This is basically 47 minutes of Max finding a new bromance. It's amazing.

Some of the best matches I've had were against stronger opponents. Spent an hour fighting one guy on T7 using King, he was up like 40-15 but he kept accepting the rematch because he saw that I was learning little by little. The more I kept adjusting, the more he started pulling off advanced moves

Pat Gill does consistently good work, the dude's videos are really thoughtful and well structured

I’m reminded of a quote that was on of the best pieces of advice I got regarding fighting games.

“You have to earn a collection of L’s yourself before you can start handing them out to others”

I know the general opinion on major gaming publications has soured over the years. But I think the YouTube side of polygon has always been very solid, even without Brian.

When I got sober and needed a new hobby, I chose fighting games. They honestly helped save my life , including this channel. It's been one of the funnest journeys of my life and a way to stick thru the hard times. I'm about to hit gold with Chun Li this weekend, then the world is mine 💪

You forgot the most important part to footsies.

Shouting "FOOTSIES!" every time you whiff punish.

I remember as a kid my dad got me into fighting games my first game was SNES KI, so much so that he took me to a local tournament in Mexico and I won. The amount of satisfaction I got moving up the brackets when people were just saying “He’s just a kid” was a feeling like no other. Fighting games just have a way of bringing people together and that’s such an amazing thing.

I haven't read anything on Polygon for a long time but Patrick Gill's vids are always thoughtful and fun to watch.

Fighting Games have the same level of investment as MMOs but the exp just goes into you as a player rather than into your character

I kinda love that this mentality of keep going, fight stronger opponents, and get stronger alongside them is the driving mindset of fighting game's most iconic character, Ryu

Personally I think we need a very strong single player presence in fighting games again. When I talk to friends and family I used to play fighting games with all the time, we look back and talk about things like MKA's mario kart mode or Deceptions tetris fighter, chess combat, konquest mode, etc sometimes more fondly than the games core fighting. Tekken had things like devil within, all the arcade ending cutscenes, tekken ball, tekken force. Street fighter alpha 3 had that tour mode and optional final boss esque bison fight tile. If you got frustrated with the core game you could do other things while you simmer down and I really miss that.

Patrick Gill rules. Him and Brian David Gilbert were really the main reasons I watched Polygon

Having taken up Muay Thai some years back, it made me reflect on the "I can't seem to read people's movement/how to pick up on habits" comment. I felt the same way starting out in Muay Thai. We were taught how to slip jabs and crosses or how to roll under a hook. At first it was hard picking up on when to do certain movements but the more I fought and trained, it became easier. Every opponent was different so the challenge was learning their method of combat, looking for weaknesses or entry points and developing a plan.

It's literally the same way in fighting games. The crazy part as well is when you actually do start learning martial arts, you start looking at and playing fighting games different. Not just running in, using feints, jabbing or "footsies" as it's referred to in fighting games. The jab is one of the most important tools in a fight. It's not just about flashy combos.

It literally all just comes down to train and get better. Don't be afraid to lose. NO ONE goes into a fight without experience being a badass and there will always be someone better than you at something. Just keep fighting and better yourself.

"I'm so serious about this. You need to follow your heart"

I've seen him for 4 minutes and I already love him.

I appreciate how more major gaming news sites are hiring people who are knowledgeable about fighting games.

You can clearly tell this guy knows his stuff... seeing Max basically agreeing and expanding on his points is proof enough

14:35 I've found out with a fight stick I can actually perform moves that require you to go from back to forward or down to up. I could never for the life of me actually perform any move like that on a regular controller. I can actually play Leo Whitefang and Charlotta now, and it makes me so happy.

33:47 Honestly the character levels for Guilty Gear Strive are a part of the reason it's probably the first fighting game I've really played the online for regularly and seriously. Even when I lose, I might still get a level up which will give me credits which I can use to go fishing for digital figure mode items. Also, Digital figure mode is a really nice way to cool down after some bad matches, so it's nice to have that kinda thing in a fighting game.

That Polygon video (and Max's comments) on fighting games somehow helped me deal with some issues that are very, very far from being fighting game-related.
Didn't expect that, but I'm glad it happened. Thnx.