Fun but lacking in content and polish. They focused WAY too hard on making this a party game with mini-games, and not enough time on making a proper, fun wrestling game. The story mode isn't very interesting though it can be fun. Just overall, could have been far, far better.
I've beaten Trent Beretta over 150 times
Solid experience
Solid experience
Really fun to play! Really shitty to look at.
What’s there is fun! There’s not much there.
They’re adding more stuff as they go! Behind paywalls that feel a bit too expensive.
Your favourite wrestlers are here! Except the ones that aren’t, and the ones that are are in looks or personas considerably out of date.
It has minigames! Shit ones.
I dunno, it’s a game of two halves, but the negatives outweigh the positives, and you kind of wish they’d call time on it and work on an iterative sequel rather than pouring resources into a game whose rep has driven people away.
Also why does everyone do the freakish bulging eyes celebration when they get a belt? You’ve got all these personalities but no personality, you dig? A shame,
What’s there is fun! There’s not much there.
They’re adding more stuff as they go! Behind paywalls that feel a bit too expensive.
Your favourite wrestlers are here! Except the ones that aren’t, and the ones that are are in looks or personas considerably out of date.
It has minigames! Shit ones.
I dunno, it’s a game of two halves, but the negatives outweigh the positives, and you kind of wish they’d call time on it and work on an iterative sequel rather than pouring resources into a game whose rep has driven people away.
Also why does everyone do the freakish bulging eyes celebration when they get a belt? You’ve got all these personalities but no personality, you dig? A shame,
Really good foundations for what could be a great wrestling game if the devs and publishers continue their planned multi-year support. Full review is available on Steam.
Honestly, what a let down. Thought we would be getting a return to form in pro wrestling games, but this just wasn't it for me. A rushed product with ridiculous DLC prices and a base game full price. 4/10
Jon Moxley blades every time the word "fun" is used to describe this game in lieu of any other positive qualifiers. Should've been better, because consoles need a wrestling series that isn't 2K. Competition should breed innovation - but I don't think this will.
Look, I wanted to like this one, and it does have a sort of arcade-y charm to it. But it just doesn’t feel great. Choppy graphics, controls that feel just a little off, mechanical shallowness and clunky movement don’t do it any favours. It’s fun for a couple of rounds with friends, but has very little to offer in terms of extended sessions. A bare minimum pro wrestling game.
A serious lack of content. CAWs have no gear to make unique wrestlers unless you like Captain Pick a country. Sure its getting Stadium Stampede, but not the match type. Instead Stadium Stampede is a battle royal. Feels like there are too many dumb mini games when I just want a wrestling game in my wrestling game.
AEW came out of the gate swinging with a massive amount of support from professional wrestling fans. The company’s aim to be a competitor/an alternative to WWE has been viewed as a victory for the business. So naturally they set their sights on the lucrative world of video games. After several delays Fight Forever finally arrived in June and unfortunately the delays were foreshadowing for a disappointing experience. WWE 2K23 released stuffed with content in a mostly successful effort to cover its technical shortcomings. Fight Forever doesn’t do nearly enough to distract from its much worse limitations.
Simplified controls and a story mode that can branch off in several directions attempt to harken back to the glory days of games like WWF No Mercy or SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. Being able to switch camera angles and activate pyro at any point during a wrestler’s entrance is pretty neat, even if the entrances themselves are puzzlingly short clips that only last a few seconds. The variety of match types with additions such as the ridiculous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (based on the very awful one between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega) is surprising. On the surface it all seems like a wrestling game that’s trying to be just that: a straightforward, old-fashioned pro wrestling video game.
Yet it all has a very “one step forward, two steps back” feel to it. The aforementioned story mode, called Road to Elite, changes based on what the player does, but it’s very quickly obvious how limited and poorly written it is (some of the cutscenes are agonizingly cringy). It’s short, which in turn means the replay value is low because of how little it actually offers. The creation modes are very sparse, offering less customization than games from the 90s did. The roster is a headscratcher, lacking several AEW stars who would seem like shoo-ins but featuring the likes of Cody Rhodes who hadn’t been in AEW for over a year at the time of the game’s release. The plethora of mini games are bad across the board, not to mention a confusing thing for Yuke’s to have spent time and resources on.
Perhaps some or all of that could be excused or at least taken in stride if the gameplay wasn’t smothered by unresponsiveness. The controls are sluggish and the collision detection is poor. Hits or grapples often simply don’t connect, which makes playing the game on a harder difficulty a nightmare. Also, a thing that isn’t unique to this game (it has plagued WWE games for a little while now) but still annoyed me is the amount of rope breaks registered to the point where it seems as if you have to pin or submit an opponent in the dead center of the ring. If a body part isn’t under or touching a rope it shouldn’t count as a rope break!!!
It’s a shame to see AEW’s first swing at a major wrestling game fall short because the good ideas are frustratingly noticeable. I believe they can and will improve upon what Fight Forever attempts with future iterations. But when stacked up against their major rival in the year of Luigi 2023, AEW has lost the gaming battle to WWE. Tony Khan would probably say they aren’t competing, but this is my review dammit.
———
Note: I haven’t played the Stadium Stampede mode and probably won’t get a chance to anytime soon.
Simplified controls and a story mode that can branch off in several directions attempt to harken back to the glory days of games like WWF No Mercy or SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. Being able to switch camera angles and activate pyro at any point during a wrestler’s entrance is pretty neat, even if the entrances themselves are puzzlingly short clips that only last a few seconds. The variety of match types with additions such as the ridiculous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (based on the very awful one between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega) is surprising. On the surface it all seems like a wrestling game that’s trying to be just that: a straightforward, old-fashioned pro wrestling video game.
Yet it all has a very “one step forward, two steps back” feel to it. The aforementioned story mode, called Road to Elite, changes based on what the player does, but it’s very quickly obvious how limited and poorly written it is (some of the cutscenes are agonizingly cringy). It’s short, which in turn means the replay value is low because of how little it actually offers. The creation modes are very sparse, offering less customization than games from the 90s did. The roster is a headscratcher, lacking several AEW stars who would seem like shoo-ins but featuring the likes of Cody Rhodes who hadn’t been in AEW for over a year at the time of the game’s release. The plethora of mini games are bad across the board, not to mention a confusing thing for Yuke’s to have spent time and resources on.
Perhaps some or all of that could be excused or at least taken in stride if the gameplay wasn’t smothered by unresponsiveness. The controls are sluggish and the collision detection is poor. Hits or grapples often simply don’t connect, which makes playing the game on a harder difficulty a nightmare. Also, a thing that isn’t unique to this game (it has plagued WWE games for a little while now) but still annoyed me is the amount of rope breaks registered to the point where it seems as if you have to pin or submit an opponent in the dead center of the ring. If a body part isn’t under or touching a rope it shouldn’t count as a rope break!!!
It’s a shame to see AEW’s first swing at a major wrestling game fall short because the good ideas are frustratingly noticeable. I believe they can and will improve upon what Fight Forever attempts with future iterations. But when stacked up against their major rival in the year of Luigi 2023, AEW has lost the gaming battle to WWE. Tony Khan would probably say they aren’t competing, but this is my review dammit.
———
Note: I haven’t played the Stadium Stampede mode and probably won’t get a chance to anytime soon.
Right off the bat, the entire time the game was being developed, it was credited that it would play like the old N64 wrestling games (WCW vs NWO Revenge, WWF Wrestlemania 2000, and WWF No Mercy) and that was what brought me into wanting to play it. Did it succeed? Well...es and no, but mostly yes.
I honestly would say the gameplay is much closer to something like Def Jam Vendetta mixed with the base controls of the WWE 2K games before they got overly complicated, which to say the gameplay actually feel pretty good, mostly. I'll definitely take these controls over anything WWE has been doing to their games over the years.
Aside from just the controls, the gameplay has the different types of matches, most you'd expect out of a wrestling game and a few that are odd, but arcade-ish which kinda describes the game as a whole.
The selling point to me besides the controls was the Road to Elite which is the career mode. This allows you to use any of the wrestlers and go through a career mode or use your own created wrestler (male or female) and go through the story and build up your stats and title collection. The create-a-wrestler is actually pretty decent. It's not very robust, but it does the job enough to not overwhelm newcomers and still give a smooth experience.
At first when the game was being shown off, I thought the graphics were ugly, but seems it got polished and looks good to me, it's somewhere between wrestler toys and close to realistic, if that makes any sense. I really like the design of the characters, although to be fair I don't know but maybe 10% to 20% of the roster, but for what was shown they looked good.
I gotta say, the music shocked me...after years of hear EA and 2K choices of songs in WWE and boxing and other sports games, I feel like AEW chose some really amazing music.
Now this game does have it's flaws, but it's like everything good has a "but" to it.
- The controls are good as I said, but I felt they tried to hard to make EVERY button do something, when some actions could have been condensed like Irish Whip and Run could have just been the same button like every other Wrestling-ish game did.
- It has plenty of match types, but I think road to elite does a poor job of explaining stipulations or even showing you the match type after you got into it.
- Road to Elite has abysmal writing...some characters talk like their real counter parts do, but some of them have awful writing, that or if they REALLY talk like that...ugh... also my own character's dialogue was awfully written.
- As much fun as I had with it for the time I had played, I kinda felt the game needed more to it.
For AEW's first attempt at a game, I think they did a very good job for what they were going for. If what I read is true and this is just a test run to an ongoing set of games or ideas they wanna do, then they got my support, just as long as they take what they did here and improve on it, the next game could be promising, but like the company itself, it's a bit of a diamond in the rough.
I honestly would say the gameplay is much closer to something like Def Jam Vendetta mixed with the base controls of the WWE 2K games before they got overly complicated, which to say the gameplay actually feel pretty good, mostly. I'll definitely take these controls over anything WWE has been doing to their games over the years.
Aside from just the controls, the gameplay has the different types of matches, most you'd expect out of a wrestling game and a few that are odd, but arcade-ish which kinda describes the game as a whole.
The selling point to me besides the controls was the Road to Elite which is the career mode. This allows you to use any of the wrestlers and go through a career mode or use your own created wrestler (male or female) and go through the story and build up your stats and title collection. The create-a-wrestler is actually pretty decent. It's not very robust, but it does the job enough to not overwhelm newcomers and still give a smooth experience.
At first when the game was being shown off, I thought the graphics were ugly, but seems it got polished and looks good to me, it's somewhere between wrestler toys and close to realistic, if that makes any sense. I really like the design of the characters, although to be fair I don't know but maybe 10% to 20% of the roster, but for what was shown they looked good.
I gotta say, the music shocked me...after years of hear EA and 2K choices of songs in WWE and boxing and other sports games, I feel like AEW chose some really amazing music.
Now this game does have it's flaws, but it's like everything good has a "but" to it.
- The controls are good as I said, but I felt they tried to hard to make EVERY button do something, when some actions could have been condensed like Irish Whip and Run could have just been the same button like every other Wrestling-ish game did.
- It has plenty of match types, but I think road to elite does a poor job of explaining stipulations or even showing you the match type after you got into it.
- Road to Elite has abysmal writing...some characters talk like their real counter parts do, but some of them have awful writing, that or if they REALLY talk like that...ugh... also my own character's dialogue was awfully written.
- As much fun as I had with it for the time I had played, I kinda felt the game needed more to it.
For AEW's first attempt at a game, I think they did a very good job for what they were going for. If what I read is true and this is just a test run to an ongoing set of games or ideas they wanna do, then they got my support, just as long as they take what they did here and improve on it, the next game could be promising, but like the company itself, it's a bit of a diamond in the rough.
A good base game but not a good finished product. Updates are desperately needed. You can see this hybrid wrestling/fighter gameplay they're trying to do but it needs lots of refining, especially when the online mode is the same experience as any other wrestling game (lots of cheesing, caws always suck, etc)
Have to imagine the feelings surrounding this game would be more positive if it was a 29.99 offering that made back the other 29.99 via DLC similar to Fire Pro Wrestling World.
A month into the release and the lack of communication from THQ Nordic/Yukes is doing further damage.
Have to imagine the feelings surrounding this game would be more positive if it was a 29.99 offering that made back the other 29.99 via DLC similar to Fire Pro Wrestling World.
A month into the release and the lack of communication from THQ Nordic/Yukes is doing further damage.
Was doing the Road to Elite mode. It was decent up until the game soft locked on me from progressing through it when I was about to wrestle at Double or Nothing.
Besides that, I like the idea of what the game is going for. A throwback to classic wrestling games from the N64 era. It has a nice concept, and the gameplay itself is fun. But the lack of content is not worth the price of recognition. I say get it on sale.
Besides that, I like the idea of what the game is going for. A throwback to classic wrestling games from the N64 era. It has a nice concept, and the gameplay itself is fun. But the lack of content is not worth the price of recognition. I say get it on sale.
the commentary that jim ross gives at the end of matches is the funniest shit ever
Extremely shallow. It tries to recreate the feeling of playing N64 wrestling games with your friends but somehow it feels like it has a fraction of the depth. They wasted their time making a bunch of minigames that are god awful instead of focusing on things relevant to the actual game. I would trade every single minigame for one additional match type. I get that you're trying to get that N64 feeling in there, but when I wanted to play minigames I would take No Mercy out of the N64 and put Pokemon Stadium in.
The single player mode, road to the elite, is repetitive and dull. The writing in it is probably at a lower bar than widely mocked games like Forsaken. Also, the DLC is hilariously priced. Can I just buy Toni Storm for like 2 bucks without getting a shittyl minigame too? I was so eager for this game because the WWE 2K games desperately need competition. They have been stagnant and dull for a long time. I was wary when they announced Yukes, a big part of that stagnation, was involved in this...and I was right to feel that way.
Stick to N64 wrestling games. The marathon of single matches in WCW/nWo revenge you get in that single player mode is infinitely preferable to anything here
The single player mode, road to the elite, is repetitive and dull. The writing in it is probably at a lower bar than widely mocked games like Forsaken. Also, the DLC is hilariously priced. Can I just buy Toni Storm for like 2 bucks without getting a shittyl minigame too? I was so eager for this game because the WWE 2K games desperately need competition. They have been stagnant and dull for a long time. I was wary when they announced Yukes, a big part of that stagnation, was involved in this...and I was right to feel that way.
Stick to N64 wrestling games. The marathon of single matches in WCW/nWo revenge you get in that single player mode is infinitely preferable to anything here
I don't think not being 2K is enough to praise a game.
An excellent wrestling game. Was advertised as a return to No Mercy style gameplay. They even got Geta to direct. However it goes beyond that but also sometimes doesn't quite reach it. It feels like a natural evolution and simplification of that system. I really like how this game feels. But I think my favorite thing about this game is how it's breaking peoples minds. A major wrestling company releases a game that doesn't have the production values of the WWE games and nobody knows what to do. I respect it. Does need more match types and I'm hoping for a tournament mode of some kind as
well. CAW is really limited but I don't really care. I really need to play Def Jam FFNY again though. That was one of the last games Geta directed and is probably the best Aki engine game. Would love to be able to compare the two.
well. CAW is really limited but I don't really care. I really need to play Def Jam FFNY again though. That was one of the last games Geta directed and is probably the best Aki engine game. Would love to be able to compare the two.
Fun little game that should grow into something great as both official support and the PC mod scene matures. It's definitely something I'll leave installed to fire up and play a match or two at times. I also had some fun with Road to Elite and would like to see this expanded upon with maybe a year 2 or year 3 of AEW to run through instead of just year 1. Of course, some sort of long term universe mode would be great too. A general booker mode would be nice too and I wouldn't be surprised we see something like this down the line despite this skewing more arcade than sim. I suppose the greatest praise I can offer is I bought the Elite Edition and didn't feel like I wasted my money. Looking forward to Stadium Stampede and beyond.
this is so much fun and i’m hopeful that the roughest parts of it could improve, things like the creation suite improving could cement this as an all timer, it would be a massive shame if it died before it could get to that point.
edited & changed since the original logged date:
post launch support has been dire...i was previously very optimistic about it at launch but all of that has fizzled out completely. it's not a bad game...the core gameplay itself is a good base but that all the game is...a base that lacks anything to keep you coming back to it.
lights out matches are by far the best thing about this game & one of the funnest things in any wrestling game due to the insane weapon variety along with it just gelling well with the gameplay.
other stuff just gets stale real fast honestly. better than the wwe2k games but still a dissapointment.
post launch support has been dire...i was previously very optimistic about it at launch but all of that has fizzled out completely. it's not a bad game...the core gameplay itself is a good base but that all the game is...a base that lacks anything to keep you coming back to it.
lights out matches are by far the best thing about this game & one of the funnest things in any wrestling game due to the insane weapon variety along with it just gelling well with the gameplay.
other stuff just gets stale real fast honestly. better than the wwe2k games but still a dissapointment.
Was perusing my Steam Deck storage today, looking to do a bit of a clean up. And after giving it a pass for a few weeks -- with no playtime -- I finally accepted that Fight Forever had outstayed its welcome, and simply has not grabbed my attention sufficiently. I have played more Here Comes The Pain in the last fortnight.
The very core of this game is good. They made a fun, accessible wrestling engine. But the embarrassing lack of features beyond that is inexcusable -- and in a roundabout way, that lack of features exposes that the core I mentioned is just that; good... but not great. Before release, I was adamant that a good enough gameplay experience would excuse a lack of other features, and I still believe that. But when a push comes to shove, there simply isn't anything bringing me back to Fight Forever on a regular basis.
The lack of a roadmap EVEN JUST FOR THE CONTENT THEY'VE ALREADY SOLD IN A SEASON PASS - is insane. This is not some plucky start-up company. This is Yukes and (Zombie) THQ. They've been to this dance dozens of times in their respective histories. The marketing and post-release communication for this game has been amateur hour.
The very core of this game is good. They made a fun, accessible wrestling engine. But the embarrassing lack of features beyond that is inexcusable -- and in a roundabout way, that lack of features exposes that the core I mentioned is just that; good... but not great. Before release, I was adamant that a good enough gameplay experience would excuse a lack of other features, and I still believe that. But when a push comes to shove, there simply isn't anything bringing me back to Fight Forever on a regular basis.
The lack of a roadmap EVEN JUST FOR THE CONTENT THEY'VE ALREADY SOLD IN A SEASON PASS - is insane. This is not some plucky start-up company. This is Yukes and (Zombie) THQ. They've been to this dance dozens of times in their respective histories. The marketing and post-release communication for this game has been amateur hour.
this game is somehow more boring than aew itself. they wanted to make a game like no mercy, which was their excuse for making something with less content than an n64 game
GooeyScale: 40/100
GooeyScale: 40/100
It’s almost bad as AEW itself
I was very excited for this because we finally have different choices in wrestling games but this in particular feels a little disappointing. Gameplay wise it’s pretty fun, reversing is the one thing I really don’t like though.
Game mode wise, there are a lot of match types which make it fun but the road to elite mode is VERY bare bones which isn’t a terrible thing but I wasn’t really impressed with a lot of the story that I saw. Went through the mode twice and don’t really feel like I want to play it again even if there are a few unlockable characters I haven’t gotten yet.
I think this game has its place and that’s as a fun arcadey wrestling game that you pick up and play at a party or get together. If I want something more realistic I’ll go to 2K23. Gameplay is what saved the game for me, but they really need to add some more content to this.
Game mode wise, there are a lot of match types which make it fun but the road to elite mode is VERY bare bones which isn’t a terrible thing but I wasn’t really impressed with a lot of the story that I saw. Went through the mode twice and don’t really feel like I want to play it again even if there are a few unlockable characters I haven’t gotten yet.
I think this game has its place and that’s as a fun arcadey wrestling game that you pick up and play at a party or get together. If I want something more realistic I’ll go to 2K23. Gameplay is what saved the game for me, but they really need to add some more content to this.
The game is pretty good the graphics are a little low but the features game offer are gr8. looking for next AEW game
Like what you may have heard already, this is a game that has a good chunk of good but is extremely held back by design choices, clunkiness, and seeming to be really stuck in the past in the worst ways.
This game heavily relies on it being No Mercy like. Don't get me wrong, I get the point they want to do and while No Mercy isn't my favorite, I did like the PS2 games and am open to a game combining realism and arcade-ish gameplay.
However, I feel like the execution in gameplay is overall alright but weirdly extremely similar to the WWE2K games with slight differences. I don't mind the controls being the same because I really like the WWE2K controls but the differences end up feeling superfluous and clunky (like the run button on circle or not really having a reversal besides jamming triggers).
I know the intention was to make the game more beginner friendly but I feel like this design motto really just makes the game more bullshit. For example, the WWE pin system goes by a bar that you have to time to land. While it can be impossible extremely far into the match, you at least have a chance.
In AEW, they reverted back to the button mashing system. On paper, this would be great so someone wouldn't have to learn a new mechanic to escape. However, in execution, it ends up feeling like a pin is a gamble and you have no real control on if you escape or not no matter how hard you press the buttons.
This way of trying to revert to the past has made pins feel completely bullshit even compared to WWE. I highly doubt a beginner would even enjoy this system as they would get frustrated over having no real control.
I will say I do like some button choices, mainly with making dragging opponents 10000x easier than in WWE games. Sacrificing an actually good run button for it may of not been worth it but like the wise words of Taz, I digress.
I do like the momentum system as it encourages players to constantly engage. Plus, it can ensure you can recover if you're able to land a few hits in, something that can feel like an impossibility in the WWE2K games. This makes matches feel more skillful and actually help cater to casual audiences so they're not just dominated.
However, this momentum system is held back by the pin because it can feel like attempting to experiment will lead you to lose completely if someone just quickly lands a pin on you. It seems like even if you do recover, you still have permanent damage that will pretty much ensure you stay down if you get pinned.
I do enjoy the extreme matches, I feel like these will be the highlight of the game for majority of people. Unlike WWE, the game has extreme amounts of blood and you can do some pretty brutal shit against your opponent. This really makes playing a match extremely fun.
This also helps hide how outdated the movement feels because when they said old wrestling games, they meant it. The movement feels like rock 'em sock 'em robots. It's really hard for me to feel like something goes smoothly in this game, especially with running. I wish they would have tried making this way more smoother as this was a huge issue in WWE2K yet its like 10x worse here.
Now, despite seeming like controlling an android, the matches do move fast which is appreciated and helps with a pick up and play style they wanna go for.
As you can probably tell, this game has major highs and dips just throughout it only by talking about gameplay. It's like a Monkey's Paw and I feel like the epitome of this analogy is the Creation Suite.
Everyone knows the WWE games are kings of the creations, they give you near unlimited opportunities to make whoever you like. No matter how mid a WWE game can be, creation can really help spice up even the worst ones.
AEW decided to ignore 20 years of progress, despite being made by the same studio as those games with great creations, and instead revert back to a N64 styled character creator where options are extremely limited. If you want to make somebody beyond the real life interpretation of the default Mii, good luck.
However, despite this, AEW actually features a ton of creation QoL improvements not seen in WWE. You can have tons of attires, you can set up entrance props and be able to set off your own pyro, I believe you could even make your own finishers. Plus they have a whole store of creation parts that ideally would help expand the Creation Suite even more with affordable parts.
However, none of those improvements really matter if the creation itself just sucks which kind of shows the point of this game.
Going back to entrance creation, yeah its cool they have so much customization for an entrance, even surpassing WWE2K in some cases, but it doesn't matter since they decided they loved No Mercy so much that they made entrances like 2 seconds long.
The majority of entrances you don't even hear the actual theme song, just like the slight buildup like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, or Chris Jericho. They did shorten the themes like for Kenny Omega but its few and far between and its always awkward.
I know many would argue this doesn't matter but like entrances help set a mood for a wrestler. Sure, you can not care for entrances and that's why WWE gives an option to turn them off if you want. However, considering they spent resources making random ass minigames they could have maybe put resources into making full entrances
and the real kick in the balls is that no mercy had full entrances so this 2023 game is getting its ass eaten by the nintendo 64. You heard more of the 5 second loop of The Rock's theme on No Mercy than Rhodes' Kingdom in AEW.
As for the story mode, I think its actually alright. I think the base of it is completely fine and I don't mind activities being more superfluous as I would rather not deal with a workout minigame or managing a wrestler diet on the road lol. I can live with those being more opportunities for cutscenes.
However I feel like they give extreme focus to this story mode despite the fact its not that deep. You can't mess with your created characters' stats like WWE, you have to grind story mode for them. Issue being this story mode is extremely repetitive and decently long for one playthrough, nevermind like 10 to unlock some characters.
They're trying old NES bullshit tricks of making the game slightly different to count as a new story when you replay but that's obviously not really worth it and doesn't make it an actual "infinite game."
I'd say stop huffing their own farts with the story mode's super epic dialogue variants and just accept one playthrough being enough for everyone lol. Besides its leech on created character, which doesn't matter anyway because create a character sucks, the story mode is okay just not really worth replaying like marketing wants you to believe.
As for minigames, they exist. They're kind of frustrating to see considering how extremely lackluster major areas of the game are but ignoring that, they're just nothing special. They can work well to make the story mode a lil more exciting but like you're never gonna wanna replay them after seeing them all lol.
Now despite everything, this would make a great $30 game if you can find it for that price. Its still fast paced and fun with nice no rules modes to help keep it spicy. There's also a lot of hidden unlockables and details you can find along with not having any microtransactions or overreliance on DLC like WWE2K.
However, for a $60 dollar game, it's nowhere near worth it. I'd honestly say just go with WWE 2K23 if you don't have it already because this is not the new king of pro wrestling games as of now. However, they did say they will continually update this game so some aspects of this review could be outdated.
If the game is really changed, honestly it'd probably max out at a 3. The core gameplay is still extremely clunky and stiff for me to give it a great score and I highly doubt that can ever be fixed but in being fair, I give WWE games similar score so hey they would match.
This game heavily relies on it being No Mercy like. Don't get me wrong, I get the point they want to do and while No Mercy isn't my favorite, I did like the PS2 games and am open to a game combining realism and arcade-ish gameplay.
However, I feel like the execution in gameplay is overall alright but weirdly extremely similar to the WWE2K games with slight differences. I don't mind the controls being the same because I really like the WWE2K controls but the differences end up feeling superfluous and clunky (like the run button on circle or not really having a reversal besides jamming triggers).
I know the intention was to make the game more beginner friendly but I feel like this design motto really just makes the game more bullshit. For example, the WWE pin system goes by a bar that you have to time to land. While it can be impossible extremely far into the match, you at least have a chance.
In AEW, they reverted back to the button mashing system. On paper, this would be great so someone wouldn't have to learn a new mechanic to escape. However, in execution, it ends up feeling like a pin is a gamble and you have no real control on if you escape or not no matter how hard you press the buttons.
This way of trying to revert to the past has made pins feel completely bullshit even compared to WWE. I highly doubt a beginner would even enjoy this system as they would get frustrated over having no real control.
I will say I do like some button choices, mainly with making dragging opponents 10000x easier than in WWE games. Sacrificing an actually good run button for it may of not been worth it but like the wise words of Taz, I digress.
I do like the momentum system as it encourages players to constantly engage. Plus, it can ensure you can recover if you're able to land a few hits in, something that can feel like an impossibility in the WWE2K games. This makes matches feel more skillful and actually help cater to casual audiences so they're not just dominated.
However, this momentum system is held back by the pin because it can feel like attempting to experiment will lead you to lose completely if someone just quickly lands a pin on you. It seems like even if you do recover, you still have permanent damage that will pretty much ensure you stay down if you get pinned.
I do enjoy the extreme matches, I feel like these will be the highlight of the game for majority of people. Unlike WWE, the game has extreme amounts of blood and you can do some pretty brutal shit against your opponent. This really makes playing a match extremely fun.
This also helps hide how outdated the movement feels because when they said old wrestling games, they meant it. The movement feels like rock 'em sock 'em robots. It's really hard for me to feel like something goes smoothly in this game, especially with running. I wish they would have tried making this way more smoother as this was a huge issue in WWE2K yet its like 10x worse here.
Now, despite seeming like controlling an android, the matches do move fast which is appreciated and helps with a pick up and play style they wanna go for.
As you can probably tell, this game has major highs and dips just throughout it only by talking about gameplay. It's like a Monkey's Paw and I feel like the epitome of this analogy is the Creation Suite.
Everyone knows the WWE games are kings of the creations, they give you near unlimited opportunities to make whoever you like. No matter how mid a WWE game can be, creation can really help spice up even the worst ones.
AEW decided to ignore 20 years of progress, despite being made by the same studio as those games with great creations, and instead revert back to a N64 styled character creator where options are extremely limited. If you want to make somebody beyond the real life interpretation of the default Mii, good luck.
However, despite this, AEW actually features a ton of creation QoL improvements not seen in WWE. You can have tons of attires, you can set up entrance props and be able to set off your own pyro, I believe you could even make your own finishers. Plus they have a whole store of creation parts that ideally would help expand the Creation Suite even more with affordable parts.
However, none of those improvements really matter if the creation itself just sucks which kind of shows the point of this game.
Going back to entrance creation, yeah its cool they have so much customization for an entrance, even surpassing WWE2K in some cases, but it doesn't matter since they decided they loved No Mercy so much that they made entrances like 2 seconds long.
The majority of entrances you don't even hear the actual theme song, just like the slight buildup like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, or Chris Jericho. They did shorten the themes like for Kenny Omega but its few and far between and its always awkward.
I know many would argue this doesn't matter but like entrances help set a mood for a wrestler. Sure, you can not care for entrances and that's why WWE gives an option to turn them off if you want. However, considering they spent resources making random ass minigames they could have maybe put resources into making full entrances
and the real kick in the balls is that no mercy had full entrances so this 2023 game is getting its ass eaten by the nintendo 64. You heard more of the 5 second loop of The Rock's theme on No Mercy than Rhodes' Kingdom in AEW.
As for the story mode, I think its actually alright. I think the base of it is completely fine and I don't mind activities being more superfluous as I would rather not deal with a workout minigame or managing a wrestler diet on the road lol. I can live with those being more opportunities for cutscenes.
However I feel like they give extreme focus to this story mode despite the fact its not that deep. You can't mess with your created characters' stats like WWE, you have to grind story mode for them. Issue being this story mode is extremely repetitive and decently long for one playthrough, nevermind like 10 to unlock some characters.
They're trying old NES bullshit tricks of making the game slightly different to count as a new story when you replay but that's obviously not really worth it and doesn't make it an actual "infinite game."
I'd say stop huffing their own farts with the story mode's super epic dialogue variants and just accept one playthrough being enough for everyone lol. Besides its leech on created character, which doesn't matter anyway because create a character sucks, the story mode is okay just not really worth replaying like marketing wants you to believe.
As for minigames, they exist. They're kind of frustrating to see considering how extremely lackluster major areas of the game are but ignoring that, they're just nothing special. They can work well to make the story mode a lil more exciting but like you're never gonna wanna replay them after seeing them all lol.
Now despite everything, this would make a great $30 game if you can find it for that price. Its still fast paced and fun with nice no rules modes to help keep it spicy. There's also a lot of hidden unlockables and details you can find along with not having any microtransactions or overreliance on DLC like WWE2K.
However, for a $60 dollar game, it's nowhere near worth it. I'd honestly say just go with WWE 2K23 if you don't have it already because this is not the new king of pro wrestling games as of now. However, they did say they will continually update this game so some aspects of this review could be outdated.
If the game is really changed, honestly it'd probably max out at a 3. The core gameplay is still extremely clunky and stiff for me to give it a great score and I highly doubt that can ever be fixed but in being fair, I give WWE games similar score so hey they would match.
Fun for a bit and with friends, gets repetitive after a while
you would need to pay me money to play a game with the young bucks in it quite frankly
watch big japan pro wrestling cowards
watch big japan pro wrestling cowards
A really fun gameplay and that's it , this game lack of cotent is crazy there is nothing to do
I'd say this game certainly had the potential to be a pretty good wrestling game but it faltered on a lot of things plus it's lack of updates (and it's over reliance on DLC that honestly isn't worth the price.)
it's like they don't actually know what people want to do in a wrestling game (mode-wise) but they aced the gameplay