The Multiversus is upon us

A new challenger approaches

The very moment that Super Smash Bros Ultimate wrapped up it's final character reveal, that party signalled the dinner bell for everyone and their mothers to jump into the Smash-style ring in order to have their own shot at scooping up some of that eager fighting game action that Nintendo was moving on from. Almost as though every fighting-game-curious company out there was under the impression that Nintendo held some sort of copyright over this style of game, and only once Sora dropped without an addendum announcement releasing that legal hold did it become obvious that they've could've been feasting on that Smash money for years now. I cannot come up with any non ridiculous reason why both Nickelodeon and freakin' Warner Bros have stepped up to fill the void; not exactly the biggest developers I personally think of circling the fighting game fields. Nick used to be busy drowning its websites in godawful browser games (of which I played about 90% of them back in the day) and Warner Bros have some fundamental game mechanics to try and copyright in order to actively stifle the innovation of the industry. (I haven't forgotten about that WB... never forgive.)

But now we can officially step out into the modern internet and breath a tincture of that new world air as a fresh sun rises; a sun split between Nickelodeon All Stars and- oh wait, no actually there's no competition whatsoever in hindsight; Mulitversus is crushing Nick All Stars in numbers. Wow. According to that most venerable of sources, the emotionless robot over at Steam Charts... and his API, (Ba-dum tish) Nick All Stars, which has been out for several months now, has seen an all-time high of over 9,000 players and is averaging around 50 active players daily nowadays. Multiversus, which literally launched last week... 153,000. Those sorts of numbers don't play the same sports, wear the same jerseys, go to the same school, attend the same year or even study the same curriculum. That's the kind of numbers that makes Smash aficionados stick up their heads from their Switches and so "Okay, what's going on there then?" Thems fighting numbers.

And what could be the vast chasm of difference that makes Multiversus a worthy contender to carry the Smash banner into the sequel and Nick a foot note on that journey? Well, the consensus seems to be that Nick tried to make a fun little game to pass the time, where Multiversus is taking things almost disgustingly seriously. Grabbing every licence they have, setting up battle passes on day one, winding in gameplay tutorials to make sure everyone understands the basics (Even Smash Bros Ultimate doesn't do that) and, this is a big one in my book, reaching out to the original voice actors to provide player lines. There's no way Tom Kinney couldn't be reached to give out SpongeBob lines, and WB knew that when they paid off Kevin Conroy for the 50 thousandth time. (He's earned that money fairly every time.) That was enough to win me over to the otherwise stunning cynical synergistic brand vehicle that Multiversus represents.

Of course, they also did something they absolutely did not need to do in order to make sure this game would stand out. And I'm not talking about the surprise development of a mascot character created specifically for this game called 'Reindog'; that very much was a necessity and we would never have accepted this game without him. I'm talking about the abundance of moves and systems specifically designed to aid teamwork. I'm not just talking about moves that can be used synergistically together by happenstance; I mean entire character moves built to save a falling ally or teleport a friend across the map. Genuine Team-play gameplay features to compliment the game's currently flagship team based multiplayer mode. I was honestly shocked to a gameplay system not pilfered from that old faithful Smash Bros. (Ugh, that actually felt a little dirty to say.)

Which isn't to say this game's set-up perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I do have my gripes. For one I feel like all the stages make for little more than backdrops without any real personality to them. I know that hardcore competitive players only gravitate towards very functional stages when it comes to Smash, but as a casual player I always liked the one's that forced you to always be on your toes, jumping off constantly moving platforms and dodging stage gimmicks. It's just a bit more fun, in my opinion. Depriving all stages of that, in a bid to serve the ranked crowd, and every stage backdrop begins to feel like little more than set dressing. Sure, a couple of buildings can fall to pieces in some of the stages, but that doesn't change the flow of the fight. The only stage which does, as I've witnessed, is that damnable stage with the pit in the middle of it. Additionally, many of the characters are fitted with a lot of cool systems that make them feel unique, but sometimes the UI doesn't feel quite adequate enough to tell the player all the information that they need. Finn has a whole system where he collects coins, but until he goes to spend them how many he's collected is a mystery. Cooldowns don't have timers nor does the move description tell you how long they're timed-out for, leaving you to just sort of guess at it. And in an effort to declutter the screen, most of the 'this move is ready' icons are shoved into a little window underneath the actual playing character. There's no Character card lingering at the bottom of the screen like in Smash Bros so they couldn't stick it there instead, but resorting to squishing it directly in the middle of the play field means that you need to lose focus on what's happening in the action in order to check if your abilities are ready to use, which poses an obvious problem

Of course, for all it's oddities and quirks (and missteps) there's little hiding from what Multiversus is; an online ecosystem built with the potential to last and thus facilitating a yet-to-be-unlocked in game store and plenty of replay hooks. And beyond that, at a fundamental level; this is a meme game. Yes, I know it stings to hear but you've gotta hold your nose and chug down that vinegar. We pretty much knew that was the case once previews revealed Shaggy jumping around with Super Sayian powers, or 'Ultra Instict' if you prefer. But even whilst playing the game you can just feel that the memes are everywhere. Batman telling Wonder Woman before a match "Believe it or not, I've got a plan for this", Buggs Bunny relaying after a victory "You know I had to do it 'em", the existence of Lebron James as a character; all of it is catnip to a Reddit browsing, basement dwelling, meme breathing, crowd of degenerates. With love and roses for good measure.

It is both a little gross that such a mainstream conglomerate as WB is using memes to sell their game, and a little bit cute to think the personalities of some of the developers are coming through in some of these more 'in the know' jokes. (Although they must know most memes die in the sunlight, so what they're facilitating is tantamount to joke genocide.) But I have to admit with how indulgent these creator's are, they have managed to reserve themselves just the tiniest bit in order to hold a little bit of a life cycle in this game from the get-go. There's no playable Rick and Morty characters for instance, despite there being a Stage directly from that show present. There's also only one Game of Thrones character to speak of, which is obviously going to change as WB desperately tries to win back some of it's acclaim with the ill-advised spin-off GOT series'. There's impressive room to grow here, and I'm excited to watch it.

Although there is one character missing from their rooster which is not just waiting there for them to adapt, and would in fact be a headache to licence; but for whom the Multiversus roster would not be complete without. There's no doubt about it; we're missing out without our Morbin Time. Sony may not want to deal on the matter, they may try to push back on the meme which already cost them two consecutive theatrical runs. But there cannot be a quarter drawn on this; Multiversus has to end with Jared Leto's greatest performance else the mission statement of the team will be forever a failure. And so I pass on to the development team, to ready themselves for facilitating a business deal that could very well be the only act in their lives that has ever meant anything. Secure the Morbius rights, WB; complete the Multiversus.