playing tekken after all this time in 2d fighters is so weird because i simultaneously feel like almost everyone i encounter (and me) is super predictable and yet there's such a vast amount of knowledge checks that it's hard to tell when that will matter or not
the exciting shit is when the game goes to last round and people bust out their ultimate gimmick
it's not like i've never seen/read about/known how to use training mode in other games but this one is so powerful so easily it really feels like i finally understand something i really didn't before. like, i knew about it, but i didn't get it. and especially in something like xrd where the old method to practice against stuff was "figure out how to do it and then record it"
in a game where i couldn't do things
surely, there are boutique situations in this game you can only learn from replay takeover (which exists) or learning how to record them for yourself. the main stuff i need to know right now isn't like that though...at the same time, i'm realizing i'm getting hit by the feeling i kind of hoped i would, where i really wanna learn so much about this game and check out basically every character. i wanna know what people are thinking about, and the little things they're doing that other characters don't.
there's definitely stuff in this game i'm not sure i like, but the overall pace, presentation and feel is so strong for me right now. and the netcode is generally adequate if you stick to wired connections. it's been a really long since i've felt so into a fighting game. a really long time...