My likes and Dislikes of Smash 4 so far (On a competitive aspect)!

[RanserSSF4]

I've been playing the game for a week now and learned a lot from videos of the japanese version and playing it myself.

Just want to give out my personal likes and dislikes on the game so far from a competitive aspect. Some of these include mechanics, gameplay, and more.

Likes:
- There are true combos in Smash 4. They're aren't as insane as Melee's but definitly more reliable and usable than Brawl.
- gameplay is faster.
- Off-stage gameplay is now better
- Edgestalling is no longer possible
- Pivot/turnaround cancel
- the character balance is pretty well done. Some characters are still weaker than others, but that doesn't make them bad characters. most are competitively viable and there's so many MU's.
- offensive play is better
- Defensive play, while still pretty strong, is no where near as broken as Brawl, which I like.
- mix-ups and spacing is important and I like that. I always prefered mix-ups over combos, even though I still like combos.
- Airdodging is no longer OP. They now have landing lag, making them punishable.
- Ground Game is improved, making the game more ground-based than other before.
- Every character, while some play the same like in Brawl, most have their own unique style of gameplay (DHD: Camping character and Little Mac: rushdown/In your face).
- A lot of the buffs are really good choice (Jigglypuff Rest is better and Bowser is faster).
- I personally like the Rage effect. While I do agree that it makes combos harder, it does make killing opponents eariler more nessassary than ever.
- Most of the best characters I've been playing are offensive/aggressive characters.

Dislikes:
- Vectoring, while I don't think it will hurt combos a lot, it will make matches last a long time.
- Blastzones are too huge.
- The controls on the 3DS are hit-or-miss
- A lot of the glitches are gamebreaking for competitive play. Not all of them, but a lot are gamebreaking.
- Some of the nerfs to some characters are completly unnessary (Fox and Falco having landing lag on lasers).
- Some characters play the same as Brawl (Marth).

So far, I'm liking the game a lot so far. I do think it has major problems that should get fixed, but I do think it's better than brawl by a long shot in competitive play. It won't be as competitive as Melee, but it will be better than Brawl. It does have aspects and problems that make it similar to Brawl, but that isn't a bad thing IMO. It does play differently than Brawl and camping is no where as annoying or OP like Brawl, but it's still a solid option.

What are your thoughts about the game so far? Go ahead and leave critcism below if you disagree. Just don't be giant jerks about it.

 

[dddragon]

"- A lot of the glitches are gamebreaking for competitive play. Not all of them, but a lot are gamebreaking."

Like what?

 

[RanserSSF4]

"- A lot of the glitches are gamebreaking for competitive play. Not all of them, but a lot are gamebreaking."

Like what?

some of them are the combo breakers. I do think they are punishable and people dont use it a lot, but it's gamebreaking and I do think they should fix it.

 

[dddragon]

some of them are the combo breakers. I do think they are punishable and people dont use it a lot, but it's gamebreaking and I do think they should fix it.

Some of them? What are the others?

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Vectoring will not affect low percent combos, it's negligible at low percents. At higher percents it will let you live longer unless you are against Bowser/Ganon/Lucario etc.

 

[Shadow Blitz]

Likes:
[...]
- Off-stage gameplay is now better

This point caught my eye, and I disagree with this for now. I'd say in general recovery is far easier than it has ever been, and while edgeguarding does indeed still exist, I personally think it has been greatly nerfed based on my experiences against other players.

I feel like a ton of the cast has a fantastic recovery. There are exceptions of course, Little Mac coming to mind.

 

[Scala]

I share all of the Likes in the OP and generally agree this game is a better competitive game than brawl-- but I'm not sold on the ledge mechanics and I think they make the game worse.

Also I feel like Brawl generally has more aerials that autocancel but I might be remembering wrong. Or its just that landing lag is greater on aerials in general now

 

[RanserSSF4]

This point caught my eye, and I disagree with this for now. I'd say in general recovery is far easier than it has ever been, and while edgeguarding does indeed still exist, I personally think it has been greatly nerfed based on my experiences against other players.

I feel like a ton of the cast has a fantastic recovery. There are exceptions of course, Little Mac coming to mind.

That's true, but i've been doing edgeguarding a lot in onlien matches against good players. It feels really good and most of my wins come from that. The other two reasons why many think edge guarding is worthless in Smash 4 is because of Vectoring and the large blastzones, which IMO are the two biggest problems I have with Smash 4. If vectoring didn't exist and Blastzones were similar to that of Melee or in between, edgeguarding would still a good solid option, regardless of good recoveries. I still think it's a solid option, it's just that most don't capitalize it to it's full potential!

 

[TTTTTsd]

Ledgesteal into anything is amazing in this game. This mechanic changes a lot.

 

[RanserSSF4]

I share all of the Likes in the OP and generally agree this game is a better competitive game than brawl-- but I'm not sold on the ledge mechanics and I think they make the game worse.

Also I feel like Brawl generally has more aerials that autocancel but I might be remembering wrong. Or its just that landing lag is greater on aerials in general now

I actually find the ledge mechanics interesting and I don't think it makes the game worse. I personally think it makes the game's off-stage play more interesting. What is it about the ledge mechanics that makes you think it makes the game worse?

 

[dddragon]

That's true, but i've been doing edgeguarding a lot in onlien matches against good players. It feels really good and most of my wins come from that. The other two reasons why many think edge guarding is worthless in Smash 4 is because of Vectoring and the large blastzones, which IMO are the two biggest problems I have with Smash 4. If vectoring didn't exist and Blastzones were similar to that of Melee or in between, edgeguarding would still a good solid option, regardless of good recoveries. I still think it's a solid option, it's just that most don't capitalize it to it's full potential!

Vectoring doesn't make edgeguarding bad, lol.

 

[RanserSSF4]

Vectoring doesn't make edgeguarding bad, lol.

I'm not saying it makes edgeguarding bad. I personally don't think it makes it bad, but that's what other's claim and I disagree with that.

 

[Scala]

I actually find the ledge mechanics interesting and I don't think it makes the game worse. I personally think it makes the game's off-stage play more interesting. What is it about the ledge mechanics that makes you think it makes the game worse?

I really don't want to derail this thread into a debate about the ledge but here's a summary:

Getting the ledge for free took away a deceptively deep part of the smash series. Sure you can intercept midair but you could do that in all the games. Ledgehogging wasn't easy kills, it still takes skill to successfully pull off a good ledgehog.

Anyways I think the ledges could have been fine if trumping lead to guaranteed followups. If that was the case the end result would be the same as ledgehogging but it would actually take more skill to put the final nail in the coffin. As it is now you can get immediately on stage after grabbing the ledge and its impossible to get ledge trumped if you play properly.

The best new ledge mechanic is only getting invincibility once, which I think everyone agrees is a welcome change.

 

[RanserSSF4]

I really don't want to derail this thread into a debate about the ledge but here's a summary:

Getting the ledge for free took away a deceptively deep part of the smash series. Sure you can intercept midair but you could do that in all the games. Ledgehogging wasn't easy kills, it still takes skill to successfully pull off a good ledgehog.

Anyways I think the ledges could have been fine if trumping lead to guaranteed followups. If that was the case the end result would be the same as ledgehogging but it would actually take more skill to put the final nail in the coffin. As it is now you can get immediately on stage after grabbing the ledge and its impossible to get ledge trumped if you play properly.

The best new ledge mechanic is only getting invincibility once, which I think everyone agrees is a welcome change.

I also don't want this thread to go into a debate. I was just asking what is it about the ledge mechanics you don't like. I did mention above that criticism is allowed in this thread!