Changing the 2D Fighting Game
How Granblue Fantasy Versus’ elegantly simple controls dovetail with surprisingly deep strategic gameplay
Granblue Fantasy Versus, the latest fighting game from Arc System Works, differentiates itself from the competition in a number of ways. At its core, the beautiful art direction steals the show, with Granblue appearing as if a Japanese anime had come to life at the will of your finger tips as you move its carefully-stylised 3D models around the screen.
But as stylistic as Granblue is, I want to put the spotlight on a different and perhaps more unique element of the game. Specifically, I’m writing about its controls.
If you’re unaware, Granblue Fantasy Versus has an unconventional control scheme, at least for a 2D fighting game. Specifically, the game features three core design changes which I think help make Granblue a drastically more accessible entry point into 2D fighters than its peers.
I want to talk about each of these, while also discussing the steps Granblue takes to ensure it retains the depth necessary to stay competitive.
Streamlined Inputs
Instead of requiring complicated motions and inputs in order to execute all of your characters attacks, Granblue allows players to execute their special moves with a single button, plus a directional input.
If you’ve played games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, think of something like that. You press up and B to use Mario’s uppercut, just as you press right and R1 to use Gran’s uppercut in Granblue Fantasy.
Moreover, the game’s combo system features chains wherein you can repeatedly press any button attack button to perform a basic combo.
Together, the simplified combo and special move inputs allow players to get into the game quickly; immediately enabling back-and-forth exchanges of sequences of blows without having to spend hours in a training mode.
Consolidated Move List
Another difference is how the game features quite a limited number of attack options for any one character.
This might seem like a simple change, but combined with a number of smaller modifications to its systems, it’s a game changer for how players first experience Granblue, and how players get to develop their skills across the course of their time with the game.
Every time you try a new character, you know that they have their four special attack moves that you can learn. You very quickly build a mental schema for how to learn a new character, figure out their four moves and how to use them and — coupled with your fundamental understanding of Granblue’s combo system — you can get stuck into figuring out your gameplan, and move complex combos.
Similarly, when you’re thinking moment to moment in a fight, the scope of your options are more narrow. You don’t have to decide which of your 100 moves is the right one for the right situation (I’m looking at you Tekken 7). The consolidated move list means that every move has a purpose and players are always aware of how to execute each one. This helps players streamline their mental processes as they fight, escaping choice overload and resulting paralysis, and enabling players to focus on determining which option to use from a set that’s more readily available in short-term memory.
Perhaps equally importantly though, every opponent you fight also has four moves. This means that there’s a lot less to remember about what every other character can do. They all have different playstyles and move properties so you’re still required to learn the specific matchups, but you’re much less likely to feel overwhelmed by different moves that you’ve never seen before, with properties that you don’t understand.
Character Control Homogeneity
A big difference with Granblue is that it doesn’t seek to diversify itself through how each character controls. This is distinct from games like Street Fighter V where characters feature distinct input styles.
For example, in Street Fighter, Ryu is a standard character meaning his specials need to be input with motions like quarter circles, or z-plus-attack button. While other characters like Blanka require players hold back for a period of time before unleashing an attack. Between the charge characters, z motions, quarter circles, half circles and target combos, Street Fighter can feel completely different from one character to the next.
In Granblue, it’s just not like that. The special move inputs are all directional, and consistent. For instance, if pressing forward and R1 performs the uppercut for characters like Gran, Percival and Katarina. Pressing the special attack button without a directional input almost always performs a projectile attack.
What this means is that players can go from one character to the next and have a decent idea how to play the game. They might not know how to play their gameplan effectively, but they’res no real possibility that players will get stuck on an input and bounce of a character, or the game entirely.
Cool Downs and On-Screen Move Display
Another means in which the system differentiates itself is through it’s cool down system. Specifically, the characters in Granblue can’t perform a move twice successively. Some moves (like basic projectiles) tend to recharge very quickly, but others take quite some time.
This has two key implications that I think help players learn how to play. First, because of the cool down system all of the characters moves are represented on screen with their corresponding directional inputs. That means that if players are ever unsure what moves they have available to them, what their character can do, then they can reference the on screen display.
Secondly, but equally significantly, this system also ensures that players aren’t getting overwhelmed by the same move during gameplay. If your opponent just performed a special move that let them leap at you, then you can count on them not being able to do that again, at least not right away. This gives players time to process what happened before it happens again.
With all of this in mind, you must be wondering whether the game retains any of the depth that’s typical of the genre. While the controls are indeed simplified, this really only helps players pick up the basics.
The streamlined controls allow players to understand how to control a character quite quickly, they help players get past the knowledge-based barriers of understanding all of the games match-ups and control schemes, and let players dig into the strategy and higher level execution of the game.
But just being able to control your character only gets you so far. To use an analogy from a different genre, games like League of Legends feature a complex roster of characters with incredible amounts of depth to its gameplay, but games like League are never difficult to control. The player goes into this game able to move, attack and perform their special moves with ease. The depth in this game (and games like it) stems instead from understanding when and where to execute those moves, how to strategise to make those moves and your character more effective.
For games like League of Legends, this creates a gradual learning curve. There are no walls that players hit right out of the gate, and I firmly believe that that both helps with player retention (as players don’t feel inclined to drop out when they immediately fail to understand the game), but also it actually helps the games competitive scene as more players are able to dig down to the more complex and interesting elements of the game, strategist and competing with one another.
This is what I believe Granblue Fantasy Versus’ control system achieves. By eliminating that initial barrier to execution and assisting cross-character learning, players are able to pick up the game and its roster quickly. That means that players can drill down to more high interesting and in-depth elements of the game like the neutral game, resource management, mental games and framedata.
For the first time in many years, I was able to introduce some of my non-fighting game playing friends to a fighting game and have them playing something that looked close to the design intent within a very short span of time.
While similar is achieved in games like Fantasy Strike (with its focus on fundamentals), and King of Fighters (with its simplified combo system), these designs usually feel as though they either sacrifice depth, or teach players systems that aren’t viable in competitive play. Granblue’s simplified systems are at the heart of its design, and yet it doesn’t feel any less competitive or exciting for it.
When taken as a whole package Granblue Fantasy Versus isn’t the perfect fighting game. Compared to others in the genre it’s quite light on content and the netcode doesn’t always hold up. Despite these issues, it’s a game that I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in 2D fighters. If you’re a competitive player with a good deal of experience with the genre you’ll be pleased to find in-depth fighter that doesn’t sacrifice depth to appease new players, but if you’re new to the genre then Granblue might just be the perfect game to dive into.
