Advice To Fighting Game Beginners (From A Casual)

Content originally posted to Instagram on June 23, 2021. Video footage recorded by me.

This is for anyone who’s new to a fighting game and may think they’re terrible:

I recently played a set of 3 online matches in Guilty Gear Strive against a Faust (the tall lanky guy in the video below). Normally this guy gives me a hard time. And as someone who sees himself as a “fighting game casual”, I’m usually so caught up in my matches that I don’t properly think about what’s going on. Instead, I’m trying to pull off special attacks or dash toward the opponent without second thought, and the match often ends afterward with my opponent taking the W.

Yet this time, I was able to remind myself to mentally slow down and assess the match in real-time. And in the end, I was somehow able to take 2 of the 3 matches (this vid is from the last round of match 3 — it’s not the most hype footage, but it felt pretty close to me!)

I’m far from being a master strategist. I know I’m still liable to rush in without thinking, and I’m likely going to lose to many more Fausts in the future. But fighting games are moreso about building good habits rather than total wins, and that happens at different speeds for everyone.

So as long as you’re mindful and keep playing your choice of fighting game, you too can have your “a-ha!” moments against whichever character you consider “your Faust”. On top of that, if you’ve had a few “a-ha!” moments, there’s *probably* a higher chance of them happening in the future as well…I think. I dunno, I’m just a fighting game casual.