I play the game Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. It's a pretty great game and the team they have working on balances is really committed and on top of things. One interesting aspect about the game is something that Nintendo really touted as being a prime reason to play. There are so many characters and each one is so different that there is a play style out there for everyone.
They're right. There is a character who's kit and moves align with the general way a person goes about doing things. The annoying thing is that there are some just butt dumb ways people solve problems and there are characters who reflect that.
Take Incineroar for example. All you need to play him well is use side-B when a character is close, Use Down-B when about to get hit and then immediately use side b, and use up b whenever the crap you want to if your opponent is in the strike zone.
It's a little more complex than that of course but just knowing that is enough to give a beginner the edge in battle.
A character that requires a little more knowledge and skill is Lucario –my main. Lets look at what to do when an opponent is close, vs far, vs if there's a move you can use in any situation.
Close: Grab your opponent. Unless you're at a high percent. If you're at a high percent, it's different.
Far: use movement options especially B reversing to close the gap and use grab or nair. but if you're at a high percent, don't be so eager to approach and use aura sphere to keep your opponent at bay.
Any situation: . . . yeah OK, you got me there's no move to cover too many situations. Nair maybe?
So, I'm overplaying it a little bit because I do not know how to play incineroar. But my point should be clear. Some characters require a lot more knowledge about the character to play them effectively.
Let's compare some more.
Lucario side B: it's a command grab if you're close enough but if you aren't close then it's technically a projectile.
Incin side B: it's a command grab that makes you move.
Lucario Up B: A recovery with no hit box till the very end. You can go in any direction and can swerve if you're good enough but the controls are very touchy.
Incin up B: You go up and then down. and you go boom when you go down.
Lucario Neutral B: A projectile you can charge. it deals damage as it charges and sets up for many options including grabs, aerials, up smashes, and shooting the projectile. Lucario's kit revolves around using this projectile and the charging hit box as well as using B reversing as some advanced and necessary movement options or kill set ups.
Incin Neutral B: Haha me go spin spin
So I'm not saying that Incineroar is bad. But it seems to me like there maybe is a lower skill ceiling with this character than certain other characters. Maybe?
Really I'm not mad at Incineroar or other simple characters. I'm moreso upset that lucario is just freaking hard to play. I'm pretty darn sure that lucario is the most advanced character in the whole roster. You have to know how his famous aura affects him, you have to keep in mind your opponents percent and your own when pulling off combos, many of his combos are DI dependent, you have to have complete control over the movement options, most of his combos are frame perfect, etc.
Smash bros is a hard enough game as it is. It's suuuuper frustrating to deal with Lucario and his oddities and all the jank he's got. The worst part about it is absolutely no one has any guides on how to play him beyond the very basic stuff. Like, for other characters there are definite answers for what to do in certain situations. For lucario, there are usually no definite answers and no one that plays him well makes videos or posts on the topic. There's a good chance no one plays him because no one has any well presented and knowledgeable information on him. so its a crappy situation for Lucario Mains out there.
There's some hope however. I have some skills in the video editing and audio recording. I've taken public speaking classes. And I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about smash bros and lucario so I plan on making some videos on how to play him. Rant over.
