How to get started with Fighting Games and have a Nice Time 

What would it take to get you into fighting games?

"Whoever you think looks cool" Unironically the best advice in this entire video

I'm a classical musician, I've studied at the top schools and conservatories in my country. All the tips you're giving for this are not just how to get better at a fighting game, but how to get better at ANYTHING. Like seriously if you approach any skill with this mindset and commitment you will succeed, or you will realize that succeeding isn't something you want to do.

A good mindset tip i heard from a smash bros coach actually was when you get outplayed, instead of internalizing it and beating up yourself, recognize what they did and kinda get hyped for your opponent. Like if they get a whiff punish that you didn't know was possible or they find a gap in your pressure just think, "that was good!" and leave it at that. This would also help in being aware of what they're doing and copying their strategies for your own use.

“As long as your on that path, learning and having fun, you’re doing it right.” Keeping that in mind for life, thanks Pat!!

Great video. There's always some concern when a larger entity/platform covers fighting games because you never know if they are going to accurately or genuinely represent the genre/community, but this whole video was spot on. Good job.

The only thing I think this video misses is that newer/popular games can be a better 'first' fighting game to get into- You're more likely to run into other people around your skill level if you're playing something that's popular right now like Guilty Gear Strive versus an older game that's mostly going to be skilled players who've been playing it for ages.

I wasn't expecting a video like this from Polygon, but as a long-time fighting game veteran, I can confirm everything in this video is true, and very well said! Kudos to this guy, and if it brings anyone else into the FGC, we welcome you! One thing I do wanna add, though, is that the offline FGC and the online FGC are very different beasts. If you commit fully to gettin' good, and feel you're making a lot of progress, find your nearest local FGC! There are fewer people in the world that are more passionate about their hobby than fighting game players. It's one of the easiest ways to make new friends and rivalries, and there's no feeling in the world like it.

I CANNOT stress how important those 20+ unranked match beat down sessions against expert players are for starting players who have grasped the fundamentals, no matter what the game. They really expose what you still may not understand about the game, what you need to focus getting better at, and give deep insights in how other characters work at high levels. If you realize that you don't have the skills to beat the person and they're wiling to give you the time, there usage as fast-paced training courses can be invaluable to your growth as a player.

This motivated me to stop procrastinating out of fear of being rusty, and get back to playing Strive like I really want to. Thank you Pat. Seriously.

Unironically, I do want to know how to get into fighting games, so this video is definitely for me! Thanks Polygon and Pat!

As someone who has been "new" to fighting games for almost 10 years in the sense that i play for a month until I experience ego death and take a 6 month break, I've seen this same video premise probably 20 times and i think this is the most in touch with new player experience out of any of them, amazing work Pat.

Man, as a kid I was naturally gifted at fighting games Mostly Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, DBZ Budokai, Def Jam: Fight For NY, etc I think back then, I had less stressors in my life and had all the time in the world to sink into casually practicing I was essentially counting frames before I even knew what that was Then I got older, fell off, and they stopped being fun because I wasn't as good as I was when I was younger, but I miss them a lot. I remember playing fighting games with my pops who would always use a fight stick, remap buttons, and proceed to whoop my ass. I miss those days, and him, very much Maybe reconnecting with fighting games is something I need to do for some healing... All that to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thank you!

I literally bought Guilty Gear Strive two days ago and saw this in my feed. The timing could not be more perfect and I'm even more motivated to learn and become better. Thank you!!

Alternate title: Dr. Gill or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Fighting Games

A day late, but this video rules. Getting into fighting games with a community happened during a time I was coping with severe depression, and the gradual improvement I saw in my play helped me deal with my own issues. I don't know if I'm out of the hole, even years later, but having a community of like-minded, good-natured friends who all have a mutual respect for each other's ability to learn and help one another with no expectations helps make each day a little better.

WOW 21:00 I was NOT expecting my old tournament match to show up from wayy long ago lmao

Bridget in the thumbnail,, polygon literally knows I wanna play guilty gear just for her😭😭

I am so thrilled to see how many people are excited about getting into fighting games these days! Welcome one and all! Big ups to Pat's point number 2, pick the game that speaks to your heart. I've been fighting for well over a decade now, I compete hard, and I unashamedly pick my games and fighters because they look cool or remind me of martial artists I loved to watch. We're playing these games because they make us feel good, so start with that feeling!

One of the biggest things I've learned about being competitive is to be....less competitive. Or rather, don't take losses so hard. Cheer for your opponents when they do cool stuff and win out over you too. Losing races for a while nearly brought me out of swimming, but learning to accept that I'm not the fastest and giving my winning opponent a celebratory hug for their achievements really helped me to learn to not take it so personally, and motivated myself to keep pushing. You build comradery even amongst your rivals, and you quickly gain a reputation as someone that is fun to compete against. People celebrate you too when you win. It's really helped me to find a place and create longevity within competitive spheres, and fighting games are no exception.

Thank you for this video. Does an exellent job at breaking down what's an intimidating genre for many people with practical, actionable advice. Also, so glad you found our videos helpful! Please drop us a line if you ever have any questions :)

This is a brilliant distillation of all the FGC tips to newcomers. It's so good and comprehensive that FGC streamers should start linking players to it as much as they do for Infil's glossary or CoreA's videos. 10/10 work Pat!

Solid advice on this one, Pat! As a long time fighting game player, fully agree: You just gotta pick a game, pick a character, and give it a go. Never know until you hop in the ring.

This is incredibly well-produced and I hope everyone sees it. Special shout-out to the fighting game glossary. I wish there was something like that when I first got into fighting games, since what I had to do was google and crawl through forums to find definitions.

I love the bit of scrolling through King’s movelist. As somebody who has played tons of King since Tekken 3, I totally get how that could be intimidating as hell.

Step 5 is so essential, oh my god. I bought Guilty Gear and just kinda stopped playing, since I chose the easiest character and didn't try anyone else, even though he isn't the type of character I'd play in other fighting games. You've convinced me to dip my toes back into that scene, amazing video!!

It's crazy how applicable all this is to like, any hobby? Do what looks cool to you, find others, test your skill, take breaks. It's all solid advice no matter what you're doing, and it's stuff I think I needed to hear

I can't get over the fact that this video is just a really good guide for learning things in general. Sure the specifics are different if you are trying to get into fighting games VS if you are learning to program for example, but Pat did such a good job at covering what they have in common (getting the right mindset, finding your community, embracing competition, etc etc). I suffer from a plethora of mental illnesses that are bad for learning things, which sucks because I actually love to learn. This might be the most valuable video I watched this year. Thank you Pat.

This could not have come at a better time. My friends just convinced me to download guilty gear strive and as someone who has not played fighting games since I was a literal child playing street fighter and tekken in arcades, this is perfect. I need a whole series from Pat on fighting games.

the timing of this video is insane. bought guilty gear, my first fighting game, 2 days ago. so stoked on this

I love the differentiation between ranked and unranked, also the science of taking a break. It's a real art to get off and relax for a bit- but there's so much research that indicate quite well that taken time away gives your brain some significant processing time. Also, I played 100 sets or so a couple nights ago in Strive in the Park- won maybe 20. But I learned so much about how to pilot my character and how to work against numerous characters. Once I started to tilt I stopped....only to come on this week and be much better at the matches.

'You are not your win/loss ratio' genuinely made me want to cry, such a valuable sentiment in competition period

As really big fan of the FGC, I really appreciate a bigger/mainstream gaming outlet taking a crack at dispelling the myths of getting into fighting games. I wish everyone, returning or brand new, a wonderful time playing the single most satisfying genre of video game.

JJBA Heritage For The Future is pretty good for trying your hand at making advanced combos work in an advanced combo friendly environment. Definitely would recommend. It has explicit built in support for the “99 hit touch of death” that each character is capable of with their own advanced combo chains.

This is the greatest fighting game video I've ever seen published for those looking from outside of the FGC. Thank you so much for this. Please use this to buy a beer for Pat. It was amazing hearing his FGC journey.

I’ve been playing fighting games for a little while now, but for some reason videos like this still make me emotional. There’s so much pathos in the fgc, whether that’s personal stories, community efforts, or videos like this with people gushing about a genre I love. Good stuff One note I want to add is how good playing on keyboard can be. Imo you get all of the same benefits as a hitbox controller other than the ergonomics, and if you’re playing on PC you’ve got one by default

Bravo Pat, I just started getting back into fighting games after a decade of not playing but watching Evo every year. this is so well written.

Honestly didn't expect much from this, thank you on a good introduction to the genre. Usually I hear many people ask about the right character to play and my usual response is " Just pick someone". Its much better for people to discover what they like then me telling them to play someone easy, you can learn the game with anyone after all. Its how I started so it would be strange if I told people otherwise.

As someone that picked up fighting games (starting with Tekken then moving onto other games) at the beginning of the pandemic, this video really spoke to so many of my experiences. Awesome breakdown and I really hope this gives others the courage to break into the hobby because I absolutely agree that it is worth it.

i love patrick's positivity. and the end of the day, we're all just here to have fun, and too many people lose sight of that.

God, Pat always explains things in such an accessible, easy way. It’s so wonderful

I'm 40 years old, and I thought about these things but never vocalized them, or heard them vocalized. I appreciate this!

What I tell all newer players or those thinking about fighting games, learn the fundamentals of whatever fighting game. And I promise you, those same fundamentals will apply to every fighting game ever. Spacing, punishing, footies, baiting, frame traps, are universal fundamentals. No matter the fighting game.

Ooh excited to watch this! Fighting games have always felt inaccessible to me but Pat's explanations are always excellent 😊

I really only played fighting games as a kid/teen with friends. I was well known among my friends as the puzzle gamer, so no one expected me to be any good and that took off a lot of pressure. I agree 100% to just go with whoever looks cool. Street Fighter II - Vega. Mortal Kombat - Baraka. Soul Calibur II - Voldo. If there is a dude with knives for hands, that's my guy.

Just wanted to leave a note that this video is what pushed me into actually giving Guilty Gear Strive a go and I am having an absolutely wonderful time in large part of the attitude that this video has encouraged me to keep. Great work 😄

This is, seriously, one of the best life advice I've ever seen. I know it is about fighting video games, but, come on. Seen from outside, every thing worthy looks intimidating and overwhelming. Anything that is good takes work and time. And learning anything exposes you to failure, pain and shame. So the steps are pure gold: - Decide you want to do it. - Pick your game, following your heart. - Gear up, but do not gear gate yourself. - Pipe check (Reduce as much friction as possible). - Pick your style, also following what motivates you the most. - Learn. Analise, ask questions, practice, take notes, watch yourself as you learn. - Do it with a human partner, and learn from them. - Struggle. Fail enough times to get better. Separate your self-worth from your performance. Take breaks. - Join a community to share it. - Keep at it. The argument is just so solid and clear, you can really apply it to life itself.

This is such an incredibly sweet video, full of generally good life advice and has specifically made me properly interested in trying out more fighting games lol

Look at how dirty those fightsticks are! They look well used and appreciated, that's a really great thing to see.

This video sparked my interest in fighting games. I recently grabbed Strive and am having more fun gaming than probably ever before.

This video is literally the thing I've been looking for. I've been interested in FGs for months now, but feel like the water is too deep. I've read reddit posts, watched matches, watched other beginnner guides, but none of them have had as useful information as you've given me within the first 4 minutes. The Fighting Game terminology website is a literal godsend and has been mentioned nowhere else and I've looked at a lot of information. Also wanted to say I thoroughly enjoy your writing and presentation style. You're incredibly comfortable presenting and being on camera and you're writing is very fluid and connected. I love your work!

Can confirm that having people you know to fight against makes a major difference in the beginning. When I went from just fighting randos and the CPU to fighting against my friends in strive that are WAY better than me, I very quickly found out what I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to improve. They still won most of the time, but I still got some wins after some time reflecting and learning, even against the 'best guy in our group'.

This is a sick video. Its nice to see a more mainstream outlet echoing what we in the FGC have tried telling newer players.

Awesome video. This is just a tutorial on how to get good at any hobby not just fighting games. Here's the summary: 1. Decide you want to do it (by motivating yourself through observation) 2. Pick a game (based on your interest) 3. Gearing up (but do not gear gate yourself) 4. Pipe check (be in a distraction free environment) 5. Choose your fighter (based on your enthusiasm) 6. Learn how to play 7. Fight a human (practice!) 8. Struggle (so take a break to be reflective) 9. (Be part of) Community & competition 10. There is no end Text in () are my addition based on the video.

one of the best guides to get into fighting games, covers many barriers that fgc creators tend to forget when making guides, like the terminology, great stuff!

I love how much Pat hits on idea of "just pick a game and a character that you think seems cool." No matter who you pick, as you learn you are probably going to lose a bunch of matches and go through hard times. In those periods, having the most meta-OP character will not matter. You have to pick a character that you enjoy being and playing and watching, because that is what is gonna motivate you to continue playing and get better. And when you do fully come into your fighting game knowledge and develop the skills to walk all over your opponent, doing it as a character whose personality clicks with you is so so sweet. This video makes me want to go play Soul Calibur again...

Seriously, this video has everything in it. Including a huge pump in motivation for me to play STRIVE (that I'm probably doing rn). One of the best guides for beginners and just a great video in general, coming from someone who watched literally 10 with the same premise. Thank you so much for your contribution!!!

I found this very similar to my experiences in marching band. Going to the competitions and peer feedback. It’s a fantastic thing. The one major thing I feel people need to hear is doing competitions is awesome. It is truly and amazing experience. It might be nerve racking at first but it’s so worth it. Seize the moment. Trust me. You will grow so much as a person.

I was recommended this video today. I stopped playing Street Fighter in May/June because mental health. This just reminded me how much joy I get out of fighting games. Thanks. I think I'm gonna pick up the stick tomorrow. Or Sunday.

What got me into fighting games was the story mode for Injustice (1 and 2) Story progression was the reward for learning how to play.

As a long time member of the FGC, this is one of the best videos on the topic I've seen. Well done, Pat!

I love this video! All of the topics pertain to everything I am going through trying to become a better player so I can feel confident enough to enter online tournaments and lose without feeling any self loathing. I am going to have to watch this at least once a week to keep myself grounded.

I feel like everything said in this video is great advice for literally getting into any hobby. Also, Pat said some amazingly philosophical things in this video that made me cry. What an absolutely wonderful video.

I love how he called Potemkin a 'little guy' lmao

This was a perfect encapsulation of what it's like trying to get into games with a competitive scene; for me this was my experience with League of Legends. It was super intimidating, and I didn't have the best group to play and learn with. But my interest in the game as a whole (lore, characters, art, etc.) fueled me to get better at the game alone. It's been about 6 years since and I'm still playing at least 2-3 times a week, so I'm hoping to dive back into Guilty Gear Strive. Thanks for being the small push to go and break my rusty old thumbs in the tutorial again!

One thing i would like to add to the "Pick a Game" section is if you're planning on immediately jumping into online, i suggest getting at least a relatively newer game with a larger community. The more players there are the more likely it is you can find people at your own level. If you go play an older game with a smaller community then chances are you're not going to meet another newbie, you're going to run into a 'veteran of a thousand hours' over and over. Now you're going to meet vets who will kick your ass anyway, and thats fine, thats fun even because thats one of the best ways to learn. But it can get pretty frustrating if its constant, especially when you start out and just wanna have fun and not feel like barrier to entry is 100 hours in the lab minimum. (which it isnt) but for new players, and i mean never-touched-a-fighting-game new, i actually dont suggest going online. Get a game that has a good story/single player mode (blazblue calamity trigger comes to mind) and play through that. the FGC (fighting game community) will tell you 'never practice against bots' and thats sound advice, bots are completely different from people and not as fun, plus you might learn bad 'exploit bot AI' strategies that dont work on people. BUT Fighting bots is a great way to have some easy entry-level fun while you're still figuring out controlls, inputs and stuff.

This has to be one of the greatest videos for new comers and even those who have attempted before. I used to play a ton and I do suffer from anxiety when I’m playing ranked matches online. It causes me to avoid it and play with friends mostly. There are fighting games I want to play so bad and I don’t have friends playing them so I never start for that reason. This video kept it honest and made me feel better about it. I need to get my ass back to it and play that damn game I want try so bad. For me it’s Guilty Gear personally. Wish me luck guys and best to you all!

Awesome video, I've always tried to be this guy within my friend circles. I got into fighting games about 3 years ago after playing Smash for a while. I thought real fighting games were scary but playing them has helped me meet so many cool people.

I'm so glad Elderly Victim got to make a cameo in this vid. Great job with this explainer.

Gotta say this is probably the best video I've seen on this subject (getting started on fighing games and its community). I'd also like to add to the 'pick the one character you think is cool' the importance of watching good players footage from them. It has been very inspiring for me since the days of mid 2000s watching Mexican and Brazilian players nailing low tier characters on the King of Fighters franchise (Kula, Kbcinha, Beni X, Ninja98, etc). It might as well strenghten the bond of players and their characters regardless of tier position for other players too. All and all, congratulations for the video once again!

This was such a well composed video that really does a fine job of encapsulating the fighting game experience. Banger content 💪

This was fantastic! Perfectly articulated the things that make fighting games so great; the personal growth, the healthy competition, the sense of community. You love to see it

This is such a great primer. I know many videos have been done on the subject, but this is by far the most well-written and presented one I've seen to date. I've been into fighting games for years, but getting people into it is always a struggle because of those hurdles every FGC vets has already managed to get past. I hope, in its own small way, this helps people get into the genre and fill out communities for their games of choice.

I'm so glad I found this video, I always want to learn fighting games but always get demoralized and gave up. This video maked me want to try again.

Pat, your videos never cease to give me an absolutely wonderful time. The music choices, the jokes, the editing. I don't know if I'll ever get into fighting games, but I absolutely love that I have this guide to reflect on if I do! Thank you so much for being honest with the things that make gaming Hard and also what makes it fun!

awesome video pat! huge ups to the RTVS Fightzone that was thanked at the end of the video. its a very cool and fun place for beginner/intermediate players who ive been hanging out with for over a year now. im incredibly thankful for that community existing because they helped me get extremely better at guilty gear

awesome video. As someone who's been playing fighting games for years its always interesting to see peoples new experiences with them, I would def recommend this guide to people

This video singlehandedly inspired me to pick up Guilty Gear Strive. I'd only played some smash casually and always thought I missed the train for fighting games. Out of my first 21 online matches I won only one. But I didn't get discouraged and frustrated, learned the fundamentals between matches in the dojo, practicing inputs and simple combos, learning which attacks work in sequence, and now I'm on a 9 game streak and have already ranked up. I just want to thank you so much for making this video, I feel like a whole new world of gaming is available to me now

This was brilliant! I don't have anything interesting to add, I just want to share my appreciation for the encouragement and positivity in this video. I am so glad to see that some of the philosophies I've wanted to believe in despite being surrounded by opposite messaging (following your heart about games and characters) are things you encourage! I gotta eat my vegetables and watch my replays though! I'm keen to get back to it now.

This was onne of the most thought through and complete videos for anyone who has interest in joining the FGC and learning how to start playing fighting games. Very well done!

As someone who loves fighting game content, but hasn't really played the games in many years, this was a wonderful video and inspires me to get back into playing

Great video and in line with what I've been telling friends for years. Getting *good* at fighting games is a journey. It's not something that happens in just a few weeks or months. You have to be committed to learning over everything else, and that means you have be okay with losing. If you can't find any happiness or excitement even in the matches you lose, you will never make it far at a competitive level.

I saw max comment on this video and just wanted to come by and give y’all some love, great job!

"I love BUSTING!" - Patrick

Nice seeing all these new people finally taking the plunge to learn a fighting game! Hope you all enjoy yourselves and heres to the grind🍷

“Pick the fighter that you think looks cool” is the realest shit I’ve ever heard, this video is great!! I like fighting games, but I’m not very good at them, so this vid was a huge help! Thanks Patrick!

getting into fighting games is amazing. to outplay beat another player in a close game is a feeling that no other game matches.

This was an amazingly encouraging video! My first more serious fighting game experience was Absolver. It's population is almost dead, but just finding that one person who would play for a while was game changing. I once played 4-6 hours straight with a random friend. IMO nothing is more satisfying that sticking through the hard matches and learning something while you get you trash kicked in.

This video grabbed my attention immediately. I have definitely felt inclined to try fighting games but thought I was too outside the genre for them. I used to LOVE Tekken 4 as a kid! I'll watch this video and take some notes...maybe I'll pick one to try out!

Incredible video ! I'm a french fighting games player and i love the way you explain it ! So true !

This is so cool! It felt really informative and welcoming. I've been thinking about trying to get into fighting games for a good while now, so I appreciate a super clear look at the whole process. Thank you!

My main? No, my "little guy"

This video had alot of references to Elden Ring and Dark Souls, but there is actually a huge amount of crossover between the FGs and Souls pvp. It's just less regulated by design and the netcode physically can't be as robust, but alot of the fundamentals in positioning and spacing and timing and mental attitude remain the same. And there's always room to climb and self improve.

Thx for your openness and knack as an educator.

This video is awesome. I think this is the thing that is the trigger that is gonna get me BACK into fighting games. The last fighting game I honestly had fun was with Tekken 6, all the way back in college. And that's because I decided to fully embrace learning a character, which was Julia Chang. I went on GameFAQs, watched videos, practiced, and went online. And while I lost quite abit, I had fun. And my excitement in seeing Julia come back in Tekken 7 was SO high because it brought back those fond memoires of me learning. And now I want to do it again with some characters that recently came out (Hikibi in Samurai Shodown, Vita in Granblue) that I just want to learn and play. Because I like them.

The FGC needed a video like this from someone who's new to fighting games, to help other people take the plunge. Thanks for this!

Me a while ago: "Man I was never good at fighting games, it's not my thing, too much work and effort..." Me now: FighterZ is my third most played game on Steam, gonna play more when rollback comes.

Honestly...in my opinion, this is the best (and by that, I mean most comprehensive and approachable) video to show an absolute newcomer to fighting games. But I also love how it big-ups the FGC and the figures who have made excellent material aimed at general audiences (like Core-A-Gaming). I'm def gonna be sharing it with people I know! also noice captions at the end of the video 22:46

This video is great, and so are fighting games! Some of the most memorable times of my college life was me and my best bud going down to the local game shop, and hammering some rounds of whatever anime fighter we felt like between classes! Hope more people get to feel the joy of that friendly rivalry :D

The game that got me into fighting games is Pokken, which is actually currently free on NSO & on sale till the end of the month. Many don't realize it's competitively designed, thanks to the brand it's tied to and the esoteric Phase Shift system making it seem more like licensed anime arena fighters, but in reality it's got unique per character movelists, an attack height system, cancels, just-frames, and all the other systems and mechanics traditional fighters have. But it's also extremely approachable at the same time, with the phase shift mechanic and the unique way it handles a few other things really putting an emphasis on the neutral and fundamentals, with relatively shorter combos and simpler inputs then many FG's. Of course, as this video says, you should REALLY start with whatever fighting game looks cool to you, but if you DO love Pokemon and wanna try fighting games, it's an option, same for if you're a FGC veteran looking for something that really emphasizes neutral and mindgames. For those unclear, "neutral" refers to the state of a match when niether player is currently in a postion of particular advantage or under pressure, and both players are trying to get a hit in or make the other player trip up to then take advantage of it, while "fundamentals" refers to your skill and knowledge not at executing combos or hard to preform techniques or your reaction time, but your ability to use tactics, know what the right options are, and your knowledge of the "fundamental" game mechanics and systems. In Pokken, the phase shift system means that the game regularly forces the match back to a neutral state after long combos, and the game uses it's height system not as a way for an offensive player to open up a blocking one, but as a way for any player, at any moment, to use a move that will bypass and beat out other moves based on their height state (enabling, say, a player who is blocking to see or make a read/guess of the offensive player using a that they can beat out and punish using one of their own moves that is invulnerable to that height, allowing them to then go on the offensive or to revert o neutral) Both of these things mean that in Pokken, there is way more time and a chance for a player on the backfoot to turn things around and to be put in a position of agency, vs in another game the player in the lead can potentially keep the other character in the corner and under pressure the whole match, or have longer combos that keep you juggled for 90% of your healthbar (obviously, there's usually still ways for a player at a disadvantage to turn things around no matter the game, but my point is that in Pokken, that a return to neutral is *guaranteed* to happen a few times per round, and reversals are more likely to happen) I also think a big boon Pokken has to newcomers is the relative centrality of our community resources: A lot of titles have like 12 different fourms and chat servers stuff is kept on and people hang out in, but with Pokken, pretty much everything is on the main discord (should be the first google result) and our supercombo page. There's some specific servers for indivual characters and regions, and a few weekly/monthly online brackets that people run on their own servers, but everything really orbits around those two places and is easy to locate or ask about once you're in them. Lastly, as a pitch to people reading this already into fighting games, I wanna be clear that while the game is more approachable to newcomers in many ways, it doesn't come at a cost of depth: I said combos are shorter and inputs are simpler, but at a high level you still have advanced tech that requires high executional skill and timing/spacing, with optimals for say Garchomp requiring juggling a lot of inputs to boot. The phase shift system may also seem like something aimed at helping players have a fighting chance, but it's also raising the skill ceiling for YOU, because it means that at top levels of play, players are constantly changing up their combo composition and move choices to optimize them around shifting and to weigh to cause shifts earlier or later, since different moves will add more or less points to the phase shift point guage (other moves can reset or lower the gauge, as well): If you get a few stray hits in before landing a combo, you'll wanna change your combo accordingly vs if you landed it right away so you end it right when the shift happens, vs you doing your full 0 psp optimal and the shift interrupting it. Likewise, maybe at some times it's better to NOT do a full combo that causes a shift to keep the enemy in the corner and under pressure as a reset, while other times maybe you wanna go with a combo that does less damage but causes a shift sooner, since you causing that shift gives you meter and some health back, etc. It's essentially an anti-infinite system that forces a return to neutral, but also adds a ton of adaptationnal depth and is made to discourage flowcharting.