I woke up a few days ago with incredibly sore arms and I was really confused.
I hadn’t gone to the gym nor done any heavy lifting recently--or in the past year--so
why the hell did it feel like I had just lugged a fridge across town?
And then it hit me like a punch to the face--it might be because I had just played 3 hours
of ARMS the day before.
Where, equipped with a Joy-Con in each hand, I was punching, I was weaving, and I was...sweating...a
lot...just ask any of the other journalists that had the misfortune of fighting beside
me!
Point it, I was moving around a lot--and not even because you have to--you don’t.
But entirely because I was so absorbed in the experience that it just felt natural.
So in those 3 hours, I was able to try out all 10 characters & Arenas on display, a ton
of different ARM combinations, as well 4 different modes.
So in case you’re unfamiliar with ARMS...it’s primarily a 1 on 1 arena fighting game based
around punching.
Yeah, it’s a little like boxing...but super long ARMS.
Where each punch can easily reach halfway across most arenas.
But the farther your punch, the longer it’ll take to land--giving your opponent extra time
to block it by guarding, or evade it with a dash or Jump.
Because ARMS isn’t just about punching, but movement too.
And that’s exactly why curving your punches is so important.
With a twist of the Joy-Con, you can steer your punches like fly-by-wire missiles.
And since you can control both arms independently, it opens up all kinds of wild strategies.
Such as deflecting an opponent’s punch by literally punching their fist back at them,
while countering with a punch from your other arm.
Or tricking your opponent into dodging a punch one way while a 2nd punch greets their face
from the opposite direction.
You can even wrap your punches around environmental obstacles, like the tubes in the DNA Lab stage,
ensuring that your opponent truly has nowhere to hide.
In addition, you can try and grab your opponent by punching at the same time with both arms.
If it connects, you’ll pull yourself right to them for an a quick & automatic pounding--the
catch is that since both arms travel together during a grab, you’re left completely vulnerable
to a counterpunch.
And then there’s the Rush Meter which fills every time you land a punch.
Once full, you can tap ZL & ZR together to activate the Rush Attack, allowing you to
unleash a flurry of punches and inflict a lot of damage in a short amount of time--if
you manage to land them.
Now the controls in ARMS are pretty unusual by fighting game standards, as most of the
functions are handed with motion-controls.
The Joy-Cons are held separately in each hand, with the control sticks facing inward and
your thumbs resting on top, in what the game calls the Thumbs-Up Grip.
You then tilt them both in the direction you want to move- left to go left for instance.
To guard, you tilt them inward.
And to punch, well, you just punch, which you then steer by twisting the Joy-Con, as
I mentioned before.
The only real button controls are for dodging and jumping with the L and R buttons respectively,
as well as the Rush attack on ZL & ZR.
Now I’m sure some of you will write the motion controls off as a gimmick-- especially
with the goofy way way you hold the Joy-Cons.
But after 3 hours with the game, I couldn’t imagine playing any other way.
The motion controls not only felt natural--but essential, as they allow you to move and punch
simultaneously, while controlling those punches with a degree of accuracy that I’m not sure
can be replicated on a standard controller without some compromise.
There were times when a battle almost felt more like a carefully orchestrated ballet,
as narrowly dodged punches winded around the arena.
And to top of it all, the controls were just plain fun.
Somehow landing a punch feels even more satisfying when you’re actually punching yourself.
My only slight concern so far involves the grabs.
As I mentioned before, you punch with both ARMS at the same time to grab.
But there were times when I wanted to follow one punch right after the other, which the
game read as a Grab instead.
Now if you’re not a fan of motion controls, the game does support the Pro Controller as
well.
But unfortunately, we weren’t able to try it for ourselves, so I can’t speak as to
how well the controls translate to a more conventional setup.
The core gameplay in ARMS affords a surprising amount of depth--and we haven’t even touched
on the unique traits each character has, or how you can equip different ARMS at the start
of each match that can completely change how you play.
Some of those ARMS are built for blunt force, like the comically oversized Whammer, while
others, like the hydra, split into 3, making it easier to land an attack--even if it’s
a slightly weak one.
Now while many arms did feel similar in my playtime, there are several that feel dramatically
different--such as how the Guardian on Helix’s right arm here attacks in a 2-step process,
while the Ice Dragon on his left arm is a straight-up laser gun.
Yeah, we’re not entirely sure how that’s legal.
Now while we were only able to use each character’s 3 default ARMS in the version we played--Nintendo
assured us that we’d able to mix and match any ARM to any character in the final game.
And since you can even equip different ARMS on each, well, arm, that makes for about 4,000
different combinations--at least according to Nintendo.
So clearly, customization will play a pretty big role in ARMS.
And a key part of that that equation, of course, is finding the right character.
And the cast here is as eclectic as it is colorful, with each one having their own special
attributes.
Ribbon Girl for instance, is focused on agility, and can jump multiple times in a row, and
even quick-drop back to the ground to throw off your opponent’s timing, whereas Ninjara
is more about causing confusion, with his ability to briefly disappear while blocking
or dashing in air.
Twintelle is rather unusual in that she doesn’t use her arms at all to fight--instead, she
uses her hair braids.
And she has the unique ability to slow down time while dashing, giving you more time to
dodge or counteract an incoming punch.
And then we have what might be my personal character--or should I say characters--Byte
& Bark.
Yes, that’s a robotic cop with a police dog--and that little guy will fight alongside
you the entire time, dishing out occasional attacking and even taking hits for you.
He really is a robot’s best friend.
Heck, you can even bounce off of him for some extended airtime.
Who’s a good little boy?
All 10 fighters that I tried looked and felt unique.
And that goes for the stages too--each fighter has one of their own and they come in a variety
of shapes and sizes--complete with their own gimmicks.
Spring Stadium’s boundary is lined with springboards that’ll give you a boost, Snake
Park has hovercrafts you can ride around, Ninja College has a steep staircase that can
only lead to jokes about having the high ground, and DNA Lab is full of test tubes that act
as obstacles, but can also be smashed--which is especially satisfying when you send an
opponent flying through one.
The arena really can have a huge impact on how you play--and perhaps even what arms you
choose to equip.
I should also mention that items will occasionally appear throughout the battle, that will either
restore your health or fills up your Rush meter.
Oh, and there’s a timed bomb too that you’ll want to punch away from you and toward your
opponent before it goes off.
Now even though ARMS is primarily a 1 on 1 fighting game, there are a few additional
modes available--such as a 2 vs 2 mode.
It plays pretty much identically--except both players on each team are tethered together,
preventing them from getting too far from each other.
Which means if one gets sent flying, the other person’s going along for the ride.
This mode can get pretty intense, with fists flying everywhere--especially if someone on
your team gets KO’d making it 2 on 1.
Now while the game typically runs at a solid 60 frames per second--even with 2 players--it
does drop down to 30 when playing with 4 via Split Screen, but it otherwise ran smoothly.
Beyond fighting, we were able to try out 2 additional modes in ARMS.
First up was Skillshot, in which my opponent and I found ourselves on opposite ends of
the arena with Targets that popped up in the middle.
So it was a race to see who could break them first, with additional points being rewarded
for combos.
But you can also mess with your opponent too, by punching or grabbing them to prevent them
from going for the targets at all.
And then there was Hoops, where the goal isn’t so much to dunk on your opponent as it is
to literally dunk your opponent.
And as you can see, this mode is built pretty much entirely around grabbing--which just
so happens to be my specialty.
And apparently, the closer you are to the basket, the higher the chances of your shot
going in--although you have no control over the shot yourself.
Once you grab an opponent, everything else is entirely automated from there, which is
a little disappointing.
The side modes seemed like they could make for some fun breaks in the action--but ultimately,
I found myself just wanting to get back to the actual battles.
Because, dang, I was hooked.
I haven’t had this much fun at a preview event since the original Splatoon.
There’s a depth to them that kept pulling me back--and I honestly can’t wait to get
my ARMS on it again.
And thankfully, that may not be long with the announcement of the Global Test Punch
demo coming soon
Anyways, thanks for watching, and make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already for
more on ARMS and everything else Nintendo Switch as well.