I can tell you without exaggeration that fighting games have brought me more joy than anything else I've put my gaming hours into. It's a distinct category of enjoyment unto itself, constructed from the greatest pleasures of gaming. The childlike joy of hitting buttons and seeing cool shit happen, the slow-burn tension of outmanoeuvring an opponent in a strategy game, the Dark Souls satisfaction of studying a boss's patterns and exploiting their weaknesses. It's meditative. It's rhythmic. It's sports. It's therapeutic. It's communal. It's the closest you're ever going to come to feeling like Rocky or your favourite Shonen protagonist. It's made me happier, and it's made my brain feel better.
Two strangers meet in a public place... and just whup each others' ass. There's no journey, there's no quest, there's no princess to rescue in a castle, it's just two dudes at a fish market going:
"Hey! I heard you was talkin' shit! Would you like to fight?"
"Yes I would! You wanna come back tonight when it's closed?"
"No let's fight right now, during normal business hours!"
