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[mstevens]

Being consistently shit at fighting games plagues us all. It's part of the learning curve and mastery of them. You have to practice and wait for muscle memory to really kick in so just keep going at it and don't give up. I've overcome my shit playing at fighting games just with practice and I have a feeling this game is going stick around and I can see a FGC forming around IF Nintendo supports it and listens to the community.

Thanks for the response.

Part of the issue is that I'm not really sure what my issue is, if that makes any sense. I know it's partially because my reaction time is garbage. I was doing the training where you're supposed to block ninjara's throw attempt, but my fingers can't react fast enough it seems. I'm not sure that's something that can be overcome with practice. My decision making also seems to be terrible, as I always do the wrong thing and then realize it right after.

I wish the training mode was more robust. I'd love to have my hand held through specific activities that worked on things in a certain order - especially with immediate feedback.

None of this (except perhaps the barebones training) is a knock on the game. I think it's fantastic.

 

[DrDogg]

I can hit helix no problem at this point with mummy

It will be very telling what Nintendo chooses to change/nerf/buff perhaps in this game

So you can dodge a Helix punch and counter punch him without issue, just as much as you can other characters?

EDIT: And after a couple weeks with this game I'm not very confident that the MK team understands how to probably balance a fighting game. Did MX8 have any balance adjustments?

 

[atr0cious]

Just seems like it's the natural state of things when characters are unique; fair point though, some games probably do pull if off well. To me it doesn't seem like a big deal if some character isn't good, you enjoy them for what they are and then possibly pick a better character if you wanna be serious about it.

But why should this ever be? Like I love DK in smash, but until his most recent update, it just wasn't fun using him since you knew he wasn't viable. That's a failure of the developer, and why I don't even touch melee any more and pick non standard characters in every game I play. If we stuck with only the mimmaxed best characters, game rosters would be like 5 deep.

 

[molnizzle]

This.

Beat you consistently today, and if I didn't win, you were at 10% life.

Out of 12 games, about 6/6.

Looks like only a bother can beat another

Those local practice games 1 v 1 truly helped

Aren't you guys brothers? Crazy how you both seem to agree here. lol

 

[jorgejjvr]

Aren't you guys brothers? Crazy how you both seem to agree here. lol

We are.

 

[random25]

So you can dodge a Helix punch and counter punch him without issue, just as much as you can other characters?

EDIT: And after a couple weeks with this game I'm not very confident that the MK team understands how to probably balance a fighting game. Did MX8 have any balance adjustments?

MK8D had balance updates, but of course that's a different game and genre.

I think right now the game overall is pretty balanced until somebody found something ridiculous. Nobody has really looked super OP and there's really no exploit yet that makes the game unbalanced towards a quarter of the characters.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

Ribbon Girl has 4 air jumps. After the 4th one even a highly skilled player can be punished before Ribbon Girl hits the ground. An equally skilled Helix can be punished maybe 10% of the time, period.



I feel as though when I can get in on you we're pretty even. But I also feel it has a lot to do with your character choice. That's not a bad thing, people gravitate toward top tiers all the time in fighting games. I can win without Twintelle's air mobility and slowdown though. Helix's gimmick is seemingly that he's significantly harder to hit than any other character (sans Ribbon Girl in the air).

So yes, Helix can be punished. That doesn't change the fact that he's arguably the best character in the game (I still have my doubts).



I've seen plenty of people use double Poppers/Crackers and basically fight exactly like you do. I don't have trouble with them because every other character still have long enough recovery that they can be punished far more often than Helix.

Also, if Poppers/Crackers were to be nerfed, it would be in recovery and/or speed, not damage.



This game really isn't deep enough to warrant Helix being treated like a special case. It's not like you're doing magical evasive maneuvers that no one else is skilled enough to pull off. Helix has puddle and tower, but otherwise he's basically the same as all the other characters aside from his potentially game breaking instant recovery. If you changed characters and played the exact same way (compensating for the lack of puddle/tower), you wouldn't be winning as much, or at the very least it would be far more difficult for you.

It reminds me of Jin in Tekken 4. His trump card was an attack that was almost impossible to avoid, combined with a combo off of that attack that hit for a good 60% of your health. He wasn't banned and this was before the time of patches. Some Jin players were better than others, but everyone agreed that if you played Jin you got a huge boost by default.



I don't think Mummy is hard to use. You can't play him as mobile as some other characters, but he has better options in other areas. I can hit even the best Mummy players. The problem with Helix is the fact that it's very difficult to hit him.

Can't you say that even playing Helix compensates for what he can do? It's not that easy, I know most people or a good sum would never either try or get the chance to perfect it. Obviously you can practice and at the highlest level of play that doesn't matter. It's not that easy to do what I do, especially considering I have to ponder and asses and essentially guess what your next 1-3 movements and actions will be. Like with Jorge for example, he's played with Helix so often as Mummy he is capable of predicting anything that he can do and counter it accordingly, I do the same thing with others, having to decide when to do what, if I don't I'm dead meat.

 

[molnizzle]

MK8D had balance updates, but of course that's a different game and genre.

I think right now the game overall is pretty balanced until somebody found something ridiculous. Nobody has really looked super OP and there's really no exploit yet that makes the game unbalanced towards a quarter of the characters.

Thing is we don't really know that for sure because of the barebones training mode. It'll take a lot of extra lab work to mine the details out of this game.

 

[aznpxdd]

Must be a noob question, but why doesn't blocking seem to work when I play in handheld mode? Putting the leftstick back does nothing...while using motion control, blocking is very obvious and easy to do.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

So you can dodge a Helix punch and counter punch him without issue, just as much as you can other characters?

EDIT: And after a couple weeks with this game I'm not very confident that the MK team understands how to probably balance a fighting game. Did MX8 have any balance adjustments?

He can, actually, like he said we went 50/50 and the whole lobby saw it, even worse when he can predict it. He knows Helix sucks when he's too close

 

[Serenitynow]

Must be a noob question, but why doesn't blocking seem to work when I play in handheld mode? Putting the leftstick back does nothing...while using motion control, blocking is very obvious and easy to do.

Gotta push the left stick in

 

[random25]

Thing is we don't really know that for sure because of the barebones training mode. It'll take a lot of extra lab work to mine the details out of this game.

Labbing really is the way to go to find techs/exploits/etc. Kind of like Smash Bros.

Must be a noob question, but why doesn't blocking seem to work when I play in handheld mode? Putting the leftstick back does nothing...while using motion control, blocking is very obvious and easy to do.

You press and hold the left stick to block.

 

[Hawkian]

Still think 200 ARMS getter is better just sayin

i did add a little note about that. I can't the numbers you were talking about in the long one personally, but I do see people reporting that they get about 2x the amount they do in medium which makes sense

There, I said it. I really hope this turns into a franchise where they iron out the game and flesh out the mechanics more. I love pretty much everything about its presentation though. Such a superb little fighting game this is.

It really is phenomenal, especially once you start "getting it."

I have a weird nostalgic feeling and I can't remember what it is so closely reminding me of. I don't think it's Smash or SC2 or MvC2 which I got really into. Maybe the original Soul Calibur port, where I just always wanted to do one more match (I didn't own a Dreamcast when first playing it). It's really really really really fucking addictive and fun and a big accomplishment IMO. A much better game overall than I was expecting, though admittedly light on singleplayer content and begging for significant additions via DLC.

Way too early for someone like me to remotely comment on how competitive it is at high levels but how it plays for the bottom 90% is a huge portion of the appeal as well.

No one knows yet. I hope it's completely open, though. I think that limiting arms choice would cater to a needlessly-limited meta.

Stuff like this is crazy to think about, there are so many freaking potential combinations of arms and characters, I don't know if I did the math correctly but I think there are 4,650 possibilities? Discounting the difference between having say, Megawatt/Slapamander vs Slapamander Megawatt.

This is SUCH a good party game.

I haven't done it yet and it's too early to talk about things like tail/sales cycle.

But I have a feeling that the experience of playing this local with two switches, set on a table, both using motion controls is pretty great. I think there is a pick up and play nature that two unskilled players who have never held the joy cons being shown the game for the first time can have fun just going HAM with punches in the air and people watching. You can also do this without the need for any display device set up at whatever venue you're at (meaning you can theoretically do tournaments in locations with extremely limited AV options that you would only have considered for pure mobile fighters.

Well, my advice was meant for the fun rooms If people want advice in GAF rooms, they wont get any from me, I'm staying clear of that hell ahaha.

if you can manage not to get frustrated by it getting beaten by them is good for the soul

Holy Shit... I just got a 75% nerf at the start of a 1v1v1 match... thaaaat ended quickly ahahah.


I really love this gimmick, Winning a fight at 50% health was awesome, and then losing so fast at 25% health, its like... yeah I've terrorized these folks enough.



Though a 50% nerf going into a Hedlok match doesn't make a lot of sense, punishes the team as much as it does me.

Party mode in general is well done as an activity and should be tweaked/expanded

Totall agree about teh Headlok fight.

Here's an interesting thing I've done:

I was down in a round and didn't believe in the comeback, so I charged super and had the opponent kill me right away so I wouldn't spend the round trying to make a comeback and then letting them build super.

People will probably be doing stuff like this in tournaments lol

I think is a critical part of the game, and I've done it tons of times strategically in GP to control matches against opponents I didn't think I could beat within the match. I never even thought about this consciously before reading you say it but it is valuable.

You can effectively get your super by being aggressive for a time, bait the computer into using their super to kill you, ensuring you start the next match with one and they start with an empty one. You could say "well why wouldn't you do this every time" but obviously using the rush if you stay alive long enough to get the rush could win you the match, so it becomes tempting again. It's kind of a push and pull. I really like it.

Also, I think the total damage you can do with your rush is a huge factor in terms of ARMS selection, there's a pretty big variation, but your build also may not care

 

[Nightbreeze]

This game is amazing.

Convinced my wife to give it a try, just spent the past hour online in party mode together. She loved it!

 

[Totakeke]

Valle streaming again.
https://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive

 

[TheGoreMagala]

Valle streaming again.
https://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive

Anyone to add him or join him or for you to inform him of a killer Helix player that he needs to fight against and nobody can beat? I really want to go against someone like him

 

[Hawkian]

it's fucking surreal to see that dreamcast logo on this page just after having mentioned that. the memory I'm thinking of with SC is literally the first time I ever saw one in person.

 

[Totakeke]

Anyone to add him or join him or for you to inform him of a killer Helix player that he needs to fight against and nobody can beat? I really want to go against someone like him

You could catch him when he hosts another subscriber lobby like he did a day ago.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

You could catch him when he hosts another subscriber lobby like he did a day ago.

Pls post on this thread when he does so, I am insanely curious to try going against him

What if everyone from GAF caused enough uproar to make him go for it?

 

[KingBroly]

My thoughts on Barq & Byte:
- You don't want to face them as an AI
- You don't want to play them yourself

The two are completely out of sync as a human player, making the benefits of having Byte miniscule at best and it's more like a hindrance than anything since you want to interact with it but it won't be by yourself 80% of the time.

The ARMS they have also seem like a horrible balance as well.

 

[Totakeke]

Pls post on this thread when he does so, I am insanely curious to try going against him

What if everyone from GAF caused enough uproar to make him go for it?

He's hosting a lobby.

 

[JStein0222]

Ribbon Girl has 4 air jumps. After the 4th one even a highly skilled player can be punished before Ribbon Girl hits the ground. An equally skilled Helix can be punished maybe 10% of the time, period.



I feel as though when I can get in on you we're pretty even. But I also feel it has a lot to do with your character choice. That's not a bad thing, people gravitate toward top tiers all the time in fighting games. I can win without Twintelle's air mobility and slowdown though. Helix's gimmick is seemingly that he's significantly harder to hit than any other character (sans Ribbon Girl in the air).

So yes, Helix can be punished. That doesn't change the fact that he's arguably the best character in the game (I still have my doubts).



I've seen plenty of people use double Poppers/Crackers and basically fight exactly like you do. I don't have trouble with them because every other character still have long enough recovery that they can be punished far more often than Helix.

Also, if Poppers/Crackers were to be nerfed, it would be in recovery and/or speed, not damage.



This game really isn't deep enough to warrant Helix being treated like a special case. It's not like you're doing magical evasive maneuvers that no one else is skilled enough to pull off. Helix has puddle and tower, but otherwise he's basically the same as all the other characters aside from his potentially game breaking instant recovery. If you changed characters and played the exact same way (compensating for the lack of puddle/tower), you wouldn't be winning as much, or at the very least it would be far more difficult for you.

It reminds me of Jin in Tekken 4. His trump card was an attack that was almost impossible to avoid, combined with a combo off of that attack that hit for a good 60% of your health. He wasn't banned and this was before the time of patches. Some Jin players were better than others, but everyone agreed that if you played Jin you got a huge boost by default.



I don't think Mummy is hard to use. You can't play him as mobile as some other characters, but he has better options in other areas. I can hit even the best Mummy players. The problem with Helix is the fact that it's very difficult to hit him.

This is a very thoughtful post and helped me understand some things better, thank you.

Just because he has anecdotally been punished, doesn't mean he isn't in a superior position than every other character where recovery is concerned.

Briefly playing as him online in ranked just now, I felt the edge almost immediately. Gonna stick with Snakey cause he's my bro.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

He's hosting a lobby.

GIVE ME THE CODE

The friend code I mean. Or tell him a popular rank ten user wants to fight him idk

 

[DrDogg]

Can't you say that even playing Helix compensates for what he can do? It's not that easy, I know most people or a good sum would never either try or get the chance to perfect it. Obviously you can practice and at the highlest level of play that doesn't matter. It's not that easy to do what I do, especially considering I have to ponder and asses and essentially guess what your next 1-3 movements and actions will be. Like with Jorge for example, he's played with Helix so often as Mummy he is capable of predicting anything that he can do and counter it accordingly, I do the same thing with others, having to decide when to do what, if I don't I'm dead meat.

Why should I have to predict to hit you? I don't have to do that with any other character.

And I've played you. What you're doing is not rocket science. You got to this point in what, two days?

When you tag me as I dash because you guessed the direction I'm about to dash in, that's not why you're winning. You're winning because Helix seemingly has no recovery. I'll give you props that you're a good Helix, but don't act like this is all skill and we're just not as good as you.

He can, actually, like he said we went 50/50 and the whole lobby saw it, even worse when he can predict it. He knows Helix sucks when he's too close

I went almost 50/50 with you today and half of that was me experimenting. But I'd like to see some matches of you two fighting where he consistently dodges your punches and counter punches you. I have a hard time believing he can somehow punch faster so you can't dodge.

Anyone to add him or join him or for you to inform him of a killer Helix player that he needs to fight against and nobody can beat? I really want to go against someone like him

Valle isn't good at this game yet. When I was watching him Friday he hadn't even grasped the core fundamentals of the game.

 

[Swimmer9800]

So I bit the bullet and decided to try it. I downloaded it this afternoon and had some friends over to play. We were all immediately hooked. We played for upwards of 5 Hours and even had a 1v1 tournament. Learning the game together was a ton of fun. I believe that this game can absolutely have legs.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

Why should I have to predict to hit you? I don't have to do that with any other character.

And I've played you. What you're doing is not rocket science. You got to this point in what, two days?

When you tag me as I dash because you guessed the direction I'm about to dash in, that's not why you're winning. You're winning because Helix seemingly has no recovery. I'll give you props that you're a good Helix, but don't act like this is all skill and we're just not as good as you.



I went almost 50/50 with you today and half of that was me experimenting. But I'd like to see some matches of you two fighting where he consistently dodges your punches and counter punches you. I have a hard time believing he can somehow punch faster so you can't dodge.



Valle isn't good at this game yet. When I was watching him Friday he hadn't even grasped the core fundamentals of the game.

He dodges sometimes but it's more of a his durability beating mine

 

[DrDogg]

This is a very thoughtful post and helped me understand some things better, thank you.

Just because he has anecdotally been punished, doesn't mean he isn't in a superior position than every other character where recovery is concerned.

Briefly playing as him online in ranked just now, I felt the edge almost immediately. Gonna stick with Snakey cause he's my bro.

You're going to make me start playing as Helix.

I'm not one to play a character just because they're good though lol.

He dodges sometimes but it's more of a his durability beating mine

EDIT: So he did what I did to you, stop evading since that does nothing and focus on going through your lights. But now that you've switched to mediums, if you still have the same lack of recovery I don't think that strategy would work as well with the much slower heavy Arms.

 

[JStein0222]

You're going to make me start playing as Helix.

I'm not one to play a character just because they're good though lol.

Gotta play Cobra. He's made a living being a professional Beyblade rider, what more could you ask for? Plus, I love his yellow/blue alt.

 

[Biske]

My thoughts on Barq & Byte:
- You don't want to face them as an AI
- You don't want to play them yourself

The two are completely out of sync as a human player, making the benefits of having Byte miniscule at best and it's more like a hindrance than anything since you want to interact with it but it won't be by yourself 80% of the time.

The ARMS they have also seem like a horrible balance as well.

Not true, there was.. DKL.. I think in the GAF room with a vicious Barq and Byte. Was getting super in my face and was really hard to deal with. Specially as up close you are forgetting about Barq a lot as he messes with your stuff.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

Why should I have to predict to hit you? I don't have to do that with any other character.

And I've played you. What you're doing is not rocket science. You got to this point in what, two days?

When you tag me as I dash because you guessed the direction I'm about to dash in, that's not why you're winning. You're winning because Helix seemingly has no recovery. I'll give you props that you're a good Helix, but don't act like this is all skill and we're just not as good as you.



I went almost 50/50 with you today and half of that was me experimenting. But I'd like to see some matches of you two fighting where he consistently dodges your punches and counter punches you. I have a hard time believing he can somehow punch faster so you can't dodge.



Valle isn't good at this game yet. When I was watching him Friday he hadn't even grasped the core fundamentals of the game.

Forgive me I wasn't trying to imply I was more skilled, not by a long shot. I suppose that I'm both innocent and ignorant when it comes to these things and trying to come up with different alternatives.

Hmm, like I said, maybe the game is deep enough to require an "anti helix set." Which requires arms and predictions and acknowledging that he has little to no recovery and subsequently trying to counter that. For example his air dashes leave him open.

I don't know dude, I'm sorry, I'm trying to come up with what I can.

 

[jorgejjvr]

Valle streaming again.
https://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive

This guy is doing bad

Is he supposed to be good?

 

[NateDrake]

This guy is doing bad

Is he supposed to be good?

He's a pro Street Fighter player.

 

[TheGoreMagala]

Isn't he doing lobbies? Calle? What's his FC? I need to fight him ><

 

[1upsuper]

GIVE ME THE CODE

The friend code I mean. Or tell him a popular rank ten user wants to fight him idk

Dude, calm down.

 

[Biske]

Lol people in that chat talking about how boring Helix is. GET YO HELIX AGAINST HIM!!! SHOW THEM THE HELIX FURY

 

[Hylian7]

Does anyone else fucking hate Kid Cobra's stage? It's always 99 seconds of missed punches and grabs, then one randomly connects, they probably take more damage as they get back to their spinner, rinse and repeat. I really don't like that stage, particularly in ranked.

 

[NateDrake]

Does anyone else fucking hate Kid Cobra's stage? It's always 99 seconds of missed punches and grabs, then one randomly connects, they probably take more damage as they get back to their spinner, rinse and repeat. I really don't like that stage, particularly in ranked.

Kid Cobra and Twintelle stage annoy me. Too many punches can be blocked or disrupted by the cars.

 

[Poltergust]

Certain arms work best with certain characters though, so character choice is still the most important regardless. Having all arms usable in tournaments helps in character viability, as well as more diverse play styles.

How would this work logistically, though? In order for this to be available for tournaments, every arm for every character will need to be unlocked. Considering that unlocking arms is random and that it's time-consuming to gather up the money needed to have a chance to unlock them, it requires a huge amount of effort to have just one setup prepared. You have to unlock a total of 270 arms to have everything for every character.

There's also the power-up system to take into account. When you get a dupe you power up that arm. What if there are inconsistencies between setups because of this?

This sorta reminds me about how custom moves were unlocked in Smash 4, which is not a good thing.

 

[Daouzin]

How would this work logistically, though? In order for this to be available for tournaments, every arm for every character will need to be unlocked. Considering that unlocking arms is random and that it's time-consuming to gather up the money needed to have a chance to unlock them, it requires a huge amount of effort to have just one setup prepared. You have to unlock a total of 270 arms to have everything for every character.

There's also the power-up system to take into account. When you get a dupe you power up that arm. What if there are inconsistencies between setups because of this?

This sorta reminds me about how custom moves were unlocked in Smash 4, which is not a good thing.

It would definitely be unfortunate not to have the ability to change ARMS, but with the Switch's inability to move save files I don't know how it could be done logistically unless Nintendo provided the setups.

 

[Biske]

Does anyone else fucking hate Kid Cobra's stage? It's always 99 seconds of missed punches and grabs, then one randomly connects, they probably take more damage as they get back to their spinner, rinse and repeat. I really don't like that stage, particularly in ranked.

I was a big hater, but its really grown on me. You just have to realize that its a different ball game on that stage. Don't let em back you into the wall, don't let them stand on the spinner all the time, get on the spinner and zip around.

 

[mstevens]

I think perhaps I need to take a step back and master he basics. What do you think the first, most important thing to work on is? Moving and aiming punches?

 

[Hawkian]

I was a big hater, but its really grown on me. You just have to realize that its a different ball game on that stage. Don't let em back you into the wall, don't let them stand on the spinner all the time, get on the spinner and zip around.

This is exactly how I feel about it. It has nothing do with the rest of the game, but I like it, lol.

 

[Soul Lab]

I love this game and I love the GAF lobbies.
ggs to all I've played against so far.
I think I stick with Master Mummy as my main. I will play it more casually and for fun though (Motion controls only, too). My competitive gaming years are over.


@jorgejjvr
It's nice to see a fellow Mummy.

 

[mojo2]

So there seems to be zero data on ranked, wins/losses etc? At least I can't find it.

I guess I should loosen up then, I keep being afraid to lose but it really doesn't matter at all (in early levels at least).

 

[Daouzin]

This is exactly how I feel about it. It has nothing do with the rest of the game, but I like it, lol.

Same

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Regarding arms balancing, I'd prefer no stacking arms, cause the best way to beat double arms is with another pair of double arms.
Poppers < Umbrella.
straight punches< Big purple balls < Salamanders.
Etc.

 

[random25]

How would this work logistically, though? In order for this to be available for tournaments, every arm for every character will need to be unlocked. Considering that unlocking arms is random and that it's time-consuming to gather up the money needed to have a chance to unlock them, it requires a huge amount of effort to have just one setup prepared. You have to unlock a total of 270 arms to have everything for every character.

There's also the power-up system to take into account. When you get a dupe you power up that arm. What if there are inconsistencies between setups because of this?

This sorta reminds me about how custom moves were unlocked in Smash 4, which is not a good thing.

In arms getter, the character you use has the best chance of getting the most arms, so collecting them isn't as random. If one character lacks the arms inventory, just continuously use that one until everything fills up. Also, dupes only upgrade your arms once and seems you can get dupes only once too. The thing that really takes time is collecting money.

101Leafy has a detailed video about this.

This requires less effort compared to collecting custom moves in Smash 4, and even that got setups for Evo once.

 

[DrDogg]

Forgive me I wasn't trying to imply I was more skilled, not by a long shot. I suppose that I'm both innocent and ignorant when it comes to these things and trying to come up with different alternatives.

Hmm, like I said, maybe the game is deep enough to require an "anti helix set." Which requires arms and predictions and acknowledging that he has little to no recovery and subsequently trying to counter that. For example his air dashes leave him open.

I don't know dude, I'm sorry, I'm trying to come up with what I can.

And that's the issue, you don't have to do that against any other character aside from maybe a turtle Master Mummy, and that's a completely different issue that only requires a minor adjustment in how you play.

If Helix actually has almost no recovery he needs to be nerfed. That breaks the game at a fundamental level.

Isn't he doing lobbies? Calle? What's his FC? I need to fight him ><

Dude... you realize he's not good, right? He may be good eventually (he's certainly capable), but I doubt he'll stick with it long enough to get to that point.

So there seems to be zero data on ranked, wins/losses etc? At least I can't find it.

I guess I should loosen up then, I keep being afraid to lose but it really doesn't matter at all (in early levels at least).

Yeah... I was trying to get to rank 10, but realizing there's no win/loss data, leaderboards, or even a place to see your own rank outside of ranked mode, I'm not motivated at all. I'm also hearing that rank 15 is the highest. What are you supposed to do at that point?

My thoughts on Barq & Byte:
- You don't want to face them as an AI
- You don't want to play them yourself

The two are completely out of sync as a human player, making the benefits of having Byte miniscule at best and it's more like a hindrance than anything since you want to interact with it but it won't be by yourself 80% of the time.

The ARMS they have also seem like a horrible balance as well.

If you punch with Byte, Barq also punches. You can actually escape grabs this way. If you punch a bit late to break a grab, or the grab is off axis and your punch doesn't work at all (design issue), Barq will still punch and potentially interrupt the grab by hitting the opponent. There's a specific strategy to playing the pair, I just don't think it works very well compared to what the rest of the cast is capable of.

 

[LegendX48]

^ the main menu shows your rank, it's a shield on the left though it is sorta transparent.

 

[Sesuadra]

Last night I had an ARMS dream.