ARMS

(written jun 24, 2017)

When Splatoon released on the Wii U in 2015, I was hopeful. I was hopeful of a new Nintendo, a Nintendo that is no longer afraid of the risky ideas, the brainchild of a newer generation that resulted in fun, fresh titles. ARMS, a game about boxers with extendable arms and colorful wrestler personas, follows in Splatoon’s footsteps; it brings creativity and accessibility to a table that Nintendo didn’t even know was there five years ago.

ARMS has been advertised as a game built for motion controls with primary control schemes available. This is one of the few times I believe that the motion controls are the best way to play. Players can hold one Joy-Con in each hand and physically punch to send their arms flying across the stage. Pushing both arms out grabs opponents, and tilting the Joy-Cons towards each other activates a shield.

A large problem in the industry is hamfisting motion controls into titles, trying to meet a “motion control quota” for peripherals like Kinect and PlayStation Move. For ARMS, it feels like motion controls were a natural evolution in the design process. Nintendo could’ve easily gone the route of building a game around motion controls to gimmick-ize the Switch even further, but they played it smart, and let ARMS stretch it’s creative muscles.

As someone technically familiar but inexperienced with fighting games, ARMS is a great beginner’s guide to the genre. ARMS teaches players the rhythm of combat, so to speak. I realized this after literally tracking the rhythm of a punch’s distance and keeping the beat of executing Min Min’s parry, but the core design of ARMS is a streamlined version of fighting game meta. Punches are long and easily readable; supers are simple barrages just to punish openings; the meta is focused on wake-ups and openings; all these elements are implemented to test the player’s reflex, timing, and execution, simply but effectively.

Mechanically, ARMS is a brilliant guide for fledgling fighting game players, while still maintaining enough depth to keep matches unpredictable and interesting. My main concern, however, is the possible discrepancy between motion and traditional controls. Miming punches gives more leeway than steering them, and players don’t seem to be able to steer individual controls with just one stick. It’ll be interesting to see how ARMS is treated within the competitive scene and how the meta will flourish.

ARMS embraces its competitive nature through and through, even channelling it within the game’s UI. Every menu has a yellow motif, with crisp fonts and animations that emulate TV sports channels. Of course, ARMS embraces sport through and through. The game’s aesthetics are what I imagine Brazilian pro-wrestling looks like; bright colors, masks and costumes, nicknames, cheering fans…competition is in the blood of this game; it’s great to see Nintendo finally tapping into the eSports side of things.

Nintendo has been using the Switch to experiment with their first-party titles, from the unprecedented world design of the latest Zelda, to…basically everything about ARMS. It’s exciting to see a company so adamant on formulaic design approach the drawing board with ambition, especially when it results in something great. Nintendo is throwing surprising punches, and they’re hitting hard.