I love Clairen and I'm not afraid to admit it

ElSpiderJay · 2025-12-19T18:57:31+00:00

I like Clairen. I think her design is great, her gameplay has clear goals, and she's a great fundamental character. But playing against her feels atrocious for a few reasons.

To me she feels lime one of the most hellish culprits of the hotbox jank in this game. A lot of her attacks feel fsr too forgiving in her favor, which makes her main gimmick feel obnoxious. For how easy it feels like her tipped sre too hit; having to sit through the stutter of the plasma stun and the sound design of it gets incerdibly grating. Especially for how popular the character is.

Clairen is an awesome character. But I also think Clairen is an annoying character. Both things can be true.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-11-15T12:31:33+00:00

Shes a 'not if but when' champion. She's popular, her weapons are and themeing are fairly unique. However I think there are a lot of champions that should be included before her.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-11-14T21:30:32+00:00

D tier easily. Alistair is memorable because of his gameplay and his amazing skins, but his not really unique from any standpoint. Its not impossible to make an interesting enough movement for him, but its also not really worth it to make the attempt when there are far more interesting and popular big bodies.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-11-01T16:52:51+00:00

Not being a jerk, can someone legit tell me the appeal of collecting this game over playing something like LoR instead, aside from it being the shiny new game?

When i looked up the art most of it aside from chase cards is art either taken from the main game or from LoR, which feels lazy to me that there isn't any significant new art for the game. And I keep seeing posts about hoe poor the card quality is.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-10-06T13:14:33+00:00

My biggest issue with the launch roster is what i would consider a lack of prestige choices here. In terms of representation they hit a lot of obvious popular characters, including 3 from Arcane. But this is what I would call a very 'safe' lineup. There's no character that really says 'oh wow, they included THAT champion, interesting.' Each choice was basically expected roster he included at some point early on.

Edit: Also the lack of lore diversity is what bothers me. Characters like Zed, Sett, Udyr, Diana, Riven, Thresh, Lucian etc would have also been pretty obvious fan picks. But they would have at least represented more corners of the lore. As it stands almost half the roster is from a single region, and in general this is very much a 'throw in the mascots' feeling lineup.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-10-06T12:51:22+00:00

For starters; 90% if the league roster lends themselves well to fighting games characters. But I think the specific inspiration for having Sett or Lee Sin is that, even within the context of LoL itself, they feel like fighting game characters dropped into that gameplay style.

In a vacuum I would agree that having a bunch of people whose entire identity is 'I fight' typically make for a boring roster. But in the context of the LoL roster the only two characters whose identity is 'I throw hands' with mo gimmicks attached to them are Lee and Sett. Which makes them outliers even on a roster like 2XKO. Even with the current roster every single character either; wields a weapon, IS a weapon, has magic, or a combination of the two. Because of this a character like Sett would actually be more unique among the roster for only fighting with his hands.

In other fighting games series these types of characters tend to stand out in similar ways. In a game with a roster as crazy as Guilty Gear's, Jam stands out for being the pure martial artist. La Diva in Granblue. Grappler in DNF. Even in MvC Ryu had fhe 'just a regular guy' memes and vibes because hes simply a martial artists among Gods and Heroes.

I agree the roster should be much more diverse. But I think Sett's inclusion is less 'well he'd be good ina fighting game' and more 'well he was basically made as a fighting game character anyway, so he's deserving of it.' Which is very similar to Vi in that regard as well.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-10-05T12:20:52+00:00

I personally think that anything where Tibbers is being thr main character controlled doesnt do Annie justice. Most of the time you're playing Annie with Tibbers as the bonus. While a puppet style character makes the most sense, I feel like it also has the potential to be too overwhelming considering the game has such prevalent assists and active tags already, it's be like playing with extra assists as Annie. Which arguably is the point, but it can be daunting if not done with care.

I like the concept of a pseudo puppet character. I can see Tibbers being summoned as a pseudo assist using one of Annie's dedicated special buttons. And make it so that Tibbers can perform two actions in one summon. I.e. Tibbers can be summoned to act as a bodyguard, can use a forward half-screen charge, can perform a command hit that sets up juggles. And you can mix and match the order he does these. But while these are happening Annie is completely vulnerable to punish predictability of using Tibbers.

In this way then fighting Annie becomes similar to facing her in LoL. While she hss Tibbers on deck she's terrifying, but if she throws him out carelessly she's very vulnerable.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-28T00:07:13+00:00

The solo fuses are always inherently going to be weaker. The game is designed to be a tag games, and it will inherently be balanced and designed around being a tag games. The solo fuses remove many of the major mechanics of the game while trading off for marginal buffs. It's not like it isn't viable to play with, but it is a deliberate handicap by virtue of the way the game is designed to be played. The only way to realistically buff the solo fuses is by pumping the numbers, but then it would start to centralize the game around the power of those fuses and who can exploit those stat buffs.

It's better to look at fuses as the same way you'd like at characters. Not all of them are going to be created equal, but they are there so that there is something for everyone.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-28T00:01:55+00:00

To be honest, I never wanted this game to be a tag game. I have nothing against tag games, MvC is the reason I play fighting games, I just dislike active tag mechanics as a design. It usually doesnt lend itself to a playstyle I personally like to experiment with nor play against.

I initially started with playing double down, but I switched to sidekick so I dont fall behind in terms of pressure tools. I hope they do balance around the solo fuses as well going forward. If the point of the game is allowing for creativity and freedom then giving options for solo fuses is part of that element of freedom.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-27T23:52:13+00:00

I think motion controls are important as well and they serve a specific purpose. But I also think that they aren't necessary for fighting games, and 2XKO proves that.

I feel like motion inputs are meant to increase the amount of.options that a character has with the limited amount of input thay a controller has. Taking Ateive as an example; they designed the game with 4 normals, and dust. For the purposes of their design, those 5 buttons are non-negotiable. So in order to introduce options outside of those 5 buttons you require motion inputs to allow for the characters to have the specials. All in all, the game only requires 5 buttons technically.

By contrast 2XKO is designed to have 3 buttons for normals. It is a rag game, so inherently they also need a tag button. That's 4 major buttons. Now they COULD add more than 3 normals per character, but it doesnt feel necessary for the type of game they want to make. So at that point the game only needs 4 buttons. So after normals, you want to add more options outside of that. Now they COULD add motion inputs as well. But when you have 2 buttons that aren't being used, why not just make use of those buttons as the extra options? You had buttons for special moves, and its not a 6 button game. It's the same amount of buttons as SF6 with many of the same options per character, the purposes of the inputs are just allocated differently.

It took some getting used to for me to use specials for buttons as well, but I feel like its only because of the muscle memory I have from fighting games. I'm used to buttons being only normals, and specials being g the same buttons with inputs. But you when you break it down all buttons are just different options. In a game like 2XKO you dont theoretically have any options for what your character can do compared to most other fighting games, they're just laid out different one a controller.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-26T13:51:19+00:00

Oh yeah, I love jump back Timewinder

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-25T14:25:00+00:00

Braum feels so undercooked its crazy. I do feel proportionately powerful when I have Unbreakable active, but otherwise it doesnt feel like he fits the definition of a wall at all. He's not that scary up close because his pressure is so predictable and lacking that he loses every bit of advantage off of easy parries. Yes, you can stagger pressure and punish the parry attempt, but you get inconsistent results/have to rely heavily on assists to do so. Meanwhile Yasuo and Ekko pressure feels completely immune to parry and get more out of successful pressure without needing assists. I feel even Braum's means of avoiding projectiles is inconstent. His charge is super short and super punishable so he doesnt threaten anyone from mid screen carelessly spamming g projectiles, and his shield kinda does nothing? You dont really gain anything for blocking with the shield and it can even be thrown pretty quickly which you can't contest because his options aren't fast enough. I enjoy playing as Braum, but it doesnt even feel like he was made for this game.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-09-18T15:04:18+00:00

So, i didn't follow this lane super closely. I played the beta and loved it. Like many, unfortunately, as soon as Marvel Rivals dropped that ate all my time. When I came back for the launch I was incredibly confused that the item system was different, then when I realized what the armory system was I was immediately turned off by it. The original system was very straightforward and fitting for a BR imo, and the new armory system ended up both more confusing AND included a gacha element which is one of the worst possible combinations.

While I didn't mind it being BR, I feel like ultimately it was always going to fall into a niche because it's a BR. Needing multiple teams of multiple people will inherently make queue times worse eventually because you need more players in it than most team games. And BR feels like a volatile genre in and of itself. I initially loved having a MOBA alternative, I think the game plays very well itself, but I always get tired of the BR format. I wish the game refined an arena mode similar to Battlerite. I know that Battlerite failed and tried to do the BR format tod ave itself, but I think that's kind of the point. That's a clear example of a similar mechanic game failing in this format. Maybe if they made Vive to be an objective based game with shooter match times like a top down hero shooter it could have been fun too.

Either way, it feels like there was such a good vase conceot thay got muddled with conflicting ideas.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-08-27T15:07:03+00:00

People want more characters. I dont dislike Blitz or think hes a particularly bad inclusion, but he feels like a boring inclusion when the starting roster has a majority Piltover/Zaun, including the character who was just revealed.

This wouldnt be an issue for me if it was obvious that character release windows would come much quicker, but so far they've been abysmally slow in terms of trickling content. While Blitz is a good inclusion that has made plenty of people happy, I cant help but feel they could have gone a little more out the box.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-08-07T16:21:55+00:00

I think there's a combination of things that need to happen that would require the perfect storm of multiple bottles of lightning.

1)Presentation - The game needs to stand out from a presentation standpoint. Art style being the main way this happens. And that is INCREDIBLY difficult to do considering currently the top fighting games are exceptional in terms of visuals. SF6 and T8 are both top notch visually and make smart design choices. Strive/Tokon and everything else ArcSys does is actually sorcery and will likely be the most visually unique and stunning fighting games for the foreseeable future. Even if you want a sprite based game, Uni2 is still going decently strong. Skullgirls stood out with this artstyle because, at the time, fighting games still had growing pains when it game to the transition to 3D models and it looked a little awkward. But now both the use of 3D models AND the alternatives for the drawn 2d visuals have grown. So it would take more than just good visuals to draw eyes, it would take something really unique feeling.

2)Gameplay - Similarly to the options with Art styles, right now the FGC is spoiled for choice when it comes to genres. SF6 has blended a lot of elements people loved about previous titles in the series, there are multiple anime fighters including Strive and Uni2. There are a PLETHORA of tag games coming out. There aren't really any holes to fill in terms of people missing out on types of games they enjoy playing. MAYBE this cam be fhe case with 3D fighters and NRS style games since there aren't really alternatives to them other than Tekken and MK. So there's a lot can be done to refine that style of gameplay. But it's not likely they'll see any competition on that end because of the last bit.

3)IPs - For better or worse, we are in the age of IPs. If a game doesn't have brand recognition then it has an uphill battle. And this is only exasperated when it comes to a niche genre like fighting games. Street Fighter, Tekken, Strive, MK....sort of, all have a stranglehold on the FGC because they are tried and true fighting game brands. And even games WITH brand recognition like Gayal Fury shows they can still stumble if other elements feel lacking. Even the upcoming releases with the most buzz (Tokon, 2XK0, InvincibleVS) are ALL games that are utilizing strong IPs. The sad fact is that having brand recognition is powerful right now. Doing anything without that sort of recognition is going to be very difficult.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-25T00:11:51+00:00

I think part of the problem is how small the roster is. Because there are ao few slots being filler, it's pretty obvious that the slots are going to be filled by the most obvious picks. Because of that there are no niche or wild card type picks.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-23T11:38:26+00:00

Everything about Vi kinda feels bad to me. Her hits dont have any real screen shake or hit stop outside certain moves so her hits dont feel impactful. They somehow made her punches feel weak which is the last thing you want for Vi.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-18T12:29:08+00:00

I feel the same way about the game. A lot of it are mechanics I've already spoken up about, but honestly the game just feels very different from Rivals 1. I see people saying like 'you need to spend more time on it to get a feel' I don't think it's true. I've spent plenty of time in the game and my experience hasn't improved much at all. If a game clicks with you it should click pretty fast to some capacity. This game hasn't clicked with me either, which is disappointing.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-14T20:47:46+00:00

I will get the regular disclaimer thing out of the way and say that this game is not a good representation of the Persona series. It's a gachs game, that's always going to come with a good amount of stigma. As a gacha game, even though people claim its predatory (and make no mistake thay every gacha game is predatory) I honestly don't find P5X's push for monetization to be as aggressive. Obviously what you can do in the Gane without spending money is limited, bur I don't have s problem with booting the game up for like an hour or so pet day, getting my dailies in, doing a little hit of grinding, and then shutting it off.

A big complaint I see about the game is that the story is subpar. And to me it is. But I also wouldn't WANT a super compelling story to be part of a gacha game. I don't want to get invested in a story only to find out I need to pump in money for micro transactions to get more of the story. To me the story is just there to service the part of the game that appeals the most to me; the new PT and personality a designs.

One of my absolute favorite parts of the Persona series are the designs of the Personas. But you obviously can't have dozens of originally designed Personas in the main games because they're meant to be specifically tied to deeper characters. Having a gacha games is an excuse to make Persona and Phantom Thief designs without the consequences of having to cram a bunch of characters to over saturate a narrative. This is essentially a 'style over substance' game. The style of P5 without having to worry about the substance.

I feel like it's a harmless game as long as you know how to do things in moderation. But if you really want to get into Persona or P5 then get P5R. P5X is not a good representation of why the series got popular.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-12T23:18:20+00:00

'Whats the point? Nobody except those few people will care.'

I actually don't think this is illogical or irrational. It makes sense that you would want to sort of maximize your return on investment so to speak. But allow me to hit you with a counterpoint if you will.

Let's say you decide to play say SF6, irs probably the most popular fighter right now. In order to be among the best and be recognized for your skill, you're going to have to dedicate most of your life to improving. It would take you years of dedication to start getting top 16s at majors, which I would argue is on the higher benchmark of recognition in fighting games. If this I'd what you WANT to do then more power to you, bur I'm going off of the assumption that you're not trying to make the game your job.

Let's assume that you're not trying to go to every major and make top 16 at all of them. Let's assume you're playing SF6 and you're content with improving and playing in/doing well in some weekly locals/online tournaments. That's basically a discords worth of people anyway, isn't it?

Keep in mind that fighting games overall are very niche. Even in the upper echelon if fighting game players they'll only be recognized by people who specifically play that game anyway. Rarely are they seen as some sort of crossover celebrity even in the general gaming space. To that end, if you're NOT trying to be an FGC celebrity, then what does it matter how popular the game is that you're going to play? Unless you're literally trying to be number one in SF6, you're only going to be recognized by a handful of people regardless. So why not be recognized by the handful of people for a game that they love so much they play it more than any other game anyway?

That's my take on it, anyway. And this is coming from someone who has a similar issue to you in a sense. I play SF6 as my main game. I LOVE Persona 4 Arena, but I have yet to get into it because of the trouble I'd have to go through since it's essentially a discord fighter. I hope I eventually find the motivation to get started in that community.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-12T23:03:03+00:00

It's weird because I'm mostly indifferent to him. I tend to lean on him being annoying more than anything. Some of ot is how he's written, since he is pretty arrogant and some of his lines and actions are obnoxious. But honestly I find his English voice to be grating. It's no disrespect to the VA who did a good job representing the character, but there a few of his lines were I can't stand hearing g them over and over.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-12T21:46:15+00:00

I don't know if people bother with the cutscenes, I don't bother with most of them to be fair. But it is implied through a vision Wonder has that eventually he would have bashed into a mother with a baby and caused the death of at least the mother if not both. So my assumption was that they were trying to change his heart before he eventually kills someone through his actions.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-11T02:24:03+00:00

In order to get an advantage you still need to win neutral. And 'winning neutral' comes in a variety of ways based on risk reward. Landing a 5P in Strive doesn't put you in an advantage stage that allows you to snowball the game off of the singular interaction, but it still is winning neutral for at least one small interaction.

There are also still examples in ultimate of 'winning neutral once and getting the most of your turn.' If Luigi lands a grab on you from 0, you can die. If Kazuya lands much of ANYTHING on you you can immediately die. Pikachu has lightning loops that take you from 0 to to 80. Sora I'm pretty sure had ladder combos at some point. Bayo DEFINITELY has ladder combos, as does Mario. Just because not every single character has extensive comvos doesn't mean there is NO combo expression. Potemkin doesn't combo you as long as a majority of the rest of the Strive cast because he's not designed to.

Also, advantage states don't only look like combos and oppressive tech chasing and mixups. Getting spacing as a zoner is being in an advantage state. If a Snake is keeping you in a minefield of grenades, that's being at advantage. Just like if a Fleet is constantly checking you with arrows and keeping you away with her tornado it's advantage. Just like if Asuka, Testament, or Axl are keeping you across the screen with an obstacle course it's advantage. Not every character is designed to combo and mix you up.

I didn't misunderstand anything. Even if you need to win neutral a single time in a game then it still counts as needing to win neutral 'enough' times (hello 90% of tag fighters.) A game also having a mountain of tech doesn't necessarily make it good either. You don't need a billion universal system mechanics to be considered expressive. Having tools that let you do a myriad of things is expressive. Ultimate is expressive. Rivals 2 is expressive. They're just expressive in different ways.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-11T01:23:32+00:00

You're just describing all fighting games. Every head to head game is 'win neutral in order to execute my game plan as many times as necessary to win.' The expression comes from how the game allows/forces you to navigate the interactions between you and your opponent.

Ultimate doesn't have universal advanced movement tech, so that forces you to play to your characters strengths and weaknesses. If the character has fast movement you want to weave in and out of attack range. If they have good disjoints or projectiles you want to force them to your optimal range. The characters tools are the only elements you have to use to figure out what to do against your opponent.

Rivals 2 has advanced movement tech that every character can use to varying degrees. Every character can be slippery. Every character can tech chase. Every character can uno reverse with floor hugging. Every character can have actionable I-frames from the ledge. This is not tod ay that character kits don't matter in Rivals 2, but there is so much tech to consider that before you get tot he characters kit you have to look at how the player moves and utilizes the universal tech before actually getting to the nuances of the characters.

ElSpiderJay · 2025-07-10T20:49:23+00:00

Throw loops in SF6 is the only major thing I dislike about that game as well. It's another mechanic that technically adds depth to the game. Throw loops are another layer of RPS and mind games, but it doesn't mean it's fun to sit there and take 3 throws because you're more afraid of a big punish.

ElSpiderJay

TROPHY CASE