing video dandy button masher

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks and big agree

[@AlluMan96]

The funny part about Strive specifically and why I had to go through an attitude shift in order to start clicking with it was because despite being simplified for the sake of accessibility, that process actually made the game feel less welcoming to me starting off. Because high damage was easier to obtain, because the game's universal mechanics had less for both offense and defence, it made it feel like there was less room to breathe. When your opponent gets going, I don't have reversal mechanics like Dead Angle and Blitz to consider and when hit by a combo, I have less hope that they'd drop a difficult combo and give me my second wind. I've always leaned harder on fighters being more of a social experience, so I have been able to get more fun out of Strive. However, I can't really say I have alot of interest in it as far as mastering it is concerned, because the game's more competitive side feels so bitter to me and usually just makes me feel like garbage, because it feels like I have so much less I can do outside of not fucking up in the first place.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I feel that. Less chances to press buttons since game is over in 2 combos

[@LoraLoibu]

Instead of dead-angle attacks and Blirz, Strive has its own version of YRC which puts the opponent into guard crush. It is undeniable that _once you get hit, you're most likely taking optimal damage,_ though.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Is it the thing that costs burst?

[@AlluMan96]

​@@LucidButtonMasher YRC is the defensive roman cancel that costs meter. The one that costs burst is deflect shield, which doesn't guard-crush, but rather pushes the enemy way back (like, "Marvel 3 advancing guard" back). Both sorta share the same problem in that for a game so offensively minded, both are pretty specific in what scenarios they answer. Not as elegant as a more traditional alpha-counter/dead angle, where you more proactively peel an enemy off you with a move so snappy that not alot of moves will just ignore it.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

@AlluMan96 right, yrc is the guard cancel, or dead angle as it was known

[@vvvaire]

in general the way strive acts as a gateway of sorts into fighting games is pretty cool to see. like, some newer players will play strive for a while and then maybe get into the other games in the series or other fighting games in general, while others might love where the nuance in the game shifted to and will stick with strive as a result. as far as im concerned, they reached their goal of ushering in a wider audience and then some. i personally used to look at games like xrd or plus r and think "man that looks way too hard, i'll pass" but now i instead think "huh, that seems hard, i think i'd be willing to give it a shot though" because of the way strive made things a little more digestible for a fighting game first timer while still having nuance in its own way, even if not as mechanically intensive as the older titles. it obv isnt a perfect game, but i'll be damned if i ever stop appreciating strive heavily even after i eventually stop playing

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Totally valid point, and i agree the fact it's popular brings more attention to a franchise i still love

[@wingeroni135]

I like Strive, AC+R, and Xrd because it's all Guilty Gear. Guilty Gear is good. Guilty Gear is fun.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

"guilty gear is a good game and you should play it"

[@uraizen5894]

More options are more fun. Labbing out the harder ones with more reward is fun in itself too. It gives me motivation to try more characters to learn what options they have.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Absolutely agree

[@raveelemental4928]

Well French Bread IS working on a new Under Night... We don't know if it's a whole ass new game or an extra version

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I'm so down for that or just rollback in general

[@skyboost4568]

As a person who started "Plus r" a month ago on the vita, I'm absolutely enjoying the difficulty the game provides. It's a great way to push your skills and situational awareness (thank you replay mode, god bless you) Minus having to learn double the roster since EX skins exist, but when you manage to do something in that one game...it pulls you back in and pushes you further. Also, hot damn does slayer schmove in plus r.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

He sure does. Everyone's execution ceiling is so high

[@skyboost4568]

Every character's got there own schtick. Baiken with her UI tier defense, Slayer with faints and mixes, dual mode characters like A.B.A and so on... It's a lot to go off on but it gives the characters their own personality in their movesets instead of making universal combos. (technically P+K+S+Hs is one but some characters have different routes for that)

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah Slaye doesn't have those gatlings

[@dj_koen1265]

i dont think ex skins count since those arent tournament legal, you arent really supposed to take them into account

[@ancientgamer246]

I'm personally one of those people that tried +r and didn't like it because I had no clue what I was doing and the gameplay itself felt really clunky and awkward. I wish I could like +r but I sadly just can't.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It might feel clunky, but in reality everything is just stricter, no buffers for many things. I enjoy that to a degree. Might be clunky by that definition but i love it

[@ancientgamer246]

@@LucidButtonMasher understandable

[@a_shrxydud]

i very much agree with the notion that strive is a good gateway into fighting games. its simplified but still has things to learn and do which help in the more difficult games, similar to learning to swim in the shallower end of the pool rather than 2m deep or in the ocean. ive only put proper time into strive, but both it and xrd are very fun. xx input "leniency", and that none of my friends play, keep me away from it though.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Totally fair. Xx will always be there if you ever get curious. 3 bucks on sale if you want to surprise your friend one day

[@KoylTrane]

>Starting new and fresh is fun, because you see tangible results Depends if you have perseverance to suffer all the losses you have to go through before actually seeing results. For me personally, labing combos isn't playing a game, combos act more like a gatekeeper to play the game. Because what's the point of landing a hit if you can't convert it into damage.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

You might enjoy games like street fighter where it's more about pokes and neutral rather than combos

[@KoylTrane]

@@LucidButtonMasher funnily enough, I don't enjoy SF because it's too slow. I've been grinding BBTAG after the rollback, but population is small and character variety is non-existent.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah i can see that a bit more with the simplified combos there. Hope you find your game that's populated and appeals to what you want!

[@randomnothingness6557]

I always wanted to play fighting games but I got boondocks wifi. Every now and then, when everyone in a mile radius is asleep, I might get 300 ping.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Oof yeah that's rough even rollback won't help

[@donut2111]

Hey man I really like this longer form opinion piece video, nice switch up from your usual content. Two side questions, do you plan to keep doing NCA +R tournaments on Thursdays and do you have a discord server for people to join

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I'm too dumb to manage a discord, and yeah i can't do every Thursday but i do em if im free

[@pavro_w0t719]

Great vid. Your rambling was easy to follow and well structured. Praised be hard games (and easy games too, praised be all FG)!

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks glad you enjoyed!

[@wadewade3790]

It feels good to give effort and be challenged, with guilty gear especially because it feels like you and your opponent are doing crazy Anime Battles where in the best matches both players are being pushed to their absolute limit. Things requiring effort like Inputs and Movement and Damage add so much scale to what your doing. When you have a really good match in Guilty Gear it really feels like your that anime character going all out because you yourself are actually going all out with your moves, movement, and mindgames. When you take away that effort everything you do feels immensely less exciting. Moment 37 and Third Strike in general would not be remembered if immense effort was not a part of Third Strike. I understand alot of newbie fighting game players like Strives simplified qualities because of that they get to have fun with Fighting Games but to this day I have not seen a single clip of anything interesting or exciting happening in Guilty Gear Strive. And I feel like once a game comes out that is either just more popular than Strive or One thats Both more Popular and more challenging Strive the community around Strive will become a ghosttown.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Agreed. Effort equals fun

[@novasimon9635]

What Xrd matches are you watching that isn’t just “character a slaps character b against the wall until their health bar falls to 0.” Because that’s every xrd match I’ve played and watched and it’s SOOOOOOO fucking boring! Just speaking personally I like being able to actually interact with my opponent in a fighting game and play neutral instead of becoming a glorified hacky sack the second my opponent so much as breathes on me.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

The effort that goes into being able to keep someone in the corner or even the ability to defend and get out of the corner are just as fun imo

[@wadewade3790]

@@novasimon9635 The Majority of the Matches I play and See, If one player is getting absolutely annihilated by the other than it isnt a good match, a good match is where both players are getting in and defending enough where it goes down to the absolute last pixels of health and it is a genuine question on who will win.

[@novasimon9635]

@@wadewade3790 Yeah I can agree with that sentiment. And that's part of the reason I didn't have fun with Xrd. Every other match I've gotten into during the rollback beta has been against some Raven who kept shutting me into a corner with his orb before proceeding to wail on me while I'm helpless to do anything. Either that or a Jam player who keeps sticking to me while I'm helpless to do anything except hold block in the corner and pray. I barely felt like I was playing a video game during my short time with Xrd and more like I was getting jumped in a Denny's parking lot. At least with Strive I feel like I can actually interact with my opponent even if I end up getting my ass beat. Doesn't help that so many Xrd highlight clips I come across are so often "Character A slams Character B againt the wall 50 times until their health bar dissapears," which just kinda affirms to me that this is Just What The Game Is Like and it's probably not for me. I dunno, I really wanted to have fun with Xrd, and I probably would've gotten more out of it if I had more time to practice and learn how to deal with the annoying Raven/Jam/Johnny/whoever players who kept fucking me up. But as it stands I just feel like I'm going insane when I hear people praise this game for "player expression" when every online Raven is doing the same oki setups in the corner and getting away with it every single time. Now that I think about it, maybe my problems are less with Xrd and more with Raven being the most obnoxious thing in any fighting game I've played.

[@fenceil]

As someone who started with Strive and is currently playing +R, I definitely prefer harder games (even if I'm not good at either). Though, I don't think I would have stuck around if I started with a harder game like +R going 0-50 on QM. It's nice to have both.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

More options is always best. So having both game is great

[@Trent957]

This video basically sums up my experience between +R, Rev2, and Strive. It something I found a bit hard to convey to some of my friends who started playing serious on Strive and my overall frustration/lack of motivation to put forth the same effort that my friends were. Is Strive fun? Yes absolutely, but it always was missing something and it didn't really truly hit me until I went back to play +R for a bit when it literally hit me both figuratively and literally (by a Pot player). I was missing all of my choices, both offensively and defensively. Ultimately tho I resettled on Rev2 simply cause its a better balance of ease of play vs learning and one of my friends that picked up Rev2 for the rollback, that used to only play Strive almost immediately understood my frustrations after he got the general basics of Rev 2. He was basically flabbergasted at how much more he could do with Leo in Rev 2 compared to Strive and how much more he could push himself.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

More content is sick

[@thedevilsadvocate4854]

I really do think that the more time goes on the more the devs will add complex stuff. You just have to see how the new characters works in the DLC, most of them are in the harder scale than the rest of the case and as the dev said, their goal with the new patch in june 10th is to bring more ways to approach the game overall. I don't know if it was intentional but i think they wanted to introduce a simpler game for a lot of people to come in and then complexify it as it goes on. I do think Strive does some stuff better and i'm not necessarily a huge fan of super long combos/super specific to each character's weight etc. It's just added fluff for the sake of complexity imo, but i would love for the burst to be throwable, the techs to be back as they were, i always loved the dust special in +R, etc. And tbh i do tend to play Strive more because artistically it beats any fighting game i've ever played.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It's only 2nd to dbfz artistically imo but yeah i feel that. Id argue to keep strive now it is, just make a rev3

[@kadelefox8946]

I belive this is why I really like games like Arcana heart III and Eternal fighter zero cause it feels like these games have so much to learn and still so much unknown tech and playing them makes me want to discover all I can because its so satisfying creating your own combo or an interesting new setup even if not optimal

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Haven't even heard of those games but i believe you

[@soupwithpotatos1542]

for me, i hadn't played an FG since Injustice 1 and 2 before I picked up tekken 7, i played it for a bit but it never hooked me until I got strive. netcode was amazing and the game looked and felt amazing to me. i sometimes dip out to +R and play Anji cause his bnbs are simple to understand and the resources for him don't suck. also +R not needing me to use discord like some games (melty) is great. +R has so many good QOL features that I wish strive had.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Absolutely true. Enjoy the anji

[@pian-0g445]

This may just be because strive was my first fighting game, but even after putting just as much hours into +R (love it), I think I prefer strive’s methods. The game is not perfect, but I believe it can be an incredibly good fighting game. But the reason I prefer it is because it focuses more on timing, than character knowledge. Because each character has less and less batshit crazy stuff, I’m not thinking about what they’re gonna do, but when. Strive just needs to be a bit more, more and I think I would play it even more. Edit: also, strive has made more focus more on ‘fundamentals’ like spacing and defence etc. since I can actually process what’s going and not mind boggled by the mix ups

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Definitely more neutral based yeah

[@geckoinaboat4805]

Oh baby. Sending to all my friends.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Many thanks, enjoy bud

[@ButchLesbianSolBadguy]

To me I feel like xrd was the perfect difficulty, it simplified mechanics without (for the most part) ruining the experience. Plus r can sometimes feel needlessly difficult with it's lack of a buffer and frcs while strive can feel too simple with how bare some characters can feel (one of the few exceptions is sol who feels more streamlined then simplified, cba to elaborate on what that means to me rn). Xrd however makes things easier while expanding on what was before. Yrc as fucked up as it is acts like an frc for EVERYTHING which presents new options and scenarios while also making it way more accessible, strive on the other hand just, doesn't have it making things like gunflame rc feel way less worth it (recent positive bonus changes are making me rethink this a little though) that's all for now, long story short. Please give rev 2 rollback thanks

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Agreed

[@sinshenlong]

i agree with everything in this video. The combo options keep me playing strive though but i play sol and happy chaos

[@LucidButtonMasher]

When there are options, they will play

[@shablumps]

OH WE LOVE VIDEO ESSAYS. HELLS YEA.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

So do i. Glad this is in that category of video now

[@hacooray525]

It is in a way kinda similiar with what happened with FPS scene nowadays. "Battle royale is popular so let's make our own BR!" despite having a completely different brand before

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lol in a way yeah

[@ガッス]

When I hit the Naoto Kurogane's BnB for the first time in BBCF I suddenly stopped playing Strive, once you finally "get" these "hard" games you really do become a Fighting Game Dopamine Junkie lmao

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Absolutely. And god damn your poor hands. I had to drop Naoto specifically for that

[@ガッス]

He is simply too hype to stop, no matter the pain

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Good luck my dude he's sick

[@thepirateage6396]

this is like my never ending quest to master baiken's kire tatami on pad because she's just so fucking cool and i want to play her so bad. i just love how she's essentially an armoury of deadly defensive tools packed into a character. one day i'll do it.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lol good luck my man is rough

[@fogblades6811]

It's actually funny. I actually had a conversation with someone about the Replay feature. I thought it was a revolutionary feature that really needs to be in all modern fighters.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Facts dude

[@fogblades6811]

@@LucidButtonMasher Oh yeah, and what you said about strive was pretty on point too. Game is way too slow and boring for me to really care about playing long term. Baiken got Cucked in terms of defensive options so that she only has an activatable parry, with no follow-ups or setups. I hate how they did that.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Yeah i made a whole video about her parry too lol

[@intranube]

I agree, it all boils down to being and staying in the flow state, as long as there's an option for counterplay most strategies can be beat and when you do, it feels amazing. Hard to master, easy to learn should be the focus on games nowadays if they want to stay relevant, BUT Strive overdid it, while it's a fantastic game, the depth lost in the new iteration means the game will probably be forgotten once a new version comes out (like brawl > smash 4 >ultimate, or the Mortal Kombat series), nevertheless, taking out unnecesary or artificial difficulty seems more productive than limiting player options (Having a dash macro, some input buffer, customizable controls, infinite prevention systems, damage scaling, stale moves, etc) or at the very least it helps improve the gameplay more than it hurts it ( looking at you, motion input purists). More options means more potential solutions, Blazblue has 4 types of blocking you can do while defending, OG Melty has shield, block, damage reduction AND dodge, which makes these games fighting gems in the community (no pun intended) because there's almost ALWAYS something you could have done differently in order to not lose. I like how you mentioned Killer instinct's gameplay, it's a thing more games should have, just because you're getting combo'ed shouldn't mean you're now watching a movie in which you're helpless to end the misery of your character as it gets 0 to death ( Marvel, Skullgirls, team fighters), having control at ALL times, means more engagement, translating into a deeper state of flow which means more fun overall, that is the reason why my main games are platform fighters (PF), despite all their shortcomings, they're the only FG genre to give both players FULL control of the chars at ALL times. PFs also highlight the situationality of combos and boost player creativity to find options at anytime which is why melee hasn't been dethroned as the best Smash game yet, while, traditional FGs have a very strict flowchart for combos and strategies ( google "Flowchart ken" or "optimal dustloop combos"), meaning that creativity is hindered once you reach a certain degree of knowledge and competence, like it's explained in this video's GG Strive example, Lucid reached the skill ceiling quickly, got bored and went back to a more appealing game that keeps him in the FLOW state. Having said all this, thanks for making the video, Lucid i encourage and rrecommend everyone to try Rivals of Aether ( Melee's spiritual succesor), Rushdown Revolt (Guilty gear + melee inspired platform fighter with roman cancels, parries, bursts and crossups), vanilla Melee or Project +, the degree of player control and skill ceiling in those games is insanely high.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Love the insight. Love the knowledge of melee and pm. I was a player back in the day of both

[@Luunyby]

Honestly I feel like this video helps make the case that both kinds really can and should exist. FGC is getting bigger and bigger and people can find matches in Strive and +r pretty well afaik. So we shouldn't forget to try and enjoy the complicated games but also it's fun to hurka durka button mash in games like Strive.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Exist in harmony but don't be afraid to try what came before

[@usopppancakesyrup7476]

You def cannot hurka durka button mash in strive without getting absolutely exploded, just because it's a simpler game doesn't mean it's not still a competitive fighting game

[@Luunyby]

@@usopppancakesyrup7476 I was being hyperbolic lmao.

[@usopppancakesyrup7476]

@@Luunyby Not really an exaggeration, it's just kinda wrong

[@Luunyby]

@@usopppancakesyrup7476 lol lmao rofl

[@lexeleister4618]

R+ is godlike, when i got completely washed up by Elvenshadow faust i felt dat and then he got completely rolled in the usa vs japan tournament

[@LucidButtonMasher]

It's a crazy fun game with infinite potential

[@mykhaylo3972]

I've replayed the May wall splat scene at least a dozen of times. God, that was fun.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Satisfying right?

[@mykhaylo3972]

@@LucidButtonMasher, indeed it is.

[@hmad898]

I can really like both. My main games are skullgirls and strive, complete opposite ends of the spectrum in my experience.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

They're both anime games but depth wise, yeah you're definitely right

[@titoheart6824]

I think youre right, actually, your channel did made me want to play more characters beside Faust and Potemkin in xrd, I will try the blazblue ones (probably the newer) when I get a pc

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Hell yeah dude, have fun with all those new opportunities

[@svartfrasr9755]

You nailed it with the rant about getting that dopamine rush from learning. I can't consider Strive bad but it never gave me that addicting rush as fully as Rev and for all the goofy and fun matches I've had in that game there damn sure wasn't anything on the level of say a Double Daisuke Dimension Double KO.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lmao that's a great example and hard to top lol

[@rayoscrost]

i like how you did that comparison plot twist with xrd instead of strive

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Trying to show how i don't just hate strive lol

[@ggmasterguiltygear6315]

I resonate alot with this video, for me it felt like +r was like 4th dimension science, xrd was like chess, then strive was verging on checkers. As a long time guilty gear fan I'm worried about the direction their games are going. I felt like I should've waited till the game was finished before I bought it.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Here's hoping for rev3 instead of Strive 2

[@thepirateage6396]

@@LucidButtonMasher here's hoping for rev2 rollback :')

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Indeed

[@ggmasterguiltygear6315]

@@thepirateage6396 that would be amazing.

[@ggmasterguiltygear6315]

@@LucidButtonMasher if Rev 3 had A.B.A, Bridget, kliff, or justice I'd lose it🔥

[@goldsocks9999]

I recently picked up Axl Low in +R after starting out playing him in strive So many options, best decision ever

[@LucidButtonMasher]

He's pretty cool even though i usually don't like zoners

[@Micha-Hil]

4:40 okay that was kinda funny...

[@LucidButtonMasher]

The combo?

[@Micha-Hil]

@@LucidButtonMasher the way you cancelled the super into the jump attack to reach further

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Oh yeah j.s is a bit silly. The vacuum effect especially

[@tdimensional6733]

finally scripted button mashing

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Lmao love the way you put that

[@billyerasmo8194]

I thought this video was perfect dude. You had me engaged all the way through.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Aww thanks it warms the heart

[@mads9aar]

Great vid Lucid. I love the shoutout for the replay features of +r. Personally however, I cannot stand playing +r even if I want tom you criticism of strive is valid and I completely agree on some aspects like the wall and burst. However I, like yourself, have had the privilege of trying most of the games. Personally I've never liked air unblockable without fd. It always felt like annoying gate mechanic and even after 400 hours still does. But that I can learn, +r however, has what I'd call too much complexity. The system is so hard to engage with Asa newer player, that even after 100 hours I still can't consistently do a lot of slayer bnbs. Then there's the sound. Do I even need to say anything? Sure the songs sou d great, but I don't listen to the game cause fcking sol super wrecked my ears. And finally (and this one is omega my own issue) I get a headache when I play the game. The game is genuinely so fast and so hard to tell apart what's even happening at times, combined with the audio issues I cant play the game for very long. Then there's the community... it's gotten WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY BETTER, but unfortunately there's so many egos in +r, who awill crucify you if you even dare speak against +r and some of questionable design decisions. Xrd was shat one for being simple, bow its touted as a great game because of strive. I don't really know what the point of this comment was. So ill just leave you with this. People like different things, and that's completely OK. Some people love fighting against complexity and learning all the small counters, some like just playing a simpler game and focus more on decision making, and finally some like a balance. I feel that gg is unique here, I that it has a game that caters to each of these. +r for the execution maniacs, strive for the simpler and newer guys, and xrd as a nice in-between. Xrd feels familiar enough to both games, though favors +r a little I feel. But hey, I'm just a salty scrub who can't do slayer links... So enjoy what you enjoy;D

[@LucidButtonMasher]

I like the ranking of the 3 games i can agree with. And yes slayer links are still hard for me too bud don't worry

[@chillaxboi2109]

Funny as hell that you mentioned sound. Holy Order Sol goes crazy. I did not even consider sound when remembering the time I had with +R. Ever since I dont ever play FGs with high volume.

[@SonicX-qi2se]

I’ve definitely tried to get into this genre, got the Capcom fighting Collection while my brother got the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, thinking I could Pick up 3rd Strike. (Yes that sounds Monumental…) My brother is more accustomed to the genre with me mostly playing smash. I have thought of playing P4AU as well as +R due to them being on Switch, and Strive if I ever get to that point. Even mapping out who I’d main before even touching the game. The closest thing a have to something traditional is Pokkén where I play Lucario. I’d usually think to co-main 2-3 characters, if I was ever struggling with matchups. I like my variety in my characters, but more likely than not gonna have the “basic” character as one. That’s just how it rolls for me.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Sounds like a fun way to play! Have fun, those games are a blast to play around and try everyone with

[@SunderStormK]

I completely get the take in this video and honestly for the hardcore audience of fighting games I think it's more or less the natural stance to take. However, I happen to be the exact opposite of say yourself in this video. I'm shit at fighting games. I get frustrated when I have an idea in my mind but I can't implement it in game because of mechanical complexity. I've never been able to pick up and play any fighting game in any meaningful sense prior to Strive (having tried close to probably 10 titles). The closest I got was my 80hrs into Xrd and I still couldn't even do a slayer BnB consistently or really engage with the game meaningfully. I think there was just too much to learn and overall it was too overwhelming, lessening my enjoyment since I couldn't get out the I fucking suck ditch. Meanwhile in Strive, I feel like I can at least play the game. The lessening of options really clears up what's happening in the game and makes it easier to understand and play. And for combos I don't have to feel bad that I can't do super difficult and rewarding combos because there basically are none or they don't provide substantially more reward compared to the simple stuff. I probably have a scrub mentality but the reality is that these other games are simply too difficult for me. Even the new melty blood, after improving as a FG player with hundreds of hours into Strive, was too difficult for me to play (too much movement, combos too hard, couldn't figure out neutral). It's probably not that I could never become proficient in these games, it's just that it would take too long to be able to enjoy my own gameplay at the speed I learn. As an aside, the lack of mechanical complexity in Strive really lets me tone into pay attention to the matches themselves and lets me focus on picking options, which is where I spend most of my time learning. I like how I can mostly just focus on what's happening in my games and how to play vs my opponents than struggling to be able to press buttons. Overall, there's probably a lot of people like me that either suck or don't have time to invest, and Strive is a great title for us. And unfortunately, I think FGs are starting to realize that and pander to us for numbers/$$$. I do hope that more complex games continue to be released for the members of the FG community like yourself looking for a more complex experience.

[@LucidButtonMasher]

Well said. I think strive does a great job in letting new players do cool stuff right off the bat, and to each their own bud. If you enjoy l don't enjoy something it's okay, keep playing what you like