ARMS

 Switch
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 843 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 550 out of 843
  2. Mixed: 129 out of 843
  3. Negative: 164 out of 843
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  1. StabbedAbloke
    Jun 26, 2017
    2
    Alright, lets get to the point before the community downvotes this without reading it because they're a bunch of saltbabies, arms is a fighting game a new IP from nintendo, I know 2 new ips in under a decade what a shock. But Arms is to fighting games what splatoon is to shooters. The problem is, anyone who plays fighting games, will always find themselves in a bit of a sour mood. You canAlright, lets get to the point before the community downvotes this without reading it because they're a bunch of saltbabies, arms is a fighting game a new IP from nintendo, I know 2 new ips in under a decade what a shock. But Arms is to fighting games what splatoon is to shooters. The problem is, anyone who plays fighting games, will always find themselves in a bit of a sour mood. You can use motion controls or a regular controller, and frankly you're going to want to use a regular one or else your arms are going to hurt, it is a good workout even if the motion controls are rather harder to use and tend to overwhelm you.

    Look there is not much in terms of single player, and if you want to tag up with a local buddy he needs his own joycons so that's another chunk of change. You're not gonna play this game for the single player, and you will get sick of party mode because it keeps putting you in random gamemodes that you MIGHT not want to play, such as 3 for all where two people target one person and all you can do in those situations is put your controller down and wait.

    The main meat is ranked, best of 2 out of 3 in a fight 1v1. But answer me this, what ruins a lot of fighting games? Scumbags, Arms own community ruins it, because you're never going to fight anything other than Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Twintelle, Master Mummy, or Helix. Why? Because those are the most broken characters currently. One can fly in the air, one can dash up to four times in the air an falls to the ground fast, the other has an outright warp move, an the other shrinks in size to dodge. And one can literally suck his thumb and heal by guarding constantly.

    Look the only way to play this game is to be a scumbag, if you just play single player you're going to hate the AI because guess what? Yeah AI in fighting games is bull.sh.it. they can react on a dime an don't have human restrictions. I've seen fairer AI in a mario party game.

    And some could say I'm salty, but I'm near max ranked in ARMS so I'd like to think I have enough experience to validate my opinion.

    I'd say don't buy this game, even with the new maps and characters coming out for free, it won't change what everyone online plays. You can get more fun with the 60 dollars on the steam sale, though I should come out and say I received ARMS for free due to winning a bet against a friend. Now here's the golden question.

    Did I have more than 0 dollars worth of fun?

    No, I probably had more than 0 dollars worth of irritation, annoying grab spammers that you do the same waltz an dance with, until you slip an they do get you an run all game.

    Look this isn't something you can just 'git gud' at. It's a fighting game with motion controls being the primary thing in mind, what do you expect?    … Expand
  2. zephir93
    Jun 18, 2017
    3
    after a while becomes a bore. there is no competition, the minigames is te best the game offers.
    skinny roster, skinny arms, skimmy fun. not a great game, it's not worth $60.

    and 2vs2 is a pain in the ass
  3. ooo77
    Jul 10, 2017
    4
    This is a good first draft but it needs serious improving. First of all: the tag team fights need to change so the two fighters aren't tethered. Helix is an absolute pain to control.
  4. FairyWind
    Aug 8, 2017
    2
    My apologies, but I don't like it.
    I've bought it cause it looks cool and colourful maybe something similar to Splatoon 2, but it's kinda boring.. Some people probs like it, but I like having my own character and walking around in a world. Arms doesn't give you many options.. I mean yeah playing options, but nothing like having your own character or like an online world. Wouldn't    My apologies, but I don't like it.
    I've bought it cause it looks cool and colourful maybe something similar to Splatoon 2, but it's kinda boring.. Some people probs like it, but I like having my own character and walking around in a world. Arms doesn't give you many options.. I mean yeah playing options, but nothing like having your own character or like an online world. Wouldn't recommend it if you like having more depth or your own chara, but as a party game it's probably alright. :)    … Expand
  5. Hawkmoon
    Jun 16, 2017
    4
    The art style and premise of the game are good and I enjoyed them. However, you need to beat the game on Lv4 difficulty to access the online features, and while levels 1-3 are perfectly manageable with some practise, Lv4 suddenly ramps up the difficulty to infuriating degrees. It made for a really irritating experience.
  6. Xtc_dwarf
    Jun 26, 2017
    1
    Blind robbery for 50 quid, hardly any content not worthy of a full written review. Artificial intelligence is also over powered and multiplayer is locked. Wish I could refund this disappointment of a game.
  7. SirRandallGames
    Jun 18, 2017
    0
    This hands down is the worst game Nintendo has ever released. For one the controls are horrible. It doesn't matter if you use motion controls or not. The game has modes that are stupid like 3 free for all. People love to spam moves. You can use two back to back avoiding the cooldown. The only awesome part of this game is the mini games. Like volleyball is the best this game has to offer.This hands down is the worst game Nintendo has ever released. For one the controls are horrible. It doesn't matter if you use motion controls or not. The game has modes that are stupid like 3 free for all. People love to spam moves. You can use two back to back avoiding the cooldown. The only awesome part of this game is the mini games. Like volleyball is the best this game has to offer. Stay away from this game. This game is so unbalanced it's not funny. I am a huge Nintendo fanboy and this game is the worst thing Nintendo has ever made. This game will die off once splatoon 2 hits out. Want a good competitive gameplay? play splatoon. The people calling out others for not getting used to the learning curve is a bunch of crap. The controls are bad nothing can fix that.… Expand
  8. vgmkyle
    Jul 18, 2017
    0
    This is what Nintendo gets for trusting the press like Kotaku, and Youtubes, over us... the gamers who have known what they've wanted for years. SO they get another flop. ARMS is unique, and colorful -- that's all it has going for it. The mechanics are confusing as hell, and the game is restrictive. At first I gave this game a 3 but after more playing I now give it a 0. If you like ARMSThis is what Nintendo gets for trusting the press like Kotaku, and Youtubes, over us... the gamers who have known what they've wanted for years. SO they get another flop. ARMS is unique, and colorful -- that's all it has going for it. The mechanics are confusing as hell, and the game is restrictive. At first I gave this game a 3 but after more playing I now give it a 0. If you like ARMS you need help.… Expand
  9. DaFynestRican
    Jun 18, 2017
    0
    ARMS is the most fun I've had with a motion-controlled game in a long time, and one of the best new IPs to come from Nintendo this side of Splatoon. The quirky characters, catchy tunes and great graphics combine to make a very memorable experience for those who put the time in and learn the nuances. Trust me, the controls work! Anyone who complains about them just wasn't able to get pastARMS is the most fun I've had with a motion-controlled game in a long time, and one of the best new IPs to come from Nintendo this side of Splatoon. The quirky characters, catchy tunes and great graphics combine to make a very memorable experience for those who put the time in and learn the nuances. Trust me, the controls work! Anyone who complains about them just wasn't able to get past the learning curve. They become second nature after an hour... or ten lol. Online makes things interesting by switching up the events within the pool of players you're grouped with. I'm eagerly awaiting the new DLC characters and extra features!… Expand
  10. Noishe
    Sep 18, 2017
    0
    Worst game I've ever played in the last year. I wouldn't pay 10 dollars for it and this game's existence is proof that stores should allow returns. Annoying music, poor controls. Notice the sob stories in the 8 9 10 score ratings where people say give it a chance, i don't understand why people don't like it. Read between the lines and avoid this "game".
  11. FeineZ
    Nov 22, 2017
    3
    For me, the game was fun for maybe one or two hours, but but the gameplay gets pretty stale and repetitive, and it's not really something you can put hundreds of hours into, well for me at least. Didn't enjoy this game
  12. Gikloner
    Dec 18, 2020
    2
    This game is the worst choice for spending your free time. The "innovative" control system is a piecr of **** that make me mad. And there is not any content and things that give you interest to stay at this game. This project is only an advertising of nintendo switch features.
  13. SirSoil
    Feb 28, 2020
    4
    Arms is a unique fighting game with terrible controls and weird design choices. The presentation is great with great usage of music and style that make the game stand out, however as cool as the characters look most of them feel the same. The places you battle in are good but don’t offer much, so are the extra modes they are fun but really go down of how boring they are to play them again.Arms is a unique fighting game with terrible controls and weird design choices. The presentation is great with great usage of music and style that make the game stand out, however as cool as the characters look most of them feel the same. The places you battle in are good but don’t offer much, so are the extra modes they are fun but really go down of how boring they are to play them again. However the biggest problem is the controls and gameplay, they feel so unresponsive and bad they don’t feel satisfying they are so lame and slow all you do is camp and attack or doge. Yes it’s fun but it can get super boring sometimes, also the way to get customization is kinda cool but it starts to bore out as you go so is the online it’s good but you get board waiting of a match. Arms is a unique concept with great ideas but fails to execute some and succeed to do some features justice at some points. (Medicore 2/5) Play It If Your A Fan Of Weird Unique Games… Expand
  14. MagicMikey
    Aug 22, 2020
    2
    not a fan on how it controls. I think it's a cool idea but it's just wasn't a game for me
  15. F3T1W
    Aug 21, 2021
    3
    One of the 3 switch game sellers, there is very little content on the case and all the hope is that the game, in theory, can only pay off in co-op
  16. TGious
    Oct 17, 2021
    4
    A fun concept with very little gameplay. Arms can be fun for a short period of time, but the lack of modes and characters gets stale quickly. Multiplayer is fun with motion controls, and is the highlight of the game. You will be lucky to squeeze 10 hours out of this game, and for the price point, I can not recommend it.
  17. Kalcool12
    Nov 21, 2022
    2
    | A Disappointment |

    There's nothing to the game. It's a brawler with a fun premise, but nothing expanding that premise. It has the same game modes as every other brawling game, with a tourney mode and online gaming, and small other mini-games so that it makes you think this game is worth $60 bucks when it's not. I think the style of fighting is unique, and it's very fun to play at    | A Disappointment |

    There's nothing to the game. It's a brawler with a fun premise, but nothing expanding that premise. It has the same game modes as every other brawling game, with a tourney mode and online gaming, and small other mini-games so that it makes you think this game is worth $60 bucks when it's not.

    I think the style of fighting is unique, and it's very fun to play at first. However, the game gets easily repetitive and there's not enough variety that warrants the game to be worth its value.

    There's not much more to say about the game, much like the game itself.

    Unique concept, but not enough to give it its own title. However, I will say that this is one of the best uses of the motion controls the Switch has to offer.    … Expand
  18. lttrev5
    Jul 2, 2023
    3
    Game is terrible. Dont buy it. Its worth like $5 tops. We played this for a few hours and im good with not playing it ever again. Its one of those games.

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best Switch Game of 2017
10
#10 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
11
#11 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 97 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 97
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 97
  3. Negative: 0 out of 97
  1. Jeuxvideo.com
    Jun 2, 2018
    80
    Just like Splatoon, Arms' dynamic gameplay is geared towards online multiplayer. Behind its funny and colorful looks, the game is highly technical and offers various game modes to master.
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  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Sep 13, 2017
    75
    At the first glance, ARMS is unimpressive: its basic roster is only 10 fighters big, and there are no convoluted combinations of buttons to activate special attacks. But that’s just how Nintendo does things – its games are always easy to pick up. So you can flail away at your leisure against AI-controlled opponents, but once you start playing with other people, you quickly realize that you need to work on your technique. [Issue #222, p.68]
  3. Wired UK
    Aug 30, 2017
    80
    ARMS succeeds both as a surprisingly complex and detailed fighting game, and one of the best examples of motion controlled gaming we've seen. Another unexpected hit for the Nintendo Switch's burgeoning library of must-have games.
    Read full review
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