I’m thinking of quitting Smash

I’ve been trying to play SSBU recently as a way to destress, and I’ve been slowly beginning to realize that I’m just… not having fun playing Smash at all anymore. I like the game, I think the movesets can be inventive, I don’t think it’s been outdone by another platform fighter; and it’s great that we have a game with so many characters from so many different places in Nintendo’s history, the game itself I don’t think is at fault here.

I’ve been playing Smash all my life, I started with Brawl as a youngin, went back and played Melee and 64, I was very excited for 4 when it was announced and even more for ultimate when it came around. But, I think the fact of the matter is… I just don’t think I’m good at fighting games. I don’t think it’s my genre. I’ve never been particularly good at conventional arcade fighters and my win to loss ratio on Smash is utterly abysmal. No matter how many hours I put in, no matter how much I grind, what combo videos I try to memorize, nothing helps. I’m just trash all the same.

It doesn’t help that every character I’ve had an interest in picking up is generally seen as spammy trash or incredibly annoying to fight, it’s like my mere presence on the battlefield sucks all the fun out of the game like a sponge.

Ness is my favorite character and I play him in pretty much any circumstance where he’s considered even remotely viable. People hate the kid though; not that I can blame them, PK Fire is pure evil. I try to utilize my entire toolkit and only use PK Fire when I feel pressured to start putting more damage on because I’m getting tossed like a ragdoll, but even so, it doesn’t mend any of the frustrations that PK Fire causes. Because, no it’s not fun to be trapped in a bunch of particles while getting ludicrous damage stacked onto you. Not leaning on your character’s best tools though WILL make you suffer in game though and I guess if the only interest is winning then playing like a fucking asshole is just, the way of things and being a ‘noble player’ for a character that people don’t like anyway is moot.

Now you may be thinking “okay so just play Lucas.” The problem is that my attachment to Ness isn’t because I love his moveset, it’s sentimental. I only ever wanted to learn how to play Ness because I like EarthBound, and Smash is my ONLY opportunity to EVER play as a character I love and that I think is cool outside of a grand total of ONE game. And I understand, if you don’t love a character’s moveset, it’s more difficult to play them, but these are the sacrifices you make for Smash. Amsa plays Yoshi because he loves Yoshi, I wanted to play Ness because I like Ness.

Of course I’ve tried to pick up other characters, I’ve dabbled in playing Lucas, DK, Bowser, G&W, Icies, Mario, Doc, Link, Gunner, and even Banjo but I could never seem to get the hang of any of them, I’ve never even won a single match as Doc.

I can pummel CPUs and play the single player stuff all I want, sure, but the bulk of Smash’s gameplay is supposed to be the multiplayer, and not playing it feels like sacrilege because I’m not trying to improve my skills, I’m just wasting time.

I think it’s time to accept reality. Looks like I really got my head handed to me.

I’ve been trying to play SSBU recently as a way to destress, and I’ve been slowly beginning to realize that I’m just… not having fun playing Smash at all anymore. I like the game, I think the movesets can be inventive, I don’t think it’s been outdone by another platform fighter; and it’s great that we have a game with so many characters from so many different places in Nintendo’s history, the game itself I don’t think is at fault here.

I’ve been playing Smash all my life, I started with Brawl as a youngin, went back and played Melee and 64, I was very excited for 4 when it was announced and even more for ultimate when it came around. But, I think the fact of the matter is… I just don’t think I’m good at fighting games. I don’t think it’s my genre. I’ve never been particularly good at conventional arcade fighters and my win to loss ratio on Smash is utterly abysmal. No matter how many hours I put in, no matter how much I grind, what combo videos I try to memorize, nothing helps. I’m just trash all the same.

It doesn’t help that every character I’ve had an interest in picking up is generally seen as spammy trash or incredibly annoying to fight, it’s like my mere presence on the battlefield sucks all the fun out of the game like a sponge.

Ness is my favorite character and I play him in pretty much any circumstance where he’s considered even remotely viable. People hate the kid though; not that I can blame them, PK Fire is pure evil. I try to utilize my entire toolkit and only use PK Fire when I feel pressured to start putting more damage on because I’m getting tossed like a ragdoll, but even so, it doesn’t mend any of the frustrations that PK Fire causes. Because, no it’s not fun to be trapped in a bunch of particles while getting ludicrous damage stacked onto you. Not leaning on your character’s best tools though WILL make you suffer in game though and I guess if the only interest is winning then playing like a fucking asshole is just, the way of things and being a ‘noble player’ for a character that people don’t like anyway is moot.

Now you may be thinking “okay so just play Lucas.” The problem is that my attachment to Ness isn’t because I love his moveset, it’s sentimental. I only ever wanted to learn how to play Ness because I like EarthBound, and Smash is my ONLY opportunity to EVER play as a character I love and that I think is cool outside of a grand total of ONE game. And I understand, if you don’t love a character’s moveset, it’s more difficult to play them, but these are the sacrifices you make for Smash. Amsa plays Yoshi because he loves Yoshi, I wanted to play Ness because I like Ness.

Of course I’ve tried to pick up other characters, I’ve dabbled in playing Lucas, DK, Bowser, G&W, Icies, Mario, Doc, Link, Gunner, and even Banjo but I could never seem to get the hang of any of them, I’ve never even won a single match as Doc.

I can pummel CPUs and play the single player stuff all I want, sure, but the bulk of Smash’s gameplay is supposed to be the multiplayer, and not playing it feels like sacrilege because I’m not trying to improve my skills, I’m just wasting time.

I think it’s time to accept reality. Looks like I really got my head handed to me.