How Fighting Game Tutorials Can Get Better - Damascus

Damascus, a prominent commentator and shout caster within the FGC has released a thread on X (formerly Twitter) where he has opined that there are ways in which fighting games could attract more players without compromising on the quality of inputs. 

The topic of lowering the barrier of entry for fighting games has been a discussion that has raged on within the FGC for a while and the solution that game developers seemed to come up with was easier inputs that would allow new players to easily execute moves within the game. This decision has not always been popular with people within the community who felt that the experience was being watered down for gamers who weren't willing to put in the work to get better at the game. 

He had created a thread yesterday inspired by a video of Rocket League which is a famous game that can get quite technical. 

The thread created by Damascus led to some really good conversations about the return of difficult inputs that require a high level of skill to pull off. 

Off the back of that conversation, Damascus started another where he outlined what he thought would be a good way to get people into fighting games without trying to lower the difficulty barrier. 

According to him, the key feature is the game tutorials which he says are too bulky and not interesting to a newcomer. He suggested using AI to create something of a coach and introduce license systems like the ones in Gran Turismo which certify a player has acquired a certain skill or proficiency. 

Games like Street Fighter 6 have tried to make tutorials a lot more fun by inserting several tasks within the World Tour mode that are supposed to 'trick' the player into learning the game in a natural way. 

For Damascus, while commendable, it is not enough and there are a few more ways game developers can help make these fighters more accessible.