Fighting games are getting too slow, and (breaking news) the FGC is conflicted and salty about it

Fighting games have been around since the late 90s, with tournaments following shortly. Like other esports scenes, this one is undergoing constant evolution. Fighting game tournaments are also unique in that, unlike other esports such as VALORANT or League of Legends, every tournament features a collection of games rather than a single title.

However, this also creates a division in the community, with other players strongly preferring one game over the other. Discussions on Twitter have repeatedly proven that members of the Fighting Game Community (FGC) can never be satisfied.

But in recent years, it seems that major fighting game developers have been choosing a specific gameplay pace that’s dividing the community even further. But in my opinion, it might be for the better.

Yes, it’s true that fighting games nowadays are getting slower compared to their earlier counterparts. Games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Super Smash Bros. Melee are generally considered fast by the community. Even the recently released Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game can be considered fast compared to the fighting games currently out.

To be clear, I’m not talking about how quickly matches end. I’m focusing more on the pace of the game. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 usually had people flying around with unpredictable movement. This is also the case with the next game in the series, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. However, it’s pretty rare to see a fighting game nowadays with a similar pace. It seems that developers have moved away from this formula and introduced a much slower one.

I sincerely believe that it’s because developers want to create an “esports-friendly” game. The games I mentioned above are pretty hard to understand if you’re not in the know about those games. Even high-level matches can be confusing to those who have played the game for quite some time.

However, slowing the tempo of fighting games also introduces a fundamental problem to their gameplay.

Let’s first start with the cons. As FGC top player Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley highlighted in his Twitter post, he’s saying that a fast fighting game gives the player a great sense of satisfaction if they can deal with all the moves, special moves, and system mechanics that are being thrown at them.

I can agree with this, as playing fast-paced fighting games often doesn’t give you time to think about how you’re going to defend or structure your offense. Most of the time, you’re going to operate on pure instinct, trying not to get hit and be opened up for big damage.

With that being said, this is also one of the biggest problems for fast fighting games. It might give the player a sense of satisfaction, but it is hard to convey to a passing audience unfamiliar with the game.

Which leads me to another con of fast-paced fighting games: they’re usually confusing to watch. Have you seen a set of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3? Maybe Marvel vs. Capcom 2? It can get pretty messy really quickly, which confuses the audience.

Just take a look at this tournament.

With how prominent Storm and Sentinel are in the game, you’ll often see the camera panning upwards erratically, making it very hard to see what’s happening on the ground. Not to mention, the movement in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is also pretty out there.

Now, on to the other end of the spectrum, which is Tekken 8. Personally, I believe Tekken 8 to be the most “esports-friendly” game out right now. A passing audience can easily understand the game through the effects and states the characters enter. For example, a counter hit from Steve’s infamous back+ left punch puts the opponent in a crumple state, making it easy to realize that the move really hurt the opponent. This is the same with Jin’s counter hit forward+right kick.

Seeing the opponent lose their guard and reel back is satisfying for both the player and the audience.

However, this kind of mechanic doesn’t easily translate to two-dimensional fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. This is because adding this mechanic to the aforementioned games might lead to player backlash. See, one of the fundamentals of fighting games is called “hit confirming.” This is the ability of a player to visually confirm that one of their stray moves hit and be able to follow it up with a combo or a super. 

This skill is very hard to master, with top players still consistently unable to do it because they usually have less than a second to hit confirm on their moves. Now, if a mechanic that introduces some kind of slow motion to help players hit confirm their moves is introduced, there’s a big chance that player backlash will happen, as it essentially renders one of fighting games’ fundamentals useless.

But this is up for debate, as Guilty Gear -STRIVE- introduced a huge “Counter” text, which made it easier for players to hit confirm their counter hits in the game. There are still complaints about it, but most of them focus on how distracting it is and how large the text is.

Right now, game developers are still struggling to find the balance between a game that’s an “esports game” and one that also satisfies players. Personally, I think they’re in the right direction. As I mentioned, Tekken 8 is pretty attractive to the masses right now for its easy-to-understand gameplay and visuals.

I would also bet that the upcoming Virtua Fighter game will also fall in this category, given the recent gameplay videos the developers have released.

While I do prefer faster games overall, I think that the developers are onto something if they want to slow down the pace of fighting games. However, I believe it will be difficult for developers to strike the right balance, especially in two-dimensional fighting games. It’s also quite possible that they may never find it at all.

One of my suggestions is to actually have a slow-motion hurt animation for any 2D fighting game when it comes to punishing super-punishable moves like a wake-up EX Shoryuken. Most players will be able to punish this move anyway, so why not make it look like it hurt? Better yet, combo enders are also a candidate for style and flair.

With that being said, it’s an exciting era for fighting games with different developers releasing their own take on the genre left and right. For some reason, developers think that the community is an untapped gold mine, so we should enjoy the different fighting games we can get our hands on.