Fighting Games and Me

I had initially started writing this as part of my upcoming piece on Kurohyou 2 (I still need to finish the game but I'll absolutely be talking about it Soon), but I realized I had so much to say that it made sense to split it off into its own thing. This is going to be a bit rambly, but that game has caused me to reevaluate some things and I thought it was worth spelling some of that out.

I don't know what made me look into it, but in the course of writing about it I learned that its developers also made Def Jam, and it made me realize that those PSP spinoffs are (sort of) fighting games. They're fairly simple and there aren't elaborate inputs but... the focus on one-on-one combat (locked to a 2D plane) and a wide variety of fighting styles that all have unique animations and stats (the way, say, different characters would) suddenly makes a lot more sense to me. Maybe this was already clear to an outsider, but I was coming at the games with a beat-em-up mindset akin to the main series so I didn't think too much of all the added systems.

The thing is, I don't generally like fighting games. I've played a few casually in my life, sure. I enjoy Smash Bros. and Soul Calibur well enough and I've played most of the recent Mortal Kombat games, but I've never been one to get truly invested in a fighting game. Why, then, do I love Kurohyou so much?

I think the combat is a lot of fun, for a start.

I think it comes down to a few things, mainly.

First, I don't need to worry too much about character matchups, not really at least. While different characters (and their associated fighting styles) have certain strengths and weaknesses that it can help to be aware of, you can also just kind of charge in and have a good time. The combat is straightforward enough that simply knowing the basics will allow you to deal with whatever the game throws at you, and no fighting style is ever that radically different than the rest. I also don't need to think about frame data. I know, it's not that different from learning animations or timings on particular attacks, but the specificity and... technicalities involved just make my head spin.

I booted up Guilty Gear Strive again for this article and was greeted by this. 

It's... a lot to wrap my head around.

Second, the act of playing the game is still fairly simple. You've got buttons for kicks, punches, and grabs respectively as well as a block and a side-step/dodge, but nothing about this requires particularly complicated inputs. I know not every fighting game is like Street Fighter, but, well, Street Fighter sure is. I still can't do a quarter-circle consistently for the life of me. I know, I know, recent games have implemented "modern" controls that are far easier to perform, and that has honestly helped me when I've tried some of those games, but I think I also like the straightforwardness you get with a simpler game like this.

I tried to give Street Fighter 6 a shot, I truly did.

I don't know if you could call it a fighting game, but I adore the first Nidhogg because it's a game almost entirely based around managing your distance from your opponent. If you play aggressively you'll almost certainly impale yourself on your enemy's sword, so you're incentivized to wait for your opponent to make the first move. Wait too long, though, and you leave an opening for them to take advantage of. It's unlike most fighting games I've played because of its simplicity, but it's not so simple that it comes across as a gimmick like, say, Divekick (though I do also like Divekick).

This game is still superb.

Lastly, I think I just also like having something to work towards. While I understand the appeal of getting better at a thing purely for the sake of being better at it, I guess I just need a bit of external pressure to want to play most things. I know, I know, maybe that sounds childish or like I'm asking for too much, but the reason I went through Mortal Kombats 9-11 was because I had a story to propel me along. I'm not necessarily saying that I can only enjoy fighting game mechanics in a single-player setting (although... maybe I am, I'll circle back to this) but I tend to want some sort of reward or incentive to engage with a game, whether that's a cutscene or story sequence or, for a multiplayer game, some sense of progression beyond merely getting better at the game. 

It's not a fighting game, but because I've been playing a lot of it I've been thinking about the way Marathon manages to make a punishing PVP game feel rewarding even if so many of your matches are "failures". Essentially, you always have some goal you're working towards so even if you don't extract from a mission you might have still gotten something out of it. Now, I don't know how or even if something like that would be possible in a fighting game (I understand that persistent upgrades and, like, gameplay "challenges" aren't exactly feasible) but in that game you're almost constantly unlocking new cosmetics or lore or mini-cutscenes and so much of that stuff is genuinely engaging on its own merits.

There are a lot of different progression axes in Marathon.

Now that I have that written out and I'm also thinking back to Kurohyou, I think what I might want is something substantial outside of just the fights, however good those fights may be. I played a fair amount of Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode and did enjoy that (before ultimately dropping it for some unknown reason) and I know Mortal Kombat games have toyed with additional modes, so maybe this is a solved problem that I'm just ignorant to the solution of. I'll admit that I don't really know what I'm talking about and I've mostly been talking around the central issue.

At the end of the day, the main reason I don't tend to stick with most fighting games is the same reason I don't stick with most other multiplayer games: I just don't have a consistent community to play them with. When I think back to the fighting games I have fond memories of they're almost all games I played with other people as a kid (or they had substantial enough single-player offerings to keep me motivated to engage with the systems). I talk about wanting some external validation and incentives because I just don't really get anything from playing against anonymous people online. I say I don't like fighting games because I don't really have people in my life to play fighting games with, and blaming the games is easier than, well, thinking about that. I can enjoy the mechanics or aesthetics or what-have-you for a time, but the thing that gets people to put hundreds of hours into Street Fighter is something that I just have never really had.

Another reason I avoid a lot of PVP games is something that's also present with fighting games: I'm not particularly good at many of them (and I know it). The only online shooters I ever tended to stick with were team ones where I can play a support character and feel like I'm helping even when I'm not topping the scoreboard, but that kind of safety net doesn't exist in fighting games. There, it's purely up to my skill level whether or not I succeed. Sure, you can blame a character or a connection issue, but ultimately everyone has access to the same tools and success is truly down to one's technique, experience, and execution. Without those external motivators I mentioned earlier I simply haven't had it in me to learn the games well enough to be competitive, and spending hours of my life failing at a thing (even if those are "useful" hours where I'm actively learning how to be better) sounds like it'd just make me feel bad about myself.

This article kind of got away from me, so I'll try to bring it back into focus. My issue with fighting games isn't even really a problem with the games so much as it is a problem with myself that the games are forcing me to confront. I actually tend to enjoy the mechanics of most fighting games I try, when I give them a fair shot, but I think I need there to be more to the games beyond just core fighting mechanics. 

I'll be completely honest when I say I don't give most fighting games enough of a chance, and I'm well-aware that my tastes can be inconsistent and I can be hypocritical, but if any of you can think of games that seem like they'd be up my alley, please let me know. I realize this is a blindspot I have that I've almost intentionally kept open, but I think I want to try to amend that. There are loads of genres I don't give the time of day that I'd probably enjoy under the right circumstances, and fighting games are a prime example.