I am unsure of whether or not this post belongs in this section, but hopefully it will not result in a ban.
I am still relatively new to this game, having played it at least once a day since the recent free weekend, so please correct me if anything I write in this post is in-accurate. I want to improve my ability to review things, so please, correct me anywhere I am wrong, and please give me feedback on things you feel are false.
Please keep in mind, I am relatively bad when it comes to fighting games. However, please don't automatically assume my opinion is crap because of this factor.
There I was, my first day. I didn't expect to be decent at the game; nobody is when they first get into a new game. I played on easy mode, and I was having a good time fighting the never-blocking CPU opponents, getting "my toe in the water" for the game. Then, the moment came. The fear flowed through me as I read Marie's speech bubbles; I knew it was time for the grand-daddy (not literally) of the game.
Having recently come from Street Fighter Alpha 3, I expected the boss to be similar in style to M. Bison; a normal character with advanced A.I., having an overpowered super move to watch out for. I was looking forward to fighting her; after all, M. Bison was hard, but he was pretty fun to fight. After the first few seconds, I was disappointed. Marie was nothing more than a projectile spamming entity that took hardly any knockback damage, and was "hard to hit" in her aerial forms. However, I did well against her only because of the difficulty I had chosen prior.
Subsequent playthroughs on higher difficulties made me realize that Marie isn't worth the effort; I now just quit the game if I reach her on any difficulty higher than Hard. Several steam friends who own the game have told me they do the same thing when they reach Marie.
To be honest, Marie feels as though she belongs in a side scrolling shooter game, like Metal Slug or Contra. There, this type of boss actually works well. In a fighting game, the result tends to be that most players frantically attack using one button that works for them, try to get to her while taking damage, and block to the best of their ability, while still taking heavy damage from the seemingly random, powerful projectiles. Marie reminds me of the Sol De Rokker boss from Metal Slug 3, now that I think about how they both move and attack.
To some, Marie might be a cakewalk. To the majority, she is a pain. Sure, she's hard, but where is the fun in fighting her? Yes, you can block her projectiles, but you still take a significant amount of damage as you're pushed backwards by all of the oncoming projectiles. Yes, I can beat Marie, even on Nightmare mode; it takes me many tries, but I eventually do it, but again, there's no fun in fighting her. It seems more like trying to eat the powder left over in a box of Lucky Charms at the bottom of the bag; you don't have to do it, and it isn't all that appetizing, but if you want to eat "the whole bag", you have to eat it. (Probably not a good comparison; I am not good at making them.)
I've been noticing this "no-knockback, overpowered god" trend in more recent fighters; Galactus in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes to mind. Who honestly thinks bosses like this in a fighting game are a good idea?
I created a question in my head the other day regarding fighting game bosses. Should players be able to play as this character in its current state? If yes, the character is most likely going to be a fun opponent. If not, the character is probably going to cause everyone a headache, and more than likely suck the fun out of the game.
My only suggestion in regards to Marie, although it will probably sound stupid and may have been suggested before, would be to give players two options when starting story mode; Marie or Shin (True) Marie. Shin Marie would be the Marie we fight now, only listed as the harder option of the two. Regular Marie would be the equivalent of a normal fighter with slightly overpowered moves, although she would fall prey to knockback and combos like every other fighter in the game. With a "regular Marie" option, I would probably finish arcade mode more often.
Again, my opinion to a majority of people might sound absolutely retarded, but I think it would be a good idea. Yet again, I understand Lab Zero has manpower and economic issues, and the company has more important things to focus on, but I still think some sort of option like this should be added to the game eventually. A regular version of Marie does not exist yet, and I understand it takes a lot of money and effort to add her in. However, I'd imagine that a lot of new players have been turned off from the game when they reached Marie. In her current state, she's simply to obnoxious to fight; she is no fun to fight, and just isn't worth the effort.
Edit, 7:26 EST, 11/26/2013
I guess my experience has to do with what games I come from.
I come from older fighting games like Fatal Fury 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3. In those games, the final boss is just a "regular" character that acts like all the others, but has slightly advanced A.I. and has certain overpowered moves.
My past experiences must be ruining my current experience with games like Skullgirls that have "different" final bosses. Bosses like Marie are completely different than what I am used to. I guess it just feels strange to me to not fight something like what I was used to fighting all those years ago in games I used to play.
In regards to the "online players will wreck me worse" thing, I know exactly "what I'll be missing out on" online. That is the very reason I stay far away from it. Yes, I have the potential to get better over time playing it, but I simply don't want to; local matches against close friends and single player are more than enough for me, and I am very content with fighting bots on Nightmare difficulty.
I am still relatively new to this game, having played it at least once a day since the recent free weekend, so please correct me if anything I write in this post is in-accurate. I want to improve my ability to review things, so please, correct me anywhere I am wrong, and please give me feedback on things you feel are false.
Please keep in mind, I am relatively bad when it comes to fighting games. However, please don't automatically assume my opinion is crap because of this factor.
There I was, my first day. I didn't expect to be decent at the game; nobody is when they first get into a new game. I played on easy mode, and I was having a good time fighting the never-blocking CPU opponents, getting "my toe in the water" for the game. Then, the moment came. The fear flowed through me as I read Marie's speech bubbles; I knew it was time for the grand-daddy (not literally) of the game.
Having recently come from Street Fighter Alpha 3, I expected the boss to be similar in style to M. Bison; a normal character with advanced A.I., having an overpowered super move to watch out for. I was looking forward to fighting her; after all, M. Bison was hard, but he was pretty fun to fight. After the first few seconds, I was disappointed. Marie was nothing more than a projectile spamming entity that took hardly any knockback damage, and was "hard to hit" in her aerial forms. However, I did well against her only because of the difficulty I had chosen prior.
Subsequent playthroughs on higher difficulties made me realize that Marie isn't worth the effort; I now just quit the game if I reach her on any difficulty higher than Hard. Several steam friends who own the game have told me they do the same thing when they reach Marie.
To be honest, Marie feels as though she belongs in a side scrolling shooter game, like Metal Slug or Contra. There, this type of boss actually works well. In a fighting game, the result tends to be that most players frantically attack using one button that works for them, try to get to her while taking damage, and block to the best of their ability, while still taking heavy damage from the seemingly random, powerful projectiles. Marie reminds me of the Sol De Rokker boss from Metal Slug 3, now that I think about how they both move and attack.
To some, Marie might be a cakewalk. To the majority, she is a pain. Sure, she's hard, but where is the fun in fighting her? Yes, you can block her projectiles, but you still take a significant amount of damage as you're pushed backwards by all of the oncoming projectiles. Yes, I can beat Marie, even on Nightmare mode; it takes me many tries, but I eventually do it, but again, there's no fun in fighting her. It seems more like trying to eat the powder left over in a box of Lucky Charms at the bottom of the bag; you don't have to do it, and it isn't all that appetizing, but if you want to eat "the whole bag", you have to eat it. (Probably not a good comparison; I am not good at making them.)
I've been noticing this "no-knockback, overpowered god" trend in more recent fighters; Galactus in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes to mind. Who honestly thinks bosses like this in a fighting game are a good idea?
I created a question in my head the other day regarding fighting game bosses. Should players be able to play as this character in its current state? If yes, the character is most likely going to be a fun opponent. If not, the character is probably going to cause everyone a headache, and more than likely suck the fun out of the game.
My only suggestion in regards to Marie, although it will probably sound stupid and may have been suggested before, would be to give players two options when starting story mode; Marie or Shin (True) Marie. Shin Marie would be the Marie we fight now, only listed as the harder option of the two. Regular Marie would be the equivalent of a normal fighter with slightly overpowered moves, although she would fall prey to knockback and combos like every other fighter in the game. With a "regular Marie" option, I would probably finish arcade mode more often.
Again, my opinion to a majority of people might sound absolutely retarded, but I think it would be a good idea. Yet again, I understand Lab Zero has manpower and economic issues, and the company has more important things to focus on, but I still think some sort of option like this should be added to the game eventually. A regular version of Marie does not exist yet, and I understand it takes a lot of money and effort to add her in. However, I'd imagine that a lot of new players have been turned off from the game when they reached Marie. In her current state, she's simply to obnoxious to fight; she is no fun to fight, and just isn't worth the effort.
Edit, 7:26 EST, 11/26/2013
I guess my experience has to do with what games I come from.
I come from older fighting games like Fatal Fury 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3. In those games, the final boss is just a "regular" character that acts like all the others, but has slightly advanced A.I. and has certain overpowered moves.
My past experiences must be ruining my current experience with games like Skullgirls that have "different" final bosses. Bosses like Marie are completely different than what I am used to. I guess it just feels strange to me to not fight something like what I was used to fighting all those years ago in games I used to play.
In regards to the "online players will wreck me worse" thing, I know exactly "what I'll be missing out on" online. That is the very reason I stay far away from it. Yes, I have the potential to get better over time playing it, but I simply don't want to; local matches against close friends and single player are more than enough for me, and I am very content with fighting bots on Nightmare difficulty.
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