Need some help getting started.

I just bought the game the other day, and have only really played in a few vs. matches with friends (who have also never played before). As far as my background with fighting games, i have played a few different ones, but never really attempted to get good at them; I just kind of fooled around with them.

After browsing around the site/forum, i realized how rediculously complicated the game is. So I'm pretty much seeking some starter advice.

What are some good beginning characters that won't cause me to develop "bad habits," but aren't overly-complicated either?

Is there a general rule of when to block vs. counter vs. evade?

Can i get good just by playing against the AI on higher difficulties, or do i have to find some actual players of equal skill? (Though I won't have to worry about this for a while, since i find it difficult to win on normal difficulty.)

Also, does the game require me to have extremely fast reflexes in order to become moderately good?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Hello and welcome to the board.

I'm guessing you purchased VF4:Evolution.

I don't think any one character will cause you to develop bad habits - although some reward button-mashng better than others. Pick the one you like and start from there.

Regarding when to do what in the game - I got a great synopsis just a few months ago from <font color="blue">GoatCheeseBlues</font> - he said to think of the fight as if you're taking turns attacking. So, if your attack hits, it's still your turn to attack. If you get blocked, it's their turn to attack or throw - and you block, dodge, or escape in response. Certain characters have things like reversals, sabakis, and inashis that allow them to take another turn immediately after being blocked. You could also use your character's dodge attack to take your turn again (provided your dodge attack is any good).

You can learn the finer points of turn taking and when to do things by studying frames in the movelists and by reading the frames guide to help it all make sense. When you understand advantage vs. disadvantage, things make even more sense.

To get better when you're without others to fight against, go through all the training mode challenges and apply what you've learned to the cpu characters you fight in quest mode. Play like you're fighting a real person rather than just looking for an exploit.

I read training character (Akira) documents over and over. Every time I do, I seem to have a little "a-ha!" moment where I finally understand exactly what it is I'm reading and how I should apply it to my game.

Fast reflexes help - but knowledge and execution of what to do and when to do it helps more.

If your friends learn with you, it could be fun for everyone involved. If you live in California (especially Southern California), New York, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, or Massachusettes (to name a few states) - there are groups of excellent players that may be near to you.

I think VF is phenomenal and it's provided me years of enjoyment. I hope it goes the same for you.

 

Jeffry is the best starting character.

 

ignore vanity, choose whoever appeals to you the most

try not to start with leifei or shun, they are a bit unorthodox in the traditional fighting sense. In my personal experience i started with leifei, switched to kage to learn some fundamentals and then switched back to leifei again. But again this is entirely up to you.

 

Good starting characters are ones with easier commands and a good set of the basic moves.

Characters like Jacky, Lau, Pai, Sarah, Kage etc etc

Having said that, you can play whoever appeals to you most and it wont harm you really. You learn what works and what doesn't as you go along and any "bad habits" you pick up will be ironed out once you understand the game better.

Be a man, start with Akira.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Enryb said:
What are some good beginning characters that won't cause me to develop "bad habits," but aren't overly-complicated either?

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Pretty much any character other than Lei, Shun, (unorthodox, you will pick up bad habits), Brad, or Goh (requires a lot more work and knowledge to make them work effectively, and you can pick up very bad habits with Brad as well). I would also reccomend staying away from Akira, but you can start with a simple Akira and you won't pick up any bad habits. I would highly recommend the same characters mentioned by Elite, plus Lion or Vanessa. They are a little unorthodox, but are still great for learning the game.

[ QUOTE ]
Enryb said:
Is there a general rule of when to block vs. counter vs. evade?

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Well, each of those options carries different risk vs reward (I'm assuming by counter you mean reversal, catching the opponent's attack). Evading will give you enough time to punish many moves that blocking will not, but you open yourself up to possibly whiffing an evade or being hit by moves that can't be evaded. I wouldn't mess with reversal too much right now.

[ QUOTE ]
Enryb said:
Can i get good just by playing against the AI on higher difficulties, or do i have to find some actual players of equal skill?

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The AI in Quest mode at the 7th or 8th arcade is actually good. Good as in, as good as a real player? No, but it uses stuff like evade -> throw escape and doesn't cheat by reading inputs. You can get pretty decent by playing Quest mode, certainly moreso than any other fighting game.

So find a character to focus on, get to the 8th arcade, and use that to practice. When you find something that the AI falls for every time, stop using it. Not because it would be cheating or something, but what will you learn from abusing a tactic you know will work every time? Save that stuff for playing real humans that can adapt.

[ QUOTE ]
Enryb said:
Also, does the game require me to have extremely fast reflexes in order to become moderately good?

[/ QUOTE ]
Not for awhile. I mean, fast reflexes will help in any game, this one included, but it's not necessary, especially early on. Learn the game/system mechanics first, and explore your character's options with training mode. That is 100% more important than having good reflexes right now. Reflexes will come later after everything is second nature.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

As someone who has not been playing forever, allow me to inject the single most important piece of advice so far in this thread. It is so basic that all of the above posters (who were probably born Joysticks in their hand) skipped over it.

LEARN YOUR CHARACTER'S MOVELIST FIRST

I recommend you go through the movelist before you play and after you play. I recommend going through the movelist even after you have learned how to do all the moves. It is one thing to know the inputs for the moves but it is quite another to be able to recall them in the situation in which you need them. As you get more familiar with the flow of the game you will find yourself in situations in which you "feel" the need for a move with certain properties and going through the command list after you are done playing can show you the move that you need to use in that certain situation.

 

Good stuff in here, too.

 

Thanks for all the advice, I'm liking Jacky a lot, and still trying to get down a lot of the more complex moves from basic training.

And i do happen to live in Massachusetts, so maybe I'll be able to find some experienced people around.

 

There's some great players in Boston - <font color="blue">Jerky, Shang,</font> and <font color="blue">Siyko</font> to name three.

Hopefully you'll be able to get some games in with them.

 

Errrr... care to join us? Where in MA do you live. Shang and I are pretty much in town, but I believe Siyko is western MA atm. Shoot me a pm.