When I first played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I got stuck in the Kokiri Forest. I was unused to the camera controls, and I didn't realize that the sword I needed to get was hiding in a tunnel on the far side of the map. I had to buy a guide that helped me figure out where I needed to go. Up to that point I had only ever played games in a 2D space, so the jump to the N64 was daunting for me.
The point of this anecdote is that there is something people have before and after beginning to play videogames that I call "Gaming Vocabulary." The more you play games, the more you begin to understand them as a virtual space, and the more you begin to recognize common patterns between games. Everything from using two different analogue sticks to control movement and camera, to the idea that there's always something behind the waterfall are additions to that vocabulary as you play more and more videogames.
Fighting Games as a genre have their own vocabulary, entirely separate from nearly every other kind of videogame, and understanding it is key to learning how to play them at a competent level. This guide isn't the secret to winning every match of every fighting game you pick up: its goal is to teach you how to learn them, and the basics that will get you to that point.
My credentials aren't very strong, if we're being honest. I've only ever been in one tournament, for Granblue Fantasy Versus, and I only won two matches in it. I'm no Daigo. But my strong suit is learning and writing — more specifically on that first point, learning how to learn. I essentially taught myself how to play fighting games by myself, and as someone who was an absolute beginner two years ago, I'm hoping I can help people who might be interested in the genre reach that point as well. But first, some important info:
I don't think everyone needs to learn how to play fighting games. To get good at them, or even to understand them competently, requires practice and patience, like any other sport. However, learning how fighting games work is, in my opinion, useful, even if only from a design perspective. Beyond that, fighting games gave me, personally, something pretty important that I didn't have before: healthy competitive drive.
I used to be the type of person that wondered why I should try at something if I know I'll never be the best ever at it. If I'm not going to be Justin Wong, why even put in the effort? In the process of getting better at fighting games, I've come to discard that perfectionist notion, and learn to love the idea of improving at something on a personal level. The satisfaction of "leveling up" in real life has made me love fighting games even more, and if that's something interesting to you, then I think you're in the right place!
So, so much. This sounds disheartening, but it's important to know now. If this is the only chapter of this guide you read, then let me put the best, most important tip right here:
To get better at fighting games, you have to start playing to learn, not playing to win.
Your victories will not be 2-0-ing somebody. It will not be winning a tournament, even. It will come from understanding what you did wrong, what you did right, and what to do next. If your goal is to pull off an anti-air on someone, and you manage it? That's a level-up. Are you able to start doing it consistently during matches? That's a level-up too. These small victories add up, and they count the most. We'll be getting into this deeper into the guide.
Just throwing it out there. Don't invest in one of those things if you don't think you'll stick to playing fighting games regularly. Ask yourself if you want one again six months from now. Gamepads are fine! That said:
Please, please do this. I realize that an analogue stick feels more natural when it comes to inputs like quarter-circles, but you are only stunting your ability to execute properly if you use the stick. Just trust me on this one. Use that d-pad. (And if you're on the Nintendo Switch....well, sorry lol).
Much like going to the gym, improving with a buddy does a lot to make the process of learning fighting games more fun, and a lot easier. If it's someone at your skill level, you can face off, exchange notes and tips, and improve together. And if you have someone you know that's better than you, they can hopefully teach you how to improve as well.
If you don't know anyone to play with, don't worry: we'll be covering how to find people to play with in a future chapter.
This guide will cover a lot of stuff, from the basics of combat to using the lab for problem solving and will be updated regularly as I add more information to it. If even one person is able to break through and learn how to play fighting games even a little bit better, I'll consider it a job well done.