SlimeyJade

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Okay, it's finally time. Though I'm sure anyone who cares about this game has already read or watched a number of reviews that have said a lot of what I'm going to say.

So, it's a wrestling game. Has a more arcadey feel compared to what WWE has been putting out, with a pretty simple fighting mechanic, lots of over the top weapons and nonsense. So, the first big question is... How does it play? And good thing I like to start my reviews off with the positives, because above all? The game plays like a dream. It's so quick to pick up and play. The controls are responsive, the matches are fast paced, every character on the roster feels a little different and they have their iconic moves. It's a dream!

So, if you are looking for a solid fun arcade wrestler solely based on how fun it is to play, then this is your game... if it goes massively on sale.

Because beyond that? A lot of this game is massively disappointing. Especially given how long it took to come out from the date it was announced. Not that I want games rushed. No crunch, please. But on release, it was a buggy mess. It was literally unplayable on the PS4 if you had your wi-fi turned on. Everything kind of clipped into each other, a handful of moves wouldn't connect right, CPUs did absolutely baffling behavior, lots of things would cause crashes or softlocks. A real mess. Most of those are fixed now. But it took way too long.

The roster, by the way? It's a decent size. But it also feels really unsatisfying. A lot of huge names weren't present. Several people no longer in AEW are though! And a decent amount of the champions at time of release... were not. A handful of the most over wrestlers in AEW are nowhere to be seen. There are 5 wrestlers you have to unlock in game. Cody Rhodes who is one of the founders of the company (and now in WWE), Aubrey Edwards who is a referee, Brodie Lee who is a beloved member of the AEW roster (and not alive), Paul Wight who definitely exists, and Owen Hart who uh. You know. Has been gone since way before AEW ever existed. Some real baffling choices. Some are unlocked with in game currency, some are unlocked through playing way too many exhibition matches, and some are unlocked through the story mode, requiring multiple playthroughs to get them all.

So, yeah. The story mode. Road to Elite. Well, before I get there, one more thing about the roster. The models. I believe everyone was 3D scanned in? Which confuses me greatly because models look anywhere from exactly like the wrestler all the way down to what the hell happened here?? Anyway. Road to Elite. It's boring. It's matches with barely animated scenes in between. Some silly story stuff. Gym training to raise stats (or get injured and lose health). Going to restaurants to heal and get pointless flavor text about regional foods. And mini games. Ohhhhh the mini games. There are a bunch of mini games in Fight Forever, most of which seem entirely up to chance if you win them or not. From horribly obscure AEW trivia to Mario Party minigames made with none of the grace of Mario Party to spot the difference and memory.

Also, the story mode is literally pointless to play as anyone on the roster, because you can not gain any sort of stat increases for them. It's really only made for Create A Wrestlers... Oh boy.

This game has quite possibly the worst character creation I've ever seen. I mean, I had wrestling games on the N64 with better customization. Body type choices are limited. Faces number in the single digits. The hair options aren't much more numerous. There are not enough clothing options and very few of them are interesting. And most of them aren't color customizable. And the ones that are? You have a set amount of colors to choose from. Besides less than half a dozen body paint options you can't even have funky skin colors.

I could get into more nitty gritty. Like how the season 2 pass unlocked a few fun patterns to put on clothes and skin, but that it's locked to owning the season 2 content, or that if you want, say, a snakeskin shirt, then you also get snakeskin pants and shoes.

Speaking of season passes, let's talk DLC.

The base game is $60. The Elite Edition which includes the first season is $80. The Bring the Boom Edition which includes both seasons so far is $90. However, a season pass by itself is $25. Which means since I preordered the Elite Edition, if I want season 2, I have to pay $25. Whereas if I waited, I could have spent just $10 more. Maybe there's another way to upgrade, but I doubt it. What's the pass get you, though? Three character packs, which each contain two characters and usually another mediocre mini game or a ring layout (which also vary in quality). Packs run from around $8 to $12 each. It's just a lot of money, especially to get wrestlers who frankly should have already been included.

There was a free update though. It adds Stadium Stampede, an online only battle royale mode taking place in a stadium comprised of multiple areas. It's a lot of fun! Unfortunately since I'm on PS4 and their online service is massively expensive compared to the Switch or just being on a PC, I can only play it on the rare free weekend.

Updates will continue, and I hope (or maybe just cope) that we'll get a revamped character creator, more single player modes (one is coming this season and I know nothing about it beyond it being called Beat The Elite), being able to move from the ring to backstage, expanding the roster even more (where is Evil Uno??) but we'll see.

So, yeah, much like Fashion Dreamer, I was so incredibly hyped up for this and it feels like I got a rushed and incomplete product that is absolutely lacking in a lot of features that define the genre.


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