Man, I wanted to like ARMS so much more: it hs an incredible presentation, amaing soundtrack and fantastic character designs. I think Nintendo wanted to sell it as "Splatoon's Switch cousin IP", since it was a cool IP at launch and it add free bonus content released over the upcoming months.

It was a cool idea to begin a new series..... too bad Nintendo dropped the ball on it too quickly.

THe gameplay is interesting and considering I am a big fan of Punch Out Wii, I really liked it and each character had a cool enough gimmick to make them stand out, even though there is not the same amount of gameplay variety compared to other fighting games.

And tdespite the incredible roster, the game really misses a story mode that ties everyone together, or at least gives more depth to this charming world.
I think one of the reasons Splatoon got so successful is the fact that it combined a cool gmeplay and online matches with an interesting setting and a story full of secrets and enthrilling lore. Here we got the great gameplay and online.... but in terms of the story there is not a lot going on: each character got a comment and artwork after finishing the arcade mode, you got some story about Dr. Coyle, Max Brass and Hedlok, and some cool arts to collect.... but honestly I kinda wish for so much more. I kinda wish the planned manga of ARMS was able to be released, because with what we got I don't think I am able to completely immerse myself into this new cool IP.

I remember trying this game thanks to the nintendo switch online, who made the title free for like a week.... and I personally felt that 1 week was just enough to enjoy all of the content ARMS had to offer..... which is kind of a shame.
It's not a bad game, if you are a fan of Punch out (or Wii sports Boxing) giving it a shot will be worthy..... but man I wish there was more to it.... Hoping for an ARMS 2!

Arms seemingly had everything it needed to be a hit. A unique gameplay conceit, a fun cast of characters, and a colorful world. Arms looked like it could be to the Switch what Splatoon was to the Wii U and Nintendo seemed to be banking on it, capitalizing on its prospective success by announcing a graphic novel based on the game published by Dark Horse comics. At first, Arms did become the success Nintendo was hoping it’d be, receiving positive reviews from most publications and eventually going on to sell over two million copies. This success wouldn’t last because as it turns out, the game was called Arms because it had no legs.

Unlike Splatoon, which retained a very dedicated fanbase, once the hype died down people just kinda stopped talking about Arms. It’s easy to understand why. It’s a fun game for the first few minutes you play it, but it’s far too gimmicky for hardcore fighting game players to have any interest and is too lacking in content to keep the attention of casual players, a problem which would go unsolved as the game would receive only a few content updates in the form of characters and stages before support stopped in December 2017, just 6 months after release. With that, the Arms franchise basically died before it got the chance to even become a franchise. The graphic novel went radio silent for years before being officially canceled in 2021, and there’s been no talks of any sort of proper sequel. The most Nintendo would acknowledge Arms after 2017 was putting Min-Min in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, a move which angered millions of people who believe Smash’s roster should be populated entirely by characters from video games they played when they were 6.

For all its faults, Arms had a ton of potential and it’s a shame that potential has gone unfulfilled. There are some crazy good character designs here and some really whacky lore that I could easily envision a sequel expanding on. On the other hand though, Arms will be lost to time and I can’t really say it doesn’t deserve to be.