So today Switch owners were able to test out the upcoming fighting game ARMS at 5 pm Pacific Time (8 PM ET) for an hour. If you're interested in trying it out but missed out today, there will be more chances this weekend and next weekend to join the Testpunch. For those of you who have had the chance to try it out, what are your first impressions?

As far as the controls go, I decided to test out the motion controls first just because I was curious to see how the joy-cons are compared to the Wii Remote. I kept having issues with moving my character left and right. The game says to tilt both joy cons in the same direction, but when I'd do that, my character wouldn't move. Every other action I did worked fine, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to move. needless to say, I switched to the joy-con charging grip the rest of the way. Next time I'll probably just play in handheld mode.

EDIT: I tried using the motion controls again and didn't have any issues. I was having issues before because of the way I was holding the joycons.

I used Master Mummy the whole time. I won almost every game I played except when I faced people using Ninjara. I guess in the case of those 2, Speed beats Power. I'll have to try out some of the other characters including Ninjara to get a better idea of who I like using the most. Overall though, I had a pretty good time trying ARMS out. I was able to do both regular battles and V-Ball. V-Ball works the same way as volleyball, except after a certain amount of hits or if it reaches the ground, it'll explode. You get a point if it explodes on your opponent's side.

Here's the remaining times for the Global Testpunch. Each session lasts 1 hour.
May 27th
5 AM PT
11 AM PT
5 PM PT

May 28th
5 AM PT
11 AM PT

June 2nd
5 PM PT

June 3rd
5 AM PT
11 AM PT
5 PM PT

June 4th
5 AM PT
11 AM PT

Linkums : I know you were going to be doing the Global Testpunch, so would you like to share your first impressions?

My guess is that for the not moving with motion controls, you were maybe holding the controllers facing the wrong way. You have to hold them vertically and sideways, so the insides (tiny L and R buttons) are pointing forward to the TV.

Anyway, I had a quite a bit of fun and I'd love to be able to read the little details about the variations in each characters, arm type, and the less obvious gameplay mechanics. I was learning that different characters could jump and dash differently (like jump multiple times, jump and hover, etc.) and the loading screens kept giving little bits of advice that I wouldn't have known otherwise, so I imagine there's still more that I don't know about the gameplay that'll add complexity.

Since I started with motion controls, when I briefly tried switching to the regular controller, I didn't know how to do anything that way and so I switched back after a match. I want to try that next time though. I also tried every character a bit and surprisingly enjoyed both the fast characters and the heavy characters.

It's hard to say how long the full game would keep my attention, since I rarely bother to actually practice and get good at fighting games, but if there's a decent amount of offline content and unlockable stuff and other modes, then I could see myself enjoying it quite a bit.

Yeah, I saw Vinny from Vinesauce play it today. That game has some amazing depth. He didn't use the motion controls and he liked it a lot. I enjoyed watching it, and I'd really like to give it a try.

Can't wait for the full game

I tried it out some myself this morning (not using the motion controls and playing portable rather than on my TV)

I enjoyed it a lot actually. More than I thought I would. Combat system is simple, yet still delivers a lot of depth. I also enjoyed the maps and the different game modes available. I'll make sure to play it some more over the beta test weekend and will be interested to check out the full game once it's released.

Linkums : You're right, the problem I was having was indeed the way I was holding the joy-cons. I tried again using motion controls, and it worked fine for me. I quickly went back to using the charging grip soon afterward though because I'm more used to the controls there.

yoshirulez:
Jordanv78 : I'm looking forward to the full game as well. I didn't have high hopes for the game before the testpunch, but now I'm convinced that ARMS needs to be in my Switch game collection.

Linkums :
Jordanv78 : Now that the 1st weekend of online play is over, do either of you have a favorite fighter yet? For me, I've gotten really good with Master Mummy. I've tried out the other characters a bit, but Master Mummy's the one I seem to be the best with.

It's hard to say, but probably (don't remember names) ninja, mummy, and min-min. And I liked both main control setups after trying both, but I may actually like motion controls better since it's easier to control punches individually. I definitely want the game now though.

Saw more of the testpunch yesterday, I absolutely HAVE to try this game. They even have alternate skins like in Smash. I could see this /kinda/ replacing smash for me until I get sm4sh really

yoshirulez! Well, today's the day. ARMS has finally arrived! I hope you'll be able to play it soon.

The testpunch is long gone now, so the thread's going to be closed now.