Rivals of Aether II

This game is pretty fun, but this is coming from somebody who has never played it online so take it with a grain of salt

peak

Fun

ragebait

My laptop is not the most powerful, and even though I get a pop up every time I start the game up about my GPU, the game runs smooth enough. If you're a fan of Super Smash Bros., this game is pretty good too. The devs have even released a casual-centered patch more recently so that anyone can get into it. My biggest praise for this game is the (near) complete lack of FOMO. every "battle pass" can be accessed and played through whenever and there's only a couple of character skins locked behind kickstarter rewards and the like.

An absolutely fantastic take on the platform fighter genre and potentially one of my favourites of all time IN said genre. And I've only scratched the surface of what's possible in this game so far. The gameplay feels fantastic, smooth, and exactly like what you'd want from a game like this. Especially if you're coming from something like Super Smash Bros. Melee which is easily this game's biggest inspiration. It takes all of the best aspects of that game and its mechanics and expands upon them. All of the tech, movement and competitive things you know and love from Melee while also making all those things way easier and newcomer-friendly to pull off. So if you're like me and have always been interested in Melee competitively, this game will absolutely be for you as it takes all the best aspects of Melee and makes them way easier to get a grasp on. Things that were once advanced, incredibly hard-to-learn tech in Melee such as wavedashing have never been easier to execute and understand. Of course, there's still a high skill-ceiling with the game and that's immediately apparent the second you hop online with real people or even some of the more advanced tutorials the game offers, but it's not as hard to get into either way. The characters (or Rivals, in this game's case.) are all amazing and each stand out on their own two feet. Each character has a unique trait that makes them special, so it's worth trying each and every character to figure out who best suits your play-style and what special gimmick you enjoy most. Personally, I'd consider myself a Wrastor main so far! His gimmick is only being able to use his strong attacks in the air! Something completely unique to him. But his overall gameplay style, character design, and personality all suit me perfectly as well. But what Rival intrigued you the most? Something else I love about Rivals 2 is the complete anti-FOMO approach the game takes. If you missed out on any skins in the past that you were hoping to obtain (let's say from a previous monthly event), you can revisit ANY event at ANY time and progress through them at your own pace. Kind of like a permanent Battle Pass system. But only here, you can select any "Battle Pass" (with no buying required, might I add.) and progress through the tiers at whatever pace you desire. And as for shop skins, there's always a chance they'll rotate back in. You just need patience. Not to mention, the game is completely free-to-play in the sense where not a single purchase you make is NECESSARY. Everything you buy is completely visual and is solely there to express yourself. I absolutely adore this approach as it doesn't punish you for getting into the game late or simply not having the cash to buy certain things at the time of their release. I wish more games took this anti-FOMO approach and seeing the Rivals team take this "for the fans" approach with the game is SO greatly appreciated and something we need more of in the industry. Another incredible thing about the game is the fact that it gives you incentive to return! With new Rivals and all sorts of other wacky content getting added pretty consistently all things considered, you'll always have a reason to boot the game up again even if you've had an extended break away from the game. The vast amount of tutorials and settings the game has makes taking said breaks a breeze as well. Even being able to see hitboxes in training mode! So even if you get a little rusty, there's always tons of easy ways to wipe that rust away. Not to mention, the game's compatible with basically any controller you can think of, so rustiness will be way less of a factor when you can pick the exact way you like to play! From the controller you use to being able to FULLY customise your controls! Honestly, I could gush about this game forever. I had a feeling I'd like the game based on footage I saw before getting into it myself, but man, I like it more than I ever could've imagined. Everything about it scratches that platform fighter itch that always seems to return for me. And now, I think this game will be one of my main platform fighters for a long, LONG time to come. Especially if you find this game while it's on sale like I did (a whopping half-price sale, at that!) then I seriously could not recommend this game enough. Especially if you're a fan of the genre and are quite a competitive gamer.

its like if smash had good netcode. please buy it the items and stages are good. also game feels buttery smooth. was a big fan of the first one and this one is like that one and project m had a baby