Multiversus: Another Smash Clone? (Multiversus in early review!)

     Hey there, friends, several months ago, I wrote a post about a new Free-to-Play platform fighter called Multiversus. I said that I was really excited about it, but there wasn't much information about it yet back then. Since then, they have had a closed beta, and now an open beta, which I've been able to play for about a week now as I'm writing this. I am honestly really happy with the state of the game so far, and I'm confident that it is only going to get better as time goes on. They've promised a pretty solid lineup already that is going to be added onto in the months to come, announcing three new characters last week at San Diego Comic-Con, being Lebron James (from Space Jam: a New Legacy), Rick, and Morty (who are both from "Rick and Morty," as you could imagine). Today I'm going to give a light sprinkling of what I think about it as both a Free-to-Play title, as well as a Smash Bros. style fighting game. Let's put up our dukes as I dive into a light analysis of what this game has to offer.

Yes, that is Shaggy with a Batarang and Batman with a sandwich. Anything can happen here.

Free-to-play is always tricky...

    I have to start this off by saying that I haven't paid any money into this game at this time. There were several different ways to get early access, either you could pay for a founder's pass, which also comes with some perks and boosts to get you started, or you could watch a stream of Multiversus for an hour on Twitch and get a code for the early access that way. As I've already said, I didn't want to pay any money to get started, so I took the Twitch approach, watched for an hour and got my code. The way that I've been playing it, I've been totally fine so far. The game started me out with 5 characters: Wonder Woman, Shaggy, Harley Quinn, Jake, and Taz (I think), with a lot of them still locked. I found out later that actually, I didn't have Jake, Taz, Shaggy, or Harley, as they were just free for that two week period apparently, and that the characters cycle like that. Most characters go for 2000 coins, though some "Recommended" characters like Garnet were only 1500 to unlock, and some characters referred to as "Expert" were 3000 coins. The first win of the day rewards you with 100 coins, and for every match you play, you get at least 14 or so, no matter if you win or lose. You get coins for staying on a team with someone, you get coins for a lot of different things and daily challenges, and you rack them up honestly much more quickly than I originally anticipated. On the day that I'm writing this, they're putting in Lebron, who is also going for 2000 coins, which is, again, not too terrible of an ask. It does give a nice sense of reward whenever you're able to unlock a new character, especially whenever it's from a franchise that you are familiar with. Gleamium is the premium currency in this game, and while you can unlock a bunch of stuff with it, such as different emotes for characters, different skins, etc. none of it is required to buy characters, though you could if you wanted to. Gleamium is also used to buy the premium side of the battle pass, if you're interested in that.

    Let me talk a little bit about the Founder's packs, which get a little expensive in some cases, if you ask me. There is the Standard Founder's Pack, which goes for $40 and includes a banner, 15 character unlock tickets to instantly unlock characters, and 300 Gleamium, which, again, is the premium currency. After this is the Deluxe Founder's Pack, which goes for $60, including a different banner for your profile, a ring out effect, a Battle Pass Token, which unlocks the premium tier of the battle pass for one season, 20 Character Unlock Tickets, and 1000 Gleamium. The Premium Founder's Pack is the most expensive option at $100, and with it, you get another new banner, a new ring-out effect, 3 Battle Pass Tokens, 30 Character Unlock Tokens, 2500 Gleamium, and your account name appears in gold lettering. These tiers are honestly not too terribly much, considering the "Standard" price is what of a lot of remasters cost when they are released now, and the Deluxe tier is $10 cheaper than what most first party games from Sony are at launch. $100 is a bit too steep for me personally, but I know that many games charge that when it's all said and done, though it may be spread out with a season pass or something like that. Honestly, if I were more financially stable than I am, I wouldn't mind paying for one of the tiers here, just to support the developers, because I honestly have to say that this is a very well made game, especially for fans of Super Smash Bros, such as myself.

How does this do as a Smash clone?

    I'm going to say something controversial here, so buckle your seatbelts, folks. I love Super Smash Bros. with all of my heart, I have to say that it is one of my favorite series of games (as I love crossovers), but there are some things that this game does better than that one. The customization is off the charts here, where you can select what ring out effects you want whenever you knock someone off the screen, you can select the voice of the announcer, you can even change costumes which will change the voice acting. Shaggy has the best example of this, with his alternate costume being Uncle Shagworthy who has a British accent, as opposed to Shaggy's normal voice! Even better than this though, is the fact that there are individualized voice lines depending on who is fighting and who is on what team. I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing Steven Universe say, "Take that, Batman!" or Bugs Bunny telling Harley Quinn that he has been swinging giant hammers since before she was born. There are so many funny and generally awesome interactions between characters that I feel like I could fill the entire rest of this post gushing about my favorite voice lines, so I have to move on. So far, there are only 5 or 6 stages in the game, but I assume they'll be adding a lot more, especially since we saw one based on the "Get Schwifty" episode of "Rick and Morty" in the trailer for Lebron. I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again, this game is still a work in progress, but there are already 17 characters so far, with another two on the way. I get the feeling that there are going to be a lot more than that by the time they're finished adding new content as well. Now, to the actual gameplay.

    Do you know how the most recent DLC characters for Smash Bros. had some kind of special gimmick to them? Every character here has something like that. Finn collects coins whenever he attacks people, and if you hold the special attack button and down, the Choose Goose (from Adventure Time) comes and opens a shop, where Finn can buy different perks or BMO, who takes the down slot and gives Finn an electric charge attack. Velma is able to collect evidence, and once she has enough, her down special allows you to summon the police, which work basically like the Kapp'n assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. This game was created with 2v2 matches in mind, so characters have lots of moves that can benefit their teammates, such as Wonder Woman, who can create a shield for herself and her teammate by doing her down special move. There are different classes to the characters, which gives a good implication of what they're able to do. Bruisers, such as Batman, Shaggy, and Taz, are just heavy hitters, sometimes capable of certain offensive buffs, such as Shaggy's neutral triangle, which charges himself and his teammate. Assassins, such as Finn and Arya Stark, are fast and hit hard, but they have low defense, making them take 14% more damage from all sources. Tanks, such as Wonder Woman and Superman, can defend themselves, and sometimes their teammates as well. Support characters, such as Steven Universe or Velma, can actually heal or give some other perk to teammates. Finally, Mages, such as Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry (who act as one character) seem to be able to summon things out of mid air. Bugs is able to summon a rocket, a pie, and many other things as part of his "Looney Toons" charm. All of the characters truly feel unique in a way that is honestly very impressive. In Super Smash Bros, I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty decent with basically every character, save a few, but this game really makes you learn how these characters work, what doesn't work with them, etc.

    The game has been pretty smooth so far, though the physics are different enough to the point where I still need to practice more to get good. This is a much more aerial game than Smash Bros. with many more chances and moves devoted to the recovery, as well as wall jumps and the ability to use your up special move more than once. It has been interesting so far to see how skilled players can just seem to get back on the map no matter what. It's frustrating sometimes, sure, but it is pretty impressive, I have to admit. The characters in this game are all much more "floaty" than those in other platform fighters, which isn't really a good or bad thing, it's just different, and it just takes some getting used to. I'm really enjoying this game so far, and especially at the Free-to-pay price tag, I would definitely recommend this game to everyone, especially if you really like Super Smash Bros. or other "platform fighting" games. I look forward to all of the new content they add over time, and I'm hoping that it will take off in a similar way to other popular Free-to-play games in the last few years!

    Thanks so much for reading this, friends! I'm so glad to have your support, as always, and I hope you'll try this game out for yourself, especially since it's on just about every console except for Switch with full cross play and cross save functionality. It's a really interesting time, and I hope a Switch version will come soon, so my friends only with Switch can play as well. Any characters that you think would work well for this cool little fighting game? Let me know down in the comments! I am personally hoping for Wile E. Coyote, as I've always just loved him as a character, but we'll have to see! I hope you'll have a great week and thank you again for reading! I've been Jonathan, your Self-Proclaimed Multiversus fan, and I'll talk to you again soon!