The premise of Arms requires a
substantial suspension of disbelief. The characters in Nintendo’s new fighting
game mostly seem to have ended up immersing themselves in this sport because
their arms (or, in one case, hair), instead of regular arms, are capital-A Arms
– springy and extendable and ending in interchangeable weaponry. This raises
some questions: How do they eat? How do they pick their noses? How do they
wipe?
Of course, a game like this
doesn’t need to make sense, and the marketing makes it clear that Nintendo is
perfectly content with the ridiculousness of it all. But given the popularity
of the Switch and the focus on multiplayer, Arms could become a hit with a huge
online fanbase, and it’s a shame that the lore and characters are lacking the
kind of treatment received by games like Overwatch. There will still be fan
fiction and fan art, obviously, it just won’t be as compelling.
Style seems an easier fix than
substance, however, and what Arms lacks – if only a little – in character it
makes up for in form. As you’d expect from a new IP from Nintendo, designed for
its unpredictably popular new hybrid console, Arms is unique, colourful, and
accessible, with enough complexity to tempt a competitive scene but not so much
to make anyone feel alienated.
At every stage, Arms is
welcoming. The box art is all big eyes and bold colours, an aesthetic that
permeates throughout the game. Motion controls are encouraged, and enjoyable
enough to discourage the tendency a more experienced player might have to
immediately discard them in favour of the comfort of a pro controller.
Playing with a Joy-Con in each
hand in what Arms insts is called the “thumbs-up grip” – Joy-Con vertical,
buttons facing inwards, thumbs on triggers – is comfortable and intuitive; you
can get through the tutorial in less than a minute. You tilt both Joy-Con in
the same direction to move, tilt them towards each other to block, press
buttons with your thumbs to dash or jump or unleash a charged attack, and –
obviously – punch to punch, throwing a long springy arm out to meet its target.
Punch both hands forwards
together and your character will grab their opponent and throw them to the ground,
which feels so satisfying that you may find yourself performing a throwing
motion yourself despite it being completely unnecessary. You can also use tilt
(or analogue stick, or D-pad) to steer punches after you’ve fired them, though
it requires a little extra mental energy to remember to do that if, for
instance, you’ve been moving your character right and you need their punch to
go left.
There are no complicated combos
here. Arms operates on a rock-paper-scissors basis: block a punch, grab an
opponent who’s blocking, punch to break a grab. In these 3D arenas there’s alsoan emphasis on movement. It feels better to jump and dash to avoid punches and
counter before the opponent’s long Arms have sprung back into place.
Players will soon find a
character and play style that suits them, like a lighter character who can
easily jump (or, in the case of Ribbon Girl, double jump) out of harm’s way but
can be knocked off their feet with a single blow. Further options come in the
form of the Arms themselves; each character starts with three to choose from
before each match (and while players who like symmetry might want to choose the
same for each Arm it’s generally better to make them different), but you can
use the currency earned in game to unlock more.
Again, different players will
find their different preferences. Some Arms are heavy enough to break through
incoming punches, some shoot several projectiles spread horizontally or
vertically, and others can approach in an arc to attack a defensive opponent
from the side. Holding down the dash or jump button will charge a character’s
Arms so that when they’re released the attack has an elemental effect, perhaps
temporarily freezing their opponent so their movement is restricted.
The single-player content encourages experimentation with the different characters and Arms. While
there’s no real story, which feels like a missed potential in a game with such
a varied cast, there is a 10-stage Grand Prix. Choose a character, choose a
difficulty level between one and seven, and if you beat all 10 stages that
character wins a crown on that level (lower levels are automatically filled
in). Completionists who want to beat level 7 with each of the 10 characters
will have quite a task ahead of them.
Most stages will be regular
fights, though the occasional round of “V-ball” (volleyball with an explosive
ball) or “Hoops” (basketball where you grab and dunk your opponent) are always
welcome. You can also play through an entire Grand Prix with a friend, teaming
up against two opponents. Teammates are joined with a spring, so if one is
thrown it adversely affects the other, but it does help to have someone else to
block attacks coming your way, though this may happen far more often by
accident than on purpose.
You can also team up with a
friend on the same console when playing online, whether against other friends
in a lobby of your making in the sensibly named “Friends” or against strangers
in Party Match, where you’re thrown into a lobby in which different groups of
players are matched for different modes simultaneously. Complete the Grand Prix
at level 4 and you’ll also unlock Ranked Match, where you can fight strangers
to boost your rank. Here, Arms manages to show a little more charm, as the
ranks are named for things that can – like springs – be spiral shaped: snail,
lollipop, whirligig, pinwheel.
Elsewhere, however, Arms feels
like it’s missing the extra flavour that would make it practically perfect. The
music is annoying, the arenas feel largely uninventive and the characters are
hit and miss. Spring Man and Ribbon Girl are generic; Byte & Barq and Helix
are a little more interesting. Min Min, with her dragon-themed weapons and Arms
made out of noodles, feels like an uncomfortable stereotype. And the fact that
the only black character has weaponised hair is definitely a problem.
But Arms appears to be a game
where the core idea came before the aesthetic trappings, and that core does
work. Anyone can pick up the Joy-Con and punch, and there are few enough other
controls that it doesn’t take long to learn the rest. It’s always easy to tell
what’s happening on screen, whether that’s a grab coming towards you or an
elemental effect taking hold, so players can quickly progress to learning how
and when to react to an opponent’s moves. And there are enough combinations of
characters and Arms to give those of a more competitive spirit room to grow.
Arms is a good starter fighting game, both for players and for Nintendo.
Hopefully future updates will give the inevitable franchise a bit more bounce.
Nintendo; Nintendo Switch;£49.99; Pegi rating: 12+
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