Rivals of Aether II

Backed the kickstarter as soon as it was available and feel absolute bitterness towards the product in it's current state. The mish-mash of game mechanics from popular platform fighters that just do not interact well with each other at all in a pathetic attempt to grab players from Melee, Ult and other platform fighters. To the point that the unique mechanics from the first game were almost all completely abandoned for half baked attempts at "well __ players like __ so let's do that." A balance patch will hit and some characters get their entire kit gutted and MONTHS later still feel like complete hollow shells of themselves (see: Wrastor) or characters will keep getting nerfed to the point that it feels unfair to keep nerfing them but they haven't targeted what makes the characters strong. (see: Zetterburn and Clairen) ((real ones remember when Clairen and Zetter got dedicated "we are straight up gutting these characters" patches that amounted to nothing)) or sometimes characters just get ignored and left to rot/be overtuned unless there's a specific game breaking bug (see: Maypul, Orcane and Etalus) RoA 2 is filled with moveset ideas that feel like the studio had one or two cool ideas and then thought "oh wait we have to give these to all of the cast not just Clairen, Kragg and Zetterburn... ♥♥♥♥." (see ledge and get up specials) or complete overhauls of a system mechanic that lead to uninspired or overdone replacements like grabs being turned into a universal thing and Clairen getting the basic "sword character that has a big charge move like Marth and Roy". The games attempts at teaching you go from infantilizing (the basic tutorial having 1/3 of it dedicated to "if you press the left stick you move" like every other game ever doesn't also do that) to the some of the intermediate and advanced tutorials offering vauge information about deeper game mechanics like the DI tutorial mentioning nothing about c-stick ASDI. TLDR: The game doesn't feel like a fighting game it feels like a "queue ranked and buy skins only" simulator. Why does "Rivals of Aether 2" feel more like "P+ Ultra: This Time We're Furries!" instead of a true sequel to the game I love so dearly. If this was truly "Dan's complete vision for the first game" then it's amazing that RoA 1 was still a good game.

interesting sequel decision, after making a good game, they chose to make a bad game this time. riveting.

A disappointing follow-up to my favorite game in the platform fighter genre. I'm not sure I would say that it is a "bad" game, but I certainly wouldn't recommend that anyone buy it. If you are someone who really loved the original RoA, steer clear of this sequel. They removed everything that made the original title unique (RoA2 adds back in shields, spot dodging, ledge grabbing, and weakens the parry) and offered nothing but "floor hugging" in return. Outside of the highest competitive tiers, the new defensive options result in a passive and boring neutral game. If you are a diehard Melee player... just play more Melee. To end on some positive notes, I will say that the character designs remain solid all around. It is refreshing to see a game bring an original cast instead of reusing a popular IP. Also, I suspect RoA2 will be a fun addition to the FGC tournament scene for the next couple of years. Pro Melee players are the crowd who will get the most out of this sequel.

It's like the first game but it feels far worse and lacks the things that made the original unique

Best platform fighter that is not smash bros. The season pass and plethora of skins in this game makes it fun to actually grind and play online compared to Elite Smash GSP in SSBU. The one thing I dislike about ranked in this game is that your rank is tied to you instead of individual characters. It makes me not want to play or try out any other characters for the fear of losing rank.

Why, in this game's entire lifespan, have crouch cancelling and platform dropping continued to be the strongest and most anti-competitive aspects of gameplay with minimal changes? Don't get me started on Amsa teching - it's cool in Melee because it's hard, in this game it's braindead. Combined with the fact that every character kills you for trying to edgeguard them, means: 1) There's no point in trying to hit anyone on the ground (and even in the air, for some unknown reason) at lower to mid percents (♥♥♥♥, I've had people CC my ♥♥♥♥ at 90) 2) There is no point in pressuring someone on a platform. The action-after-tech window is so short that they just put up shield and then drop with their best aerial 3) Hitting someone for going above the ledge is pointless. They just press L/R with a gigantic baby mode window and tech the ledge 4) Edgeguarding isn't even worth the cost because you're probably not going to kill them off of that interaction, and the likelihood you're going to die for even attempting it is astronomical So what is the real gameplay? You just circle camp around each other, fighting for middle stage, and try to abuse these mechanics as best as you can. This game has a lot of potential but is trying way too hard to be easy mode Melee. Just cut the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and it will be fine. Signed, Platform fighter player since 2008

Can't say that I can totally recommend this, unless you want to dedicate your life to it or are at the very least a platform fighter enthusiast. Yes, I got absolutely annihilated on Ranked and even in Casual matches because it's next to impossible to find someone on your same level. So you'll mostly get matched with people well above your rank. Casual matches are also full of sweats that swear this is EVO finals or something, mostly because items in Rivals 2 are designed with combo potential in mind, unlike Smash's more chaotic approach to items. In a way, Rivals 2 also doesn't reward creative plays, only tried and true combos which seem to be the meta in this game. DI and Hitstuns do last more than I would like to, similar to Smash 64 in which there are even combo competitions in the scene. Floorhugging as a mechanic is horrid and should be nerfed to avoid dealing with people spaming neutral attacks on lower percentages, especially with heavy characters such as Lox; it is simply not fun. Another thing that annoys me are how low the air speed is in this game as every characters feels like they are being drag to the ground by some invisible force that prevents them to freely move in the air, except maybe for Fleet. People that are either seeking a Smash Bros alternative on PC or a platform fighter that doesn't implode after a year should be looking somewhere else, unless, and again you're 100% sure you'll be sticking to Rivals 2 for a long time, because...it is a live service! We've been in this hellhole already, Multiversus proved that an online centric, live service platform fighter is not a good mix. Matches don't last as much as a let's say a Battle Royale, so the whole live service system tends to get in the way and not to mention the lack of real single player content. Luckily, Rivals 2 live service approach is not as agressive as Multiversus once was but the focus is still there with skins, costumes, events, you name it so the single player content gets left behind with a misserable arcade mode and maybe some extras. So don't come expecting Smash levels of content, not even Nick All-Star Brawl for that matter. My negative impressions outweight the actual positives this game has, but here are some positives after 34/35 hours. Playing with local matches with friends isn't half bad. The animations are superb, the combat feels smooth and Slade is pretty cool. I'm just kind of dissapointed with this game. Edit: Floorhugging is now optional, that's great.