MultiVersus has got to be the textbook example of how even the most recognizable properties don't guarantee the success of a live service game. Launched in open beta back in July 2022, complete with microtransactions, the platform fighter developed by Player First Game was abruptly taken down the following year. While the dwindling number of players since launch may have played a part in taking the game offline, the developer assured that MultiVersus would be coming back in 2024 better than ever with a lot of changes based on player feedback.
MultiVersus is now back online and apparently out of beta, but I'm having a hard time considering this version of the game as the first, proper 1.0 version. Rather, it feels like this is a beta version of another vision for the platform fighter, a vision where, sadly, the bad currently outweighs the good.
At its heart, the latest version of MultiVersus is not that different from the game we played in 2022 and 2023. Taking more than a few pages from the Super Smash Bros. series' book, the game is a platform fighter where players must knock out of a stage their opponents with a focus on 2 versus 2 gameplay and a diverse roster of characters lifted from Warner Bros. properties. Stages are as varied as the playable cast, inspired by iconic locations such as the Batcave, the Red Keep's throne room from Game of Thrones, and many others.
Once again, the diverse roster of characters and stages are the highlights of the experience, thanks to their excellent design. Characters, for example, are quite varied, and their movesets take full advantage of their unique quirks. Tom and Jerry are very technical fighters who can put together some nasty setups, and Batman can use some of his most iconic gadgets to control the flow of battle. Some of the new additions to the roster over the beta, like the Joker, Jason from Friday the 13th, and Banana Guard from Adventure Time, are just as well designed as the previously released cast, their movesets full of references that the most hardcore fans won't fail to recognize.
With the exception of Support characters, who were reworked into the other classes, the characters from the beta play pretty much the same, retaining most of their moveset. Despite this, the game did not feel natural at first due to some big gameplay changes, such as the much slower pace of combat. This change was clearly made to improve screen readability and prevent games from becoming a chaotic mess like they often did in the beta, but I cannot help but feel that slowing things down this much wasn't a great decision. With a slower speed, combat should have felt weightier, but this isn't the case here, mostly due to the animations and a certain "stickiness" that makes them feel really slow. The general floatiness that put me off in the beta wasn't addressed at all, making air combat feel so unsatisfying compared to the Smash series. Thankfully, damage over 100 points greatly increases knockback, making it much easier to score knockouts over the beta, where I felt games dragged on too much, especially in 1v1.
Another element of the combat that really put me off in the beta, the Perks, which grant characters a variety of bonuses, have been slightly reworked, and although they don't feel that crucial anymore, I still think they should be disabled in any sort of competitive mode. As online play is currently limited to casual matchmaking, hopefully, Player First Games will do away with them in ranked mode, although I am not too hopeful since it wasn't the case in the beta. The zoomed-in camera is another change over the beta I would have happily done without, as it doesn't provide a very good view of the stage. The colored outlines, on the other, do feel distracting but they are definitely helpful in team matches to easily keep track of your companion.
The gameplay changes, however, are not the reason I feel MultiVersus is still in beta. Over the previous version, the current one lacks some essential features, such as no leaderboards, no after-battle report, advanced tutorials in training mode, the inability to change controller settings in the training room, and more. The worst offender, however, has got to be the inability to try out characters that haven't been purchased in training mode and local play. This seems like a major oversight, considering that every character costs the same amount of Gleamium and Fighter Currency. The latter can be obtained, albeit slowly, by playing the game, but the player should still be allowed to try out a character before purchasing, given the money and time investment.
The multiple currencies, which also include Perk Currency to unlock Perks and Prestige Currency used to unlock rare cosmetics, are only a small part of the free-to-play trappings that suck the joy out of MultiVersus. There isn't a single time you aren't constantly reminded of the multiple currencies, Missions, Battle Passes, and microtransactions, and I can't help but find this extremely offputting. The convoluted main menu doesn't exactly help either, having been designed more to accommodate these constant "reminders" than to feel functional, in my opinion. Making matters worse is how the free-to-play mechanics don't feel fair at all. Battle Pass experience, for example, is only obtained after completing Missions, so progression stops after clearing all of the available ones. To make another example, you need to master around 10 different characters to obtain enough Fighter Currency to purchase one character, not counting any currency obtained by completing Missions.
Alongside the gameplay changes and new additions to the roster, the latest version of MultiVersus introduces Rifts, a single-player mode that features a variety of different combat scenarios and mini-games, as well as different difficulty levels to put your skills to the test. These Rifts, unfortunately, are not particularly engaging, as the skeleton of a story they feature isn't particularly great, and the combat scenarios and minigames tend to become stale fast. Hopefully, future Rifts will address these issues and become a fun side activity to participate in when one's not in the mood for online matches.
As mentioned above, MultiVersus only features casual matchmaking for 1v1 and 2v2 at the time of writing. Without skill-based matchmaking, players of all skill levels are getting matched together, which doesn't always translate into a good experience. The game's rollback netcode is not the best either, as there's some noticeable input delay even when the action appears smooth. Servers, sadly, are still under pressure, so having a smooth match is an exception as of now. Wi-Fi and rollback frame indicators would have improved the online experience, especially in 2v2, as a bad internet connection is obviously more impactful than in 1v1.
Given how MultiVersus has only just been released, and things will obviously get tweaked in the future, it is difficult to score the game in its current state. While the free-to-play trappings are unlikely to change, tweaks and additional content could deeply improve the experience in the long term, making it a worthy rival to Super Smash Bros. and other popular platform fighting games. As of now, however, I feel much of the potential of MultiVersus is still untapped, and it will be up to Player First Game to let the seed they have planted bloom.
PC version tested. Currency packs to unlock additional characters provided by the publisher.
