ARMS vs Overcooked 2
When comparing ARMS vs Overcooked 2, the Slant community recommends Overcooked 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best party games for the Nintendo Switch?” Overcooked 2 is ranked 14th while ARMS is ranked 33rd. The most important reason people chose Overcooked 2 is:
Whether you played the first Overcooked or not, Overcooked 2 is easy to figure out right from the get-go. The recipes for each dish are familiar even if you're not much of a chef, so you can remember which raw ingredients you need as you make your way around the kitchen and work with your co-op partner(s). Once you play a few rounds, you should have a good handle on things, helping you focus on getting everything done as quickly as possible from there on out.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro A very unique take on the boxing genre
The arms stretch for long-range jabs and punches, meaning you can smack your opponent from across the arena. This adds a whole new depth to boxing and means you will be timing your dodges and ducks much differently than normal fighting games. Your arms also serve as weapons, and can be detached from your body and swapped around for different arms with various effects. You can charge them up for a variety of different attacks to stun, freeze, shoot, shock, push, and blast your opponent. If you're looking for a fighting game with a very unique premise, this will definitely fit the bill.
Pro Interchangeable arms for more strategic play
Each fighter has interchangeable arms that act as weapons and provide a variety of different effects, such as freezing your opponent, stunning, or knocking them over, when charged up. Besides offering a plethora of different effects, arm weapons also allow you to play on the strengths or weaknesses of your fighter. If your fighter is on the slow side, for example, you can use an arm that freezes opponents to help close the gap better. If your fighter moves quick but hits weak, you could use a stun arm to get some extra hits in.
While you can only use 2 arms at any time, you are allowed to choose 3 arms to take with you into the fight. Between rounds, you can swap arms from among your pool giving you an opportunity to switch up your strategy and counter your opponent. This offers some exciting potential for counterplay and it's really nice to be able to change your weapons after every round and try something new.
Pro Everyone can find a fighter they will enjoy
No matter what kind of fighting style you're looking for, the game has enough variety where everyone can find a fighter that they enjoy playing. Each of the 15 fighters has their own set of moves, custom interchangeable arms that act as weapons, and their own stat pool which consists of things like speed, jump height, and size. Based on these stats, the fighters will range from being able to zip quickly around the arena but not hitting with much force, to being slow moving brutes who hit very hard. Some special moves include hovering in midair, slowing down time, warping away from attacks, and healing. With each fighter having his or her own arsenal of moves, there's plenty to experiment and play around with, and a little bit of something for every play style.
Pro Clever multiplayer game modes spice up the action
Arms offers a few clever game modes to add to the brawl action that go above and beyond the typical fights and help to add some spice to the game. Modes are quick to play and easy to learn, so they are very accessible for players. In Skill Shot, you'll try to punch down popup targets as your opponent attempts to do the same. V-Ball is similar to volleyball, except the ball will explode if it hits the ground. Hoops involves you grabbing and dunking your opponent. Other modes include team fights and a multiplayer co-op brawl against a boss.
Pro Great lobby system in Party Match
In Party Match, the game puts you into a lobby with 20 other players, and then randomly shuffles everyone into groups for randomized game modes such a V-ball and Hoops. Even the way it's set up is visually interesting, with different player avatars being shuffled and mixed into various circles. You can actually see the system working with your own two eyes, such as players health bars dropping and the timer around the circle counting down, which is a great touch to let you know how far along in progress other matches are.
In the event there is ever an odd number of players, the lobby will adjust by placing all the players in free-for-alls against monstrous AI bosses until they can be placed in regular matches. Additionally, while you're waiting for to be placed into a match, you can warm up and test out your moves in a practice arena.
Pro Simple to pick up and learn
Whether you played the first Overcooked or not, Overcooked 2 is easy to figure out right from the get-go. The recipes for each dish are familiar even if you're not much of a chef, so you can remember which raw ingredients you need as you make your way around the kitchen and work with your co-op partner(s). Once you play a few rounds, you should have a good handle on things, helping you focus on getting everything done as quickly as possible from there on out.
Pro Hilariously fun couch and online co-op for up to four players
Playing Overcooked 2 with friends is the best. There's so much going on at once in the kitchen, with barriers moving in your way, hazards popping up like cars in the middle of the road separating the two halves of your area, and ingredients, dishes, and half-prepared dishes to move from one place to another. Working together and communicating with your friends through couch co-op or online play is a constant stream of laughter and excited shouting as you mess up, learn, and hopefully get things done. If you don't have anyone to play with, then you can hop online for matchmaking instead.
Pro Fast and frantic cooking action
Overcooked 2 is really fast-paced and keeps you on your toes. You play as a chef in a crazy kitchen with a ton of things going on all at once, with you mixing, preparing, and cooking in between the chaos of moving platforms and environmental obstacles. There's a time limit constantly ticking down at the bottom of the screen; finishing your tasks on time or ahead of schedule earns you a better score in the end. Tossing ingredients to your teammates across the kitchen, or across the moving platforms or obstacles like bodies of water, is a fresh new addition in this game that wasn't in the first Overcooked, making things even faster this time around. It's such a manic yet well-done mix of many different genres and ideas that all come together in the best ways.
Cons
Con Solo play can feel stale and grindy
Things can start to feel stale after a while in the single player grand prix mode. Doing the same few fights over and over against AI opponents loses it's appeal quickly.
Con Matchmaking is entirely random
There is no official ladder, so all matchmaking is completely random.
Con Motion controls can be imperfect at times
If you opt to use the motion controls, there may be a little imprecision in your punches due to the way the punches curve and how you flick your wrists. The analog sticks will almost always be a bit more precise and responsive (although arguably not as fun to some players).
Con Target locking tends to be buggy
Sometimes the game will switch your locked on target without input, and it can get frustrating to have the target of your carefully charged up attack change suddenly.
Con Can be incredibly frustrating
Trying to work at such a fast pace with so many obstacles and general mayhem going on at once can wear on you after a while. There's a lot to keep track of at once, and it's easy for things to spiral out of control as your mistakes pile up. If your group isn't doing well and you're running out of time, you might find yourself losing your patience with your team and yelling at them. This might not be the game for you if you don't have a team that's willing to be patient and cooperative with each other, even when you're not doing so well during a particular round.
Con Single-player isn't as fun as co-op
If you only want to play alone, then Overcooked 2 might not be the best game to pick. All the fast-paced fun from co-op mostly comes from communicating with your team and trying to pull off your task together before the time runs out. You control two characters at once while playing alone, but this still lacks the team-based chaos that makes the game so addicting. You could instead go online for matchmaking, though you might get paired with people who don't want to talk or work as an actual team.
Con The controls are a bit sluggish
There's something about the controls that feels heavy and deliberate, and not necessarily in a good way. The feeling goes against the fast-paced nature of the gameplay that demands you in one place and then the next. If you played the first Overcooked, you may notice the difference right away. This change shouldn't be too much of a hassle, though it's still noticeable.