Stand up, a hot mess.

[BQ32]

I really like the grappling system and feel it is pretty well balanced but the striking continues to be a huge detriment to this game and feel it has actually gotten worse with the patches even if the intent was good.

To start movement and striking feels so cumbersome and unresponsive. When using the quick steps it occasionally will not register or have such a delay that you press it again and then 2 steps come out. Moving forward and actually landing punches with a short fighter against a rangy fighter is very frustrating. I am all about realism and want to have to work to get in by cutting off the ring, using the jab and feints but in this game you can work to get in, sacrifice some damage to get in position only to have a short armed fighter still flail at nothing because I guess T-Rexs were not meant to box, even when named Tyson. However you can move on the outside and use proper timing with a taller/rangier fighter with success but it becomes monotonous being solely about keeping range and using straight punches which leads me to my biggest gripe.

The sway/head movement is just horrid. A) it can be very difficult to use a sway and follow it with throwing the proper punch as there are to many commands mapped to the L2/LT button. B) The fighter needs to constantly reset to normal position after a sway in order to throw a punch, with already overly long striking animations it becomes impossible to become a real threat by counter punching after slipping which is the best defensive and offensive tactic for many real and great fighters such as Connor and Tyson. Also not being able to block while using headmovement is equally as absurd as you are left completely vulnerable to a body attack or a well placed shot. So in combination you are left with a system that is VERY high risk with practically no reward (the sway is great for take downs but this is in regards to striking). This nerfs smaller fighters that like to get in with with upper body movement and allows the game to become very robotic I.E. two players standing straight up taking turns exchanging strikes.

Lastly the damage system is infuriating. You can pick an opponent apart using single punches including power straights and clean head kicks for several rounds with the opponent never being in any imminent danger, but land one series of three body uppercuts and a head punch and the opponent is most likely toast. And for the cherry on top is the completely random rock system. You may land 20 clean kicks to the face doing little damage and then your opponent gets a rock from a random strike, or because of the forced delay to block.
I just can't fathom how a studio that prior to UFC worked solely on Fight Night, a pure striking game and have that aspect of the the UFC series be so shoddy. Maybe they should move some of the grappling devs over to the striking side. I hate to be so negative but I really want this game to be great, especially in the absence of fight night but in this state I can not continue to invest time into a frustrating experience.

[WarMMA]

Yh the ground is amazing and easily the most realistic ground game in an mma game period, but the stand up still is highly lacking in comparison. The best thing they did was add the hit reactions, but that's about it. It's still pretty much the same thing from the first game with the whole brawly thing going on. Definitely agree with the post though..especially with the sways and damage system. We need to be able to throw a strike fluidly and instantly off a sway like how you could in undisputed. Also I have that gripe with movement too. Where I am forced to take this extra two steps and stuff. I wanna have full control of where my fighter is going. Thing I have to keep reminding myself of is this game (more so the striking) is made for casuals and ppl who just wanna button mash.

[SwedishTouch76]

Great post OP. I put the game down about a mth ago. Tried to give it another go last night. 2 fights in I just had enough. Outside of over the top hit reactions I feel like striking wasn't really worked on much at all. I've literally watched War MMA ask for stopping power on SINGLE STRIKES 1578 times. I think the majority wants that. Instead we get the combo Multiplier.

I'll just say it. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the GC''s endorsed the multiplier. I know they didn't want one shot ko's. Scared it would mess up their precious W/L record. Smh

[WarMMA]

Quote: Originally Posted by SwedishTouch76

Great post OP. I put the game down about a mth ago. Tried to give it another go last night. 2 fights in I just had enough. Outside of over the top hit reactions I feel like striking wasn't really worked on much at all. I've literally watched War MMA ask for stopping power on SINGLE STRIKES 1578 times. I think the majority wants that. Instead we get the combo Multiplier. I'll just say it. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the GC''s endorsed the multiplier. I know they didn't want one shot ko's. Scared it would mess up their precious W/L record. Smh

Lol. Idk man...it's like they just don't get it. What ppl want is consistent stopping power that's tied to the strikes themselves. Instead they choose to go with the over the top hit reactions and the silly multiplier. Then having literally all lighter strikes with no hit stun makes the striking even more spam catering and brawly. I can't pick my shots and throw a teep kick or rear leg kick at my opponent, cuz he will just get to hit me with free strikes. That's why ppl constantly throw modified strikes or combos. The game's striking promotes that type of playstyle. Btw I find the idea of getting rid of one shot ko's completely insane...I mean why would you get rid of what is pretty much the most exciting aspect of the sport? They could have easily just made some competition settings that eliminated it for ppl who wanna cry about it and their records. That's what undisputed did.

[SwedishTouch76]

I know for a fact one GC didn't want one shot KO's in. " you can't have random stuff in competitive gaming" or something to that effect. It's pretty random in real life. Sometimes a flush shot might be absorbed and other times a short hook might hit the sweet spot and it's lights out.

What's amusing is they had the MacGregor one shot kill when you pop the game in. Then say no we don't want that in the game. Huh?

[WarMMA]

Yh its pretty ridiculous to not include the most exciting thing in the sport because ppl wanna cry about their records in competition. All they had to do is take the route undisputed did. They had a few different settings in that game and one was for competition, which eliminated the random things happening. So under that setting, no one shot ko's could happen. EA could have easily did something like this and leave one hit ko's in. It's very realistic and arguably the most exciting aspect of mma. Why would you remove it?

[chapmandachamp]

i think fighters need more perks so u could give everyone the sway perks and then u can create that one punch KO u want.

[81chrisso]

Quote: Originally Posted by WarMMA

Lol. Idk man...it's like they just don't get it. What ppl want is consistent stopping power that's tied to the strikes themselves. Instead they choose to go with the over the top hit reactions and the silly multiplier. Then having literally all lighter strikes with no hit stun makes the striking even more spam catering and brawly. I can't pick my shots and throw a teep kick or rear leg kick at my opponent, cuz he will just get to hit me with free strikes. That's why ppl constantly throw modified strikes or combos. The game's striking promotes that type of playstyle. Btw I find the idea of getting rid of one shot ko's completely insane...I mean why would you get rid of what is pretty much the most exciting aspect of the sport? They could have easily just made some competition settings that eliminated it for ppl who wanna cry about it and their records. That's what undisputed did.

Exactly this! I think GC and the Top 100 guys would have cried too much if they've kept the one shot ko's. They want total control. Game would be so much more fun with more elements of danger! It's just boring the way it is now. Same for me: I don't play the game for weeks and when I play I have enough after 2 fights. Just boring.