If anyone's wondering why I didn't mention tough love arena, since it's currently in beta and ONLY available on a browser I'd want to wait for it to release in a finished format, potentially with its own executable before putting it in the spotlight. Chances are I'd want to do a full video on TLA instead of it being a footnote in a video that's much lower effort

"Fantasy Strike is the simplest fighting game you can play without DIVEKICKING into the alternative category"

The best fighting game for an empty wallet is assaulting strangers in the ASDA parking lot and taking their cash

0:52 Please God no, I can only handle one of them

thanks for representing the slow reaction time gang.

“Owl PNG away from identity theft” oh yeah, that’s who you remind me of

As a Killer Instinct player, I would like to point out that, with experience in the game, you will break more combos on reaction and fewer by guessing. Also, if you get a read on when people are going to try to break a combo, you can counter break them for huge damage. There's a very deep mind game around comboing, breaking, and counter breaking that wasn't mentioned at all Also, the Shadow Counter really needs to be mentioned. It's a really cool defensive mechanic.

"An Owl PNG away" I'm starting to think I have a type for youtubers.

Sir feel free to make that RAID Shadow Legends revenue

There's also a bunch of free indie games on Steam and elsewhere. Steam games include Hyperfight, Schwarzerblitz, and Ultra Fight da Kyanta 2. Stuff elsewhere includes fangames like Sonic Smackdown, Card Sagas Wars, Super Smash Flash 2, and a whole host of other games that fit into different breeds of fighting games. Also, hey, Fightcade 2 has a ton of great old fighting games, and since it's PC emulation, it's free!

"Nobody talks about this fucking game" Man... that just... I don't even know what to say other than that stings. Especially with EVO 2020 being cancelled :'(

Killer instinct will still be my favorite fighting game. Got so much out of it playing with friends, and man I still listen to the soundtrack daily

rising thunder is just the riot fighting game waiting room.

Just want to say something about Brawlhalla (because you mentioned that your not really able to comment on it), as someone who has played it for almost 3 years now: Brawlhalla is a platform fighter with some, lets say, strange design decisions. Your sole defensive options are a dodge (which is on a timer) and an extreme amount of movement options, stemming mostly from dash. Many people (especially smash players) are immediately turned off by the movement you have, often thinking it's trying to encourage floaty gameplay, but it rarely turns out that way. Brawlhalla uses offstage interactions more than any platform fighter I've ever seen, to the point where there are weapons in the game whose main gameplan is to gimp your opponent. True combos in this game are usually very simple affairs, with with the (few) 3 hit true combos often being cited as broken. But strings are plentiful, and work in harmony with the dodge system: reading a dodge allows you to do these strings while your opponents dodge is on cooldown. In fact, one weapon in the game (scythe) is almost entirely based around strings and dodge reads, while having few practical true combos. I would definitely recommend Brawlhalla to anyone, but like any fighting game, it isn't that fun until you understand the game first.

The amount of "apologies" you put justifying not making a more essay formated video makes me think someone really fucking hurt you >-> Dw so much, we love your content and sexy voice no matter the topic at hand

>owl PNG away from identity theft you say that, but you release videos consistently :p

Funny, I just got into KI since getting it on Steam from the winter sale, and it's become the only fighting game I feel I can actually grasp, helped by the fact that most of my nuclear family has some experience with but are still near(ish) my beginner level. I love the combo and breaking system, especially with how Combo Assist makes it accessible to new players without dumbing down its complexities: it lets everyone access the combo system, but you still have to understand it to truly utilize it. Also, it means that while you're being combo'd, you have some means of interaction with everything that brings: mind games, reads, counter reads, reactions, all that good stuff. Also, the breaker system showing you which button you should've pressed when you lock out is super handy: I don't know what I'm looking for, and my reaction time is even slower than yours, but I just noticed "Huh, every time I mash a breaker, my opponent was attacking with mediums. I should mash medium breakers." and starting breaking my opponent way more. Basically, I think you do need someone as scrubby as you to properly enjoy learning, but I love the game and what it adds to the genre.

Thank you for mentioning Brawlhalla, I've seen content creators who specialize in platform fighters and don't even mention Brawlhalla. I wanted to get into platform fighters ever since playing Melee as a kid, but from barriers like bad training modes and limited to non-existent online, Brawlhalla is the first fighting game I've actually felt enabled to improve at.

"owl png away from identity theft" I knew you reminded me of someone

Touhou Hisoutensoku is another great fighting game, and even has rollback netcode because of a fan patch. Highly recommend, especially if you're already a Touhou fan.

honestly this is a great and fair video, trying to stay honest and give you an inage of what each game is like while not stretching the main ideas too much to the level of boredom.

I've been playing Brawlhalla for 4 years and I can say, BMG is not one of those companies that only want money. The game is heavily supported by the community, and the dev actually listen, like for real they do. its constantly being updated, evolving, IT HAS RAYMAN and the esports scene is amazing. plz try it out

I'm a major Brawlhalla fan, and I was very happy to see the end of the video, plus this vid did give me a new perspective on Fantasy Strike, which was really cool.

As someone who at this point in my life, is more concerned with taking 3 tiny blue pills than remembering Filia's reset scenarios; Fantasy Strike felt like a warm hug to welcome me back to one of my favorite genres. I know it's simple. I still got a ton of gratification beating people through fundamentals and smart decision making within the limited system. Enough, even, that I got into the ranked.

A Shammy reference, huh? No wonder I immediately enjoyed basically all your videos as they kept popping up. Good stuff, man.

I have 800 hrs on brawlhalla Its fucking worth it man, if you can ignore the toxicity

Killer instinct is definitely not everyone's game, but personally as a killer instinct player, it's one of my personal favorite fighting games. The mind games you create with the other player, and the fact that even when someone is laying into you, you're still playing the game, trying to cancel their damage is so much fun. It's totally understandable that there are people that dont find it comfortable

Touhou Hisoutensoku is extremely easy to download for free. Too bad it's only possible to get multiplayer matches through Soku discord servers, learning it is abstract af because it's so weird, and downloading it is only 'allowed but kinda still illegal' because the creator of Touhou doesn't give a shit about piracy if it means more people play Touhou. Still fun though, try it if you want a fighting game fused with some wild af bullet hell mechanics.

0:35 yeah thats why you read one piece and not watch it dude I swear

Bruh your punchlines xD they kill me. New subscriber immediately

Your videos are so clean dude, great work.

You have one of the most unique and entertaining voices on KZfaq. Great job! (I don’t even play fighting games anymore...)

I recommend putting the community edition for melty blood in the description. The steam version is not really worth it imo, but that's just a quick piece of advice. Great video all around

Idk I liked this video. Your opinion is clearly that of someone that's been in the scene for a long time so hearing what you have to say feels genuine. Like all you really want is for someone else to experience the feeling of getting hooked on your first fighting game. (I mean I've already played all these games but hearing your take is still enjoyable) good video, thank you!

I'd honestly be really interested to see kind of like this where you break down the general game plan and ideas behind every current modern fighting game like you did here, maybe as a type of "which fighting game is for you" type video

Dang, I was really hoping you would talk about Ultra Fight Da Kyanta 2. Amazing video nonetheless. Keep up the good work.

The day I'll see 1 second of HFTF footage will be the end of the world as I know it

Glad to see freesia in the outro

I've been playing Killer Instinct since 2013 & let me tell you that it's worth trying. We have new players still getting into the game & we have a World Cup happening online throughout all of 2021! This doesn't include the many members hosting events, a discord, & even a KI school through Patreon. There is plenty going on for the game if one is interested in picking it up right now. For those that are looking to play. I highly recommend looking at Infilament's guide AKA the KI Bible. KI allows for extreme diversity through the diverse cast & combo system. A player must always mix up their combos to not get broken. I can understand the struggle of breaking combos in that game as a newcomer. You have to learn how to break every character. Light linkers are unreactable so you have to guess & light autodoubles you have to anticipate. The Steam version is an odd one. You can NOT play crossplay with Xbox/Win10 in ranked. HOWEVER, you CAN through exhibition & lobbies. If you want to grind ranked then the Win10/Xbox version is preferable. Great video! However, I can't believe you didn't recommend people to buy +R (don't worry though +R has already shown me that I love Guilty Gear since the rollback update). Also, Punch Planet is cool if you don't mind a smaller playerbase than even Fantasy Strike or KI Steam numbers. Oh, ToughLoveArena is now a thing which was probably shown off after the video was made.

I absolutely love your sarcasm

Was nice to hear Fresia at the end

Really cool video, also I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like KI combos very much. I'm more of a juggling guy, personally, as I'm mostly an MK 11 player. That being said, I still have access to the Game Pass until March, so I may give KI another shot. I was told characters are so unique and you confirmed it

Ooh! New shiny Video! So glad to see.

I don't play any of these games but it's still cool that you are making content

Yes! 100% agree with you about the Killer Instinct. Also, with every hit the screenshake makes me sick.

0:53 Is that a Shammy reference I see? Well played kiddo

Best Fighting Game Channel... Love Your Content❤

Something I like about killer instinct is how dynamic it is. The fact that you can start a round with less health, or better position than your opponent is fascinating (not to mention characters like arbiter and aria, who could only make sense inside KI), but I had a similar frustration with the combo system and ended up dropping it.

Nothing says the next great economic depression then _fighting games (tm)!_ Quick overview of DOA since you aren't having any: If you don't like KI's combo breakers, steer _clear_ from this game. Other than that, it's aight. At least Eliot is cool.

haven't even finished the video but I already know this is about to be a banger

I dont agree with your take on KI, but this is a good video. It properly addresses the premise of the title.

Only been watching you videos a few weeks, but have you done a video on your perfect theoretical fighter yet? your opinions are really interesting, unique, and both jarring and comfortable. I'd love to hear more.

1:14 "Banco would rather that to be a Fantasy Strike is probably the simplest fighting game..." Well played. That's one way to combine two sentence into one.

there's tough love arena if you don't even want to download the damn thing, five buttons, browser, learned it five minutes. I love it

Great video as always! :)

Holy shit, I was so relieved when you mentioned Brawlhalla.

Being honest I think KI making combos easier is one of the best things in the genre. A lot of new players end up spending too much time fixating on combos and getting the muscle memory to do long damaging combos, likewise a lot of new players will die to long combos and feel like they need to learn long combos to win, with kis more streamlined combos a beginner can theoretically do a max damage combo with no real practice meaning they'll worry less about these longer combos and instead on getting the hit that leads to these combos, in order to avoid getting broken players will also learn to mix up their moves as to become less predictable which are two elements that I see a lot of new players having issues with. Killer Instinct takes away what I believe is one of the biggest traps to new comers in fgs and I think that it is a better fighter on the whole for it

I think Dead or Alive (at least 5) accomplished what Killer Instinct tried to do with combo breakers. In DoA you combo break based on high/medium/low attacks, and I think even new players can sometimes react accordingly. It easier to tell that instead of light/medium/heavy.

Amazing content as usual.

I hadn’t noticed the clear Shammy inspirations before you pointed them out

Sorry Santa beating up Jesus in the beginning of the video is the best way to start anything

Ah I'm sad Tough Love Arena didn't make the cut for this one. Good video regardless.

6:50 that sounds like a you problem chief....love this game

Thanks for showing Melty so much early on lmao

Nah man, Read one piece. you gotta trust me

Wake up babe, new Leon Massey video

I am so glad to hear you say that you could not play KI. I tried that game and DBFZ for so long but had the exact same issues as you. I felt like an NPC whenever I played online and not in the way where it felt like I had the ability or the tools to become better. Side note to anyone who may be wondering, yes, rising thunder is the game that the upcoming league of legends fighting game is based on. It was canceled early in development because riot bought the studio and the game was released to the community to take over.

damn, that ending hurt

14:36 I mean, the monetization for Brawlhalla is completely ridiculous. The crossover skin for Specter Knight is more expensive than the game he is from.

Bro, you REALLY deserve more views and subs

Nice shammy reference there bud.

Whats the name of the second game u showed?

I could also recommend fightcade. Internet archive has all the roms saved for preservation purposes. Have been enjoying Vsav personally.

As someone whos favourite fighting game was mk9 before playing Killer instinct, I understand why KI is hard to get into. The only reason why I stuck with it was because of it's style, and how hype it was when playing with that announcer and the music. The combo system was difficult for me, even with the combo assist, but I kept going back due to its sick style. I eventually started to love it for a completely different reason as I got more comfortable with the game. Just like a Quake or Unreal Tournament duel, your always in the action, trying to get into your opponents head even when you are being comboed. I absolutely love it. Its at a point where I play any fighting game and for one reason or another, I think to myself "but it aint ki".

i would like to recommend tough love arena. it is a browser based simple fighter with 6 characters and most of all - rollback netcode. it is just a week or 2 old and it is getting popular everyday !

Not bad, nice videos you got here. Aight, I'll subscribe.

Freesia music for the end credits? I do like, much like this video as a whole. Probably won't play any of them any time soon but is nice to know.

There's this game called Metal Revolution, it's a F2P game with some similarities to Rising Thunder. It's got some potential, and of all these "easy inputs" fighting games is the one I'd like to see grow the most.

Isnt rising thunder unavailable now?

Loved watching KI in evo. That game is hype.

I like the little owl.

The Owl PNG joke was gold

Nice Shammy reference I rate vidya 10/10

Leon have you tried out the free sonic fighters game?

damn this channel is growing fast!

How do u play rising thunder in 2021?

Can you discuss the difference between push button grabs and proximity grabs? I personally think proximity grabs are stupid, as they take away player agency

This Channel was a major finding

Thank god someone else with slow reaction times who plays fighting games, as much as I love DBFZ it gets on my nerves how close-to-reactable everything is

10:30 *casually fights gekkosquirrel like its nothing*

No mention of Ultra Fight Da Kyanta 2 on steam?

Hey leon, you convinced me to play Guilty gear (also steam sales) I have no clue what i'm doing but it's fun, thanks!

2 days after the sale great timing leon

Hey Leon, have you tried Tough Love Arena? It's both a figting game and free

rising thunder has cool mecha references

this might be ignored but i wanted to ask for a vid on frame data me being fairly new to fighting games and your vids are very engaging and interesting for example your jump arcs helped this poopoo brain learn to commit less and use air dashes when needed your time vid helped me learn how to play according to the clock and your hard to learn showed me what goals i should have but i still have no idea how to incorporate frame data into my play

“An owl png away from identity theft”, hey i got that one!! Nice reference

Y’know, I never made the Shammy comparison before you made it, but I can’t not see it now.

there would an "honorary" one, being free and totally legal, which is Hyper DBZ. While it doesn't sport any online, excluding via usage of Ikemen or Parsec, it still technically counts as a pretty good way of enjoying a DBZ 1v1 competitive game, without the need of spending extra cash for DBFZ. But i can understand this list was made with games officially supported in some way or from personal experience

Can you make a video about the many flaws that kof has?