What fighting game(s) did you guys play to make you hate fighting games so much?

[sXeth]

Well, a bit of a double hit really.

SoulCalibur 4's nearly anemic single player mode, and I got a pre-owned copy about a year or so after it came out, and ran into an absolute brick wall trying to play online. Landing even a single hit was a rarity, and immeditely booted from the lobby when I did scrape a ring out victory finally.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 (? I think, the PS3 one anyways), which a friend of mine bugged me to pick up. Another anemic single player mode, and basically no options but multiplayer. I don't remember even being able to practice in single Vs fights against AI, just the shoddy "story" mode.

Granted, I'm still playing some of the "casual" fighting games. I put a decent amount of time into PSABR, Injustice, and MK9/X. As well as the WWE (sort of a fighter), and UFC games (much more of a fighter, and the grappling certainly adds a breath of diversity into it, although EA's versions have kind of been meh).

I think the main problem is that a hefty online community of experts has developed, and migrates from game to game. Few fighters offer a different enough playstyle to shake that up, and the expert field (and somewhat complex depth mechanics required to learn to even stand a chance against them) are a huge barrier to anyone entering who isn't intensely dedicated to it. The casual fighter player is going to go in, play the story mode (which is often underwhelming), and run headlong into a brick wall in the MP component, and will come away with a negative impression formed out of one or both of those.

 

[Fox12]

Well, I loved Marvel vs. Capcom when I was a kid, but that's about it.

I dislike fighting games for the same reason I dislike COD. I don't like competitive multiplayer titles, and I don't like games without a plot. They don't mesh with my tastes. I assume lots of people feel that way.

What fighting games have you been playing then...I'll grant you the competitive aspect, it's not for everyone, but nearly every one of them have individual character arcs that are incorporated into the main story of the game...Well, except for the recent MK games really.

Which is really weird, because their story modes are like a fifth the length of most other titles and barely give you enough time to get comfortable with a character, let alone figure out if you can do anything with them beyond button spam and with incredibly simple Kung Fu B-movie plots(not bashing them, they're fun, they just don't have all that much depth compared to alot of fighters that aren't Smash) and yet you keep getting people praising them for it.

I haven't played many, I confess. I tried Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and found it underwhelming, despite having Zero. Smash Bros. is fun, but I consider it more of a party game. The thing is, even fighting games that feature a plot tend to treat it as icing on the cake. That's fine, of course, but I prefer something a little more plot heavy. COD has a single player as well, but it really feels like a tutorial for the competitive multiplayer. The same is true for most fighting games I've seen. I have friends who do tournaments, so I get the culture and appeal, but it's just not for me. The only multiplayer I can stand is From Softs.

I may try the Persona fighters, though, and see if I care for them at all.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Street Fighter 4. Cheating A.I.
King of Fighters XIII. Cheating A.I. (And shitty story.) Also the worse, unresponsive fighter I have played in a long time. I finally managed to figure out how to play teh Femme guy on the cover, and his alt, but christ.
BlazBlue. Cheating A.I. (And really, really shitty story.)
The Big One; Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Just... boring as hell.

And really that's the problem, they're mainly boring because most of the time you have to get too involved to even break the surface. If you want to play them with friends, well, someone generally finds a exploit, or gets ahead with a character and begin to run away with it. Which sucks, tedious and boring.

 

[Rizil]

Street Fighter 4. Cheating A.I.
King of Fighters XIII. Cheating A.I. (And shitty story.) Also the worse, unresponsive fighter I have played in a long time. I finally managed to figure out how to play teh Femme guy on the cover, and his alt, but christ.
BlazBlue. Cheating A.I. (And really, really shitty story.)
The Big One; Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Just... boring as hell.

And really that's the problem, they're mainly boring because most of the time you have to get too involved to even break the surface. If you want to play them with friends, well, someone generally finds a exploit, or gets ahead with a character and begin to run away with it. Which sucks, tedious and boring.

I really would like to know how the AI "cheats." Pretty much every fighting game out there doesn't change a characters abilities, so I don't see how an AI can "cheat." You want to give me the final bosses? Yes ok I'll give you that, (SNK is notorious for this, bunch of sadists they are) but a fighting game is not indicative of it's final boss that nobody is going to play against you (Seth from Street Fighter 4 would be an exception but even then they toned down a lot of his abilities from player mode to boss mode to make him more balanced.)

And yea MvC3 was pretty boring I played 3 matches after Ultimate came out, won all 3, and quit b/c it was not interesting. Even when I watch it on stream its just Vergils and Zeros, which I find to be a snooze-fest.

 

[Redryhno]

Street Fighter 4. Cheating A.I.
King of Fighters XIII. Cheating A.I. (And shitty story.) Also the worse, unresponsive fighter I have played in a long time. I finally managed to figure out how to play teh Femme guy on the cover, and his alt, but christ.
BlazBlue. Cheating A.I. (And really, really shitty story.)
The Big One; Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Just... boring as hell.

And really that's the problem, they're mainly boring because most of the time you have to get too involved to even break the surface. If you want to play them with friends, well, someone generally finds a exploit, or gets ahead with a character and begin to run away with it. Which sucks, tedious and boring.

I really would like to know how the AI "cheats." Pretty much every fighting game out there doesn't change a characters abilities, so I don't see how an AI can "cheat." You want to give me the final bosses? Yes ok I'll give you that, (SNK is notorious for this, bunch of sadists they are) but a fighting game is not indicative of it's final boss that nobody is going to play against you (Seth from Street Fighter 4 would be an exception but even then they toned down a lot of his abilities from player mode to boss mode to make him more balanced.)

And yea MvC3 was pretty boring I played 3 matches after Ultimate came out, won all 3, and quit b/c it was not interesting. Even when I watch it on stream its just Vergils and Zeros, which I find to be a snooze-fest.

I think he may be talking about how perfectly the AI plays their character at the higher difficulties. You've gotta admit it's sorta bullshit when you're trying to get a hit down and they block perfectly everytime followed by a breaker and 100-0 combo. Even the top players can't do it THAT well and THAT flawlessly.

 

[JagermanXcell]

I love fighting games. Skullgirls and most recently MKX fill me with glee, but prior to those there are 3 particular moments that almost killed them for me:

1) MVC3. The pay walls, the unbalance, the Vergils and Zeros. Buying an inferior $60 version only to have ULTIMATE come out later and have me pay for it again. Did I mention the toxic community... yeh, yeh... that one takes the cake.
2) Soul Caliber 5. Let's take a unique fighting game series and add fighting game mechanics that every other fighting game has. SOUL CALIBER ALREADY HAD CLASHES, WHO THE HELL NEEDED BROKEN ULTRAS?!

3) MK9 Shao Khan.

 

[SquallTheBlade]

I don't like them because they're still stuck in the '90s. I think the camera should be behind the player character. I like combat in which I can move in three dimensions and in which I'm not anchored to the opponent with the width of the picture. Fighting games are convoluted yet too limiting. Foot movement is important in any martial art, and letting the player move in only two directions greatly diminishes that aspect. Hack and slash games have large movesets and the cameras usually don't obscure the action. A camera like this of course wouldn't allow for shared screen versus, but I'd rather play with a LAN or online. I also want more complex level design that each combatant can use to their advantage. Until fighting games truly evolve, I'll continue to ignore them.

That's like wanting fighting games to be an entirely new genre than they already are.

 

[Raddra]

Street Fighter IV. I am no whiz at fighting games. I bought the Dead or Alive games because I wanted to know more about Ryu, Kasumi, and Ayane from Ninja Gaiden. That's my level of skill when it comes to these types of games--as in, very little. But I can usually get by in the story mode to at least see the endings of characters.

And then I played Street Fighter IV. And I couldn't beat it. Even when I set it on easy, I still got my teeth kicked in. Again and again. On the rare occasions I actually got to Seth (I was normally losing to the rival fighter right before him), I would be lucky if I managed to get in more than five hits. I never beat him, and I got so frustrated that I pulled the game out, stuffed it back in its case, and tossed it under my dresser so that I wouldn't give in to the whole, "Okay, THIS time I'll get him!" mentality. I will never touch another Street Fighter game as long as I live because of that game.

You too huh? Same happened to me. I used to be good at street fighter.. not great, but passable enough that I could try and eventually win. But Street Fighter 4? It was a mess. Eventually I gave up when I could not beat some guy on easy that had a throw that took off almost 50% of my life with no way to break out of it. I tried. I read the guide.. it sometimes worked on any other guy, but that guys throw was unbeatable. I returned the game to the store in disgust the next day. I have never done that before or since.

SF4 killed fighting games for me.

 

[JCAll]

I really would like to know how the AI "cheats." Pretty much every fighting game out there doesn't change a characters abilities, so I don't see how an AI can "cheat." You want to give me the final bosses? Yes ok I'll give you that, (SNK is notorious for this, bunch of sadists they are) but a fighting game is not indicative of it's final boss that nobody is going to play against you (Seth from Street Fighter 4 would be an exception but even then they toned down a lot of his abilities from player mode to boss mode to make him more balanced.)

And yea MvC3 was pretty boring I played 3 matches after Ultimate came out, won all 3, and quit b/c it was not interesting. Even when I watch it on stream its just Vergils and Zeros, which I find to be a snooze-fest.

Supposedly, it's possible to program the AI to read your button presses and counter your moves before your character even acts.

 

[Lightspeaker]

I really would like to know how the AI "cheats." Pretty much every fighting game out there doesn't change a characters abilities, so I don't see how an AI can "cheat." You want to give me the final bosses? Yes ok I'll give you that, (SNK is notorious for this, bunch of sadists they are) but a fighting game is not indicative of it's final boss that nobody is going to play against you (Seth from Street Fighter 4 would be an exception but even then they toned down a lot of his abilities from player mode to boss mode to make him more balanced.)

And yea MvC3 was pretty boring I played 3 matches after Ultimate came out, won all 3, and quit b/c it was not interesting. Even when I watch it on stream its just Vergils and Zeros, which I find to be a snooze-fest.

Supposedly, it's possible to program the AI to read your button presses and counter your moves before your character even acts.

Just to point out: its not a fighter, but this is PRECISELY what Psycho Mantis does in MGS1. Reads your controller input directly to counter it.

Spoiler: Totally unnecessary spoiler for a ~16-year old game

Hence the trick of switching the controller to the second controller slot! Mwhahaha! Genius!

...what? Hey, come on, this was cutting-edge metagaming the player and fourth-wall breaking back in 1999! Along with getting the Codec frequency from the back of the box the game came in.

Captcha: "two cents worth" Yes it was, captcha. But it should be ME saying that, not you. >_>

Probably using the wrong word there but for some reason I can't get the word "metagaming" out of my head. >_>

 

[Doom972]

I don't hate them, but I can't really get into them properly. Fighting games have a very steep learning curve which requires you to learn how to execute special moves and combos that require perfect timing and don't provide proper tutorials. Whenever I play them, I either button mash my way through or learn one or two useful special moves for my chosen character.

The last fighting game I got was Injustice, which is also the most recent that I have played. I like it and MK9 because of the story mode and the single player challenges. I probably won't get anywhere near 100% completion, or the online multiplayer.

 

[blackdwarf]

I don't like them because they're still stuck in the '90s. I think the camera should be behind the player character. I like combat in which I can move in three dimensions and in which I'm not anchored to the opponent with the width of the picture. Fighting games are convoluted yet too limiting. Foot movement is important in any martial art, and letting the player move in only two directions greatly diminishes that aspect. Hack and slash games have large movesets and the cameras usually don't obscure the action. A camera like this of course wouldn't allow for shared screen versus, but I'd rather play with a LAN or online. I also want more complex level design that each combatant can use to their advantage. Until fighting games truly evolve, I'll continue to ignore them.

The 3ds version of Streetfighter IV had a camera mode where the camera was behind you character and it was horrible. Your own character obscured the view and It was really hard to see hoe much space is between the players and what the opponent is doing.

There are 3D fighters which allow more movement than left and right. You can sidestep and this allows for dodging and punishments.

Although Smash isn't a traditional fighting games it does show what happens when you add more complexity to the level design. imbalances and must picks when playing with certain characters. Some characters will be worthless or overpowered in certain levels and because balance is already hard to achieve, this will only complicate it. Injustice had this too where some characters always picked a certain level, because it gave them a advantage.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Street Fighter 4. Cheating A.I.
King of Fighters XIII. Cheating A.I. (And shitty story.) Also the worse, unresponsive fighter I have played in a long time. I finally managed to figure out how to play teh Femme guy on the cover, and his alt, but christ.
BlazBlue. Cheating A.I. (And really, really shitty story.)
The Big One; Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Just... boring as hell.

And really that's the problem, they're mainly boring because most of the time you have to get too involved to even break the surface. If you want to play them with friends, well, someone generally finds a exploit, or gets ahead with a character and begin to run away with it. Which sucks, tedious and boring.

I really would like to know how the AI "cheats." Pretty much every fighting game out there doesn't change a characters abilities, so I don't see how an AI can "cheat." You want to give me the final bosses? Yes ok I'll give you that, (SNK is notorious for this, bunch of sadists they are) but a fighting game is not indicative of it's final boss that nobody is going to play against you (Seth from Street Fighter 4 would be an exception but even then they toned down a lot of his abilities from player mode to boss mode to make him more balanced.)

And yea MvC3 was pretty boring I played 3 matches after Ultimate came out, won all 3, and quit b/c it was not interesting. Even when I watch it on stream its just Vergils and Zeros, which I find to be a snooze-fest.

When the game reads your inputs and uses that to react immediately at such inhuman levels it's kinda obvious. 90% sure the Chitake guy on Bloodborne does this too, 'cause he's ridiculous. I don't know how, but I tend to recognize it when i'm playing a game.

And Seth was hilariously bad, as his attacks would outright ignore mine, and some how hit me when I was using my longer attacks outside of his range. It was great, and my first game of it, and I immediately turned it off. Not dealing with that bullshit.

 

[garjian]

And Seth was hilariously bad, as his attacks would outright ignore mine, and some how hit me when I was using my longer attacks outside of his range. It was great, and my first game of it, and I immediately turned it off. Not dealing with that bullshit.

Certain attacks have invincibility, such as Shoryukens and many EX specials.
Your limbs have hitboxes even while they're extended for attacks.
Put the two together and yes, Seth can EX command grab your leg when you kick.

That's part of how a lot of 2D fighters work, and you can do it too. There's also 'priority', but I don't know much about how that applies to Street Fighter.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

And Seth was hilariously bad, as his attacks would outright ignore mine, and some how hit me when I was using my longer attacks outside of his range. It was great, and my first game of it, and I immediately turned it off. Not dealing with that bullshit.

Certain attacks have invincibility, such as Shoryukens and many EX specials.
Your limbs have hitboxes even while they're extended for attacks.
Put the two together and yes, Seth can EX command grab your leg when you kick.

That's part of how a lot of 2D fighters work, and you can do it too. There's also 'priority', but I don't know much about how that applies to Street Fighter.

You know, it wasn't even Seth, who is a boss and not who I was thinking of. It was some fat guy doing spins, that when I kicked at him, he'd hit me instead, and was able to spam the entire match. It was absolute garbage, because when I did play it, he never came out of that spin, and none of my attacks could effect him while he was in it, and so I will forever shit on SF4 for that one match.

And, I know now that i've said it all i'm gonna get is, 'lol ur bad', but his attack would hit me when I was out of his range. I just wasn't gonna put up with learning how to play a shit game.

MVC3, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Skullgirls, Guilty Gear, Soul Caliber, DoA, Tekken. Not one of them hand you that kind of shit on a platter and expect you to stick around. While characters in those games have some bullshit range and attacks too, somehow it feels less blatant for the most part.

Then again, I've never liked Street Fighter, in any of it's incarnations. (I thought 2 was abysmally boring.)

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

And Seth was hilariously bad, as his attacks would outright ignore mine, and some how hit me when I was using my longer attacks outside of his range. It was great, and my first game of it, and I immediately turned it off. Not dealing with that bullshit.

Certain attacks have invincibility, such as Shoryukens and many EX specials.
Your limbs have hitboxes even while they're extended for attacks.
Put the two together and yes, Seth can EX command grab your leg when you kick.

That's part of how a lot of 2D fighters work, and you can do it too. There's also 'priority', but I don't know much about how that applies to Street Fighter.

You know, it wasn't even Seth, who is a boss and not who I was thinking of. It was some fat guy doing spins, that when I kicked at him, he'd hit me instead, and was able to spam the entire match. It was absolute garbage, because when I did play it, he never came out of that spin, and none of my attacks could effect him while he was in it, and so I will forever shit on SF4 for that one match.

And, I know now that i've said it all i'm gonna get is, 'lol ur bad', but his attack would hit me when I was out of his range. I just wasn't gonna put up with learning how to play a shit game.

MVC3, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Skullgirls, Guilty Gear, Soul Caliber, DoA, Tekken. Not one of them hand you that kind of shit on a platter and expect you to stick around. While characters in those games have some bullshit range and attacks too, somehow it feels less blatant for the most part.

Then again, I've never liked Street Fighter, in any of it's incarnations. (I thought 2 was abysmally boring.)

Attacks have 3 "phases".

Startup - the part where someone pulls back their fist in preparation for a punch

Active - the part where people can be hurt from your punch

Recovery - the part after "active" has ended where the attacker is stuck in a recoil-style animation and is unable to do any other actions for a (very small) period of time

Also, lots of moves can have invincibility during those periods. You must memorize which move has invincibility and during which period if you wish to hit someone with such a move.

What you do to punish the spin you're mentioning is wait for the (very, very long) active phase of it to end and then time an attack so that it will make contact with his body during the "recovery" period specified above. It might seem obtuse but 5 minutes in training mode will avail you of the timing you need to pull that punish off every time and after that you will never lose to it ever again.

The reason why it was hitting you, btw, is that you were trying to hit it during the "active" period which for that specific move happens to be also invincible, therefore your attacks were going through him. You simply can not hit moves which are invincible, they're there to provide chars with a defensive option to stop the attacker. What you have to do is predict your foe is gonna do that move, block it, then punish its "recovery", since all of those invincible moves tend to have punishable recovery. It's the core of the mindgame of fighting games; "do I hit him or do I block and call out his invincible move?". Getting this mind game down is the first step to doing well in fighters.