How Do You Learn To Play Characters in Fighting Games?

[K84]

Young me:

Owww....Street Fighter II, pushes random stuff, remembers effective stuff.
I could even do charge characters, i owned with Guile somehow...
Proceeds to do this in MK and other games.
HAS ACTUAL FUN.

Me now:

Still doing this, while 12 yr olds online talk about "reversal polarity discharge whatevers" and "free flow counter air anal fluxing".

Every kid is some kind of EVO level player while i just want to enjoy casual fighting.
Sheesh, it's like total war online these days, except for Blazblue i've sworn off all fighters.
It's just not fun online, against friends is okay, our mutual suck level keeps the fun alive.
And Blazblue is pretty, Capcom's stuff is butt ugly these days.

 

[go-10]

on ALL fighting games I do the same:

1. tutorial, learn the basics and specific character moves
2. choose the character which I liked most (based 100% on how he/she looks)
3. beat story/arcade mode with said character
4. go into training select the character for both me and the comp. put the comp in the highest difficulty level and set it to comp AI and start practicing, if the comp pulls off something I like, turn off the AI and practice that until I get it down
5. go back to training and after I feel comfortable pick every other character as my comp. AI and put them all in the hardest difficulty until I get the hang of fighting against every character
6. go through arcade mode in the hardest difficulty once or twice
7. take my game online
8. local tourney's
9. repeat steps 5, 7, and 8 until the next EVO

 

[StriderShinryu]

I'll usually do whatever general system tutorial the game offers and then jump into training mode. Once there, I'll just muck around with figuring out what moves seem to do what and which seem to be good. Once I've got a solid enough grip on a character and systems like movement, I'll leave training mode and jump into whatever sort of single player mode the game offers.

It's really only after I've got some experience playing with a character that I bother at all with the combo challenge style "training mode" found in most games. And even then, I don't stress over not being able to do every challenge offered. Quite frankly, I'm just not a training mode junkie. Probably to my detriment, I just don't like spending hours upon hours in training mode in any game. As useless as the AI often is in fighting games, if I'm not playing against a live opponent I'd still rather be fighting against "someone" than beating up on a dummy.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Playing against other people is really the only way to learn properly. Sure you need to look at the character in training and decide if you like them but playing against people is the best way to learn.

Personally I can't bring myself to play a character unless they're interesting to me. 'S why I had to keep with Phoenix Wright all the way through UMVC3 just because let's face it, he's the most unique character in that game.

Really, I hate characters like Ryu. He's so fucking safe and uninteresting.

"Oh I have fireballs, oh and some punches and kicks! So exciting!"

So yeah i'm always going to be the guy who goes for those speedy people or the people with multiple stance systems and other gimmicky shenanigans

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Trial and error. Keep trying until you find someone whose moveset and abilities you're comfortable with. As a bonus this will help you to learn the weaknesses of other characters to exploit later.

Lucario (Smash Bros.), Cyborg Smoke (Mortal Kombat), and Saberwulf (Killer Instinct) are by no means top-tier characters. But I can enter any of their moves quickly and I know their strengths and weaknesses, and that's the important thing.

 

[Samantha Burt]

I find a character I like; the appearence of, the animations, the speed

This is pretty much what I do. Yoshimitsu from Tekken 3, Jade from MK (the new one) and Kamui from Arcana Heart 3; if I can't connect to a character then I don't do well.

After that it starts with button-mashing until I pick out combos that I like and just drill those down and work in others over time. I'm by no means a skilled fighting-gamer, though.

 

[gigastar]

For UMvC3 (pretty much the only fighter i play atm) it depends on how far i want to take it.

If i want a low rank online passable level of play ill pick up and play that character. By now ive memorised what most of the characters moves can do and basic combos for alot of them.

When i want to take it to the level me and my local friends are at, ill usually spend an hour or so in the lab getting used to throwing out a characters safe attacks and the followups for when one hits.

If i want to take it to a level beyond that i go to Youtube and find advanced combo videos then spend time in the lab trying to replicate it and adopt the muscle memory for the advanced combos.

 

[BaronUberstein]

In Soul Caliber 2, I used that guy who changed weapons every match, because I had friends who would get used to me using the same tactics over and over. Thus, by changing weapons randomly, I could still use grab attacks and button mashing and they couldn't entirely predict what I would do.

Of course, I could never beat my friends if they knew how to use one of the long-pole guys.

 

[Hippobatman]

First off the bat I find a character which looks interesting and play him or her for a while to get the feel for the characteristics. When I find someone that fits my profile, IE has the characteristics that I need (rushdown), I usually go about doing his or her challenge mode.

After that, I watch the professionals play. That way I see how my character is capable of in a variety of matchups and his or her combo potential.

Then it comes down to actually practicing the game, combos, spacing and learning the metagame.

 

[-Seraph-]

This is where characters start dropping from my list if they have inputs I don't genreally like to perform *cough* 360-720s *cough*.

Yeah fuck that crap. I'm looking at you Tager.

I also hated charge-up (hold back to forward type stuff) moves which is part of the reason I stopped play Street Fighter games. I felt like you either played a Ryu clone or a character with a bunch of charge-up moves. I really tried to like you Bison.

Indeed...

I can do quarter circles,half circles, dragon punches, tiger knees, instant air dash, charge, and all that other stuff. But doing or buffering a 360 or 720 maneuver....yea fuck you game. These don't need to exist and are the only stupid things I've ever really found about 2d fighting game controls.

 

[Denamic]

To start off with, I go in completely blind, operating entirely on trial and error.
When I've a grip on the combat system, I look up the moves one by one, starting with the simplest ones.
Then I keep playing as I normally do, but slowly working in new moves into my play until I know them by muscle memory.
Eventually, I've figured out which moves suit me and which don't, at which point I start refining my skills.
Then I stop playing the game and do it all over again at a later date.

 

[Random Argument Man]

When I start a fighting game, I always pick the one that looks fun. Later on, I either end up playing somebody who won't leave you alone or I'll play the exact opposite which is waiting for the right moment to strike.

Like playing Mitsurugi and wait for that dumb bastard that always took Kilik for early ring outs. Block his initials shots, wait until he tries something to break my guard and attack quickly. Rinse and repeat.

Or play Kiba in Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm generations. He's the never leave you alone type....or one of the worst spammers.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

Well for Street Fighter, I have most moves down.
I played SFII as a kid, and when I was older I had Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the PSX.
I remember I used to sit down in training mode, and doing all the moves for all the characters.

Though to be honest, I only ever really played as Ryu and Dan! XD

So I can pull of a quarter circle, zmotion and hold fairly effectively without thought.

As for the other stuff, I guess I trial, play against the AI, gradually increasing the difficulty, then get demolished online for a bit, until I go off and do something else.

I'm an OK player. Could be really good, but I play for fun really.
I don't like trying to memorise long combos, tending to stick to basic 3-4 hit combos, and play mind games with my opponent.
Needless to say it doesn't work very well...

EDIT: I didn't do so badly on Soul Calibur 5 as Mitsurugi (No Talim in 5 ).
Again. Its more about learning how to manipulate my opponent, and playing a more balanced character like Mitsurugi to start helps you learn how other characters play out.

(Likewise in something like say, Skullgirls, I played arcade mode with the coolest characters I saw. Then the others. I ended up with a feel for Painwheel, Peacock, and Ms. Fortune.
In Blazblue I ended up getting comfortable with Taokaka.)

 

[Megacherv]

The same with every game: abstraction. You step back and 'dismantle' everything and see how it affects the game. Look at all their moves, which are high, medium, low; what's the damage-to-button-speed ratio, what would your opponent do and how would you respond. Players won't memorise every move combo, just what they need to win.

It's the same as building a Magic deck.

 

[Arina Love]

If i ever, by some miracle, have fighting game on me, ready to go and i have a will to play it (rare occasion indeed) i pick most cute looking girl and button mash through story mode on easy.
Last time i did it was with Street Fighter 4, i picked Sakura and got through her story pretty easily, i'm glad that SF4 easy difficulty is actually easy.

 

[esperandote]

Lately i start the characters challenges and i figure if i like its moves, then i learn its combos and then play against other people. Another thing i consider is the one that has the longest combos, I'm a combo freak.

My characters are Kula, kim, chris and vice in kof 2002; Kula, vice and Shen in kof XIII and Rose in Super Street Fighter IV

captcha: flip-flops, I'm wearing ones :0

 

[SwOJester]

When I get on a new game, I just go with the most evil looking dude from the get go and see if someone else strike my fancy from there. Most of the times, the bad guys are always my best characters anyway, even when I'm not aware they are. >_>

'Sides, they're always the ones with the most style.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I go to the game's training mode.

I pick out my character(s) and get used to their movements. Then I spend hours thinking up combos and stuff.

Then when I've done enough combo stuff, I set the computer dummy to its highest difficulty and exit the training mode when I can thoroughly kick its ass.

Assuming the game is new to me. If it's a game I'm already familiar with, I just pick my new character, get used to its movements, piece together a few combos, and jump into gameplay.

 

[Sirron Kcuch]

Yoshimitsu all the way. No matter the game.
Then, I learn a variety of moves (a 10 hit combo, and some useful moves) and try to mix and match during combat.

Then, my opponent (my friend, usually) just mashes buttons and pwns me.

Yay

 

[Razentsu]

Spoiler: Snip

I'm sure there is some kind of common practice among pros that requires a rigorous training regiment, but I am not interested in that. I want to know what the common folk do to learn characters and combos.

I've been playing BlazBlue as my exclusive fighter for a few years now (playing on and off with long gaps in-between) and found that I have a pretty basic system for learning characters. I usually start with tutorial in-case I need a refresher on the basics, then I move on to Story Mode/Arcade mode. Generally I play those to get the basics down for all of the characters and what-not, but I have found that practicing against AI isn't all that useful.

Most good fighters have some kind of challenge mode that teaches you combos which I do with every character I intend to play. I get as far as I can until the combos get too impractical and then I go back and try to do the practical ones a few times more to get them down.

Then the most important part: Practice Mode against another player. I feel like doing practice mode matches (infinite life and what-not) against another human player is probably the most useful thing you can do. Not only do you learn how to fight against certain opponents as select characters, but the infinite life and varied nature of what your opponent is doing allows you to be experimental in a way you normally couldn't. There's nothing cooler about this than figuring out a new combo through experimentation. Bonus benefit: two people are learning to play characters for the price of one. Me and my buddy did a 1 1/2 hour practice match last night and I figured out all kinds of stuff with Noel that I had never know was possible (and I have played her a lot already) as did he with Hakumen.

So I ask you people of the Escapist, how do you learn new characters in your fighters of choice?

I can attest to playing with live players to be the quickest and best way to learn a character. It's important to learn combos and setups in training mode, but it is even more important that you learn how to play your character. You need to learn what strategies are strong for your character, how to use his/her defensive options in the midst of pressure, and you need to learn about the tools you have for creating pressure. It's the quickest way to learn your character's moveset. Plus, you gain some match-up experience.

I learned how to play Yun in AE pretty much off of a couple of hours of playing against my friends.

Though it's recommended for most games to dedicate a few minutes to learning BnBs before doing any fighting.