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Melty Blood Auditorium / Is Melty both accessible and deep?
« on: November 12, 2011, 04:40:45 PM »
Hi, over at SRK I was involved in a discussion about execution barriers in FG. Some people argued that arbitrarily tricky execution added not much to games and instead just made it less welcoming for new or casual players. Examples given were things like 360/720 motions, 1 frame links, pretzel motions. Some were refuted, like 360/720 motions have actual gameplay/strategy impacts. Of course, the usual elitist counterarguments were trotted out, regarding the dumbing down / casualisation of games, loss of depth and strategy, etc.
As for me, personally (i am a casual FG player since SF2/KOF94/VF1) I have been a bit angry at BB, where my main in BBCT (Tao) became so execution heavy in later games that combos became literally impossible for me with the amount of practice I am willing to put into that game. And where other characters have BnBs that are very character specific, very long, and/or contain difficult components that have no alternatives. And simplified versions of those combos are quite inferior in terms of damage, without those tricky components.
So anyways, in that thread I used Melty as an ultimate counterexample. Its a game with simplified and standardised move motions, and a generous buffer system that lets you cancel pretty much anything into anything. You can pick a character like WArc and be doing optimal damage just with basic ABC j ABC j ABC airthrow style combos (well, warc is j B C but you get what I mean), and that combo pattern works on any target. Also, most characters in the game can do that type of combo, and still do reasonable damage. It's pretty easy to get into and doesnt need a lot of practice or memorisation to start playing at a beginner competitive level.
Despite all this, Melty is still a totally legit competitive FG, and has depth and rewards for those who are hardcore enough to explore the gameplay fully.
Since out of all the FGs I've played, Im least familiar with Melty due to lack of a scene and decent netplay, I thought I would confirm here.
Can Melty be considered a good example that you dont need high execution barriers to have a deep and competitive FG?
(note that lacking "barriers" doesnt mean that there arent any high execution "opportunities".)
As for me, personally (i am a casual FG player since SF2/KOF94/VF1) I have been a bit angry at BB, where my main in BBCT (Tao) became so execution heavy in later games that combos became literally impossible for me with the amount of practice I am willing to put into that game. And where other characters have BnBs that are very character specific, very long, and/or contain difficult components that have no alternatives. And simplified versions of those combos are quite inferior in terms of damage, without those tricky components.
So anyways, in that thread I used Melty as an ultimate counterexample. Its a game with simplified and standardised move motions, and a generous buffer system that lets you cancel pretty much anything into anything. You can pick a character like WArc and be doing optimal damage just with basic ABC j ABC j ABC airthrow style combos (well, warc is j B C but you get what I mean), and that combo pattern works on any target. Also, most characters in the game can do that type of combo, and still do reasonable damage. It's pretty easy to get into and doesnt need a lot of practice or memorisation to start playing at a beginner competitive level.
Despite all this, Melty is still a totally legit competitive FG, and has depth and rewards for those who are hardcore enough to explore the gameplay fully.
Since out of all the FGs I've played, Im least familiar with Melty due to lack of a scene and decent netplay, I thought I would confirm here.
Can Melty be considered a good example that you dont need high execution barriers to have a deep and competitive FG?
(note that lacking "barriers" doesnt mean that there arent any high execution "opportunities".)
So what's the W in warc and what's the V in VSion?