“Easy-to-learn, hard-to-master”
Last issue I talked about what I see as the future of fighting games—accessible, broad appeal action, bereft of barriers like complex inputs. Turns out that future may be arriving faster than I thought.
Multiversus pits characters from across Warner Bros stable of IPs against each other, resulting in playfully incongruous match-ups like Arya Stark vs Batman, or Tom and Jerry vs LeBron James. The Smash Bros influence is clear, both in the ‘everybody’s here!’ roster and in the fighting, where dealing damage is just a means to the end of knocking your opponent clean out of the arena.
But within my first couple of matches, it became clear this is far more than just a cheap clone or
IP-led cash grab. There’s a real commitment to creating something accessible—even for very young players—yet brilliantly tactical.
I don’t even really like Smash Bros, but I’m enthralled by Multiversus. It’s the epitome of easy-to-learn, hard-to-master, combining limited movesets and a tight set of mechanics to create a web of possibilities.
BRAWL ABOARD!
Its best twist is that it’s built not around 1v1, but 2v2. Four players on screen gives you the energetic chaos of Smash Bros, but being paired up allows things to be more competitive than random. Characters interact in all sorts of interesting ways, and unusually for a fighting game have actual support moves they can use to buff and reposition their allies.
Playing as Reindog, for example—a bizarre hybrid beast original to the game—I’m best off actually staying out of the brawl, hurling projectiles from afar to soften the enemy up, and using my magical ‘tether’ to yank my partner around while they land the finishing blows.
It’s a level of genuine co-operation I’m not sure I’ve ever seen in the genre before. It adds an extra tactical layer to prevent the game drifting too far into simplicity, but at the same time it actually makes it more accessible. When you screw up, there’s someone else there to pick up the slack. And you’re encouraged to play with a friend, exchanging tips and helping each other learn.
And, with a load of ten year olds playing, I’ve finally found a fighting game online mode I can win at…