The ARMS Struggle is Real

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

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

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

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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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Review

Over the course of seven games released outside of Japan, only one Fire Emblem title has failed to impress me. That dud is Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Starring Marth, arguably better known now for his appearance in the Smash Bros. series, it was a remake of the first game in the series. Despite featuring updated graphics, its antiquated story and gameplay remained, leaving a lot to be desired for players who jumped on the bandwagon through more refined entries in the franchise.

My concern all along for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was that it would suffer the same fate as Shadow Dragon. As a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second game in the series that was initially released in 1992, its fair to assume at the outset that this also would have aged poorly. Does this remake suffer the same fate as its predecessor? Continue reading

Hands-On With Super Mario Odyssey

 

Not long after getting my socks blown off by the stellar Super Mario Odyssey trailer, I was lucky enough to head across town and play the game at one of the preview events in my area. Was it as awesome IRL as it appeared to be in the trailer?

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I’m Playing Super Mario Odyssey Tonight!

Today’s the day!

I successfully signed up to play Super Mario Odyssey over the weekend and I’m going to play it in just a few hours! Will take pictures and video where I can. At the very least, I’ll post some impressions of the game as soon as I can!

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First Impressions of the ARMS Roster


Over the past two weekends, I’ve been participating in as many ARMS Global Testpunch events as I could. At first, it was to see if ARMS was the real deal. Since then, it’s been a matter of wanting to play as much of this game as possible because it’s really fun.

I’ve had a chance to play with all eight of the characters that were available in the beta. Since Kid Cobra and Bark & Byte weren’t available, write-ups on them will have to come later. For now though, here are my thoughts on the characters we got to play with so far.
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What Happened to Advance Wars?

Years before I knew what Fire Emblem was, I was a die-hard Advance Wars fan. Upon its original release on the Gameboy Advance in 2001, it opened my eyes to the wonderful world of turn-based strategy. Beyond being my first foray, it’s still one of my favourites.

The series would get three more sequels before Nintendo quietly stopped supporting the series in 2008. Meanwhile, its sibling game Fire Emblem has taken off to become a marquee Nintendo franchise. What happened to Advance Wars? And what can be done to bring it back?

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Nintendo’s Recently Announced Paid Online Service Revealed

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Days before E3, Nintendo pulled the lid off of their Nintendo Switch Online service. For $20 a year, you’re getting online play, lobbies, voice chat, eShop deals, along with a new Classic Game Selection offering that could be the gem of this whole service.

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