What Happened to ARMS? (2.0.0 Update)

Knocked Out?

The ARMS 2.0.0 update came out yesterday, finally giving me a reason to come back to the game. My relationship to ARMS is a bit strange. I found the testpunch incredibly boring, but really enjoyed the full game. The aesthetic of ARMS is fantastic, the gameplay is unique, and the game features a great local mulitplayer suite. I played the game pretty steadily from launch until Breath of the Wild’s DLC. After that, I pretty much fell off the game entirely. As the initial hype for the game died down, I started to see just how thin ARMS really is.

Loot Boxes kept me invested in Overwatch because
they were a fun reward for playing the game

What is really baffling about ARMS’s problems, is that Splatoon laid out a roadmap for how to launch a game of this caliber. ARMS is the second game from Nintendo that has adopted the ‘games as services’ model. Or, the idea of launching a game with the bare essentials then fleshing it out later. These games allow the mechanics to speak for themselves, and lean on smart game design to tide players over until content begins to drop. We’ve seen this model executed very successfully by games such as Overwatch and Splatoon, to name some recent examples. Overwatch launched light on content, but created a endlessly enjoyable loop. Jumping into quick play randomly cycled the player through different maps and modes, so I never found myself getting bored. Then, winning those battles would accumulate XP, which would result in Loot Boxes full of new items. This system incentivised me to keep playing the game, even before new heroes and maps began to release. Let’s focus on Splatoon though.

Splatoon 2 will also feature a living hub area, seemingly
even more detailed than the first

Somehow, Splatoon managed to launch with about half of the content in ARMS. At release, there were only four maps and one mode for the online. Still, the Splatoon team was able to create a gameplay loop that brought me back day after day, even though there was an astonishingly small amount of content. As soon as the player loaded into the game, they’d be greeted by the Inkopolis plaza; perhaps one of the smartest design choices I’ve ever seen in a multiplayer game. This area is chock full of life, with new stuff happening every day. The left side was lined by a mall that featured a daily rotation of new gear to purchase. Through the middle were other player’s Inklings who cycled out daily as well, always having new messages to give and items to bring. On top of that were the other little secrets and happenings in the plaza that made it feel like a living, breathing world. Then, once you finally got into a game, the map rotation and short rounds never made the game feel repetitive, and each battle made your Inkling stronger. You’d grow in level and accumulate coins which allowed you to buy better weapons and clothes that changed your playstyle. And then, there wasn’t even time to grow tired of Splatoon’s in-game hooks because new content started to launch immediately. It only took three days for content to start rolling out. Then, it was off to the races. A week did not go by during the summer of 2015 when there was no Splatoon news. It was always in the consciousness of Nintendo fans. The game snowballed, getting bigger and better as time went on. This happened over a short period of time mind you; the game doubled in size in the summer alone.

ARMS has a ranked mode, but it isn't much more compelling
than its other modes

Compare that to ARMS. Sure, these games were made by different teams. That doesn’t change the fact that ARMS features none of the hooks that made Splatoon so successful. Really, all there is to do in the game is beat the Grand Prix on level 4 then run your way up the ranked ladder as you wait for more content. There are simply no incentives to keep going in ARMS. All you get from playing the main online mode are coins that can eventually be spent on new arms, but that process is so slow that it doesn’t feel rewarding. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels playing ARMS. There are just so many games to play that I have a hard time justifying spending time in one that doesn’t reward my playtime. So, I pretty much stopped. Enter the 2.0.0 update.

I really like playing as Max Brass, I just wish that he wasn't
already in the Grand Prix because he didn't feel new

ARMS 2.0.0 marked the first expansion to the game since launch. Unfortunately, it released nearly a month after launch, compared to Splatoon’s 3 days. Past that, it’s a bit lackluster. Max Brass and Sky Stadium are neat additions, but they don’t feel all that new considering they were both already in the Grand Prix. The Headlok Scramble mode doesn’t feel like anything more than a novelty, as it essentially boils down to a free-for-all match. This late into ARMS’s life, the game needed more to stay afloat. Especially with Splatoon 2 releasing in just a week, I don’t see ARMS getting another chance anytime soon. It’s a shame since the gameplay is just so good. Still, I can’t continue playing it without any kind of meaningful progression or gameplay loop. I really hope we eventually see a sequel to ARMS, because these mechanics and characters deserve better than the barebones experience we ended up with. I’ll stick to getting my ARMS fix when my friends are up for a couple rounds, but for the most part, ARMS is shelved.