Entering The Speed Run: FGC Should Begin With Brawlers

Two communities that have huge crossover in terms of fans and attendants is the Speed Running community and the Fighting Game community. Many runners have adapted what they learn in Speed Running to improve in their fighting games, but what would the course of action be for someone who plays fighting games and is looking to get into Speed Running? I think I have the answer. 3D Hack n Slash games or Brawlers.

That might seem like a very generalized statement. The link I find is that the skips, glitches and optimal strategies in these games are all tied to combat mechanics, and more often than not will need a high focus and low reaction time, as well as the ability to improvise at the drop of a hat. Let’s go a little further into it!

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Execution Necessity

In both Speed Running brawlers and playing Fighting Games there is always a lingering set of optimal ways to execute. Certain chains deliver the damage output you want, the difference is during speed runs you need to focus on the length of the combo animations as well as the input length. In a brawler you need the ability to quickly transition between fighting styles to accommodate certain situations, which leads to testing and manipulation to adapt the fastest pace of all styles available. In terms of a fighter, this is equal to having multiple characters on the ready, like a Team Battle, as most brawlers tend to drastically differ their weapon choices, damage output and overall function in the meta.

Take for example the Hunter fight in DmC: Devil May Cry. The entirety of it in detail:-

1. Sink 6 sticky bombs as the boss approaches.
2. Demon Evade the side-swipe the Hunter throws out.
3. Chain the DE roll into an Overdrive charge.
4. Release a mid-charge 3-hit combo.
5. Immediately activate Devil Trigger.
6. Trigger the sticky bombs to eradicate the rest of the health bar.

This all happens in one chain of multiple mechanics, and requires a smooth execution with aid of knowing the animation speeds of both your own attacks and the Hunter himself. Surely one who has knowledge of Fighting Game combos, the research put into them and the importance of being on-point for the best ones, would understand how these types of fights are executed.

Furthering a line that FGC members would recognize, you need to also be able to change your style and strategies at a very fast pace. Not many brawlers have AI that you can completely predict, lots of improvisation will be required. It’s down to reading the situation for each fight and choosing an approach through availability of combos and AI reaction.

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General Movement and Power-Up Mechanics

The thing that strings all the combat and the skips together is the highest speed of movement chaining possible. It’s done very simply in some games, like MGR: Revengeance, where land travel is done with Ninja Run, and Bayonetta 2, where access to Panther form becomes the immediate beat-all form of moving around. Games like DmC are set with all movement being glitched, requiring different checkpoints of input while traveling. Dante’s Inferno involves a rapid dodge/jump/air cancel chain that ends up making even the calm portions intense in terms of optimally getting from place to place. Many different flavors exist within that allow you to really see what suits you best!

The various power up and upgrade systems make for interesting mechanics in these runs. In a New Game setting, you might need to perform extremely well in combat to collect enough currency of whatever game you are running to get vital new moves to begin sequence breaking, or a static damage boost that can save time as more fights are fought, adding another layer of requirement to how well your execution within needs to be.

Item systems also take a high priority in many brawlers, as frequently there are huge-damage AoEs or gauge boosts that you can use to sweep fights faster than the time you took to purchase it. Bayonetta 1 is completely broken at this point, where you can glitch infinite items and the fights become optimally chaining popping items to maximize DPS. Others are much more tame in nature, like Bayonetta 2, where they take high priority but are still limited in total use. Dante’s Inferno differs, where the fights that occur determine the necessity for item purchases. Each game has their own method of approaching these things.

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Sequence Breaking With Combos

Let’s not forget we are speaking of speed running here. We need some skips and sequence breaks to liven it up! The skips in these games come in many different methods. Some games like DmC: Devil May Cry are broken at their core, with glitches allowing you to execute quick attack chains into glitches. [Read a full breakdown as to why DmC is an amazing glitch game in this category]

Other games have some further variance, a large amount of which is in the huge range of Infinite Jump techniques. These all involve consistent combos, you lose large amounts of time if you drop any of the inputs needed to do whatever trick you are doing. Some are cut and dry when it comes to optimal height gain, but some games require even tighter timing, like Dante’s Inferno’s No-Redemption long and high jumps.

Some have one-hit height gainers like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (pictured below) where it comes down to three or four sets of timing to get height instead of gradually climbing through air attacks. Just like with basic combat execution, it boils down to a form that could be transferable to a free-form 3D Fighter setting.

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A Change of Pace

I’m sure that many people who play fighters among the various groups the FGC shares with speed runners have considered the speed running approach to games. They may have got stuck, as at face value there isn’t much that relates the two play styles. That said, brawlers/hack n slash/spectacle fighters have undoubtedly the most in common with your traditional fighter mindset.

Consider it if you are on the edge, if you find you’ve got transferable skills from your experience with fighters you just might ingrain that little bit closer to becoming a speed runner! 🙂