BassForever
Member
Simplifying fighting games to encourage casual players has never fucking worked. Not once. It's infuriating that developers still try to trot out that line for it, too. I can't tell if they're dumb enough to believe it or just trying to work the PR angle.
Ultras were supposed to be a comeback mechanic to keep players in the game in SF4, but it's more likely that a pro will make better use of it, while a scrub will just whiff and waste it on wake-up.
Any dunce can do some damage with X-Factor, but you're more likely to be shredded by Wong's XF1 Wolverine who knows how to kill all of your characters before they can do anything or a competent XF3 Vergil who can clean up when things go south.
I like that SF5's input buffer is a lot more lenient than in prior entries of the series, but quite a lot of the faces seen at Capcom Cup 2016 are the same as in 2015.
Even fucking Smash Bros has only 2 attack buttons, but Melee also happens to have the most consistent tournament results of any fighting game ever. Because the people who place well just know how to play the game better than the rest of the competition. And there were even plenty of posts here on GAF complaining that Smash 4 was too complicated when that game was released.
You can dumb down Infinite as much as you like. It won't change a thing. The dedicated players will be the ones who get results, and the people who can't handle their losses or figure out how to learn from them will throw in the towel and move on with their lives as soon as they're tired of taking a beating online.
You're looking at what Capcom and other fighting devs are doing and drawing the wrong conclusion. They aren't simplfying these games so that everyone can take on Justin Wong and compete at evo, they're simplfying the game so that anyone can pick up the game and have casual fun with friends or against the ai. The balance of easy to pick up, great high level depth, and tons of content for single player and local friends is why a game like MKX can sell 5 million copies a number only the of sf2 has managed to eclipse.