** pictures coming soon as soon as I learn how to screenshot on Windows! **
On Wednesday, I got the chance to play Granblue since our class scheduled a mini-tournament for the evening. My intention was to get a Windows laptop a few hours before this and practice a little, but other things came up and I found myself learning the game through Anthony who was kind enough to stream and explain some of the mechanics.
For those who aren’t familiar with Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (let’s call this Granblue for short), it is a 2D fighter developed by Arc Systems Works and published by Cygames. Granblue is available on both Windows PC, and console. Granblue is known for leveraging simplified inputs and there is a free version with limited characters (which I took advantage of for this week’s RWP).
For initial impressions, I enjoyed the art, animations, and also the little multiplayer lobbies which was surprisingly in 3D. At first, I had my graphics setting way too high, so my character would move at 0.5x speed. I thought this was normal, but after watching the streams of other classmates, I realized this was not the case. I lowered my resolution and I felt that the game was overall pretty smooth, especially the “special” attacks that characters like Gran use. There are also cosmetics and levels in the game which I thought was an interesting way to incentivize players to keep playing. As a side note, I really enjoyed all of the emotes and chat features that Granblue offers. Just hanging around the lobby is fun, and the addition of the arcade cabinets to challenge players is silly – in a good way.
In terms of experience, I grew around many different fighting games like Super Smash Bros Flash/Ultimate, The King of Fighters, and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm to name a few. That being said, the paired video, “Analysis: Why Button Mashing Doesn’t Work” made me realize that I do not put too much thought into my gameplay – probably due to an over reliance on button-mashing. This was made specially clear when I accidentally played against a random who was lvl 56 in the game because I didn’t understand how the arcades work… I was only able to get 3 hits max on them, and it was a very obvious skill gap. I think my general strategies when playing fighting games are to combo inputs with direction based on where my opponent is on the map and to block when they are on the aggressive. While this strategy has worked against newer players who are also playing, there is definitely a large learning curve where you have to be more mindful and masterful with what you are doing.
I feel that this is especially hard to recognize if there is no one there to explain core mechanics or to completely “destroy” you in a game. Since I have always played fighting games with friends and families who are mostly casual gamers, there was never a reason to change my play style, especially when it resulted in wins. It was cool to get a new glimpse of what fighting games are truly like when you invest the time to learn it and I definitely have a much greater appreciation of the fighting genre now.
I think in my next play through of a fighting game, I will try to consider my movements, range, blocks, and how heavy my attacks are…
Enjoyed hearing your impressions of the game and the fun little tourney! The note on the button-mashing points really rings true. I feel that there’s an unexpectedly high level of complexity in fighting games, higher than even what one would expect with some knowledge coming in. It goes so fast that it can be hard to tell what’s happening or what’s working, and your mention about your strategy working against other casuals further makes it hard to tell what’s actually good and not. Those careful movement and interaction considerations matter so much! And marrying what you want to do and how to execute it is another thing entirely.
It sounds like you had a pretty cool experience with Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising! Diving into a new game, especially a technical 2D fighter like Granblue, can be daunting, but you seemed to have gotten the hang of it even after a rough start with the graphics settings.
Your shift from casual button-mashing to thinking more strategically about your gameplay is really interesting. It’s cool how the tournament and that video about why button mashing doesn’t work made you rethink how you play. Seeing the difference in skill levels can be a real eye-opener, pushing you to get more into the game’s mechanics.
It’s great that you’re planning to pay more attention to how you move, block, and attack in your next sessions. It seems like this experience has sparked a deeper appreciation for fighting games in you. Keep playing, exploring, and refining your techniques, and most importantly, have fun getting better at it!