Samurai Shodown Random Thoughts
Samurai Shodown (2019) came out a few weeks ago and I’ve been playing it a bunch. It’s a throwback to a lot of how fighting games were designed a decade ago (or more!) which, in my mind at least, brings a bunch of positives and negatives.
Frame Data Doesn’t Matter a Whole Lot
It seems like it’s been a general trend in fighting games that the importance of knowing frame data has risen over time. Street Fighter V takes this about as far as I’ve seen it. Moves in SFV have minimal pushback, so after you block something, both characters will still likely be in range of one another. Because of this, you need to know the exact frame advantage situation so that you can make an informed choice during the rock-paper-scissors guessing game that SFV repeatedly forces you into:
I blocked Cammy’s st.MP. That move is +3 on block and I’m still in range of her normals. I will continue to block.
I blocked Bison’s light scissor kick. That move is -4 on block. I can now immediately press a button because it’s my turn.
Different fighting game have found ways to minimize this. In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, moves have crazy pushback, so after anybody blocked anything, neither character was in range of the other, so you didn’t need to know who can act a frame or two sooner. Samurai Shodown avoids this by having (practically) every move be meaningfully negative on block, i.e., after blocking, it’s always the defender’s turn to press a button. There’s still always going to be nuance, but at base level, it’s easy and intuitive to remember, “I blocked a thing, I can press a button now.”
Keeping Things Simple
On a recent episode of UltraChenTV’s Tuesday Show, UltraDavid described Samurai Shodown as “What if in Fantasy Strike, the jump-ins were punishable?” For those that haven’t been following it, Fantasy Strike is designer David Sirlin’s extremely simplified/low execution fighting game. I haven’t gotten around to writing up (or making a video about) my thoughts on Fantasy Strike, but very briefly, it’s a game that answers the question, “What if you make a fighting game that takes simplification and removal of execution requirements to the furthest possible extreme?” Whether I’d personally consider Fantasy Strike a success depends on what I interpret the goal/point of the game to be. If the goal is to allow newcomers to almost instantly get to experience the strategy and mind games found in traditional fighting games, I think the game absolutely succeeds. If the goal is to make a competitive fighting game that will inspire skilled players to polish their skills over the course of years or decades, I’m not so sure. I think one of the biggest unknowns about Samurai Shodown is whether there’s enough going on to support a healthy long-lived scene surrounding the game. As with Fantasy Strike, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s too early to tell how long the game will stick around. The final 2019 EVO entrant numbers just came out.
The game finished in fifth place, ahead of the recently released and very popular Mortal Kombat 11, which is bananas. Because Samurai Shodown is going to be at EVO when it’s only around a month old, I think anybody and everybody is willing to throw their hat in the ring. Nobody has really had time to out-grind anybody else yet, so it should be a pretty even playing field. So far, SNK has done a great job of supporting the game. Early adopters got the first season of DLC for free, and they addressed concerns about input lag incredibly quickly. I think the possibility space is pretty huge. I can see interest being sustained or even growing (especially if they can improve the netcode, which is shaky at best). I can also see the game falling off a cliff the day after EVO. Time will tell.
Resource Management
I don’t fully agree with UltraDavid’s comparison between Samurai Shodown and Fantasy Strike, and one of the reasons for that is the presence of some interesting resource management mechanics. I’m pretty sure hearing the phrase “resource management” will instantly make some people begin to nod off, but they introduce a lot of interesting decision-making. Your super can be used once and only once in a given set– you have access to it the instant the first round starts, but once you use it, it’s gone. Once your rage meter fills, you get a few different substantial buffs. You also gain access to your weapon flipping technique, which can disarm your opponent, but rage ends the moment it hits. There’s also the once-per-match rage explosion mechanic, which breaks you out of a combo, buffs you, and gives you access to an incredibly fast invincible move. This is incredibly strong, but once you use it, your rage meter is gone for the rest of the match, which is a very high cost to pay (though justified!). All these things combine in a way that rewards players for approaching the game smartly and using the right resource at the right time in the most effective way possible.
Conclusion
I'm enjoying the game. More than anything else, I'm curious how the competitive lifespan of the game will play out. It being announced in the EVO lineup before release guaranteed people would play it right off the bat. I can imagine a handful of possible scenarios.
Scenario 1: Interest in the game slowly swindles after EVO. It continues to be run at more inclusive tournaments (like Combo Breaker) but ends up being mostly absent from the FGC at large by the time EVO 2020 rolls around.
Scenario 2: Interest in the game completely evaporates after EVO. For any number of reasons (game being too simple, balance issues, suspect netcode), the game dies off despite continuing support from SNK.
Scenario 3: There is long term interest in the game. While there is a drop-off after EVO 2019, there is continuing support from SNK, including tournament pot bonuses, significant netcode improvements, consistent balance updates, and character additions. A small but dedicated scene develops and the game has a significant presence at FGC events for a number of years.
I think the ball is mostly in SNK's court—all we can do is wait and see what happens.