arms

Lessons I’ve Learned While Climbing the Ranks in ARMS

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During the beta for ARMS, I was crushing my opposition with an iron fist. It got me thinking that I was going to waltz to the top of the leaderboard. Within hours of first playing the final game, it was me that was repeatedly falling to the canvas. There were nights where I would go on massive losing streaks that would cause me to lose ranks that usually ended with me throwing my controller. Forget about reaching the top of the world, I had to look in the mirror and ask myself if I was actually trash at this game.

Refusing to give up, I kept practicing. Kept making mental notes of all of the different ways I could improve. Having wallowed in the middle ranks for weeks, I’ve turned a corner and am making a strong push to reach rank 20, the highest rank in the game. Here are some things I’ve observed along the way!

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ARMS Makes a Strong Sales Debut

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Nintendo’s oddball fighter proved to be a heavyweight at retailers worldwide. First, it debuted at #2 on the U.K. charts, only behind an on promotion Horizon Zero Dawn. Then, its debut in Japan almost outsold the debuts of Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V combined. Most recently, NPD data shows that ARMS performed extremely well in the US, reaching #5 with 256,000 units sold physically and digitally. For a game that left many of us scratching our heads when upon its reveal in January, ARMS has become a hit.

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ARMS Tips of the Day: How to Punish Sideways Dashing

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Movement is key in ARMS. Having the ability to simultaneously weave between your opponents punches while being able to move into the perfect position to land a shot of your own is pivotal to one’s success. In particular, dashing sideways has become a popular technique for evading punches, as it becomes increasingly difficult for the attacker to land a clean punch as you weave in and out of view. Spring Man players tend to use this maneuver a lot in tandem with their parry, as they get the benefit of parrying your punches while moving into the perfect position to counter.

Strafing is a very powerful tool in the arsenal. Players who don’t know any better can easily get frustrated as their punches continually whiff against dashes. Thankfully, there’s a way to blow this tactic up, especially against players who abuse it. The trick is exploit the fixed trajectory of their dash.

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ARMS is Confirmed to Appear as a Tournament Game at EVO Japan 2018

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIil6IIEyQY

The biggest name in fighting game tournaments is heading to Japan in 2018 and they’re taking Nintendo’s latest fighter with them. Alongside of the likes of Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, and King of Fighters XIV, EVO will be hosting an ARMS tournament as part of its lineup.

Over the past month or so, I’ve been batting around a post about the eSports viability of ARMS. In short, as much as I love the game, I think it has an uphill battle to cultivate a scene around it. However, a presence at EVO Japan is a great step forward. Maybe this is the perfect excuse to finally take my wife to Japan for our dream vacation!

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Breaking Down the ARMS 2.0 Patch

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The latest update for ARMS is a doozy. Featuring the inclusion of a new playable character, a new stage, and balance changes, this is the biggest shake-up to the game to-date. If you want to see the full patch notes, head over to Nintendo for those. Otherwise, come with me for my breakdown of what’s new!

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Ninjara throw spam in ARMS is easily countered. Here’s how you do it!

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As a perfect continuation about the miseducation of fighting game players post from a few days ago, a post from Kotaku perfectly highlighted my point about how misinformed opinions can take life and spread. In it, author Cecilia D’Anastasio highlights a common tactic that Ninjara players use in ARMS to score grabs. She even provides an example in the above gif.

Let’s use this as teachable moment to break down how to counter this particular tactic while breaking down the notion that throws are not cheap in ARMS.

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The ARMS Struggle is Real

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During the Global Testpunch, I thought ARMS was going to be a walk in the park. I was throwing hands like Kimbo Slice, dropping almost every opponent in sight while collecting 100+ coins during each hourly interval. Figured that I would waltz my way to the top of the rankings in no time.

It didn’t take long for reality to smack me in the face with fists powered by springy arms. Everything past rank 6 has been a struggle. I touched rank 10, only to be beat down dozens of times in a row and fall back down to Earth. Just like every other fighting game out there, I’m gonna have to earn it just like everyone else.

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ARMS and the Continued Miseducation of Fighting Game Players

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I am currently smitten with ARMS. Nintendo’s newest title is a novel take on the fighting game that is one of the most accessible fighters in quite some time. For a brief moment, I thought that maybe this would be the game that magically conquers the genre’s accessibility problem. After browsing online to see the response from players on message boards, Reddit, and Twitter, it was clear that this was not the case.

Just like with any other fighting game, there were complaints about throws being too cheap. About certain characters (coughcoughNinjaracoughcough) being too overpowered. Some were calling the game a mindless waggle-fest or button-masher.  You don’t have to look far to find opinions rooted in conjecture. The reality is that getting a wider audience to understand and enjoy fighting games at a satisfying level far more complicated than just creating a simplified game.

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Tips to Take Your Arms Skills to the Next Level

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Nintendo’s latest fighting game is far from a waggle fest. Players who master the ins-and-outs of ARMS will dominate, while button mashing and arm flailing will almost certainly guarantee defeat. These tips may not make you the Daigo of ARMS, but they should get you on the right track to success!

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ARMS Review

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Nintendo is no stranger to putting their stamp on genres outside of their wheelhouse. Their take on racing gave birth to the legendary Mario Kart franchise. Their foray into the world of real-time strategy gave us the brilliant Pikmin series. Most recently, Nintendo entered the crowded shooter market with their breakout hit Splatoon.

They don’t always hit with their forays into new territory, but their track record of making something great within unfamiliar territory is ridiculous. This time, they’ve struck gold with Arms, a 3D arena fighter with motion controls.

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