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Arms Review Thread

commish said:
Yeah but we can't ignore the fact that the really wasn't much else to play that year. As you say, I can't imagine that Arms maintains its user base once S2 comes out, which is all the more reason to hook people with as much content as possible right now.
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there were loads of games in 2015, what are you talking about?
 
xxbrothawizxx63 said:
Content always seemed like the limiting factor here. I'm not really surprised the game caught some flack for going the traditional fighting game single player route. The genre has moved on and Nintendo should have followed suit.


It would have been great to have a fleshed out story mode tying all those unique characters together. Even if it was still just an hour or two.
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While I would love to see a story mode for Arms I am actually shocked where the praise for the Injustice 2 story mode came from. If that is what they are supposed to follow I have no problem to pass on that.
 
nynt9 said:
Look at smash. They take their time and make sure the game is chock full of content, then add more even later. That they didn't do that for this game is why people think it's rushed.
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I mean, like I just said before, the original Smash had a somewhat middling reception when it came out and was pretty light on content. It wasn't until Melee where the series began to become jam packed.
 
Is the content argument really that much of a deal breaker? People complain about Overwatch not having enough content and it's got an insanely large playerbase. Good gameplay is enough to keep most people interested it seems.
 
commish said:
No, it's just the opposite. You have to actually hook people with content and then keep releasing new stuff. Most people are going to get bored and then move on to something else. I really can't believe someone is advocating the "barebones + content" rather than the "content + more content" approach.
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You hook people with gameplay then have an immediate stream of content flowing. Were you not paying attention to Splatoon's update schedule?
commish said:
Loads of Wii U games in 2015? Uh... let's just agree to disagree and stay focused on Arms :)
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Mario Maker and Splatoon were huge. I don't know how you can spin that.
 
Cheat Code Central - 5.0/5.0

Cheat Code Central said:
It’s difficult to describe just how good ARMS is. The best analogy I can come up with is that it is to fighting games what Splatoon is to third-person shooters. ARMS is a bright, colorful, and welcoming game. Newcomers can easily hop in and enjoy most of the matches and modes available. Meanwhile, the more dedicated will find themselves developing complex strategies based on characters and ARMS loadouts and captivated by the opportunities to challenge others online.
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ARMS' first perfect score!
 
commish said:
Loads of Wii U games in 2015? Uh... let's just agree to disagree and stay focused on Arms :)
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Thing is, most of us on GAF didn't just own a Wii U in 2015. I owned everything then (still do) and Splatoon ate up the majority of my gaming time. The model worked for that game. If Nintendo is as aggressive with ARMS as they were with Splatoon, it should probably work here as well.
 
Shiggy said:
If past Nintendo games are any indication, that's not necessarily the case. I can get MK8 Deluxe for 30 EUR right now instead of the 60 EUR on eShop. The "oh Nintendo games are so expensive" is always kinda funny to me when I get most of their games at steep discounts, either through some discount, or through some "buy 2 get 4" promotion. Gets even cheaper when buying retailer coupons at a discount.

In Germany, Chillmo and Mydealz are the best to keep track of such deals. UK has HotUkdeals or something like that.
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Wo?
 
TheDinoman said:
I mean, like I just said before, the original Smash had a somewhat middling reception when it came out and was pretty light on content. It wasn't until Melee where the series began to become jam packed.
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The original smash also came out in 1999 when people had vastly different expectations from fighting games. A new fighting game today will be compared to games that came out in the last 2 years, not a game from 18 years ago.
 
fhqwhgads said:
Is the content argument really that much of a deal breaker? People complain about Overwatch not having enough content and it's got an insanely large playerbase. Good gameplay is enough to keep most people interested it seems.
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Depends on the game, but I don't exactly blame people for looking at the cast of Overwatch and ARMS, and wanting more from that. (Overwatch especially with its animated shorts and such making it especially desirable.)
 
nynt9 said:
People are just defending the game's flaws by creating straw men. It's just how these threads usually go. No one is arguing for "release all content now and never support it". People eat the game to have robust content now and more content later" instead of "bare content now and more content later". When this is a game from a publisher as big as Nintendo and its a new IP they want to make successful, you'd think that there'd be more to it. Look at smash. They take their time and make sure the game is chock full of content, then add more even later. That they didn't do that for this game is why people think it's rushed.
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Smash has multiple entries of iteration to build on though, so comparing Smash 4 to ARMS really isn't a fair comparison. It would be more fair to compare ARMS to the first Smash, and in terms of content those two are very similar. First entries in a series, particularly when it comes to fighting games, tend to focus on the core mechanics rather than stuffing the game with content. It will be much easier to add modes and characters and stages now that the core concept has been ironed out.
 
I don't think people who believe that this game is currently in lack of content will change their minds with a couple extra characters, arms, and stages though. Fundamentally the gameplay mechanics are already all there, if that doesn't hook you already, the extra content probably won't either.
 
nynt9 said:
People are just defending the game's flaws by creating straw men. It's just how these threads usually go. No one is arguing for "release all content now and never support it". People eat the game to have robust content now and more content later" instead of "bare content now and more content later". When this is a game from a publisher as big as Nintendo and its a new IP they want to make successful, you'd think that there'd be more to it. Look at smash. They take their time and make sure the game is chock full of content, then add more even later. That they didn't do that for this game is why people think it's rushed.
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I think Nintendo's release model is different for their online games, at least as far as Splatoon and ARMS are concerned. They want players to play them as soon as possible, while continuing to support them with free additional content, new modes, special events and other stuff.

If this is how Nintendo treats all their online games in the future, I say, yes please!
 
Zen_Arcade said:
People said this about Splatoon, but there are plenty of games you can point to that prove that line of thinking wrong.
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Yeah, I don't think this model is required for success (and in some cases, it can actually hurt your game), but I do think it can be a viable strategy, particularly if the core of your game is strong and you actually update it frequently. And I think you have even a bit more leeway if your game is a new IP.
 
Totakeke said:
I don't think people who believe that this game is currently in lack of content will change their minds with a couple extra characters, arms, and stages though. Fundamentally the gameplay mechanics are already all there, if that doesn't hook you already, the extra content probably won't either.
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Yep. Basically Switch's Street Fighter V
 
Zen_Arcade said:
People said this about Splatoon, but there are plenty of games you can point to that prove that line of thinking wrong.
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Name some games and we'll break down the differences then, at least between Splatoon and those titles because we don't know how constant the the flow will be for ARMS post-launch.

EDIT: I fucked up when posting this originally.
nynt9 said:
People are just defending the game's flaws by creating straw men. It's just how these threads usually go. No one is arguing for "release all content now and never support it". People eat the game to have robust content now and more content later" instead of "bare content now and more content later". When this is a game from a publisher as big as Nintendo and its a new IP they want to make successful, you'd think that there'd be more to it. Look at smash. They take their time and make sure the game is chock full of content, then add more even later. That they didn't do that for this game is why people think it's rushed.
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Smash never gave you much reason to touch half the stuff it launched with. It's filled with unfun bloat and is a grind if anything.

I'm certain I've put 5 times as many hours in Splatoon as I did in both versions of Smash 4 combined.
 
UJgPEkJ.jpg
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Well at least it's doing better than Pokken and that well enough for itself to receive the Deluxe treatment ;)

Going to buy it cause it looks fun to play with/against someone else, Testpunch also sold me on the motion controls(felt like a workout but not a chore)
 
commish said:
Loads of Wii U games in 2015? Uh... let's just agree to disagree and stay focused on Arms :)
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people are capable of consuming entertainment from a wide variety of sources, you know

Wii U owners weren't on console arrest or anything. they weren't wearing a boot that prevented them from playing games elsewhere. or just, you know, not playing anything at all.

that argument has always been really dumb
 
fhqwhgads said:
Is the content argument really that much of a deal breaker? People complain about Overwatch not having enough content and it's got an insanely large playerbase. Good gameplay is enough to keep most people interested it seems.
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That feels different to me somehow. For one, Overwatch has an absolutely enormous player base, containing people of all skill levels. So even if you suck, you can probably find a game. Fighting games, on the other hand, are incredibly intimidating as a casual player; I just assume I will never, ever, ever play one online. If people don't end up playing a lot of ARMS online, then the relative lack of content (especially if it's lacking in single-player) becomes more of an issue. Second, there are many different ways to play Overwatch, and I'm not sure ARMS has that same variety of playstyles. It may get old faster as a result.

That said, there are two things in ARMS' favour. First, Nintendo clearly know how to make a casual-friendly fighting game, and one of the reviews say this does for fighting what Mario Kart did for racing, so if it catches on then lack of content will be easier to gloss over. Second, Overwatch benefited immensely from the addition of new maps and heroes, and if ARMS has a similar plan then eventually you won't have as many complaints there. I've never played Splatoon but it sounds like that game really came into its own after a year's worth of updates, so there's a really obvious precedent.

tl;dr: lack of content won't kill ARMS, but only if the game takes off and people play a ton of online.
 
Yep, the game seems pretty empty. it appears to be a good skeleton for a sequel and i don't think DLC can fix or add to it's lackluster single player content in any meaningful way.
 
AndrewDean84xX said:
I think Nintendo's release model is different for their online games, at least as far as Splatoon and ARMS are concerned. They want players to play them as soon as possible, while continuing to support them with free additional content, new modes, special events and other stuff.

If this is how Nintendo treats all their online games in the future, I say, yes please!
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Other companies do this while not skimping on the base games content though.
 
Nice scores, but I'm in no rush to buy this. There's a slew of AAA releases vying for my attention as a potential birthday gift this month. By the time I get to Arms it'll be a better game.
 
damn, doesn't sound like this game is very fun overall... And it's suppose to be one of the Switch's major title. :/
 
xxbrothawizxx63 said:
Content always seemed like the limiting factor here. I'm not really surprised the game caught some flack for going the traditional fighting game single player route. The genre has moved on and Nintendo should have followed suit.


It would have been great to have a fleshed out story mode tying all those unique characters together. Even if it was still just an hour or two.
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To be fair, I don't think anyone here expected a Cinematic Story Mode from a new IP like ARMS.
 
Formosa said:
damn, doesn't sound like this game is very fun overall... And it's suppose to be one of the Switch's major title. :/
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I mean, the reviews generally say the game is really fun but lacks content, so I don't think you drew the right conclusion.
 
Regiruler said:
Name some games and we'll break down the differences then, at least between Splatoon and ARMS because we don't know how constant the the flow will be for ARMS post-launch.

Smash never gave you much reason to touch half the stuff it launched with. It's filled with unfun bloat and is a grind if anything.

I'm certain I've put 5 times as many hours in Splatoon as I did in both versions of Smash 4 combined.
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Titanfall 2.

Launched with just as much content as any other shooter on the market and has been updated with new maps and modes for free since launch.

With Splatoon people were essentially getting excited about getting half of the content most other shooters would have at launch and getting a slow drip feed of free content just to get to the point where it had as much as your average shooter does at launch.

Also, you not caring about some content doesn't mean it's bloat. This is the same logic people were using for the terrible SFV launch.

"No one cares about arcade mode anyway." "Who plays fighters for the STORY MODE?"
 
Complaints about content are kind of fair, and really just prove how 'one off at launch' reviews don't fully make sense anymore for games which have an ongoing service element to them. Especially expected free service, while some companies would sell the extra stuff as DLCs, Nintendo adds the stuff for free.

However any reviewer who complains about the motion controls being finicky or non-responsive, well I believe they will be proven conclusively to have just been bad at it, aka player error. If Arms becomes a competitive game, motion players will dominate.
 
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