This is why Smash Bros is the goat.

Low barrier for entry but super high skill ceiling.

I've always wanted to get into fighting games but I never really have because of this exactly. It feels like a chore to learn all the combos and the fighting feels weird and stiff to me because of them.

I think the combos in Street Fighter are already too much.

How should I twist the stick to make the special attack for this character? Hold on, pause the game so I can look up. Oh, I filled up the ultra attack meter, let me check how to perform it for this character.

They should just adopt the control scheme they implemented for Ryu in Smash Bros. Forward + B for Hadouken, Up + B for Shuriyuken, etc.

I loved Final Fantasy Dissidia for this. Every character has the same basic controls, and the abilities are totally customizable. So I'd make general schemes the same across everyone.

Guilty Gear Strive and smash have these combos though, and just like street fighter they aren't required to do well at beginner levels(even at higher levels you can get by with basic bnb combos).

The main thing fighting games need to do better is teach new players, as it isn't clear what you should be learning as a beginner. That's probably why so many people think its combos they have to learn.

Fighting games should not be QTE

The other things you mentioned, “positioning, timing and improvisation” are all infinitely more important in every fighting game when compared to combos. Long complex combos don’t matter if you can’t land a hit.

If the only combo you know is a 3-hit combo that does 20% HP, and your opponent has a 15-hit combo that does 70% HP, then you just need to hit the opponent 5 times while avoiding getting hit 2 times. If your spacing, reactions, and adaptation are much better than your opponent’s, you can win consistently.

Of course there’s always gonna be different variables when it comes to stuff like specific game knowledge, but that’s usually not as much a skill issue as it is a knowledge check. In the end, stronger fundamentals will always reward you more in the long-run.

@simple @LeylaaLovee I think where we are now with fighting games is exactly where it should stay. Auto combos and modern controls make it so the bar to entry is super low, but they need to be scaled down so that they do less damage and the incentive should always be learn pure combos to get better. At the end of the day there's no interesting high level play if you can press a button three times and do 30% damage.