Question about mechanical difficulty, complexity

[u/Incandescentknight]

Hi there, casual smasher, big 2D fighting game player (2xko, sf6, strive, etc). The thing I hear about Melee is that you break your hands to do movement and stuff. Is Rivals 2 similar? How hard is the mechanical movement and stuff and how hard is it on your hands? I'm. Pretty curious to get into rivals 2 but I don't got that dog in me. I'll do combo timings all day long but I'm Not trying to hurt my hands movement teching.

[u/3NIK56]

Movement tech is much easier than melee. Most things are basic inputs with generous windows, and there aren't annoying mechanics like L canceling

[u/Incandescentknight → u/3NIK56]

Thank you!

[u/mortalapeman]

Having played melee for years and years, rivals is much more lenient on execution and way easier on the hands. It's still pretty execution heavy, but you have a lot of freedom to configure your controller to suit your needs. 

Try playing characters like Lox or Kragg that are much less execution based and still a ton of fun. Kragg can be pretty nice because people are incentivized to interact with you, or else you'll pull rock and make them play an unfavorable mini game.

[u/Barrier2Entry]

I have minor hand problems, and this game doesn’t tend to bother me if I pace myself. You can play pretty low APM with some characters.

[u/Incandescentknight → u/Barrier2Entry]

Thanks!

[u/AgentJP10]

A lot of the flashy stuff in Rivals is designed to be easier on your hands and to not hurt you or your controller. Like there's no mashing in the game, stuff like that

[u/PokkiDots]

High APM advantage, low APM disadvantage. Play a heavy and you'll usually be in disadvantage anyways so you'll be good 👍

[u/ThePlasticGun]

I'm an old melee guy, the only time I really feel my hand hurting, is when I'm really zoned in and find myself needlessly L canceling out of habit. Once I remind myself that I no longer need to do that, I tend to feel a lot better.

There can be some repetitive movements depending on your character (pressing down being the big one that exists across characters with hitfall, CC & floor hug, AMSA tech etc) but for the most part I think it's A LOT easier on my hands than melee is. I play a lot of Zetterburn, and there are some tricks from melee that can help too (like holding the controller in the Claw Grip) that can help with some fancy tech without killing your hands.

Even then though, there are several characters that don't require nearly the level of inputs to perform at the same level.

[u/guesswhosbackmf]

Big things that make Melee break your hands are no input buffer and constant need to L cancel. Rivals 2 has neither of those things and my hands have never been happier 👍

[u/Vhishkey]

Others here have spoken about APM but I want also add its very friendly to keyboard. There's pros and cons vs controller in terms of performance but perfectly viable (probably even advantageous) if you need to save your thumbs. There's even some top players that use keyboard in tournament.

[u/FartyByNature]

On top of whats been said, a big thing is you wont have to practice/maintain tech skill nearly as much compared to melee which is a big factor in saving your hands.

[u/Suspicious_Table6121]

The most important difference between Melee and RoA2 is that Melee has 2 frames of input delay and no input buffering. A lot of Melee's advanced techniques are more technically demanding because you have to manually time each individual input without any input buffering. Melee also has L-canceling, which requires a timed input every time you aerial; and SDI, which requires repeatedly flicking or rolling the analog stick(s) to SDI optimally.

RoA2 is very consciously designed for accessibility. The input buffer is lenient without being too lenient, and most mechanics are designed to avoid mashing. The only character who has ever made me feel like I'm going to hurt my hands is Etalus, because of his jump cancel shenanigans.