How active is this game?

Hi all :grinning: This is really me wondering whether it’s worth to buy Fantasy Strike…

I bought the wooden chips deluxe version of Puzzle Strike and then also the 3rd Edition with Shadows, and I got two sets of Yomi (one with 10, one with 20 characters). I also played both of these games online back when those browser games were a thing.

I played >500 hours of Smash Ultimate, I’m fanatically playing MK11 right now (must be >1000 hours now between Switch and PS4), and I’m dabbling in Dragonball FighterZ and Tekken 7, and bought Samurai Shodown (though I haven’t played it yet). I’m not actually good at fighting games, but I love them.

So both the theme and world as well as the type of game of Fantasy Strike are very appealing to me, and I have fond memories of the Sirlin games community. I also think the approach with simple inputs and best of 7 rounds is interesting, as well as all the other modes. But, all of that isn’t worth a damn if the game isn’t actually being played - I don’t play for the offline modes, I play for fighting opponents around my level online.

So … how is the matchmaking? How long does it usually take to find an opponent, at what times of day in what timezone? Are there players in Europe or will I (located in Switzerland) have to suffer high ping values? Are there players that are have experience but aren’t super hardcore evo top8 type players? Is the community more active on PS4 or on Switch?

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Welcome! Probably PC is the “best” platform for matchmaking (as it is cross-play with both PS4 and Switch). I play on PC and Switch about 50/50. Between the consoles my anecdotal impression is PS4 has more players but I have no actual evidence of that.

As a US player, I seem to find matchmaking more swift during EU-friendly times (my mornings) than NA times (my evenings). That could just be that my morning gaming times are on my PC and my evenings are on Switch, though :man_shrugging:

The player base isn’t massive but I don’t often wait all that long if I queue for both casual and ranked.

The game is a ton of fun and if you play that much other fighting games, this is definitely worth a shot!

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I have the switch version, and I normally don’t have to wait too long to find a match when I play. I’ve never had to wait for more than a few minutes (I’m usually playing around 4-6pm, EST). I do find that its usually much quicker to find a casual match than a ranked match though.

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I’m from Europe (GMT+2), playing usually in the late evenings 22-24h.
At that time North America is starting to come online, so I get, matches in 10sec, to 2min from queuing up.

On weekends, Europe daytime seems less populated. I guess most people have some stuff left to do then.
I too am not staying much in the queue during the weekend (except when Thy Pirate King tournament starts).

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I’m in Japan and I usually play on Switch, and about the only time of day I can’t necessarily find opponents is when I try to play in the evening Japan time, which is early morning NA time. Otherwise, it’s usually pretty solid.

In short, I would say that it is the only indie fighting game that crosses the threshold of “can usually find opponents online just by going into queue at most times of day, without needing to ask for opponents on Discord.” I’d put it on par with Samurai Showdown in terms of player population.

Playing on the Steam version might be the best bet — paradoxically, while it may have the smallest player base of the three versions, it has the most possible opponents available for matchmaking, because it’ll also match you with people on either console.

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For some reason I really struggle to find opponents, but it’s probably more to do with being from Australia and only queueing for ranked matches than the playerbase.
I play on PC, too.

Despite that, this game is absolutely worth it, even if just to goof off with friends. It’s a lot of fun.

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I can confirm what Darkness said. I am form europe too, in evenings I can get matchess easily. During the days on weekends often not.

Ping is not a problem when you play with basicaly anyone form Europe or someone on good connection in US. This game is good in this regard.

If you are expecienced, you wont have a problems in matchmaking. This game has plenty of people like me, who are completly new to FGC

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Thanks a lot for the answers. Since I can only play in the later evening in Europe anyway, that’s perfect for me.

So if you happen to win against a haslo or haslloween, that’d be me :grin:

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