Fighting Genre 101 (Comprehensive Guide)

[LancashireLad87]

 

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“Disclaimer: There’s a lot of misinformation regarding fighting games and their difficulty, certain games have been overhyped whilst others are under-valued therefore the purpose of this thread is to achieve the following; to categorise fighting games into tiers of difficulty, explain the genre and it’s vast terminology, dispel fighting game myths and to educate and hopefully motivate more people into the genre!

 

I'm by no means an expert however I’m confident that with the help of the resident fighting game guru’s within our community we can compile an accurate representation of the genre. I cannot stress enough that these games will be based on a new player’s perspective and will be ranked against each other because there’s no comparison otherwise.

 

Fighting games that have an online component will not have their rating improved because you can boost the online. Furthermore tedious grinds will not influence a game’s difficulty because in my view time does not equal difficulty. I'm an avid fighting game fan having 12 fighting game platinum trophies under my belt. There are a ton of fighting games that I’ve never experienced so if this is to succeed I would like to ask the guru’s @Yuber6969 @FreshFromThaDeli @Copanele for their assistance!

 

 

How to approach fighting games

 

 

 Fighting games are an under-appreciated genre and are renowned for their difficulty but there are a LOT of fighting games on the market that are very lenient or simplified for trophy hunters and newcomers to the genre to wean them in.

 

What are fighting games?

 

Fighting games are predominantly 1 Vs 1 however there are exceptions! Your goal is simple: you verse an opponent on a 2D or 3D plane in a fight to the death over multiple rounds, usually 2. In essence fighting games are a numbers game. It's all maths since every move in the game has a pre-set value set by the developers, everything from how fast the move is, how far it travels, how long it stays active and how long it takes for you to recover. More commonly referred to as "frame data" ; it's not essential for you to know this unless you want to go beyond the trophies.  

 

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Frame Data

 

Have you ever thought to yourself, man I hate this character’s move because I always get hit by it and I can never seem to punish it even if I block. Here’s where frame data can help you understand the inner workings of the game. I’m no expert at reading frame data however the main sections I’d focus on for a new player would be the following categories;

 

Start-up Frames - This value simply tells you how fast your attack is, the fewer the frames the better. This is useful for a number of reasons, however the most important is, if you block an attack that’s unsafe you can use your fastest attack as a punish.

 

Frame Advantage - If your opponent blocks an attack that’s +1 on block it means as the attacker you can move 1 frame before they can. You can use this to frame trap your opponent which will be detailed within the terminology section below.

 

To understand how tight a link is, here's an example of how to figure it out. Take Evil Ryu from Super Street Fighter 4, Evil Ryu's crouching light punch is +5 on hit whilst his close standing heavy punch has 5 frames of start-up. Since both of these moves have a value of 5 the timing required to link them together is 1-frame or 1/60th second. For each point value difference will increase the time window by a single frame. In order for moves to link together the first move MUST have a + value on hit.

 

 If you wish to learn more about frame data then I’d highly recommend dustloop.com.

 

https://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

 

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2D or 3D?

 

Generally 3D fighting games are easier to complete than 2D fighters because the requirements are not as strict. There are several extremely hard 2D fighting games to platinum but there’s only 1 really hard 3D fighter. Personally I prefer 2D because they’re more visually appealing and rewarding to pull off difficult combos.

 

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Character Archetypes

 

If every fighting game character played the same way it would be monotonous to say the least, thankfully characters will generally fall into the following categories based on their playstyle, finding the right character that suits you will make your journey more enjoyable and rewarding.

 

Motion - The majority of fighting game characters will fall into this category. If a character has directional inputs for unique moves and supers then they fall into this archetype.

 

Charged - A character that has charged inputs for special moves such as Guile’s flash kick, it means that you need to hold down then after a second or so you have to press up and a kick button. 

 

Zoner - A zoner is a character that excels at keeping you at arms length so it’s very difficult to get up close and personal with them. Characters that excel at zoning would be Morrigan from Marvel and Dhalsim from Street Fighter to name a few.

 

Grappler - If you’ve never heard of Zangief from Street Fighter then you must have been living under a rock. A grappler is a character that has slow mobility but if they grab your arse, they do MAN damage!

 

Mix-up - A mix-up or vortex character would be a character that puts you in a constant 50/50 situation after a hard knockdown so you have to guess, if you guess wrong you get punished. The character that personifies this playstyle would be Seth or Ibuki from Street Fighter.  

 

Puppet - A puppet character refers to a character that has control of another entity that can fight on their behalf. A few examples would be Shadow Labrys from Persona 4 Arena/Ultimax and Zato from Guilty Gear.

 

Stance - If a character has multiple fighting stances then they belong in this category. From the top of my head the only one that comes to mind is Gen from Street Fighter 4 since he has unique moves and supers that are tied to different stances.

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How to learn combos

 

Whenever you're attempting a combo trial or challenge, I find it helps to break the combo into chunks. If you try to perform the whole thing at once, it’s very unlikely you’ll perform the combo correctly or remember what to do. I’ll give you a practical example of a combo in Super Street Fighter 4 as a reference;

 

Ryu Combo #23

 

Jump HP

Crouch MP

Crouch HP

EX Tatsu

EX Shoryuken

FADC (Focus Attack Dash Cancel)

Metsu Hadoken (Ultra)

 

Admittedly combos can be much longer depending on the fighting game. This is just an example, if you’re attempting this combo I would split it into 2 parts, A and B. Part A would be from Jump HP to EX Tatsu whilst Part B would consist of EX Shoryuken to Metsu Hadoken.

 

By breaking down the combo you’ll improve your muscle memory and your execution unless you're using pause exploit. Once you're confident and you’ve successfully performed each part multiple times then you're ready to put the combo together! 

 

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Which fighting games have practical combos, tutorials, match-ups and more?

 

From a tutorial standpoint I would highly recommend playing the following games to learn fighting game fundamentals;

 

Mortal Kombat 11/Under Night 

 

From a practical combo trial standpoint from the games I’ve played I’d highly recommend DNF Duel or Guilty Gear Revelator 2.

 

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Why are fighting games so difficult?

 

The vast majority of fighting games have a higher barrier of entry than most genres which is why they’re hard to get into. Secondly they require the player to perform unique motions that you won’t find in other genres for example QCB/HCB and 360 to name a few. Some mainstream fighting games like BlazBlue and Guilty Gear have simplified controls and auto combos to help newcomers. Unfortunately you won’t be able to rely on simplified controls for combo trials. Generally there are 4 modes that non-fighting game players dislike which are time attack, combo trials, score attack and survival. 

 

Time attack - Time attack has you defeat a series of opponents as quickly as possible.

 

Combo trials - Tests your physical execution, you're generally performing suboptimal or completely impractical combos in these trial modes.

 

Score attack - Similar to time attack except you get points instead of time.

 

Survival - Defeat as many consecutive opponents as you can before you're defeated. Of the 4 modes I personally dislike survival which is why I haven’t finished DOA5.

 

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Do I need an arcade stick?

 

When I was looking for assistance with the 8-player lobby trophy on Marvel Vs Capcom 3 for the PlayStation 3. I was in a discord chat where they had a pinned comment regarding this matter. First and foremost anybody who recommends you waste your money on a peripheral you cannot use doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

 

You have to think logically, if I've never played say a sim racer before and someone says I need to buy a wheel and ditch the controller to get faster lap times even though I've no experience with a wheel, my lap times aren’t going to magically improve the moment I purchase a wheel.

 

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Combo notations

 

When it comes to fighting games it can be daunting for a new player to understand what the hell people are writing. You’ll find 2 different languages when it comes to combo notation, for your convenience let’s explain both so there’s no confusion.

 

• Keyboard - Some people use a keyboard notation as a substitute for directional inputs for instance 5 is classed as "neutral" or in a stationary position. 2 means crouching whilst 8 means to jump. Conversely 4 means back and 6 means forward assuming your character is on the left.

 

Common fighting game inputs in keyboard language would be;

636/236/214/63214/41236/236236/214214

 

• Controller - Controller notation is represented in degrees or circles. I prefer this notation because it’s easier to understand. QC - Quarter of a circle, HC - Half a circle, 360 - full circle.

 

Common fighting game inputs in controller language would be;

QCF, QCB, HCB, HCF, 360, 720 

 

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Fighting game terminology

 

DP/Shoryuken/Uppercut - Dragon Punch is a famous fighting game term for a move used by "shoto characters" such as Ryu and Ken. This is the spiral uppercut they perform so if you’ve ever watched a Street Fighter video then you’ve definitely seen this move in action.

 

Throw teching - I personally find teching throws difficult because they usually have a very strict time window. If your opponent attempts to throw you and you press whatever the throw command is at the correct time you’ll be able to "throw tech" which means you prevent them from throwing your arse!

 

Tick throws - A tick throw is when you attempt to throw your opponent when they block a specific combo sequence then you throw them immediately after. For example you might use crouching punch, crouching kick into throw. 

 

Safe on block - If a move is regarded as safe on block then it means you have "frame advantage". Let’s look at a hypothetical example, if you strike your opponent with Move A and the opponent blocks, let's say you're +2 on block. This means that you're able to move 2 frames of animation before your opponent. 

 

Soft/Hard Knockdown - In every fighting game there are moves that will force a soft and a hard knockdown state, so what is the difference? If you get hit by an attack that is classed as a soft knockdown it means you can get back on your feet immediately, whilst a hard knockdown you're forced to wait the duration.

 

Quick rise/delayed wake-up - If you get knocked down in a match you can get back to your feet quickly which is called a quick rise or you can delay it which is referred to as a delayed wake up.

 

Dizzy - A dizzy or stun refers to your character being unable to function until you're either hit by an attack or you mash your way out. Every character will have a different threshold of how much stun they can tolerate before they get dizzied. 

 

Hit stun deterioration - If hit-stun deterioration didn’t exist then you’d be able to combo your opponent indefinitely which is not fun!  

 

Damage scaling - The more moves you use in a combo the less damage each attack will do. In a nutshell damage scaling stops you getting killed by a single combo but there are exceptions like Marvel Vs Capcom that has X-Factor, a comeback mechanic that throws damage scaling out the window!

 

Meaty - A "meaty" attack is when you strike your opponent after a hard knockdown on the exact frame they get up so they’re forced to block.

 

Safe Jump - After scoring a hard knockdown you can perform a safe jump. Let’s use an example to illustrate this principle;

 

Player 1 knocks down Player 2

Player 2 is going to DP/Shoryuken on wake-up

Player 1 is going to jump towards Player 2 after landing the hard knockdown

If Player 1 times their jump correctly they’ll have time to block the wake-up DP. 

 

Fuzzy Guard - A Fuzzy Guard as a defensive tool is when you block in crouch and then normal in quick succession and if performed correctly, you will block the next attack crouching or normal attack regardless of your position. It's when you do shit like  when blocking. As an offensive tool, it's when you fool the opponent into doing that blocking stuff and you hit him with an overhead instead (like Urien's forward HK if I remember correctly). If he tries to fuzzy guard he is getting hit.

 

IB - IB or "Instant Blocking" means you block the moment an attack is about to strike you. This is primarily used in games like Guilty Gear, Persona, and BlazBlue.

 

Reset - The best example I can give to illustrate what a reset is would be to look at Rolento’s combo trial in Ultra Street Fighter 4.

 

Rolento Trial #20

 

Mekong Delta Air Raid

Stand LP

Stand HP

EX Patriot Circle

Stand HP

Mekong Delta Air Raid

 

The final hit of this combo is actually a reset which basically means you land a combo then part of the way through it you reset the combo counter in an attempt to catch your opponent off guard so you can deal more damage!

 

IAD -  Instant air dash is when you air dash the moment you jump. It is performed with 96 or . It is a mobility tool in games like Blazblue or Guilty Gear.

 

Hit-Confirm - Mortal Kombat 11 has a fantastic tutorial on hit-confirming but I’ll try my best to explain what it means and why you should care. Let’s say you want to use a 3 hit combo on your opponent, the first and second move are safe on block but if the 3rd move is blocked you can be punished for it.

 

Hit-confirming means you only perform the 3rd hit in this example if the first 2 moves connect. If your opponent blocks both your first and second hit then you should never do the 3rd.

 

Low Profile - If your opponent strikes you with a standing attack and you're able to use an attack that avoids theirs by going underneath it and you deal damage to your opponent, that’s what low-profiling means.    

 

Overhead - An overhead is an attack that MUST be blocked standing because it goes over your head if you block whilst crouched. 

 

1-Frame link - If the game runs at 60 frames a second and a move is a 1 frame link it means you have a 1/60th of a second time window to combo into a 1 frame link. An example of a 1-frame link in Super Street Fighter 4 would be linking a crouching MP after performing Evil Ryu’s medium axe kick special move.

 

Chain/Gatling - Games like Guilty Gear have chains which are very simple to perform. You simply press the buttons in sequence and it’ll combo together. For instance SXTO (Square, X Triangle, Circle) with Sol Badguy in Guilty Gear XRD Rev 2.

 

CH - Counter hit is when your attack connects when the opponent starts attacking. If you press LP and the opponent presses HP you counter him. 

 

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Whiff Punish - Basically a "whiff punish" means punishing your opponents move by standing just outside their range so when they try to hit you they whiff or miss and then you punish them for it. 

 

Example - If your opponent's move travels a distance of 4 blocks and you stand 5 blocks away, you're out of their attack range. If you then attack them with a move that has a distance of 5 blocks before they’re able to attack or block that’s a whiff punish!

 

Plinking - Plinking is a term used in Street Fighter 4 which allows you to add a single frame to most combos in the game, turning a 1-frame link into a 2 framer. From what I understand the only 1 frame links you cannot plink are jabs aka LP or Light Punch.

 

OS - OS or "Option Select" is a very technical or advanced term. Essentially what it means is you can input a specific sequence and depending on how your opponent reacts it will cover 2 possible outcomes instead of 1. 

 

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Frame Trap - A frame trap is quite difficult to explain but I'll do my best. Let’s use a practical example to demonstrate this principle;

 

Step 1: Player 1 attacks Player 2 with a move that’s +2 on block and is blocked by Player 2.

 

Step 2: Player 1 now has a frame advantage of 2 frames.

 

Step 3: If player 2 tries to attack player 1 with a move that has a start-up of 7 frames after blocking the first hit.

 

Step 4: If player 1 performs a move that has a start-up of 8 frames or less they will frame trap player 2 but why is that?

 

Summary

 

1st hit Player 1 (+2) Player 2 (-2)

 

Player 2 attempts to counter with a 7 frame move (because they’re -2 it will take 9 frames to come out) 

 

Player 1 attacks with an 8 frame move or faster which will counter because 8 frames is less than 9.

 

I hope that makes sense!

 

Cross-up - In my experience you can only cross your opponent up with a jumping attack, cross ups are normally performed after scoring a hard knockdown. Let’s say you knock your opponent down and they’re on the right side of the screen, if you cross them up with an attack and they choose to block on wake-up. They’d have to block left instead of right because you block in the opposite direction. 

 

Match-Up - If you ever hear someone say “This is 6-4 in Guiles favour or even” it simply means if you take 2 opponents of equal skill and played a first to 10 games, which character has a slight advantage or disadvantage.

 

Footsies - Sometimes you might hear someone say “neutral”, essentially this is the middle of the arena where both players are jostling for position. Trying to land the first hit using their best normal attacks or "pokes" to push their opponent closer to the corner because anyone who's played a 2D fighter and likes being cornered is a mug!

 

TOD - TOD or Touch of death means you're able to kill your opponent from full health to death in a single combo.

 

Happy Birthday - For fighting games that allow you to call an assist character in momentarily, if you call your assist in at the wrong time and both of your characters get killed in one combo it’s called a happy birthday!

 

OTG - OTG or “Off the Ground” means you can continue your combo by launching the opponent back off the floor. This mechanic is exclusive to anime fighters and Marvel.

 

Free - If something or someone is regarded as “free” it means that they’re trash or easy to beat.

 

Salt - Salt is a fighting game term used to describe people’s frustration when they lose, it’s not uncommon for people to throw their sticks in a moment of rage.

 

Tiger Knee - In order to explain what TK'ing is, I'll give you an example. Let's take Nemesis from Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, specifically mission mode, mission 9. After performing LMHS then Aerial LMHS you have to call in Wesker as an assist whilst performing an aerial rocket launcher. If performed correctly a TK'ed RL will be very low to the ground but the input required is QCFUF (Quarter circle forward up forward) which is tricky to do if your not used to it. 

 

Restand - A restand is basically a combo that forces your opponent to stand back up after a juggle. These types of combos are very rare, here's an example of a restand combo using Juri in Street Fighter 5. 

 

 

OD - OD or "Overdose" is a fighting game term used to describe something incredible or godlike. The perfect example would be the infamous Daigo parry (EVO Moment #37) from Street Fighter 3, 3rd Strike.

 

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How do I find an easy fighting game?

 

Listed below will be a tier system ranking various fighting games based on their difficulty. Difficulty is highly subjective but when compared to other fighting games it makes more sense. For a fighting game to be considered for this comprehensive list it must adhere to the following criteria;  

 

Selection Criteria

 

Must be obtainable

Must have a platinum trophy

 

How do you quantify a fighting game's difficulty?

 

Ease of access

Trophy complexity 

Execution required

 

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(Difficulty Range 1-3/10) Tier 1: Gateway (Beginner Friendly) - These are the easiest games to complete for a beginner who I’d classify as someone who has little to no experience within the genre.

 

Phantom Breaker Omnia (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Skyscrappers (Arena Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Dragonball FighterZ (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Before Creation Comes Destruction

 

 

From a skill standpoint this is the hardest trophy in the game for a newbie. Your task is simple clear 200 combo trials, every character has 10 challenges. If you own the ultimate version of the game then you have more trials to work with than someone with just the base game like myself. As far as combo difficulty goes these are incredibly easy, I cleared 170 combo trials in 37 minutes which shows how easy they are.

 

Injustice 2 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Cat Fight

 

 

From the trophy description you'd assume this trophy is a easy to earn and in theory it is. What makes this the hardest trophy in Injustice 2 is the probability of getting the Cat Call ability in the first place in order to have a chance of earning this trophy. Injustice 2 has loot crates that are opened with in-game currency, loot varies dramatically from shaders and backgrounds to character abilities and equip able gear to enhance your fighter's prowess! The remainder of the trophies in Injustice 2 aren't worth mentioning which puts "Cat Fight" head and shoulders above the rest!

 

Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Arena Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Ultimate Tool of Destruction

 

 

You need to beat the CPU on the hardest difficulty of Arcade Mode. The game is essentially a smash clone so if your not good at smash then you'll have some teething problems with this one because the CPU doesn't mess around. Thankfully you have unlimited retries so it's not all bad.

 

Tekken 7 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Master of the Iron Fist

 

 

At the end of the story you'll unlock a special chapter which has you face off against Akuma from Street Fighter. You play as Devil Kazuya, the main reason why this is the hardest trophy to unlock is Akuma has all the tools at his disposal to destroy you in no time at all. He can zone you out with fireballs from afar, he has good mix-ups, deals insane damage and has the ability to focus attack dash cancel or FADC through your attacks. Once his health is low you'll need to perform your "Rage Art" to counter his Raging Demon otherwise you'll be defeated.

 

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Because it was Marvellous

 

 

The only reason why this is difficult to unlock is because the timing is quite strict and for a newcomer to the series you'll have some difficulty unlocking this trophy. Although you have to clear all trials for one character for another trophy the trials are incredibly basic even for a beginner.

 

Dead or Alive 5 Last Round/Ultimate (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Tekken Tag Tournament 1 HD (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Throwing Rocks

 

 

You could argue that the chicken trophy is more skill based but a lot of players have trouble with Tekken Bowling so this trophy for me takes the crown. To unlock the trophy you have to score at least 200 points in Tekken Bowling. If I recall correctly I used Paul and Marshall Law aka Bruce Lee. The way I earned my strikes was to move Paul a few steps to the left, aiming dead centre with 70% power and that got me strikes fairly consistently.

 

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(Difficulty Range 4-5/10) Tier 2: Step up from Gateway - This tier will consist of games that are a step up in difficulty and should be well within reach of most players. 

 

Granblue Fantasy Versus (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy:  Event Horizon

 

 

To unlock the trophy you need to complete RPG mode on any difficulty which on the surface doesn't sound too difficult since you can play on easy difficulty. The last 2-3 fights with a fairly strong loadout is still going to require a fair amount of effort. The rest of the list is very straight-forward but there's a huge RNG based trophy getting the Luminera Blade but that's purely down to luck rather than proficiency.

 

Under Night In-Birth EXE Late ST/CL (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Veteran of War

 

 

This trophy is for beating the game's Arcade mode on the hardest difficulty (5) without using a continue. A match must consist of at least 3 rounds in order to count, you can lose rounds just not matches otherwise you'll have to start over.

 

Samurai Shodown(2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: World's Greatest

 

 

For those of you who are unaware of what this trophy entails I will enlighten you. You need to defeat 17 consecutive opponents in Survival mode, sounds easy right? Wrong! You can die incredibly quickly, a simple heavy attack deals around 20-25% of your maximum health. If you get hit by specific attacks you will lose your weapon and have to pick it back up again in the heat of battle. 17 isn't that many opponents when you look at other fighting games but it's not necessarily the number that's important it's the journey. I used the main character Haohmaru, however before I earned this trophy, I lost on the final opponent Shizuka a.ka. "Fan bitch" on the final round. Yes, you can set the rounds to 1 and the timer to 30 seconds but the final round you have to beat twice before your rewarded with the dub.

 

Dead or Alive 6 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Unchallenged Champion

 

 

To unlock this trophy you need to clear all of 1 characters combo challenges or trials, every character has 20 trials to complete. I personally used Hitomi because I used her a bit in Dead or Alive 5. The trials are by no means a cakewalk for new players but with a bit of practice and perseverance you'll have them done in no time, assuming you understand where your going wrong. 

 

Melty Blood Type Lumina (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Fighting EX Layer (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Mortal Kombat 11 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: No Bad Match Ups

 

 

This trophy is awarded when you successfully complete all the strategy tutorials. Some of these have very strict timing such as the ones where you have to instant block low then punish your opponent as Baraka. A lot of people struggle with the Raiden Combo that side switches but I personally didn't have much trouble with that one. People have requested share-play assistance for this one as well. 

 

Soul Calibur 6 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Guilty Gear Strive (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Messiah Will Not Come

 

 

You know a trophy is difficult for inexperienced fighting game players when you see people asking for someone else to do it via share-play. To unlock the trophy you need to defeat Nagoriyuki at the end of Arcade Mode on Extreme difficulty. So why is this trophy causing so many people problems? First and foremost your not allowed to lose a single round leading up to the fight which means you have to beat each opponent 2-0. Nagoriyuki deals insane damage, he can hit-confirm like there's no tomorrow, he knows how to anti-air you so jumping is not an option. Did I mention he has 3 times the health of your character, well he has! Fortunately if you lose a round at any point you can let the AI defeat you then you can hit retry to give it another shot without voiding the trophy.      

 

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(Difficulty Range 6/10) Tier 3: Moderate - Average in terms of difficulty.

 

Street Fighter X Tekken (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Mission Specialist

 

 

As far as I'm aware this is the hardest trophy in the game. There are 20 missions you have to complete that range from beating a set number of opponents to winning with only special moves and perfecting Kuma the bear from Tekken with your chosen character. However the hardest mission seems to be mission 19 which requires you to beat Ancient Ogre and Akuma on the hardest difficulty. They have gems that activate when you whittle their health to a certain threshold that regenerates their health did I mention they have infinite meter? well they do! There are a few combo trial trophies but they're not as bad as they appear to be since you only need to clear 300 of them.

 

Tekken 6 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: What a Nightmare

 

 

Without question this is the roadblock when it comes to trophies. To unlock "What a Nightmare" you need to clear the infamous Nightmare Train stage. Your task is simple, kill everyone in your path with your chosen character. Once you've cleared out the vast majority, Devil Jin will grace you with his presence once you defeat him you'll earn your trophy. I recall knocking his arse off the train, immediately rewarding the lad with the W. 

 

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Behold the Tekken Lord!

 

 

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 requires you to reach Tekken Lord rank offline which sounds pretty simple right? Wrong! This is going to take you well over 400 wins to achieve, remember TAG 2 is 2V2 and the AI on the higher ranks is very competent, you need to be reasonably good at the game to get this trophy. I was contemplating on swapping this trophy for the stupid survival trophy because every so-called cheese strategy didn't work as per usual but I think overall this is probably the harder of the 2. 

 

Soul Calibur 5 (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Marvel Infinite (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Master Class

 

 

To earn this trophy you need to clear all combo trials with 5 characters. Each character has 10 trials in total. From what I've researched the easier characters seem to be Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ultron and Ghost Rider. There is another platinum breaker which requires you to reach Rank 10 online but you can boost it. I'd like to give this game a try at some point next year! 

 

Guilty Gear XRD Sign/Rev 2 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Medal of the Holy Order (REV2)

 

 

Guilty Gear Revelator 2 does contain a few combo trial trophies requiring you to complete 400 of them however this is not as difficult as it seems since there are 906 combo trials in the game making 400 trivial. Hands down the hardest trophy to unlock is Medal of the Holy Order which requires you to earn 150 UNIQUE badges which will require boosting and a lot of planning as the majority of badges are unlocked through online play. 

 

The King of Fighters 14 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

BlazBlue Calamity Trigger (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Arcana Heart 3 Love Max (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Don't Think Feel!

 

 

This trophy is your typical clear all combo challenges with 1 character. From what I've read online it seems that Margaret, Labrys or Shadow Labrys are the easiest characters to clear. If you own the PlayStation 4 version then you don't need to clear the DLC characters combo trials, just a single character. Other than some online trophies which are totally boostable there isn't really anything else that will prevent you from earning the platinum trophy.

 

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(Difficulty Range 7/10) Tier 4: Challenging - These games would be very difficult for a newcomer to complete but are by no means impossible without practise, dedication and determination.

 

Blazblue Central Fiction (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Faster!!!!

 

 

There are a few trophies that could take the crown for being the hardest trophy to earn in BBCF however I chose Faster!!! because it's the trophy that prevented me from getting my platinum trophy for weeks. You have to complete speed course C to unlock the trophy, sounds innocent enough right? Wrong! You have to defeat 32 consecutive opponents, every time you take damage time will be reduced, conversely every time you deal damage the timer will be increased. You receive bonus time for dealing X amount of damage for instance 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 or by defeating your opponent with an overdrive/distortion finish whilst in exceed. There's no save scumming either, some people use Mai for this trophy who I believe is a DLC character however I used Susanoo.

 

Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: A New Avenger

 

 

Do you like combo challenges? well your in luck! To unlock a new avenger you need to clear 320 combo challenges. If you own just the base game you only have 360 trials to work with. There were 2 additional DLC characters Jill and Shuma Gorath however unless you purchased them before they were delisted your out of luck. Some of these trials are relatively challenging for a newcomer, after all it only takes a few dozen trials and suddenly your on the brink of success or failure.

 

Street Fighter 5 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Back From Hell

 

 

Let's face it nobody likes survival mode, I certainly don't. For this trophy you have to clear survival on extreme difficulty which consists of 100 opponents. From what I've read you can retry from the opponent you lost to by paying "Fight Money" which is in-game currency. The only other trophy that's worth mentioning is for reaching Gold League which is 4,000 points in Ranked matches but this is boostable.

 

Injustice (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

BlazBlue Cronophantasma (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

BlazBlue Cronophantasma Extend (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Arcana Heart 3 Vanilla (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

DNF Duel (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Eternity Crusher

 

 

DNF Duel has 2 difficult trophies within it's trophy list. The first "Loyal Vessel" requires you to complete a single characters combos and challenges. The easiest characters to use would be Hitman or Striker. In my opinion "Eternal Crusher" is more difficult to complete because the AI is very aggressive on Survival Course C especially when you reach the later floors. Survival Couse C consists of 100 opponents, after each victory you can choose to bank or spend your points on slight buffs to your character. Yes you can save scum your progress but even then floor 100 took me 45 minutes to clear with GhostBlade because the Lost Warrior destroys you in 2 combos. He performs ambiguous cross-ups from the air which is hard to block because your not sure what side he's going to hit you on. He can grab you from full screen unless you block in and he can convert into big damage off any stray hit. The rest of the trophies will come naturally and don't offer much of a challenge.

 

---

(Difficulty Range 8/10) Tier 5: Very Hard - These games would probably be the limit of most players because anything beyond this level is going to be insanely difficult.

 

Skullgirls 2nd Encore (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Battle Fantasia (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

BlazBlue Continuum Shift Vanilla (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

---

(Difficulty Range 9-10/10) Tier 6: Extreme - The final tier is reserved for the most challenging games of the genre!

 

The King of Fighters 13/Global Match (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Yes, I'm the Best!

 

 

From a skill point of view this is by far the hardest trophy in King of Fighters 13. Your task is simple, clear 200 combo trials and the trophy is yours, but wait nothing is ever that simple. If you own just the base game then you have 330 total trials to work with, with the DLC you have 360, so on the face of it 200 doesn't seem too bad right? wrong! The combo trials in KOF13 are notorious for being hands down the most difficult fighting game combo trials in a fighter to DATE! Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you. If you had to complete EVERY single combo challenge then KOF13 would be a contender for the hardest platinum of all time PERIOD! To give you a taste of what I'm referring to here's a video of arguably the hardest combo in the game. Remember no plinking, no pause exploit bullshit, a 1 frame is 1 frame in SNK games like KOF13.

 

The King of Fighters XIII Ash Crimson Trial #8 - YouTube

 

Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Master of Tasks

 

 

Another combo challenge related trophy. For this one you need to clear 480 combo challenges, if you're playing the PlayStation 3 version the DLC characters are delisted therefore unless you purchased them before they were delisted from the store you have to complete EVERY combo trial. The PlayStation 4 version is slightly more forgiving because the DLC characters are on the disc so you only have to complete 96% of the trials which is nothing to scoff at. 

 

Persona 4 Arena (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Street Fighter 4/Super Street Fighter 4 (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Entitled

 

 

At the time of posting this is the rarest bronze trophy in my collection and for good reason. Not only do you have to collect every title in the game of which there are over 600 of them. Some of which requires you to complete specific milestones online such as X amount of perfect rounds, rounds won by chip damage etc. You also have to defeat all of the secret bosses on the hardest difficulty for their respective titles. Then you have to defeat Arcade Mode on the hardest difficulty with the entire cast (Base Game) and if that wasn't enough for you, you have to complete all 840 combo challenges. The combos are by far the biggest roadblock as a lot of them have 1 frame links which requires precise timing however unlike KOF13's combo trials you can exploit the trial mode via a pause exploit however I play legitimately. Not only can you pause exploit them but you can plink in Street Fighter 4, essentially turning a 1 frame link into a 2 frame link which means you have double the leeway, there's no plinking in KOF13.

 

Kohime Enbu Ryo Rai Rai (2D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: 

 

Dead or Alive 5 Vanilla (3D Fighter)

 

Hardest trophy: Survival Master

 

 

Without question Survival Master is the hardest trophy to unlock in DOA5. For those of you who have been living under a rock allow me to enlighten you. In order to unlock the trophy you have to clear every survival course, sounds simple enough. The catch is the last 2-3 courses are 100 consecutive opponents EACH! with no pausing or save scumming. I'm yet to earn this prestigious trophy but I'd like to go back to it eventually. DOA5 Vanilla is by far the hardest 3D Fighter ever released from a trophy perspective. The trophy rarity for Survival Master at the time of posting is 0.63% which is almost as rare as my Super Street Fighter 4 platinum trophy.

 

---

 

How I approach a fighting game

 

I thought it would be a good idea to give people an insight into my personal experience with the genre and how I approach a new fighting game, what I learn first, how do I practise, what do I prioritise, how do I utilise training mode and how do I choose a character. The first thing I do is play through the game's tutorial to get an understanding of the game's mechanics. Once I’ve cleared the tutorial I go straight to everyone's favourite combo trials with a mascot character like Ryu or Ken from Street Fighter.

 

 I complete as many trials as I can to get an understanding of their combo routes, what moves can be cancelled into specials and supers and how to combo into ultra. Next I hit the lab (training mode). The first thing I learn before I’ve faced an AI or human opponent is what are my Anti-Air options because no matter how skilled someone is, everyone jumps! In the beginning people jump like bunny rabbits. Since you’re unable to block whilst airborne in the majority of fighting games, if you cannot anti-air then you're missing out on free damage!

 

Next I’ll hit the Arcade mode with one of the mascot characters to get a feel for the game. I practise fundamentals such as positioning/spatial awareness, hit confirming, basic combos, air 2 airs and anti-airs. If I clear Arcade mode on the hardest setting without too much issue and my shit is on point the majority of the time. Then and only then would I consider playing a character that interests me who might be more or less technical to play.

 

---

 

Games yet to be placed

 

Phantom Breaker: Extra

Dark Awake

真・恋姫夢想～乙女対戦★三国志演義～ (The first Koihime fighting game)

恋姫†演武 (The PS3 version of Ryorairai pretty much)

Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining

ブレードアークス from シャイニングEX (first Blade Arcus game)

Fight of Gods (lmao...)

Isn't there a Jojo's game out there that's a 2D fighter? JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle? (I think this one is getting a re-release on PS4)

AquaPazza: Aquaplus Dream Match

Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe

Nickelodeon AllStar Brawl 2

Mortal Kombat 1

Fantasy Strike

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax

 BBCS Extend

The King of Fighters 15

Soul Calibur 2 HD

Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection

Brawlout

Them Fightin Herds

 

---

If there are any fighting games I've missed please let me know so I can update the list!

Edited April 1 by LancashireLad87

[Yuber6969]

I don't think I'm at guru level (yet), but I appreciate the compliment!

 

I'll read this in more detail when I'm home from work, but before the guys who have been playing fighting games since they were a fetus come in and say everything is a 3/10, I wanted to say that I'd rank BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend at least Tier 4. My experience with combo challenges was limited at that point, and I really struggled with the trophy for completing all of one chatacter's challenges.

[AihaLoveleaf]

Love the work you put into this guide, Lancashire. I appreciate it.

 

A lot of the terminology that the community uses still goes right over my head, so it's nice to have everything defined in one post. 

 

The difficulty tier list is great too. Might have to refer to this for a game or two while I get ready for some of the tougher fighters I intend to play.

 

Keep up the great work, man. I'll be coming back to this every now and then for reference. ?

[CobraMJD]

The game I had to learn frame data was Virtua Fighter , the last one.

[Mizz]

Very nice and detailed  guide, it should help people out  

[Yuber6969]

I would rank Nitroplus in Tier 2. I almost want to say Tier 1, but I'm trying to keep beginners in mind. The game is going to be a cakewalk for anyone halfway decent at fighters, but there's one combo-related trophy that might require some practice for a beginner.

 

Also, I'd rank Arcana Heart 3 Love Max in Tier 3. There is a cheese method for the superboss (still fairly tough though). The difficulty comes from Trial Mode or whatever it was called. You need to fight matches under certain limitations or win with certain conditions. Some of the trials would be tough for a beginner, but doable with practice. There are some combo related trophies too that again would be tough for a beginner, but doable with practice. I wouldn't recommend this game due to the grindy plat, but at any rate, Tier 3 is where I would rank it.

[PostalDudeRus]

Awesome guide, very detailed. About Soul Calibur 6 - it's easily Tier 2 game. Only fighting series I know how to play and haven't skipped a title. It's perfect for beginner, but also require time to learn how to play it in order to get platinum.

[FreshFromThaDeli]

First of all - WOWZA. That's a great guide for someone to sink their teeth into the genre. Thanks for tagging me in but I would never call myself a guru, I just been actively playing this genre since I was a toddler ?

 

It depends what does a new player want to achieve with their time playing. From a broad standpoint, do they want to learn the game to be better? How much better do they want to get and in what time frame? Do they want to compete in tournaments or beat their friends? Do they want to rank up and compete in Ranked matches?

 

The notation guide and terminology will help immensely from a standpoint of a newcomer. I personally recommend a new starter focus on their neutral rather than focusing on combo's.

Sure, those combo's are flashy and make you feel good when you land them but how often would those situations actually arise in a match? Getting the basics right is more important. Setting yourself goals like not jumping or doing an Anti Air every time your opponent jumps will provide marginal gains rather than stretching yourself thin and trying to achieve everything all at once.

 

Training mode is the most important mode in fighting games. I spend most of my time in training mode and practice setups, learn frame data, combo's, okizeme etc. There's so much to learn and even myself, who has been playing Street Fighter V every week since launch online, I still learn new things in training mode when I turn it on. I think I will add to this post later or make a new one but for now those games you ordered look right to me as it stands.

[VigilantCrow]

I seriously appreciate the work you put into this. 

[LancashireLad87]

I appreciate the praise and feedback thus far, I have made small edits to the original post to make the sentences flow better when reading. I've added all suggestions in terms of game difficulty and thanks to Copanele for explaining what fuzzy guarding is, I had no idea! Yes training mode is invaluable there's no denying that but the amount of times people jump who are low ranked players is absurd I probably get at least 3-4 anti-airs per round it's like they have springs in their feet  

 

I spent about 4 hours typing it out on google docs and a further hour formatting it for PSNP. Time well spent!

Edited May 27, 2022 by LancashireLad87

[CobraMJD]

3 hours ago, LancashireLad87 said:

I appreciate the praise and feedback thus far, I have made small edits to the original post to make the sentences flow better when reading. I've added all suggestions in terms of game difficulty and thanks to Copanele for explaining what fuzzy guarding is, I had no idea! Yes training mode is invaluable there's no denying that but the amount of times people jump who are low ranked players is absurd I probably get at least 3-4 anti-airs per round it's like they have springs in their feet  

 

I spent about 4 hours typing it out on google docs and a further hour formatting it for PSNP. Time well spent!

Virtua Fighter continues to be ignored. ?

[Copanele]

Damn I wish I had this comprehensive info bundled up this neatly when I started this journey  

Amazing write-up there man  I will do my best to help with info if possible (via PM, no reason to spam this thread too much), I really want to see more trophy hunters getting into this genre, just to have fun and see that this is not such an impossible gaming genre.

 

I would like to contribute to this thread with my own ranking of games I've platinumed/ 100%, maybe it will help others along the way.

 

IMPORTANT - There is a world of difference between platinuming a fighting game and being actually good at a fighting game. In every situation except one game, platinuming a game will always be easier. So with my list I want to cover only the easiest to hardest fighting games in terms of platinum/100%, NOT what's the easiest to hardest fighting game to learn.

To give an example of what I mean, Tekken 7 has a ridiculously easy platinum, however the game itself is one of the hardest games to master out there. Going online beyond the trophy will get you bodied a million times before you finally understand what you have to do (also refer to the main post to LEARN what you have to..well...learn).

 

@LancashireLad87 I will use your tiers specifically cause they are very well structured. I will somewhat consider online trophies into the "difficulty" section as well, because there's some dumb stuff out there that will get to you even with a boosting partner (mainly Capcom games).

---

Tier 1: Gateway (Beginner Friendly) - These are the easiest games to complete for a beginner who I’d classify as someone who has little to no experience within the genre.

 

Any Arcade Archive Game - ?

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle -  

Samurai Shodown V Special - ?

Samurai Shodown(2018) -  

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection - ?

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle - 

Under Night In-Birth (any) - 

The King of Fighters '97 Global Match - ?
The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match - ?

The King of Fighters 2000 - ?

Fighting EX Layer -  

The Last Blade 2 - ?

Tekken 7 -  

 

Note - These would be the "introduction" to platinuming fighting games. In terms of pressing buttons I recommend Tekken 7 and SamSho, if you want retro go for Street Fighter 30th anniversary and if you want to get a taste of what "trials" are, start with Blazblue Cross Tag or any Under Night game.

 

---

Tier 2: Step up from Gateway - This tier will consist of games that are a step up in difficulty and should be well within reach of most players. 

 

Dragon Ball FighterZ -  

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy -  

Granblue Fantasy: Versus -  

Samurai Shodown: NeoGeo Collection -  

Mortal Kombat 11 -  

Deadliest Warrior The Game & Legends - ?

The King of Fighters XV -  

Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroine's Infinite Duel -  

Dead or Alive 6 -  

 

Note - I will rate these more of a "Tier 1.5", it's like the final graduation exam games after you are done with Tier 1. Most of these games have ONE trophy that really can give you troubles as a newcomer (Mortal Kombat 11's Raiden Tutorial combo is an example, or getting an S score in Dragon Ball FighterZ), but it's nothing you couldn't handle in a couple of hours of trying.

Here you also have to seriously deal with the headache that is online in fighting games  (Dragon Ball FighterZ again)

 

---

Tier 3: Moderate - Average in terms of difficulty.

The King of Fighters XIV -  

Garou: Mark of the Wolves - ?

Guilty Gear: Strive -  

Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2 - ?

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite -  

Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator -  
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-  

Guilty Gear (1998) - ?

Injustice 2 -  + ?

Dead or Alive 5 Last Round -  

DNF Duel -  

 

Note - these are the games that you may or may not have issues, depending of your experience. They are still not "oh my god what is this crap" level of fighting games, BUT they offer a decent enough challenge to make you feel proud that you got any of these bad boys down.

 

---

Tier 4: Challenging - These games would be very difficult for a newcomer to complete but are by no means impossible without practice, dedication and determination.

 

Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus - ?
Mortal Kombat X -  + ?

The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga -  

Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection - ?

Arcana Heart 3 -  

Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe -  

The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - ?

BlazBlue: Centralfiction -  

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma -  + ?

Samurai Shodown VI - ?

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition -  

Street Fighter V(with boosting) -  

Persona 4: Arena Ultimax(PS3) -  + ?

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift -  + ?

Marvel vs Capcom 3 -  

 

Note - So these games start to be a massive pain. Most of them are ultra rare for good reason, the only ones that are not UR have such a cheap AI that will seriously tilt you (KoF Orochi Saga and MK Collection). It's not impossible to do them if you are new to the series but chances are that you are not going to have a great time  

 

---

Tier 5: Very Hard - These games would probably be the limit of most players because anything beyond this level is going to be insanely difficult.

 

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend -  

Fu'un Super Combo - ?

Battle Fantasia -  

Skullgirls 2nd Encore -  + ?

Art of Fighting Anthology -  

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3(PS4 version) -  

Street Fighter V (without boosting) -  

Mortal Kombat(online dead) -  

 

Note - The only reason why these games aren't EXTREME level is because most of them have one little nifty trick that won't make them a pure 10/10 in terms of difficulty. For instance, you can cheese the dreaded score attack in BB CS with Tager, you can bait the AI into mistakes in Fu'un Super Combo and AoF, Skullgirls has only 4 trials per character  UMVC3 on PS4 requires only 480/500 trials to be done due to DLC and Battle Fantasia can be pause abused. Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend...I don't know, it's there. Tager 19 will haunt everyone who got this platinum.

 

I will use this occasion to say RIP to MK9, platinum is unobtainable due to dead online. Whoever got this platinum...I pray for their PS3 and the "My Kung Fu is Stronger " grind.

 

---

Tier 6: Extreme - The final tier is reserved for the most challenging games of the genre!

Ultra Street Fighter IV -  + ?
The King of Fighters XIII -  
Darkstalkers Resurrection - ?
Persona 4: Arena -  

Dead or Alive 5 -  

 

These will guaranteed get you a "woah dude no way" message  This tier is big boys only, each and every one of them will require a ton of training and dedication, UNLESS you've been playing the series for a long time.

If anyone comes and says "nah dude game * insert EXTREME game* is easy" he is LYING. He definitely played the series for ages and will rope you in. Do not listen to the sweet lies, these games ARE HARD!

 

However, @LancashireLad87, I have to create a new tier. Sorry, it's mandatory. Tier 6 is not enough for this monstrosity:

 

---

Tier 7: HELL!

Koihime†Enbu Ryo Rai Rai -  

 

Leave all hope ye who attempt this game.

 

That's kinda my ranking from what I remember about the games. Obviously it's quite subjective since no two experiences are the same, but we can all agree that Persona 4 Arena is the toughest humanly possible fighting game platinum out there  

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Copanele

[LancashireLad87]

12 hours ago, CobraMJD said:

Virtua Fighter continues to be ignored.

 

If you read the original posted I clearly stated that games that don't have a platinum trophy will not be considered in my list.

 

@Copanele Damn that's an awesome list you wrote with a lot of games I've never heard of. That must have took a fair amount of time to type!

 

@Everyone  A lot of the fighting games I've mentioned in my post I haven't played so I either had to speculate the difficulty or look at trophy guides. Is there any game I've ranked which you feel is misplaced? The layout could definitely use some work, I'm also wondering if I've missed something important. I was going to include video references to show some of these principles in action. Let me know what you guys think!

Edited May 28, 2022 by LancashireLad87

[CobraMJD]

4 minutes ago, LancashireLad87 said:

 

If you read the original posted I clearly stated that games that don't have a platinum trophy will not be considered in my list.

 

@Copanele Damn that's an awesome list you wrote with a lot of games I've never heard of. That must have took a fair amount of time to type!

 

@Everyone  A lot of the fighting games I've mentioned in my post I haven't played so I either had to speculate the difficulty or look at trophy guides. Is there any game I've ranked which you feel is misplaced?

Oh right, now I see it. For me ,your post was so detailed that, trophies became 2nd plan really.

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, LancashireLad87 said:

 

If you read the original posted I clearly stated that games that don't have a platinum trophy will not be considered in my list.

 

@Copanele Damn that's an awesome list you wrote with a lot of games I've never heard of. That must have took a fair amount of time to type!

Whoops I completely added the non platinum ones because some of them are so tough they completely kick the ones with platinum in the teeth. 

 

I will edit my post later on, will add a little  or ? next to the game. 

 

And.. I will have to play sf x tekken, at least one DoA and one Soul Calibur to complete my profile. It is inevitable ?

 

1 hour ago, LancashireLad87 said:

@Everyone  A lot of the fighting games I've mentioned in my post I haven't played so I either had to speculate the difficulty or look at trophy guides. Is there any game I've ranked which you feel is misplaced? The layout could definitely use some work, I'm also wondering if I've missed something important. I was going to include video references to show some of these principles in action. Let me know what you guys think!

I think that the games are pretty well ranked ? 

Maybe I would put Arcana Heart 3 Love Max one tier higher, but only if that game has the rollerblades girl combo. I know the original AH3 has those nasty trophies and they are definitely not your average platinum. 

[wiesbadenIIX]

Street Fighter = suave, sexy, sophisticated individuals who are educated and worldly.

 

The Mortal Kombats = weird emo kids who cut themselves and cry in the corner.

[FreshFromThaDeli]

17 hours ago, pvtcaller202 said:

Street Fighter = suave, sexy, sophisticated individuals who are educated and worldly.

 

The Mortal Kombats = weird emo kids who cut themselves and cry in the corner.

Or how about people who enjoy a good fighting game enjoy both franchises? 

[Honor_Hand]

Superb work on this fighting game guide. It's well-written and covers a lot of the basics for anyone looking to dip their toes into the genre. The inclusion of a tier list to rank the difficulty of the many fighting games out there is also very helpful for newcomers. Granted, difficulty can be subjective at times, but if there's enough input from a variety of voices here, I think a consensus can be reached as to which games are easier and which games are harder to tackle.

 

I got to say, as a fighting game noob myself, a lot of the terminology used here went over my head. x3 For real, I may have platted a few difficult games here and there but a lot of the concepts such as frame, whiffing and the like still leave me like ---> o3o Can't quite get it through my thick skull, lmao. But still, I've gotten a fair amount of practice with the genre in recent years and I am quite the cheese enjoyer ? in these games, so I can still hold my own when playing against the CPU or to get a platty here and there. A skilled human opponent would most likely get a free out of me, though. xxD

 

The tier list on the OP is fairly accurate. Same with the one @Copanele added up above. I don't believe there's much I'd change on them right now with the games I've experienced. One question I would have is, are we adding multiple versions of a game to the list, right? Since the different iterations of Blazblue are there and they all have different difficulty levels, it would be wise too to consider, say, the two different versions of Arcana Heart 3 out there. With vanilla being carefully securing a Tier 4 spot, and its Love Max!!!!! iteration being slightly easier to land on Tier 3.

 

Also...and this is probably a million-dollar question but, what the fighting games on the Vita? Should we consider and rank those as well? Sometimes they are pretty much the same as their home console counterparts, but playing on a portable device adds a whole different dimension of challenges and, eh, pain.

 

Here's a list with a few games that I see are missing from getting a proper consideration for the list:

• Phantom Breaker: Extra
• Phantom Breaker: Omnia
• Dark Awake
• BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend
• 真・恋姫夢想～乙女対戦★三国志演義～ (The first Koihime fighting game)
• 恋姫†演武 (The PS3 version of Ryorairai pretty much)
• Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining
• ブレードアークス from シャイニングEX (first Blade Arcus game)
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• Fight of Gods (lmao...)
• Isn't there a Jojo's game out there that's a 2D fighter? JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle? (I think this one is getting a re-release on PS4)
• AquaPazza: Aquaplus Dream Match
• Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe

And that about does it. I purposely left out arena fighters and beat 'em ups because those are completely different genres. I also didn't include games that don't have a platinum, although I personally feel we should include those as well. Haven't played all of them but I can offer thoughts for a few of the ones I have completed already if interested.

 

Thanks for the amazing work you're doing on this guide! ^^

[LancashireLad87]

@Honor_Hand Appreciate the support. If I recall I wrote BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend in the to-rank list but I abbreviated it to BBCS Extend. As for the other games you mentioned I've heard of Melty Blood but none of the other ones. I'll add your suggestions to the list of games to be ranked. Perhaps I can find another good fighting game from your list. As for adding different versions of games I personally don't see any reason why they shouldn't be included. Finally Vita games some of them are drastically different from their console counterpart, isn't Street Fighter X Tekken way less grindy on the Vita?

 

I didn't add any Vita games originally because I have very little knowledge of them  

[Honor_Hand]

@LancashireLad87 Awesome, man. Thanks! Yeah, I must've missed that one. I see you updated the thread now with the rest of the games. Hope you find enjoyment with any of the ones I shared. The ones I've played haven't been particularly deep but have been fun nonetheless. I've heard a lot of Melty Blood myself too so I'm eager to try that one at some point.

As for Vita fighting games, yes, I'm not sure if the grind is difficult in that one, but having to do combo challenges and the like on the handheld I can foresee being more difficult than on the home console. But yeah, just like you, I have very little experience with Vita fighters myself. I have started only like one or two and I have yet to finish them.

[LancashireLad87]

I've fleshed out the Tier 1 games to include a bit more context on why there in their respective category and added details of the hardest trophy for each of the games I've played. Let me know what you guys think, I was thinking of adding a video reference for them so if you guys have any clips on your YouTube channels for any of these trophies feel free to link them and I'll add them to the thread. 

[Vergil]

Great work on the guide. Very informative 

Edited August 22, 2022 by Vergil

[DeepEyes7]

What a nice guide, great work!

 

I would only move Arcana Hearts 3 Love Max a Tier Up, even with the cheese method Parace is BRUTAL

 

Thumbs up for not liking survival, for me is the worst mode too...

[zemiguelreis]

Thank you for the post! I am almost done with my 1st fighting game (Street Fighter X Tekken). Trusting the list, if this game is in the "Moderate" category, than that's definitely my limit. My experience with the game was not very good, but I will give fighting games a 2nd chance and try Injustice 2. It seems like it's easier and maybe I have more fun since I like DC characters! 

[LancashireLad87]

47 minutes ago, zemiguelreis said:

Thank you for the post! I am almost done with my 1st fighting game (Street Fighter X Tekken). Trusting the list, if this game is in the "Moderate" category, than that's definitely my limit. My experience with the game was not very good, but I will give fighting games a 2nd chance and try Injustice 2. It seems like it's easier and maybe I have more fun since I like DC characters! 

 

I'm currently playing through Injustice 2, I'm only missing the dreaded "Cat Fight" trophy which is completely luck based unless you're prepared to spend 50 hours of grinding. If you don't mind grinding then I would say Injustice 2 is a decent game, if you don't like grinding I would avoid the game. The game has a great tutorial for Batman that teaches you a lot about the game and its mechanics but there are better fighters out there than Injustice 2 in my opinion.

 

If your set on playing nothing above the moderate tier of difficulty then I'd personally recommend both Mortal Kombat 11 and Guilty Gear XRD Revelator both great games. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by LancashireLad87