ARMS Testpunch Impressions Thread

[Spirit]

I'm not completely sold on ARMS yet. I will probably observe how people enjoy the full game for themselves once it launches, and see what I'm missing out on.

I played this game back in January at a private Switch event, and the Testpunch has been a good reminder how I feel. The gameplay tends to be exciting most of the time, which is good. The game looks nice, and the music is incredibly catchy. The modes were all good fun, except it was easy to gang up on one player in three player free-for-alls.

The motion controls were alright. I used traditional controls for most of my game time since I felt more consistent with them. I'm sure I can get more used to the Thumbs-Up grip, but I wanted to spend my time wisely in the demo.

I thought I would like playing as Ninjara the most because of his speed. However, once trying everyone out, I'm most fond of Ribbon Girl (particularly with the Red and Green outfit). She feels incredibly mobile with her multi-jumps combined with the universal dashing mechanic.

Is it much of a problem not being able to curve punches with button controls?

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Is it much of a problem not being able to curve punches with button controls?

I didn't feel too hindered by it. Perhaps it will become more of a necessity later on as players refine their movement and are harder to catch with straight punches all the time.

 

[Spirit]

Okay. So just had my third testpunch...

My first was fun

My second was meh because of character and weapon exploits and that volleyball minigame

Both times i used motion controls. This time i used my pro controller and im never using motion control again. Seriously screw them, the grass is greener, the game is better with pro controller input.

There were a few different modes along with the fighting. A target game, a mini boss fight and a basketball game.

The target game was the worst one. It was just chaos and not the fun kind. Points swing on a dime in that mode, its like getting hit with a blue shell on 200cc.

The basketball one was okay. First to grab usually gets a point. But i pulled on the control stick of my pro controller and was actually able to escape the net. I couldnt have done that so easily with motion controls.


The boss fight was the most fun. A six armed helmet on the body of one of the fighters and you and two others have to take it down. The matches lasted a while, dude has a lot of health. They were well paced and good fun.


You feel way more open when using a pro though. The button commands are immediate so once youve pressed you have to wait for your arms to extend and return, you dont have the actual motion of doing it yourself this way so the punches feel like they take longer.

It was much easier with a pro too. People are still exploiting master mummy and those piss annoying gloves with the three exploding knuckles with ninjara, but i was able to stand my ground even though i was outmatched.

Curving punches also isnt a problem so thats good to note contrary to what has been said.


My second play of Arms with motion controls left me a bit bitter. The exploits and motion controls just made things too stressful and not fun.

With a pro i didnt have to worry about motion controls and delay and misreading so i felt a lot more precise and in control this time around.

I also managed to find a lobby where people werent abusing master mummy and mechanica which was nice.

Of all ive seen so far im pretty happy with arms. I dont think it should be played competitively at all, it should just be for fun.

If all the modes are there with added single player arcade story mode and the freedom to pick the modes you wanna play then i think arms will be a good purchase. Especially with the free updates and the paid online being delayed til next year (best Nintendo delay in history btw).

So yeah. I'll have my fourth test punch in 11 hours and hopefully i'll have some more fun.

Also got to play as Twintelle, not sure what her in battle gimmick is, she didnt seem to do anything special (like Min Min's kicks and Ribbon Girl's double jump).

 

[the8thark]

Also got to play as Twintelle, not sure what her in battle gimmick is, she didnt seem to do anything special (like Min Min's kicks and Ribbon Girl's double jump).

I don't know either. For me Twintelle attacked like a blast cannon. Slow as attacks, very open if you miss but if you did hit, she did a ton of damage. She does move around at a decent speed though. In my opinion I feel she is more of an expert character. Had to master because miss with her slow attacks and you can be punished hard but master her and you'll do well. At least she is not as obviously broken as Mumym and Mechanica. Those two need a balance to be fixed. Expecially Mechina's hammer attack. The tragectory of it needs a balance.

ARMS is a game where poor game/character balancing can totally break the game and suck out all of the fun.

 

[Spirit]

I don't know either. For me Twintelle attacked like a blast cannon. Slow as attacks, very open if you miss but if you did hit, she did a ton of damage. She does move around at a decent speed though. In my opinion I feel she is more of an expert character. Had to master because miss with her slow attacks and you can be punished hard but master her and you'll do well. At least she is not as obviously broken as Mumym and Mechanica. Those two need a balance to be fixed. Expecially Mechina's hammer attack. The tragectory of it needs a balance.

ARMS is a game where poor game/character balancing can totally break the game and suck out all of the fun.

Apparantly Twintelle can slow down attacks when they get close to her. Dunno how to trigger it though.

I also saw people charging their arms a lot today. I know they charge if you block long enough but i saw them doing it without blocking and i dont know how they were doing it.

 

[Lozjam]

Apparantly Twintelle can slow down attacks when they get close to her. Dunno how to trigger it though.

I also saw people charging their arms a lot today. I know they charge if you block long enough but i saw them doing it without blocking and i dont know how they were doing it.

I don't know either. For me Twintelle attacked like a blast cannon. Slow as attacks, very open if you miss but if you did hit, she did a ton of damage. She does move around at a decent speed though. In my opinion I feel she is more of an expert character. Had to master because miss with her slow attacks and you can be punished hard but master her and you'll do well. At least she is not as obviously broken as Mumym and Mechanica. Those two need a balance to be fixed. Expecially Mechina's hammer attack. The tragectory of it needs a balance.

ARMS is a game where poor game/character balancing can totally break the game and suck out all of the fun.

I think these quote on quote, "balancing issues" are just you not quite getting the mechanics of the game quite yet. Just like how early Splatoon players thought that the Roller was OP.

With master mummy and Mechanica, all you need to do is hit them with charged punches, and that can completely stun lock them, especially with Mechanica with only hammers. I did this with Ribbon a Girl and Min Min.

Mechanica and Master Mummy are actually two of the weakest characters. You guys just need to get used to the mobility of the characters, as faster characters can circle these two characters way easier.

You guys are also forgetting that every single character will have access to every single arm in the entire game.

Also @Spirit, you can charge attacks by jumping as well, hold the R trigger as you jump, and you get your charge. Some characters can also charge up some other ways, such as Min Min being able to insta charge if she kicks away an attack.

 

[the8thark]

I think these quote on quote, "balancing issues" are just you not quite getting the mechanics of the game quite yet.

It's not just me saying this, a lot of people are. That's exactly what betas and demo test peroids are for. Server stress testing, balance testing and getting more hype for the game. However we shall see once the game is released what the metagame evolves into.

You guys are also forgetting that every single character will have access to every single arm in the entire game.

This is true but in reality only the best combinations will be chosen. The playerbase will work this out. As in the combinations that win a lot or the combinations that counter those that win a lot. Ie the metagame.