Spiritreaver
Member
I came from a similar background although with some experience playing non-competitive Virtual-On in my teens, and the transition hasn't been bad for me at all.
Mechanically, using your individual attack and basic movement options isn't hard. There's a step up in execution when you start integrating movement cancels to avoid attack and landing recovery, and also when combining different movement options to cover ground more safely and efficiently. But overall, execution isn't particularly difficult.
The mindset or approach to attacking can be considerably different though. The main thing to keep in mind is that the game is generally less focused on combos and mixups and block-and-punish, and more about movement and positioning. Movement is both offense and defense: attacks are avoided by outspeeding them or cutting their tracking, and moving in at an opportune time or angle lets you land attacks that the opponent is less likely to avoid.
You'll likely have an easier time easing into it if you've played anime/poverty fighters like the Touhou fighters, Acceleration of Suguri, or maybe even Arcana Heart. In terms of mainstream comparisons, Smash would be somewhat analogous in terms of how the neutral flows.
It's a very easy game to pick up as far as execution goes. Everything is easy to do and pull off. So no issues there.
The real learning curve comes from positioning, managing your boost meter and ammo, and also learning how to properly punish landings. On top of that, it's also a team game so you have to cooperate and prioritize the appropriate targets. It takes a bit to get used to everything, and it can be very frustrating at first. I was initially very frustrated before it finally clicked with me when I used to play EXVS. But, if you think it looks cool, definitely give it a shot. With the Western release there's plenty of new players online who are still learning how to play, so it's the best time to jump in.
Awesome, thanks so much for the info. I'll pick it up for sure, you all give me hope. Plus I can just play with GundamGAF. Should end up getting it this weekend.