AEW: Fight Forever Review – A Midcard Debut

In 2019, All Elite Wrestling opened its doorways and instantly modified the skilled wrestling world. For the primary time in a protracted whereas, a promotion emerged which may rival the longtime king of American professional wrestling, WWE. There have undeniably been some rising pains, however 4 years later, AEW continues to be a well-liked different choice for wrestling followers. Now, the corporate is making an attempt to do the identical within the online game world with AEW: Fight Forever, and very like these first AEW reveals, the sport is a promising debut effort–but with some noticeable room for enchancment.Fight Forever options 47 wrestlers–a far cry from the 218 wrestlers in WWE 2K23, for comparison–at the beginning, with extra capable of be unlocked by way of the in-game store with forex earned by means of taking part in the sport. AEW mainstays like MJF, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., “Hangman” Adam Page, and The Young Bucks are right here, in addition to a number of stunning entries. Some of them are heartwarming tributes to wrestlers who’ve handed away–like Mr. Brodie Lee and Owen Hart–while others are names who’ve departed to the competitors like Cody Rhodes. There are loads of names missing–the present AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm, the earlier girls’s champion Jamie Hayter, and two-thirds of the Trios Champion House Of Black, for example–but it does symbolize many of the high expertise at present within the promotion.What’s cool about Fight Forever’s strategy to the roster is that everybody is on a good taking part in discipline. There aren’t any scores in Fight Forever; I can decide any matchup I need and have the identical probability of successful regardless of who I’m controlling. And I do imply “any matchup I want,” as intergender matches–which aren’t out there in WWE’s present recreation series–are utterly high-quality right here. The recreation treats its roster much less like a wrestling simulation, with clear divisions and scores that separate the large stars from the midcard expertise, and extra like a preventing recreation the place anybody can battle anybody, no questions requested. Being capable of e-book whoever I need in a match, no matter gender, measurement, or some other components, is a very cool strategy and I really like that Fight Forever opted for it.The recreation’s mechanics are easy and approachable–adopting a scheme that channels WWF No Mercy from the Nintendo 64 days–which provides much more weight to the “everyone is even” roster strategy. Moving across the ring is straightforward, attacking with strikes, grapples, and particular strikes feels snug in my fingers. There will likely be an adjustment interval for these accustomed to newer wrestling video games, although, as some actions aren’t as responsive as others. Running simply requires essentially the most apply, because it’s gradual to begin up after which requires the wrestler to run in a single route. The recreation does an excellent job of educating the fundamentals, nonetheless, each by means of ideas that pop up throughout a match and thru the coaching mode. The tip screens are accompanied by voiceovers from notable AEW personalities, although among the voices sound like they’re studying from a script moderately than making an attempt to coach a wrestler.I significantly like how executing a ending transfer is identical enter as taunting, since taunting with a signature transfer out there is how I entry the ending transfer to start with. I haven’t got to fret about a number of button presses to drag off my favourite strikes, it is one easy movement. Therefore, a fast flick of the proper follow taunt, adopted by one other fast flick of the identical stick when my opponent is in vary, and I’m hitting my strongest transfer. I really like how straightforward that feels.I can even add to the roster myself by means of the sport’s wrestler creation suite, which on the floor appears restricted however finally ends up being surprisingly strong. The bodily customization choices are high-quality however noticeably restricted, with the quantity of attires, hair choices, and different parts out there being principally generic attire or wrestler-focused choices. Creating a moveset is rather more in-depth, because it gives loads of strikes for quite a lot of completely different conditions and lets me create the proper moveset for me.Getting by means of the checklist, nonetheless, is a problem, as there is no group in how the strikes are listed. Alphabetizing every checklist would have gone a great distance in making customization much more streamlined than it already is. That mentioned, although it might appear restricted in comparison with different video games’ choices, it by no means feels too overwhelming, and what may take me an hour elsewhere I used to be capable of make work in about 20 minutes right here even with the menu points.Fans of professional wrestling know that some of the vital elements of an occasion is the wrestler entrances, and I discovered myself disenchanted with what Fight Forever supplied in that regard. Instead of full walks to the ring with the entire pomp and circumstance of a Wednesday night time on AEW Dynamite, every wrestler will get about 10 seconds of their entrance proven earlier than the sport strikes on, very like an up to date model of WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64.While different wrestling video games allow you to skip entrances to get to the motion sooner, it looks like that alternative is taken away from these of us who wish to watch them in full. There is an try and mitigate this, as I’m allowed so as to add my very own pyrotechnics and lighting results by urgent buttons, however whereas that is enjoyable, I can barely see something I’m including to every entrance, so I do not perceive why they have been added within the first place. What’s extra, customizing my very own entrance for a created character solely twists that knife additional; I wish to see my creation in all their glory, but it surely’s simply not out there.The number of matches is sadly simply as missing because the roster, as there are some fashionable match sorts lacking. Standard match sorts equivalent to one-on-one singles, two-on-two tag, and three- and four-way matches are all right here, together with some specialty matches together with ladder matches, “lights out” matches (mainly “anything goes” matches with weapons), and two AEW trademarks: The Casino Battle Royale and the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. All of these can also be played online in ranked and casual matches, which is a major plus.One notable omission is three-on-three trios matches, especially considering AEW has a Trios Championship title, but as the game only supports a maximum of four wrestlers in the ring at one time, trios by its nature had to be left out. However, there’s also one extra addition: minigames, a selection of small, Mario Party-style games which are unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a wrestling video game before. Trivia contests, coin collecting while wrestling, and more are available, and they’re all silly fun which serve as a nice break between matches.The Casino Battle Royale here in Fight Forever is an interesting spin on the real-world version, one which takes into account the technical limitations of the game only supporting four wrestlers in the ring at one time. In the real version, wrestlers are assigned “fits” and they all come out when that suit is called–club, spade, heart, and diamond. Here, you are still assigned a suit, but now one wrestler of each suit comes out at a time, and should they be eliminated, the next wrestler in that group comes out. This makes the match feel like a Team Battle mode in a fighting game rather than a battle royale, which some might argue goes against the spirit of the match, but as a technical workaround it’s a novel approach that works for me.The Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, meanwhile, is presented as advertised: Barbed wire lines the ring ropes, and if I can force my opponent into them, fireworks explode and the poor wrestler on the receiving end takes massive damage. There’s also a running timer where, after two minutes elapse, a massive explosion rocks both wrestlers in the match and acts as a “reset” of sorts. Playing this match is a ton of fun, with the explosions and blood marking the canvas giving it an extra edge from other match types–and thankfully blood can be turned off for the more squeamish players. The Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch in game is, ironically, much better than the one AEW actually put on in 2021.The last main offering is Road To Elite, which is a story mode played with either a created character or an existing member of the roster. The mode is broken up into four sections, with each section containing four weeks of action set in a different real-world city. The first three weeks end with an episode of Dynamite, while the fourth week ends with one of AEW’s pay-per-view events.Each week, I can choose between multiple activities–working out, dining, or “going out”–with every one giving me a buff to my statistics. I’m allowed 4 of those actions earlier than going to that week’s match, and a small cutscene performs based mostly on whichever I select. These cutscenes vary from routine weightlifting to goofy conversations with different wrestlers which lead to footage being taken in entrance of a well-known landmark in whichever metropolis I’m in.These cutscenes are the very best a part of the mode, as I by no means knew what to anticipate every time I’d decide one of many actions. In one second I may very well be signing autographs and telling followers in regards to the onerous lifetime of a wrestler, in one other I’m posing in entrance of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia with Jon Moxley, and in one other I’m consuming a Juicy Lucy–a burger with the cheese baked in–from a restaurant known as Grub Informer in Minneapolis. The dialogue within the scenes is simply as goofy, because it borders between laugh-out-loud humorous and cringeworthy, however I’m joyful to say I laughed greater than I cringed. There’s barely any interplay in these scenes outdoors of transferring the dialogue alongside, however they’re nonetheless lots of enjoyable to look at.Better nonetheless, Road To Elite gives 4 completely different tales for every of the four-week sections, which implies that in my second run by means of the mode, I noticed utterly completely different tales with utterly completely different cutscenes and photograph ops. There are 256 photograph alternatives in all, the truth is, which provides the mode loads of replayability.However, the storylines do not at all times match up correctly, which creates some unusual conditions. For instance, in a run with Malakai Black, I ended up successful the AEW Championship at All Out–the first pay-per-view on the docket. Amazingly, I used to be by no means pictured with the title belt once more, as if that win by no means occurred. I discovered that odd, as I had assumed the storylines after successful the title can be defending it, however that chance by no means got here. The tales that did play out have been nonetheless enjoyable, however what occurred to my championship?AEW Fight Forever, very like the corporate it represents, is a cocky younger upstart making an attempt to take the crown from a titan. Also very like its supply materials, its first outing is a good basis for what its future may present. The roster is an effective primer on the present AEW lineup, there are sufficient match sorts to maintain issues recent for some time, and Road To Elite is an irreverent take a look at the lifetime of a wrestler that made me smile. There are some bumps on this road–particularly the shortage of trios matches and the disappointing entrances–but these are all issues which could be fastened in future installments. If AEW actually plans to Fight Forever within the online game world, then they’ve thrown an efficient first punch.