this easily could've been the next splatoon and become a big IP that gets lots of love, but they really shot themselves in the foot by marketing the joy-con mode so heavily while barely mentioning the fact that regular controllers work too. it had more than enough depth to pop off as a competitive fighting game while still being fun casually, but most people saw the joy-cons as the only way to play and it understandably turned them away. it's a shame since this game is so much fun with a wonderful art direction and has character designs full of charm, but they really fumbled and they're clearly hesitant to make a sequel. i'm still hopeful that it'll happen!! don't let this potential go to waste nintendo :(

As one of the 6 or so people who played ARMS, I'm uniquely qualified in telling you that that one weird boxing game for the switch you vaguely remember existing is a surprisingly decent game. As a fighting game it's extremely unique with strategy being focused around punishing opponents when their arms are released and they become vulnerable.

The game has a great amount of build options between the decently sized cast and the ability to equip three sets of arms into a loadout that you can swap between each round. Some of the top tier characters are a bit too strong, with Kid Cobra and Dr Coyle both being capable of breaking the in-game camera tracking as part of their kit, and max brass' buff mode making him immune to most hitstun while permacharging his arms. Byte and Barq are also laughably weak, imagine smash ultimate ice climbers if Nana was stunned for 3 seconds when she took any kind of damage and you had a contextual counter that only worked if you jumped on Nana. Some of the individual arms are also really strong compared to most of them, particularly the boxing glove types.

The art style and character designs are mostly pretty great, outside of the two mascot characters who I find to be the most boring ones in the roster. The music is also surprisingly good, I particularly enjoyed Lola's and Coyle's themes, and the grand prix headlok boss theme. There's a lot of unique game modes like basketball but you need to use grabs to dunk your opponent and free-for-alls featuring multiple other players. An interesting game with a lot of issues.

Not every new IP is a smash hit. But ARMS sure as hell should have been.

The motion controls are a joy to use and harken back to the delightfully silly days of Wii Sports and Resort. Even if you opt for the traditional controller setup there's so much ridiculous fun to be had but more than this you can begin to discover the intricacies of ARMS's combat system. Yes, it's rudimentary and unbalanced but we have to consider this is the first stab at this potential new combat, something that no other game in history has ever dreamt up. Looking to ARMS's spiritual sister—Splatoon—we can see a similar lack of polish and balance in the earliest opening (Splatoon 2015). But in the games sophomore outing, much needed balancing was done that brought the games competitive scene to new heights. It is reasonable to believe ARMS could see such improvement in a second installment as well, dispelling much of the sentiment that ARMS is just a stupid party game too reliant on a gimmick.

Moreover there is some of the most inventive story, world, character, and sound ever created in a video game. ARMS oozes style, from the start menu to the credits the heavy cultural inspiration and sport motifs give ARMS one of the most incredible and enrapturing tones I have ever experienced.

Give this silly game a serious chance. It's all I ask.
ARMS 2 WHEN?