Yes, fellow God Warriors, I aspire to perfect ARMS.
My first move? Play ARMS again. As one could imagine, it's been a little while. I have a hunch as to my first tweak, but I'm going back to the lab again to see what I can find. A TL;DR will follow.
Right away, the first thing that strikes me about this game is the
lack of a story mode. Yes, there are single-player tournaments that are quite satisfying to play, but none of them share much about
the world of ARMS, which I feel is its greatest asset. I've long felt that the scrappy Mechanica (pun intended!) would be the best fit for such a role, being somewhat of an outsider to the game's world.
As I get into gameplay, my second observation is that I'm a bit better at this than I was the last time I played. I think that the recent release of Nintendo Switch Sports has heightened my coordination with the Joy-Con's motion controls. I'm not sure if there's anything to be gleaned from this for the sake of this exercise, but it certainly compels me to get more exercise in general.
I have just finished playing volleyball in ARMS. Er, sorry, "V-ball." The grab acting as setting up a spike is actually very cool, especially given how vulnerable you are left due to the ball's slow speed. Embarrassingly, it took me a rematch to get past this, with my first match ending in a draw. Overall,
I feel that the minigames are excellent uses of the game's formula, despite their presence in the game's campaign mode often being frustrating. An easy, perhaps even lazy, change to make as an Ultimate Game Producer would be to merely say add more minigames. However, I'd like my proposed changes to be more specific than this.
After my third regular match, I am reminded of a complaint I've often read online: the ARMS, being the interchangeable fists that are used in the fights, are too varied. I'm not quite sure if I agree, but in my own play I've found myself sticking to an ice boomerang on the right and an electrified bird shot on the left. I don't think that it's a bad system per se, but I've seen it suggested that it would be better if different fighters could use different ARMS; more broadly,
it is felt that the differences between characters are not significant enough. I aim to address this in some way.
My next observation, or perhaps realization, is that I would have to do a lot of research and play to create a full solution at this level of detail. I should probably finish this campaign and cut to the chase.
I'm tearing through the gauntlet now, and I've come to another errant observation: I think
the arms (lowercase, so as to mean the extendable arms themselves)
may be a bit too long. It feels like I'm never close to my opponent, which may be related to the point I had before I even started playing:
movement speed is too slow. This may come down to personal preference, but the game feels outright lethargic sometimes, with fast movements usually coming primarily from grabs.
Grab movement is great, by the way; I'd love to
emphasize it as a movement mechanic.
As if on cue, my next match is on the skate park; the fast moving platforms really emphasize how much more fun this game could be if it were a bit faster. Additionally, you can grab an opponent that's on a platform and take it from them, while if you are on a platform and they are not you pull them towards you. Again, the possibilities of grab movement excite me.
I've now finished my run through the career mode, and to my relief I'm filled with inspiration. As the saying goes, I'm something of a game designer myself.
TL;DR: The Good Part
"Be not afraid," I say to a scared shitless Yabuki Kosuke, circa 2016. "I am an Ultimate Game Producer from the distant future,* and I'm here to work alongside you on the boxing project."
*I imagine I would be unable to resist some dramatic embellishment in a situation like this
And so, I work alongside Yabuki to maximize the potential of ARMS. Here are the highlights:
1. Create a Story Mode
This is the biggest point, both in terms of importance and its impact to the game's development. As I said above, the game's greatest asset is its creative world, ensemble cast, and fantastic art direction. The game was begging for an outlet to showcase these things, especially as a 60 USD party game. As stated above, I see the plot of such an addition following the career of Mechanica as she faces rivals that become friends as she rises to champion. Perhaps some corruption in the organization would add flavor to the story. Or maybe some of that science fiction lore? There's a ton of potential for this.
2. Up the Movement Speed (Maybe)
While my instinct is to make the game faster, I also recognize that it could be either untenably difficult to play at a higher speed, or even begin to feel less precise. I would have to go back to the lab to tweak the game, but my overall feeling is that
something needs tweaked.
3. Emphasize the Weight Classes
Hey, everyone, did you know that ARMS was created by many of the same designers that worked on the Mario Kart series? As such, I feel that the suggestion of more plainly delineated weight classes is natural. Besides that, it's a fighting game after all. Above anything else, this is tied to the next point:
4. Change Grabs
Grabs are an important part of the simple rock-paper-scissors gameplay of ARMS, but they also indicate a lot of potential for the game's movement. As I noticed the varying ways that grabs behaved, I began to think about how a bigger fighter would pull in a little fighter, while a much lighter fighter could swing over Goliaths and get in a few cheap shots. This would be a great way to vary characters and add intrigue to movement, while also being in-line with the existing weight differences between different ARMS (fists). That being said, I think it could be better to make pulling yourself forward with the grab a separate move from pulling your opponent in (the game has a few buttons to spare, I think).
So, those are my proposed changes to 2017's ARMS. I wish I had gone further in depth, but that would require a greater understanding of the game than I currently have. To that end, it's back to the lab again for me.
