#onboarding

My History with Competitive Games:

I have played a handful of Rank based Competitive games. The ones I have sunk the most into and will be most relevant in this discussion are Splatoon 2 and Identity V. I only had Nintendo Online for like a year but had 250+ hours in Splatoon 2 (it consumed my life a little bit). I did both Story Modes of Splatoon 2 and got the Golden Toothpick, was Rank Professional in Salmon Run, Rainmaker B, Calm Blitz B, Tower Control A-, and Splat Zones C+. For Identity V I started sometime in 2019 and have played off and on till roughly 2025. When I played most around 2019 I was Rank III-V as Hunter without ever knowing about Tinnitus or Footprints. There was a gap in my playing due to account issues and my new highest Hunter Rank was III-III. But to be fair I avoid Rank like the plague in IDV, but back in 2019 in Quick Match I kept winning so they would match me against people several Ranks above me and I’d still win.

My History with Fighting Games:

Shorthand:

I have “technically” Played; Skull Girls, Granblue Fantasy Verus, and Persona 4 Arena & Arena Ultimax. Skull Girls and Granblue Fantasy Versus were Couch Co-Op with my Sister who also never Played Fighting Games and we never got further than just walking back and forth and hitting each other. I Played Persona 4 Arena & Arena Ultimax like a Visual Novel just for the Story Mode.

Skull Girls was for the Art, Granblue was because my Sister liked the App Game, and P4A was because I am massive Persona Fan.

Long ver:

So Fighting Games are kind of a completely separate world from the rest of Gaming. The best way I can put it is the Terminology does not overlap nor do a lot of the Techniques and Skills unlike the rest of Gaming where usually a couple things are similar no matter what Genre.

So before Guilty Gear there have only been 3 Fighting Games I have somewhat Played. Those being; Skull Girls, GranBlue Verus, and Persona 4 Arena.

-With Skull Girls my Sister had it on Steam right around when it first came out (and had found out about it through the really well done Frame by Frame Art) and I played mostly against her and one or two other people. But none of us knew anything about the Mechanics and more just Playing with Dodging and Hitting only, maybe trying to get off a single Special.

-With GranBlue Verus similarly it was my Sister who got into it because she was super into GranBlue the App Game at the time, we had it on PS4 right around when it first came out. My Sister loves Deep Diving Researching Topics and Skills (and she’s very good at it even if she never gets deep enough in herself to use to that info) so she researched a bunch of Fighting Game stuff like Frame Data (the stuff that’s only really for heavy duty Players) which is why I even know about things like High-Low Blocking and Attack Speed. I only really Played it with her and she could get off the Finisher Specials and I never could but again, neither of us actually knew much about the Mechanics so it was equal footing.

-For Persona 4 Arena I literally just got it to Play the Story Mode, so it was more of a Visual Novel for me because the Fights in the Story Mode are vs NPCs and pretty easy.

Why GG:

I got into Guilty Gear by seeing a video comparing Dizzy’s animations in Xrd vs Strive. I’m a design nerd so seeing how Strive modernized older designs as well as character growth between games was very interesting to me. I’m also definitely a metal head so hearing Dizzy’s theme got me super interested and the soundtrack. Then I saw Ky. And I am a sucker for a traumatized breedable blond twink.

My Main Points

19 Bullet Points I would like you to think about.

If things are worded weirdly it's because I'm not super sure of terminology. Some points are a lot longer than others because I wrote them at different times and I had some thoughts more figured out and others are more vague.

•Why Are Fighting Games Hard To Get Into?

I’ve seen people confused about why are FGs harder to get into than other games. Starting new genres always involves learning new skills. Why are FGs such a big hurdle? Usually people who ask this either have never tried to play FGs or have for years and have no idea what modern FG onboarding is like. As someone who very recently got into Guilty Gear, and thus had to learn FGs from scratch, I want to break down what I think the issues are.

•Bell Curve Sequed

So ideally the bell curve of where the majority of players are in a ranked game should be in the middle. Meaning enough new people stick around long enough to get to the middle range. GG’s bell curve has the most players in the higher tier. This basically just means the game isn’t getting new players to stick around. This means the gap between old players and new players keeps widening making it harder for new players to learn. Also there ends up being a finite number for players who actually stick around. This puts the player base in danger of dying out. Think of it like failing to pass a trade/skill down to the next generation.

•The Mid Tier Gap

The gap in skill between new players and old players. How there is no middle level of skill. Which makes the transition from a beginner to a regular near impossible without outside help. This becomes a very easy point for people to bounce off.

•Lack Of Tutorials

There is a big difference between learning new info in a PvE game vs a PvP game. Because of playing against real people and not a fixed robot, there will always be new strategies and evolving counters. Tutorials in FGs don’t account for this and also do not really teach game flow. Learning specific tricks and moves does not help if you don’t know where they are useful.

•GGST Tutorial In Specific

I did try to do the tutorials in GGST but they were essentially useless. Versus gameplay moves too fast for me to remember the specific things I was taught. Also despite learning these certain techniques I had no idea where they would be useful in matches. There were several points where I had to go and ask outside sources for help. That help told me things and used terminology that was not at all present in the game. Similarly the advice seemed to have a gap in a middle range. It was either insanely basic (what each button does) or overly complex for where I was (frame rates). I believe this part has to do with the player base being older and very few new players stick around to make it to the middle range.

•What Does A Mid Tier Tutorial Need?

The advice that actually drastically improved my gameplay around this level was drastically simple. Things like “utilize grab more when your opponent blocks” made a WORLD of difference. But that's specifically the kind of advice that FG tutorials miss. The simple tips and game sense that is so commonplace to older players they wouldn’t think to even tell you. And it makes sense they forgot these are things new players have to learn because to them it’s second nature at this point. But that’s the level of advice needed, when tutorials online are either way too simple (like what each button does what) or so complex high level players don’t even use all that frequently (frame data).

•GGST in Specific

The worst points of the player skill gap I ran into were Floor 5 of Tower (when that was the main system) and Gold Rank. Where there was a drastic gap between the player skill level from what I was used to and I just could not understand what was happening.

•GGST Rank Math In Specific

In my rank experience from both Splatoon 2 and Identity V, I do feel like GGST just kiiinda sucks at how they choose to match you. I’ve been on a losing streak only to be matched with someone two ranks above me, which is a weird choice. When I asked Reddit about this other people had complaints about how slow it is to go up ranks, so higher level people end up stuck lower. As well as “rank times” that depending on the time of day the difficulty of each rank is different. As someone who doesn’t have a very set time to play I can attest that the latter point is a real phenomenon.

•Other Competitive Games Having Objectives

Other games that are competitive usually have some sort of objective besides just fighting an opponent. Games I’ve played like Splatoon 2 and Identity V have a goal you are trying to achieve. Deliver the rainmaker, move the tower, decode the ciphers, chair the survivors, etc. Having a goal that is required and not JUST PvP means there is a clearer direction in what you’re supposed to do and guidance you can rely on if all else fails. Even if you have trouble reading or countering your opponent, you still know what your objective needs. Versus in a FG, if you don’t understand what to do against your opponent (or have no idea what they're doing) you’re completely lost.

•Lack Of Direction To Improve

A big difference between FGs and hard games is that, in hard games, what you must do to improve is usually clear. There’s usually some understanding of why you lost or where you can go in the game to figure out what you need. Even very punishing games usually at least have some design of trial and error, where even continuously failing will eventually give you clues. FGs simply don’t have that. There are a lot of knowledge gaps as you try to improve. I am speaking from personal experience. Difficulty is not gradual and there will be no in-game way to know how to overcome what you were losing too (or even knowing what you were losing too).

•FG Are 90% Made Up By Players

A lot of the mechanics in FGs exist as a construct of players finding ways to counter each other over many years of playing, not actually things the game itself designed. This ties into “it’s impossible to make a consistent tutorial in an ever changing landscape”. When 90% of the draw is versus matches there is no consistent attack pattern to learn, you have to be up to date on meta. Which makes being a new player ridiculously hard.

•Unintended Emergence Play

The biggest thing I find myself frustrated by in GGST is being combo-ed for 90% of my health with little (maybe like one frame I have to time right) to no window to break out of it. That is no longer a versus match, but a quick draw. But when I think about those types of combos, we come to the conversation of the game was quite literally NOT designed with that as intended play. These types of insane combos and near impossible to counter plays are a type of emergence play made by players after being overly familiar with all the game's mechanics and quirks down to exact code. The best comparison is how in Minecraft I’m sure the creators did not originally intend you to be able to manipulate the mobs’ code of preference and behavior patterns to build infinite torture machines to farm resources as efficiently as possible. That wasn’t really how they intended the game to be played, they might now be aware of it and work with it, but I doubt they expected just how good players are at manipulating programming.

•Why Does It Not Feel Like Skill?

Why does it not feel like skill but unfair? I think this is a good thing to REALLY unpack. A close fight or even a very uneven fight usually should just feel like a difference in skill level. The feeling of “I almost had it” for a close fight and the feeling of “wow they’re good” for an uneven one. So what makes it feel unfair in a game like GGST? My personal experience is being beaten by mechanics I have no knowledge of or that felt like I had no opportunity or ability to counter. Like the “emergent gameplay combos” I was talking about.

•A Lot Of It Is Just Knowledge

In my experience with GGST as you go higher you do just have to know some things that you won’t learn unless you look it up (and can actually understand what the guide is saying) or via trial and error. Like learning certain opponents move sets, which moves do chip damage, which moves are unblockable, which moves interrupt others, etc etc etc.

•Balancing

Now in my experience Identity V balances the game based on the Pro Ranks. I actually think this is the right call as some characters are just knowledge checks that would be unfair to nerf simply because new players don’t know the counters. Judging nerfs and buffs based on people who know the game well feels like putting competitive Pokemon matches at “level 50 all” and I think that’s fair. However I want to stress. I do not think this issue in FGs is an issue of balancing. It’s not so much the Games themselves as it is the lack of entry and especially mid level resources. It is an issue of MASSIVE gaps in the player base in terms of experience and knowledge.

•On Balancing In GGST Specifically

Though I don’t think it’s particularly a balancing issue, I am very pleased to see that with GGST Ver 2.00 Patch Notes, they are trying to balance the game to be more friendly to new players. They are trying to keep emergent combos in check so they don’t get out of hand. They are trying to make sure it feels like a good back and forth. They are trying to make sure no character is drastically stronger or weaker than the others. I deeply appreciate Strive’s commitment to being an entry point to the FG genre.

•Do Games Have To Be Fun?

If you're familiar with the brilliant video essayist HBomberGuy, you might see his line of question from his genius Pathologic video of “do video games always have to be fun?” Which is a great thought experiment. And no video games as a whole don’t always have to be fun, we can be more creative with the medium than that. BUT I argue competitive games HAVE to be fun. When the game's existence relies on how many people are actively playing it, being frustrating is a death sentence.

•Dying Genre

Now a lot of people disagree with me when I say “FG are a dying Genre”. Because FGs are still getting new releases, so how could they be dying? I particularly mean the player base. The player base of these games are dwindling and they are not very successful at gaining AND MOST IMPORTANTLY keeping new players. And when most of the game play is based around the versus scene YOU NEED PLAYERS. As I have pointed out here with much detail, the issue is the massive player gap between new players who don’t stay longer enough to get past being a beginner and old players who have grown up with FGs and played them for the last twenty years.

•Conclusion

I do think these problems can be resolved but what I see is a complete lack of awareness from the FG community. And that actually makes sense to me. If you’ve been into fighting games and have played them for a long time you would be unaware of what info new players don’t know and struggle with. Also having played for many years the older players would’ve started with much simpler mechanics.

Guilty Gear Intent

So it’s been said Daisuke wanted Guilty Gear Strive to be a more inclusive FG. And the notes from “[Ver 2.00] Patch Notes (2026/4/8)” are something I am very happy with because I think they have a good understanding of some of the problems I listed here.

To quote: “Across the past updates, there has been a steady expansion of offensive options and potential combos, meaning that more situations could cause a single hit or counter hit to lead into heavy damage. As a result, this made it often the case where a single interaction could largely determine the rest of the developments in the match.

In Version 2.00, we aim to adjust the battle balance by reevaluating offense and defense to strike a better balance between risk and reward. These adjustments do not aim simply to tone down damage, but to make it clear what actions will have a greater effect in different situations, creating a flow of battle where players can gradually turn the tides to their advantage over multiple interactions.

For these reasons, the adjustments include many changes that make it more challenging to gain major rewards from actions. This includes increasing damage proration, consolidating of startup frames, adjusting the state after invincible moves, limiting the return on Roman Cancel, and more.

As a result, the changes may seem more restrictive than before from both a game mechanic and character perspective. The intention is to prevent the baseline from rising further, creating a clear standard for future battle balance.