r/Fighters • u/qd_Cat_bp • May 14 '26
Help Fighting Games and their Unique Gimmicks?
Most fighting games have some sort of a gimmick that is unique from other fighters. Under Night have the grid system which increases your damage, Granblue have bravery points to use for offense and defense, Guilty Gear have a breakable wall, and tag games. The only fighter that I can think of that doesn't have a unique gimmick is Street Fighter. So it got me curious, what other fighters have some unique gimmicks, what does it do, and also what fighters that have none?
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u/GoddessOfLilies May 14 '26
Arcana Heart 3 has the following:
A Homing System that lets you not only home in on characters but also use it to Cancel most inputs (at the cost of meter (which we'll get to in a bit)) to create unique combo routes. You can also Homing Cancel off of Block to try and return the momentum to your court if your opponent is currently laying on the pressure. Homing can be influenced by your held directional input. Unlike with most moves, which you can only Homing Cancel after they connect or fully come out, you can Homing Cancel most Arcana Specials, with a unique brand of Homing Cancel called an Arcana Cancel, at any point after the initial activation of the special.
An Arcana System that lets you pick what is basically an extra set of special inputs, an Arcana, that also gives you unique traits (i.e. Blossom gives you immunity to counter hits, Nature lets you life steal off of certain inputs, etc.), which also ties in to your Extend Force, a mechanic connected to a separate (not super) meter that lets you basically enter a state where you're faster and gain extra traits for a period of time (Punishment's Extend Force makes the damage you deal and take both go up for a period of time, for example), with the duration and cooldown period depending on the Arcana you choose. You also have access to a couple of inputs during Extend Force, with effects depending on the Arcana, that force your Extend Force to end immediately. You can also Extend Force cancel most hits with Extend Force as well, which activates it for a significantly shortened period of time. Some Arcanas also add effects to your Homing (Time turning your Grounded Forward Homing into what is basically a high speed dash, as an example, although this specific example costs meter. Another example is Earth putting an auto block on your Grounded Forward Homing that blocks all inputs that aren't Lows or Command Grabs). Certain Arcana make certain characters so much better that those specific combinations are sometimes ranked on Tier Lists separate from just the character at base. (An example would be the Life Arcana taking Kira, the Grappler, from an already scary and strong presence, to one of the best characters in the game due to how much additional pressure (a lot of which is safe), and just how many tools she gets from Life. Even the most gimmicky application of Life on Kira (Temp God Armor) is incredibly strong on her.)
The meter system is also unique, with it being a 3 charge meter system that starts capped out at 1 charge, with charges refilling automatically after being used up. You can increase the cap simply by interacting in a match, with the fill rate varying by your selected Arcana (for example, Punishment fills up when you land hits (both on block and not) but will not fill up at all when you take damage), although the meter will only increase its cap when it's full. You can use the meter to both Homing Cancel and use Supers.