The road to releasing MultiVersus has been a bit strange. Released into early access, and then pulled for an extended period of time, it meant many who came to love the game’s characters, eccentricities and metagame were out in the cold for a decent while.
But recently, after keeping their heads down and tweaking the game, adding characters and content, the team at Player First Games released the full 1.0 MultiVersus experience into stores for us to enjoy. However, after this unconventional release strategy, has absence made the heart grow fonder, or has the game’s momentum been cut off at the heels? Let’s find out.
To begin with a brief overview, this is not my first rodeo with MultiVersus. I’ve covered the game twice for TheXboxHub. In my first piece (Batman vs Bugs Bunny – Hands-on with MultiVersus | TheXboxHub), I had remarked then that the strong concept of the game and WB sandbox the devs got to play within, coupled with some promising gameplay mechanics, meant that the game had much more potential than a typical Smash Brothers clone. In my second (MultiVersus Open Beta Early Access Preview | TheXboxHub), I felt the game was shaping up nicely. To put it simply: a friend had remarked that the game was awesome, and frankly, I could not agree more.
Now, two years later, is MultiVersus still awesome? Thankfully, the answer is yes!
In the two years since we last discussed MultiVersus, the game has grown considerably, adding a new mode called Rifts. This mode, which updates throughout the season, contains a plethora of single-player content that reminds of Smash’s Classic Mode campaigns on the scale of a Capcom single-player campaign (think MVC3 Ultimate) but with a MultiVersus twist. The production values here are massive, with a story for each mode, endless replayability and unique animated cutscenes. Frankly, even having played through a few episodes, I still feel I haven’t fully scratched the surface of this sprawling and well-paced mode.
However, I think for many, the star here will be the multiplayer experience, and thankfully, it is every bit as good as it was before, and then some. The 1v1, 2v2 and Free-for-All Modes are all a blast to jump into, there are some brand new stages to cut your teeth on, and some exciting new characters have joined the fray. Most notably Mr. Jason Voorhees, who I was pleasantly surprised to see having escaped the legal limbo he’s been stuck in for a while.
As for myself, while I got to enjoy some hands-on time with the new cast of characters, an unintended consequence from playing MultiVersus so often before was… I had already found my main! Arya Stark (from Game of Thrones, a show that still remains a blindspot for me to this day), is just so fun to play. As a Marth/Lucina/Roy main in Super Smash Bros., I felt right at home with Arya’s moveset. In a way, she almost plays like a combination of my aforementioned Smash trio with Kirby, as one of her moves allows her to copy moves from her opponents!
Now… I may not have watched Game of Thrones yet, but I have enjoyed my fair share of DC Comics, Looney Tunes Cartoons, Rick and Morty episodes and Matrix films over the years to know that MultiVersus’ greatest strength continues to be its treasure trove of WB IP to play with. In the wrong hands, this combination of IP could easily be poorly disguised shameless advertising or so eclectic and disjointed that it feels superfluous. However, under the care and guidance of Player First Games, every franchise is treated with the right balance of reverence and cheekiness that makes the game feel right. Take, for instance, The Iron Giant. As fans of that movie know, the character is a pacifist who rejects violence. So how do you put him in a game like this? Brilliantly, Player First decided to keep this element but recalled the character’s clumsiness, making each of his attacks purely unintentional.
The aesthetics of the game remain a strong suit to this day, with the title keeping stylized but clean and the music being pleasant to listen to. And the writing in the game remains sharp and exciting.
With all of this being said, MultiVersus is not without flaws. There were several instances in which I had trouble logging into the game and had to reset the title to get in. Moreover, while the game has more content than ever now, it also comes at a cost. MultiVersus’ monetization is more aggressive than in the earlier betas, and unlocking new characters is often tied behind grinding or spending money. It is the one area where MultiVersus has unfortunately regressed.
On the whole, MultiVersus will provide a great time! The deep gameplay systems, fun characters and overflow of game modes to play with makes it much more than just a platform fighter, although some issues with monetization hold it back from reaching its heights. This is still an incredibly fun multiversal rift I think is well worth jumping into!
