Hiya!

It may not come to shock anyone that I have a Nintendo Switch. I have written a few pieces about the console in the past because I think it’s really neat. I like the portability aspect and the whole detachable controller gimmick it has. I even have a few games on it, namely Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which I’ve finished twice, and Super Mario Odyssey, which I’ve only finished once… and never bothered to get all the Stars. It’s so hard to get some of them!

Disappointingly, those are the only two games I have on the console! I will boot up Breath of the Wild once in a while just to explore the beautiful land of Hyrule now and again but I just haven’t gotten other games for it yet. I know there are tons of excellent games on the Nintendo Switch but I’m just a Sony fangirl at heart. Also, games are more expensive on the Switch! What’s up with that, Nintendo? When are you ever going to bring out games that are competitively priced than your competitors? But that’s a whole other topic altogether.

There are a couple of Nintendo Switch exclusives that I’ve been eying. The first is Octopath Traveler because I like it’s old-school Final Fantasy-esque look and I’ve heard really good things about it. The problem is it’s, well, expensive and I’m afraid that once I finish it, I’ll be done with it. I need a little more bang for my buck. Which is why the second game I’ve been looking at is Nintendo’s biggest game in terms of franchise crossover. I’m talking about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, of course.

I really want to get Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and play it on my Nintendo Switch. I know it’s good; I’ve seen all the rave reviews about it. It’s also jam-packed with content, filler to the brim with more fighters and stages than any other Smash Bros. game. It’s also supposedly have an awesome Story mode called World of Light. Nintendo Switch games may be expensive but, from what I’ve heard, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is worth it.

Now, here’s the weird thing that’s stopping me from getting the game: I’m really intimidated by the game. Yes, it sounds dumb, especially for something like a game like this that little kids and adults are supposed to have fun because the fighting is easy to pick up. But is it really? I mean, is it something that’s easy to master or understand all the mechanics?

I guess I have to put my thinking into perspective a bit. I wasn’t a big gamer growing up. Not the traditional kind, anyway. I may have liked video games during my younger days but I was more satisfied watching my brother play. I was more of a backseat gamer then. But as I started getting older, I started actually getting my hands dirty. I started slow with “easy” games like The Sims series and PlayStation Home. Basically, I was more into playing story games or games where you could just lay back and play at your own pace.

Then came Street Fighter IV.

I have played fighting games in the past but I was content with just mashing the buttons all the time. But for some strange reason, Street Fighter IV was different. It was a game that I should’ve been terrible at because you needed to react and time your button presses and think on the fly. Street Fighter IV should’ve been a game that I abhorred but I didn’t. I actually liked it a whole lot. So much so that I tried to really delve into the mechanics. It’s because of Street Fighter IV that I got more and more into games. Fighting games especially.

You would think that my love for Street Fighter and other fighting games would make me extremely hype for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Oddly enough, it did the opposite. That’s because the Smash Bros. series, to me anyway, isn’t your traditional fighting game. Everything about the Smash Bros. games takes everything I know about fighting games and throws them out the window. There are no life bars. No motions to perform special attacks or anything like that. The strategies are all different! I don’t think my knowledge from previous fighting games just won’t translate to Smash Bros! Yes, I know it’s supposed to be one of those “pick up and play” kinds of games. But I do think my enjoyment to it will be strongly linked to how well I understand the mechanics. And even after watching several “beginner” videos, I still have a tough time wrapping my head around a lot of the “beginner” mechanics involved!

Another thing that’s preventing me from getting Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is I don’t really have any nostalgic feelings for Nintendo. I may recognize all of the characters because, let’s face it, what gamer worth his/her salt doesn’t know who they are? Even so, I never grew up with playing Nintendo games nor do I have memories of my brother playing them. I grew up with the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 being the primary gaming console in the home. We totally skipped out on the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube also, which is another reason why I’m not familiar with the Smash Bros. games. I know it a long running series and the characters have legacies tied to them. I just don’t have wistful memories of them, which makes me question if I’ll have a grand ol’ time playing with characters I don’t have a strong bond to.

There’s also the matter of the super large roster of characters in the game. Normally, that would be a huge selling point, particularly for a fighting game. But why did Nintendo have it so that most of the characters are unlocked by some weird, unknown rules? It would have been so much better if you could go through the World of Light adventure and search for them scattered all over the map. Or if you went through whatever the game’s Arcade more was and unlock characters by beating it. But that’s not how it works, apparently.

Basically, it’s going to eat a huge chunk of time to fully unlock every character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. But really? Who has that kind of time? I don’t want to go through all of the methods and follow some flowchart stating who I need to play as to unlock whatever character! I just want to play with all of them! I’m afraid I’ll just get extremely frustrated with the entire thing and just give up midway through it.

Will I eventually bite the bullet and buy Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Honestly, I don’t know. Despite all of the reviews saying that it’s an excellent game, the task of unlocking everyone is daunting and actually acclimating myself to a totally new fighting game system is intimidating. On the other hand, I know Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a beloved game that most people are raving out. I’m just not sure if I’m going to be a big enough fan to really get the most out of it.

Do you think I should buy Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Let me know in the comments section below!