Fighting Game Novice Tries to Master Avatar Legends

[00:03] Bender and there is this new fighting game called Avatar Legends that is out and I want to get good at it and I'm not that good at fighting games. So I have that good at fighting games. So I have enlisted Ben Janka here to help me try

[00:17] and learn Avatar Legends. What is it about this game that is something that people need to kind of get their head around? It's definitely like a very current landscape of all of them that are are kind of happening. It's a very

[00:30] kind of old school mentality and the way it's designed. It's it's quick, it's maybe a little bit quicker than you you think that you've you've got to and neat systems too where you've got this this flow thing where you'll automatically

[00:43] dodge attacks and you can use that to kind of counter. You've got these really cool meters that all build up depending on doing certain things with the characters. The game has tutorials and things like this. They're not that well

[00:56] fleshed out and even during our preview period, we only had access to the Ang tutorials. However, you did point me to this trials element which actually allows you to do breakdowns where it pauses the game in the combo and shows

[01:12] you're meant to hit the button. I've selected Kora. I think that she is a well-rounded character. She gets all of the different bending and we're going to try and work through some of these

[01:24] breakdowns and we're going to learn together how to get good at Avatar Legends. Okay. So, we're in the auto combo. So, explain an auto combo. What does that mean? Just that's just the same button over and over again.

[01:38] >> Yeah. So, the first trial here will be introducing you to the the the autocombo mechanic in the game, which is great. If you want to just jump in, you can kind of autocombo the day away. It basically follows through what would be a light,

[01:51] medium, heavy combo into I think it does the special at the end auto the breakdown too right now, which is really cool uh to get the timing for It'll freeze frame whenever you've got to do an input and then grade you on how

[02:06] >> I think we're good. So, I'm going to hit do trial here. All right. >> Yeah. Just kind of >> Yeah. See, it's not it's not getting it. >> You got you got you got to hit it up. You got to learn.

[02:20] >> Yeah, you got to go pretty fast. There you go. Okay. Yeah, it's pretty quick. So, this one we tried before we recorded and man, I was struggling with this already. And it's only the second level of the novice tier. Um, so this is kind

[02:36] of doing a similar thing as before, but we're throwing like an an air attack in >> Yeah, there's a little extra layer to to kind of be in there. you're you're doing a uh like a jump in attack, which is is going to help you kind of open someone

[02:50] up occasionally. They'll they'll not be expecting if they don't have an anti-air ready to go. Uh it'll it'll let you kind of get right in there and just lay out a cool combo on them. >> And you were explaining to me that I'm

[03:04] >> And you were explaining to me that I'm not jumping up and like at the apex doing the attack. I'm actually waiting for her to come down a little bit and attack on the down in the air. And then once I've It's almost like the moment

[03:19] you hit the ground or right before then you move into the auto combo. >> Thinking about trying to hit it as close to the ground as you can is the best way hit but you won't have a lot of the telegraphed. Like you'll notice when she

[03:33] big flame kick. >> Mhm. Uh, the more you can kind of conceal that and get it out later on in the the jump probably the better.

[03:48] >> So close. >> Uh, but this is great cuz uh it's kind of just pick it up and you you get in and you like, I automatically know away in my memory forever and is never going to slip away from me. It's it's

[04:03] going to slip away from me. It's it's practice and it's muscle memory. >> Yeah. >> Sometimes it helps to take a step back have to do them all at once. You can do like I'm going to practice just the jump

[04:19] into the kick and do jump into kick, jump into kick, jump into kick like four times, five times until you feel comfy with it. And then add in the auto combo with it. And then add in the auto combo at the end.

[04:35] >> All right, we're going to reach. So, what I have found is that I actually need to be hitting um like if she touches the ground before I've hit X, it just cancel like it's done. Now, this one I haven't seen at all. So, I

[04:51] don't know what we're doing here. >> Oh jeez louise. >> Oh jeez louise. Some of these are what are we Oh my god. >> I promise you this is less spooky than it actually is. So, this is when we're

[05:03] starting to get motion inputs. Down X, down X, X X X, left B. Okay. >> Yeah. And the the left B is kind of like the the ice kick we did before, but this is a different ender for the auto combo.

[05:25] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not too bad. >> You were right. That is actually not as >> Yeah. It's It's like when you see something crazy new, you're like, "Oh god, what is all of this?" But then you start to like, "Oh, this is just I'm

[05:37] doing the auto combo, but with holding down for the first two hits, and then a move before. Okay, these kind of naturally go into each other. And I think you can kind of cheat this auto combo if you hold uh down and just mash

[05:51] does. >> Oh, okay. down. You can just hold down the whole time and it automatically restands you

[06:05] time and it automatically restands you up to do the standing hits. >> Oh, I'm not I need to remember to do the the back B. Okay. Here we go. the back B. Okay. Here we go. >> Getting there.

[06:22] >> Yeah. >> All right. Let's give it another go. Like you're doing doing it from THE OTHER SIDE. OH, >> DOING IT FROM the other side, nailing it that quick. That's great. You're You're

[06:34] you're going to pull that out and you'll be like, "Shoot, I got it." be like, "Shoot, I got it." >> Jump. I got that.

[06:54] >> and then two buttons again. kind of the same thing you did before uh into an auto combo and then following it up with a big finisher where you kind of mash out uh like some some EX attacks. This is

[07:10] the other thing too that's going to seem wildly counterintuitive. Uh doing that that jump uh quarter circle back kick in the air. you'll notice that like you've got like a little more time actually. You can

[07:24] slow down to kind of get in there. >> Dodge. >> Yeah. There you go. >> Dodge.

[07:36] >> I don't I don't I don't I don't even know what happened there at the end, but >> So, what what it's making you do is how we did the ice kick. How we did the the followup at the end. >> If you push two buttons, you'll do

[07:49] don't remember what it's called in this game, but uh it basically you you power up your your attack with the little uh chakra uh circles.

[08:01] >> It'll do more damage and it'll let you do like more hits or more follow-ups, give the the move kind of different properties. So, by hitting the two buttons, you're doing a finisher that spends those and makes it do a bigger

[08:14] attack. It seems like sometimes depending on like how I'm landing like the animation to get in from the land into the punch is like getting in the Does that make sense?

[08:28] kind of the impact in where you're landing. I don't know if this works cuz that will sometimes turn out to be either like plus or minus depending on where they hit on the character. I don't

[08:41] know if this is like a situation where maybe finding the right right distance to kind of get that followup is what you're looking for.

[08:53] bit further away. Yeah, there was it. And I think this next one is going to be the last in the in the novice section. >> YEAH.

[09:08] handy. >> Yeah. Yeah. Hit that breakdown. You're the breakdown, notice that it's probably again building on the stuff that you've been doing. >> Sure.

[09:28] time to end this. >> Next time when you get to the the dash where it tells you push forward twice. >> Yeah. Uh, try pushing left bumper. >> Uh, right bumper. >> Not doing anything.

[09:43] >> Left trigger, right trigger. >> Left trigger worked. >> So, left trigger is your dash like shortcut >> if you think that might be easier to hit a button instead of double hit a button.

[09:55] >> There you Yeah. And doing the the kick right on top of them, too. That's I Otherwise, you might get pushed too far back. Yeah, I'm getting pushed quite a back. Yeah, I'm getting pushed quite a bit. Immediately in out of the dash, I

[10:08] bit. Immediately in out of the dash, I need to start hitting X. >> Let me go back to the breakdown. Let me see this real quick. >> That's why we've got these tools. >> All right, once I'm on the ground,

[10:39] >> You're You're getting it. No, you're you're getting that feel for that you kind of get over that hump. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> I'm in the Avatar. >> That would have worked if you weren't

[10:55] already in the Avatar state. Brilliant. Thanks, game. >> Slow down. There it is. There it is. >> So, the M I I actually actually the double tap is the the one that I needed

[11:10] to go with there. And uh All right, let's let's give it a Let's retry it. try them out and to to see where you're at. I'm glad that the the tap works for >> There we go. >> See, look at that. You've got this.

[11:25] the avatar. >> I am the avatar. SLOW DOWN. Time to end it. right off of the bat. >> That's how we do here. Now, something I

[11:38] want to do before we end today, I do want to go over the flow. quick for Kora just to to look. >> Okay. Oh, flow moves. >> So, we got flow moves in the uh the next section. So, we've got uh she has a run

[11:52] looks like just kind of fall back and and run away. >> A cool back flip if you're like, actually, I don't want to fight you all the different characters. >> Ice slide here.

[12:08] different >> Avatar's assault. Okay. launcher. >> And now I'm out of flow. That's what

[12:20] these muted colors mean. And I'm waiting for this bar to fill up. Am I just mixing this kind of at any opportunity? and I'm just managing the meter. Is that how it works? >> Yeah. So, you kind of can use it as it

[12:33] seems like a lot of them just in my experience are like I need to get in or I need to get out. I need mobility. I need to kind of like start and initiate an attack. But the thing that is uh universal between all of the characters

[12:48] is when you stand still and hold it. So, you'll kind of notice that you you got gain uh the little chakras in exchange for your uh meter going down. But also, anytime you're holding that and someone

[13:04] everything they do. >> Oh, really? If I just hold flow state that. >> Yeah. So, if if you know someone's going to run at you and try to hit you, hold the button down and every single part of

[13:17] their string that they do will just whiff and miss completely. The only downside is though, if someone reads that you're going to do that and they grab. And usually that'll like set them up for another combo followup or like

[13:31] damage. >> We're going to give it a go in a match think >> must be restored.

[13:57] >> The the the the ex juggle just keeping it going. That was real good.

[14:16] Oh, >> getting out of there. progress that you're already you're already thinking about it and you're

[14:30] putting it together. >> This is a tough game, but I've learned a lot in the very short time already. So, Ben, thank you for walking me through that. Hopefully, I can build upon what I've learned here today. I'm going to go

[14:44] back to those trials. We're going to we're going to dial them in. We're going to learn everything about flow. And with that, for more on Avatar Legends, stay that, for more on Avatar Legends, stay right here on GameSpot.