Few things are as complex and rewarding as mastering a fighting game. A good ranked match will test your skill, reflexes, reasoning, and much more. And nothing compares to the feeling you get the first time you truly earn a win. However, getting there can be intimidating and grueling.
Related:Fighting Games That Are Beginner Friendly
If you’re new, you might feel the urge to put down your fight stick and walk away. Here’s the thing though: Walking away just might be what you need. While nothing beats some good ol’ training mode, there are plenty of non-fighting games that can help you avoid fatigue and sharpen your skills. So next time you’re having trouble landing your combos, consider picking up the following.
10Dark Souls Remastered
The first thing you have to come to terms with in your warrior’s journey is that you will lose. A lot. Becoming a master takes time and dedication, and in the meantime, you’re going to get your ass handed to you. So, what better game to teach you how to deal with frustration than the one infamous for its “you died” screen?
Dark Soulsalso demands that you familiarize yourself with each boss’ attack patterns, which is exactly what you’ll have to do with each character’s move set if you have any intentions of playing fighting games regularly.
9Titanfall 2
Being able to change your tactics on the fly is one of the most important aspects of high-level fighting game play. Sharp spatial awareness is also fundamental to any good game of footsies - which involves more than just low kicks.
Related:The Best Movement Shooters, Ranked
Any good movement shooter can be a great tool to sharpen your spatial reasoning and adaptability, butTitanfall 2deserves special recognition becauseit’s just so much fun. Its fantastic movement mechanics in particular provide a great training ground for rushdown combat.
It’s common to feel secure in your fighting skill level, until you join a casual match and find yourself paired with a master-ranked opponent. You will forget your combos, forget to block, and probably forget your aspirations of making it out of bronze one day.
The asymmetrical horror gameDead by Daylightwill put you in a very similar position. As a survivor, you will feel outmatched and scared, but you’ll still have toperform under that pressure. If you’re able to keep your cool against an angry pyramid head, you can survive a scary match-up.
7For Honor
CallingFor Honoranything other than a fighting game might be a slight misdirection. While the medieval combat simulator doesn’t snugly fit in the 2D or even 3D fighting categories, the game still features staples of the genre like grapple attacks, parrying, and unique character mash-ups.
This game will test you on all the technical aspects of a fighting game. However, its faced-paced action means that instead of waiting ten minutes for another match after you’ve been defeated, you can get up immediately and try again.
6Sifu
One of the biggest rookie mistakes you can make in fighting games is forgetting your defense. It won’t matter how much time you’ve spent practicing your combos if you never learn the value of blocking, parrying, and back dashing.Sifu’sextremely satisfying combat relies heavily on your ability to read your opponent and block their attacks.
Related:Sifu: Best Combos
On its lowest difficulty, the game can be a somewhat simplistic (but very satisfying) beat-em-up. If you choose to play on master difficulty, however, there is no way that you’ll make it to the final stage without a keen understanding of when you have to attack, and when you have to defend yourself.
5Devil May Cry
TheDevil May Cryseries features some of the best combo systems in any modern action series, on par with those ofBayonettaandMetal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The game’s stylish system rewards not only fast and precise inputs, but a very fundamental aspect of combos: creativity.
While some games are a little looser or a little more restrictive with their combo systems, being able to express yourself through your combos and developing an intuition for stringing moves together is fundamental to any fighting game.
4Doom Eternal
Like Titanfall 2,Doom Eternalrewards you for split-decision-making and fast movement, and punishes you for standing around thinking about what to do next. Not every fighter prefers the rush-down style of combat, but the ability to change your tactics on the fly thatDoomteaches you is going to come useful for any style of fighting gameplay.
As a bonus, once you’ve built some momentum,Doom Eternal’s combat and weapons systemfeels like a power fantasy through and through. It’s a great way to keep your spirit up and decompress after a frustrating losing streak.
3Tetris Effect
Here’s something that any seasoned fighting game player will tell you:now and then, you need to take a break.Fighting games draw you into an adrenaline rush. It’s one of the best things about them. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. You need to let your mind (and fingers) rest if you want to commit all those difficult inputs into muscle memory and actually improve over time.
Related:Best Mobile Games To Help You Relax
While any relaxing game would do the trick, studies have shown thatTetrisis particularly good for your brain. Its engaging visuals and audio will quickly help you get into a mindful, almost meditative, state of mind.
2Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekirois an amazing game to put everything mentioned on this list into practice. Its posture system makes it so you have to be very selective about when to attack, defend, or run away. The game is fast, frustrating, rewarding, and a great test of your spatial awareness and pattern recognition.
What makes Sekiro stand out from otherFromsoftwaretitles is that there is virtually no upgrade curve. Unlike with Dark Souls, there is no stat that you can farm until the game gets easier. Just like with fighting games, you will improve through trial and error (and more errors), and you will only advance by getting better.
1Pokemon Go
It’s hard to overstate how much even light-to-moderate physical activity can be beneficial for your overall health.Pokemon Gois a great game to get you moving and make those walking minutes go by faster. You don’t have to become the next Bruce Lee just to make it out of bronze rank, but even a little bit of exercise can help you improve your working memory, reflexes, concentration, and much more.
If you’re motivated by games, then something like Pokemon Go, or Zombies, Run, can be a fun and rewarding way to get active, improve your health, and de-stress. All of which will make a big difference to your fighting game skills and overall mood.
