Steam Community :: sybau

4.3 hrs on record (0.1 hrs at review time)

IF YOU ARE A SOLO PLAYER LOOKING TO GET IN FIGHTING GAMES I RECOMMEND THIS GAME

otherwise i wouldn't recommend doing anything but dropping in to take a look. First, you have to pay $20 to play with friends, online or locally. WHY?????? I know David Sirlin has played an asston of fighting games, so I KNOW he knows how many people get into them by being introduced by a friend, then playing with them and learning the game in a low-risk environment.

Plus, on top of that, you have the most asinine monetization i've ever seen in a fighting game, with costumes and colors being gated entirely by real money. (even Capcom let you play survival mode for 10 colors on every default skin!) This wouldn't even be an issue if you could access all the online features of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game for free. "Free to play, the good kind, like DOTA 2!" the store page says, while having a restrictive joke of a free-to-play model. Oh, and do you want to start playing at any sort of competitive level, or view a sick play you made? ♥♥♥♥ you, replay theater requires a MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION. WHY?????? You cannot bill this as a competitive game, but then gate a hilariously basic feature like replays behind a monthly subscription.

And that I would consider a light bashing of the monetization in this game. Now let's get onto the good part, the actual game. I'm ranked silver in street fighter 5, so obviously i'm not that good at fighting games, so I won't be trying critique any details of the game too deeply. Obviously Fantasy Strike is a very simple fighting game. That's great! It's a good game for beginner players (asides from everything mentioned earlierl) and is chock full of great bits of design that reduce complexity and execution while still resembling and playing shockingly like traditional fighting games. But here's everything I found annoying or baffling.

- Yomi Counters replace traditional throw teching. Instead of hitting throw at the same time, just don't do anything and you will tech the throw. Pretty genius idea. But WHY does it do damage?? In every other 2d fighter on the planet, throwing someone on their getup is a completely safe option (ignore that reversals exist for a second) because you will either throw them if they attack, or tech and nobody will be harmed, with them remaining cornered. My guess is that it's supposed to help beginners escape corner loops, but 1. It could just launch them away from the corner without damage, and 2. For a game that bills itself as a tool to get you into the aforementioned "every other 2d fighter" I'm left scratching my head at why it does damage, punishing the guy who got a knockdown for daring to try and contest a wakeup. You will just have to unlearn that when you get into a traditional fighter, so why's it here?

- No crouching. No high low blocking I understand, it's a pretty hard concept for new players to get drilled into their muscle memory. But I wanted to play Geiger, so I loaded into training mode with my Guile and Balrog muscle memory - and instantly cringed when I couldn't hold down back and keep my position. "But you don't have to hold on the stick at all for Geiger's moves to charge!" you say. Well yeah, but then I have to block on reaction unless I want to back myself into a corner. If they were concerned about fuzzy guard or moves whiffing, just make it so moves don't whiff on crouch. It just leaves Geiger feeling bad to play.

Those are my first impressions. Obviously though if you are new to fighting games, none of that ♥♥♥♥ really matters and this game is awesome to learn by yourself. But by yourself you will, unless you pay money.

Posted 6 September, 2020.

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