It can be bad, especially if you're in the West and not used to grindy games, but its definitely not worse than a Korean MMO.
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Granblue Fantasy Versus is a great example of a fighting game that failed to live up to its potential (in the West)
- Thread starter FluxWaveZ
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It can be bad, especially if you're in the West and not used to grindy games, but its definitely not worse than a Korean MMO.
I love how the game feels...in training mode.
I never even bothered taking it online. I can't with ASW netcode and matchmaking. Hoping this changes for good next gen.
I never even bothered taking it online. I can't with ASW netcode and matchmaking. Hoping this changes for good next gen.
The online at the moment is a huge headache like many ArcSys games. The regional lobbies, dead ranked and delay based netcode makes even just hopping on for a couple quick matches too much of a hassle if you're not in a Discord. It's a recipe for people dropping the game quickly. Sitting around for 10 minutes to get a 18 frame delay match.
The absolute last fighting game I buy with delay-based netcode.
Even for a FG on PC, this is pathetic:
I'm hopeful. In the recent roundtable, they all seemed to understand the need for it.
There's a second factor that really hurt Steam adoption probably as much as the delay from console -- the high-value codes for the mobile game are absent from Steam copies. Even though Steam should have a secure distribution system for stuff like that, I would think...
Agreed OP.
Despite numerous issues, it's still one of my favorite games released this year. The launch was such a disaster in many ways, and people pointing out the sales don't get how many bought the game for the mobile codes.
I really hope "season 2" (its equivalent) boosts the game's popularity again. Honestly, the online isn't that bad, it's about the same as other games this gen, but there weren't enough reasons for people to stay, especially due to the PC/PS4 divide. This game deserves better, the gameplay is a lot of fun.
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Despite numerous issues, it's still one of my favorite games released this year. The launch was such a disaster in many ways, and people pointing out the sales don't get how many bought the game for the mobile codes.
I really hope "season 2" (its equivalent) boosts the game's popularity again. Honestly, the online isn't that bad, it's about the same as other games this gen, but there weren't enough reasons for people to stay, especially due to the PC/PS4 divide. This game deserves better, the gameplay is a lot of fun.
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Steam can support it, the issue is that some people would have abused the refund system.
It's been a shame since it's probably my favourite fighting game this generation. Season 2 should give it a decent boost online again at least, especially with the characters being spread out more so it won't have the long gap of nothing like season 1 into 2 had. I'd love for them to add crossplay and rollback but the longer it takes the less likely it'll make any difference to the player base.
What do you mean it was basically free? I still haven't picked it up because it hasn't gone on sale since it launched on UK PSN
I would buy so many more fighting games if the netcode wasn't trash. It's mind boggling to me that it is still so bad.
I bought it on PC because I stopped paying for PS+ a while ago and while I had fun with it, even played a bit online, it burned out pretty quick seeing mostly empty lobbies and getting in with someone who was lagging like crazy more often than not. I even bought the season pass and stopped playing before Djeeta came out.
Physical console versions came with codes for the gacha game that people sold for a ton. Steam got hosed.
Physical console versions came with codes for the gacha game that people sold for a ton. Steam got hosed.
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The rewards from playing the rpg mode where very valuable in the browser game I sold that shit and got more than my money spent on the game back
Oh wow, I see. Is this the reason the game has still not gone on sale lolgranblue fantasy versus code for sale | eBay
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The rewards from playing the rpg mode where very valuable in the browser game I sold that shit and got more than my money back
yup, the value of the items the game gives you is a bargain compared to what is in the browser game for the same $
The first DLC character even came with a code for one of the newest end game weapons months before the boss was in the game to earn it normally
I am very familiar with how Arcsys netcode works.
And also familiar with how many people played games with even worse netcode instead last gen.
Brand name tends to matter more to people, though I'd love to be proven wrong and have GG Strive become one of the biggest fighting games.
Totally agree OP. Wild that GBFV and SamSho came out without rollback nor cross play in this age. Especially embarrassing when other fighters with shoestring budgets have or are implementing rollback like EX Fighters, Fighting Herds, and Power Rangers. At this point, by omitting rollback net code most fighters are DOA in the West.
I'm surprised that no ones even thought to bring up the roster as a factor. Trying to sell a game at full price that only had 10 characters at release and not one character pack but 2 announced before its release with both of them being £25 in UK for 5 characters...
It's an incredibly hard sell for many who aren't already invested, that is a huge reason why too
It's an incredibly hard sell for many who aren't already invested, that is a huge reason why too
I think the game was supposed to release much earlier than it did, but the DLC was still being worked on by another part of the team regardless of whatever production delays occured to the main game.
Anyways, if the game hadn't been so unnoticed by the genaral public and mainstream media, it would have been ripped apart as super anti-consumer or whatever.
Good time to remind everyone that SamSho is STILL not on Steam...
I loved this game and legit was day in, day out on the grind until the online broke it for me after 3 weeks. Truly cool game held back by failing to properly modernize its most important feature. It didn't even deserve 3 weeks, it only took one before the online proved barely serviceable, but I gave it 2 extra weeks of pure heart because I felt dazzled by the games systems and art.
On brighter news ..
It's one of the best fighters out there.
I actually have no idea why I dropped the game. Oh yea I do, the net code and Lancelot = new tv😒
It's one of the best fighters out there.
I actually have no idea why I dropped the game. Oh yea I do, the net code and Lancelot = new tv😒
I dropped it because I dislike playing the entire cast. None of them are fun to me except Narmaya and maining her legit feels like working a full time job. At least in SFV playing a lower tier feels manageable. The balance in this game could be better to me.
I'm willing to come back if the new season of characters has anyone that jives with me.
I'm willing to come back if the new season of characters has anyone that jives with me.
The character were kinda boring to play for me. It's a shame because i do like the granblue characters and i think they did a good job with them visually but they feel... far too simplistic. To me this game would have a better chance to shine with a sequel that adds some meat to the game alongside fixing the lack of crossplay and rollback netcode issue.
I'm one of the few who still plays the game very actively (I have over 2000 wins online). It's my second favorite game of the year just behind FFVIIR.
However, it is definitely true that the games' overall potential was squandered due to a confluence of several factors. Lack of rollback and crossplay is a pretty bad combo for such a niche fighter. The (EU) lobbies are often empty these days. I wish I could just stroll into the US or the jp lobbies but that would not be a great experience with this netcode (sticking to my own regional lobby works though, that is if there are actually players around).
Add to that the weirdly staggered release. It came out in Japan in early February, then a month later in the US and another month later in the EU. I wanted the game to be tied to my main (EU) account so I had to wait for two months and basically watch all the jp players/importers with envy (which also meant that when I finally got the game day 1 in EU some players already had their fill and dropped the game again).
Last but certainly not least was their whole pricing strategy. Full price with only 11 characters on the base roster with TWO season passes a 25 bucks announced to be in the works (one of which had characters releasing very soon after release) probably turned quite a few people off the game unfortunately.
I wish this game would get rollback and crossplay but that is an absolutely unlikely pipedream unfortunately.
However, it is definitely true that the games' overall potential was squandered due to a confluence of several factors. Lack of rollback and crossplay is a pretty bad combo for such a niche fighter. The (EU) lobbies are often empty these days. I wish I could just stroll into the US or the jp lobbies but that would not be a great experience with this netcode (sticking to my own regional lobby works though, that is if there are actually players around).
Add to that the weirdly staggered release. It came out in Japan in early February, then a month later in the US and another month later in the EU. I wanted the game to be tied to my main (EU) account so I had to wait for two months and basically watch all the jp players/importers with envy (which also meant that when I finally got the game day 1 in EU some players already had their fill and dropped the game again).
Last but certainly not least was their whole pricing strategy. Full price with only 11 characters on the base roster with TWO season passes a 25 bucks announced to be in the works (one of which had characters releasing very soon after release) probably turned quite a few people off the game unfortunately.
I wish this game would get rollback and crossplay but that is an absolutely unlikely pipedream unfortunately.
Any fighting game that comes out going forward should have the above and if not it's DOA, and rightfully so, IMO.
There are just too many fighting games out there to play bad ones with shit net codes that nickel and dime you with DLC, to boot.
From looking in as an outsider who doesn't really play FGs (though I followed this one for the stunning art direction), this game seemed to make as many of the typical mistakes that many Japanese games make as a single game can:
1. Extremely staggered release (the West coming later than japan is already a mistake, but splitting the US and EU releases in 2020? Crazy...)
2. Poor online, bot for netcode and functionality (fighting games are so well suited for cross-play)
3. PC version releasing later
4. Monetization that may work with Japanese hardcore fans, but is a hard sell in the West (I can't even think of any other games announcing two separate Season Passes at the same time?)
It's shame, cause the game is gorgeous and I have heard a lot of love for the actual gameplay, but those are a lot of unforced errors to make when trying to establish a new IP in the West, I feel.
1. Extremely staggered release (the West coming later than japan is already a mistake, but splitting the US and EU releases in 2020? Crazy...)
2. Poor online, bot for netcode and functionality (fighting games are so well suited for cross-play)
3. PC version releasing later
4. Monetization that may work with Japanese hardcore fans, but is a hard sell in the West (I can't even think of any other games announcing two separate Season Passes at the same time?)
It's shame, cause the game is gorgeous and I have heard a lot of love for the actual gameplay, but those are a lot of unforced errors to make when trying to establish a new IP in the West, I feel.
Are the codes still worth anything? I never did anything with them.
This is my favorite 2D fighter this generation, but I can't handle the netcode. I'm hoping they update it with rollback after Strive.
This is my favorite 2D fighter this generation, but I can't handle the netcode. I'm hoping they update it with rollback after Strive.
Pretty sure the codes should still work, and don't worry the items are pretty valuable for people playing the browser/mobile game
In a post Covid world if a fighting game has bad netcode and no crossplay ooof. Its gonna be such a up hill battle may as well not release it in the West. Gran Blue sneaked in before Covid but its as good as dead here and I hope it least becomes an example for the devs back in Japan.
I actually had my eyes on this game before release but I quickly forgot about it once I read it didn't have rollback netcode and I am not sure if it has crossplay but if it doesn't it should, considering it is a niche series so userbase will always be an issue.
In short every modern fighting game should have both rollback netcode and crossplay from day one, no excuses allowed, even smaller studios are able to accomplish this and more
In short every modern fighting game should have both rollback netcode and crossplay from day one, no excuses allowed, even smaller studios are able to accomplish this and more
Yeah. If you don't build your game with rollback in mind when the world is in the state of where you can't meet up like we used to, you fucking up. We ideally shouldn't give a rats ass about graphics, mechanics or anything else until after the question of whether the game has rollback netcode or not.
I think there's a fair bit wrong with it.
It pulled some of my friends into the game because they found its simplicity appealing, but then they didn't stick around for a number of reasons. First, the game doesn't really have an especially large roster of characters out of the box. There were usually only a couple of characters that they wanted to play, and then that was that.
Second, the games singleplayer options were really lacklustre. The games story mode is frankly awful. The narrative itself is quite dull, and then the missions are mostly devoid of challenge. They had a nice idea making it into a 2D brawler, and co-op was a great idea too, but it just just not well designed so it doesn't hold up.
Also, because the mechanical depth wasn't really there, I personally found it became a little repetitive after a while. Some characters were certainly more complex than others but playing someone like Gran, it just felt like I was doing the same thing over and over.
Another issue was that for all of its accessibility, it ultimately still relied heavily on fighting game fundamentals which were still hard to learn. For my more casual friends, just like every other fighting game it just ended with them stuck in the corner constantly taking 40% of their lifebar. It's not the games fault at this point, it's their unwillingness to learn, but the fact that the game still has big combos makes it look as off-putting to pick up as something like KOF or SFV. I think for a lot of new players they don't even get to the point where they understand whether the execution is difficult, or not, they just look at a big string of attacks and think 'well, I'll never be able to do that'.
Finally the IP and characters just don't mean much to the mass market in the west. Gran Blue isn't big here, anime fighters aren't big here, that artstyle doesn't appeal to a lot of people. I think if this game was the next Street Fighter or something like that, a lot of those more casual players would have checked it out and ended up sticking around, but as is, they had it written off based on the artdirection alone.
Ultimately I think that style of game could be big, but it would need a larger roster, I think it'd benefit from a lower entry cost (because that audience that you're after with these more accessible fighting games, are also the audience that aren't going to drop $60 on a fighting game) and better singleplayer options. For the competitive community it needs better netcode too.
I do really like it though, I find it really fun to play. I'd like to see ArcSys take this approach with an IP that's more popular in the west at some point. Take something like Dragon Quest (just a hypothetical), throw in an excellent story mode and rollback netcode and I think you could have a really popular fighter worldwide.
It pulled some of my friends into the game because they found its simplicity appealing, but then they didn't stick around for a number of reasons. First, the game doesn't really have an especially large roster of characters out of the box. There were usually only a couple of characters that they wanted to play, and then that was that.
Second, the games singleplayer options were really lacklustre. The games story mode is frankly awful. The narrative itself is quite dull, and then the missions are mostly devoid of challenge. They had a nice idea making it into a 2D brawler, and co-op was a great idea too, but it just just not well designed so it doesn't hold up.
Also, because the mechanical depth wasn't really there, I personally found it became a little repetitive after a while. Some characters were certainly more complex than others but playing someone like Gran, it just felt like I was doing the same thing over and over.
Another issue was that for all of its accessibility, it ultimately still relied heavily on fighting game fundamentals which were still hard to learn. For my more casual friends, just like every other fighting game it just ended with them stuck in the corner constantly taking 40% of their lifebar. It's not the games fault at this point, it's their unwillingness to learn, but the fact that the game still has big combos makes it look as off-putting to pick up as something like KOF or SFV. I think for a lot of new players they don't even get to the point where they understand whether the execution is difficult, or not, they just look at a big string of attacks and think 'well, I'll never be able to do that'.
Finally the IP and characters just don't mean much to the mass market in the west. Gran Blue isn't big here, anime fighters aren't big here, that artstyle doesn't appeal to a lot of people. I think if this game was the next Street Fighter or something like that, a lot of those more casual players would have checked it out and ended up sticking around, but as is, they had it written off based on the artdirection alone.
Ultimately I think that style of game could be big, but it would need a larger roster, I think it'd benefit from a lower entry cost (because that audience that you're after with these more accessible fighting games, are also the audience that aren't going to drop $60 on a fighting game) and better singleplayer options. For the competitive community it needs better netcode too.
I do really like it though, I find it really fun to play. I'd like to see ArcSys take this approach with an IP that's more popular in the west at some point. Take something like Dragon Quest (just a hypothetical), throw in an excellent story mode and rollback netcode and I think you could have a really popular fighter worldwide.
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Idk about the whole market but personally the thing that made me not even think about getting the game day one was the very small roster at launch. The fact that they had early DLC characters for the game just solidified my decision about waiting to get a complete edition of the game on sale down the line.
It's kind of funny reading about how FEXL has rollback netcode now, and they are working on crossplay for a future update.
But the response from other companies seem to be about how it's hard. It's strange because people are asking to put in features that have existed in other games for a long time now so that the games can make more money.
I would expect the response would be "yes we must implement this as soon as possible!" instead of "yeah, well it's hard". I think that likely applies to every aspect of development, not just adding rollback and crossplay.
In an alternate universe, this game launched parity with other regions, had crossplay and rollback netcode at the very least.
Who knows what they are going to do in the future exactly, I can only hope that Granblue is the last Arc sys game with delay netcode. Strive needs to be the start of something new.
And after rollback people are eventually going to have to move over to adding crossplay as well because I feel that's another thing they are going to ignore until enough people complain about it.
But the response from other companies seem to be about how it's hard. It's strange because people are asking to put in features that have existed in other games for a long time now so that the games can make more money.
I would expect the response would be "yes we must implement this as soon as possible!" instead of "yeah, well it's hard". I think that likely applies to every aspect of development, not just adding rollback and crossplay.
In an alternate universe, this game launched parity with other regions, had crossplay and rollback netcode at the very least.
Who knows what they are going to do in the future exactly, I can only hope that Granblue is the last Arc sys game with delay netcode. Strive needs to be the start of something new.
And after rollback people are eventually going to have to move over to adding crossplay as well because I feel that's another thing they are going to ignore until enough people complain about it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't GBF a game that has never been officially released outside of Japan? Last I knew apple players in the west are SOL and Android users have to download the Japanese game and change the language to English. That probably had a bigger impact on the game's failure to launch in the West then anything else.
I would have bought it if they didn't cut all of the gacha integration out of the PC release that sucked. They could have figured out a way to give codes for the gacha even if Steam lets customers get refunds.
The IP is too unknown outside Japan. It had a ton of scheduled events from spring to fall and literally all of them got canned without any real replacements or advertised online events (there were a few though.)
It was never gonna be big but COVID definitely took even its smallest sail down. Still looking forward to any updates they do to this game and really want that RPG to drop though it seems like they keep going back to the drawing board with it.
It was never gonna be big but COVID definitely took even its smallest sail down. Still looking forward to any updates they do to this game and really want that RPG to drop though it seems like they keep going back to the drawing board with it.