The Wrasslin' Game Thread: YUKE'S 'AEW FIGHT FOREVER' LOOKS SOLID!!

Oh fer fuck's sake, I just got a chance to watch the supposed cut stars video, and I just saw Jim Duggan was in. Why does he keep getting removed? Out of all of THQ and 2K's offerings, dude's only been in Legends of Wrestlemania. It just ain't right.

Not a very good model, but still...it would've been great to finally get ol' Hacksaw in one of the games.

@shiftygism: I am obviously on record as hating this art style, but I hope these are just temp models that will be fixed. They look like they were designed by people who had the wrestlers described to them by someone who saw a wrestling show once 20 years ago. Ric Flair's hair is as if they put Rey Mysterio in the game without his mask, or Rikishi in but he's thin and jacked.

Brett Hart looks like a young Rob Morrow.

Another year, another wrestling game disappointment.

"RING THE DAMN BELL!"

<Bret Hart will remember that>

That AEW trailer looks promising. It looks a little more arcadey and action packed than the WWE sims have been, though it's impossible to tell how it plays. The graphics aren't fantastic but it's still very early.

My biggest takeaway is that this version of Hikaru Shida's ring gear is clearly based on Tifa from FF VII, and how did I not realize that? She has even cosplayed as Tifa. In real life I didn't necessarily see it but in video game form it's incredibly obvious.

I am totally willing to give Yukes a shot at a game unshackled from the "Your a mark you will buy it anyway so quality doesn't matter" trash mindset that is the WWE. I wish the manager game wasn't a mobile game but whatever.

I'm just super curious to see what Yukes can do with a wrestling game removed from the forced yearly release schedule. They've been the brunt of a lot of people's shit talking over the years with those WWE games, which I always thought seemed unfair when you've got a publisher and the WWE demanding you put out a new game every year.

WWE Battlegrounds added some new characters recently including Ultimate Warrior, who looks cool despite his attire colors being weirdly off (and only 2 available), but folks are saying in a game where everyone has nearly the same generic moveset, he still lacks most of the signatures that made him like his running clotheslines, flying shoulder block, and Ultimate Splash. Why even bother putting him in?

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, HE'S PORTING IT TO THE SWITCH!!!

A game made by one dude, doing things that hasn't been seen since WWE All Stars...

I always wanted to try this one, glad it's finally hitting consoles!

The dates for the supposed last wave of free dlc has been announced for WWE Battlegrounds. Outside of Doink, most of the models look really great.

It's obvious this game was rushed to market as it's poorly thought out in areas, the reversal system is awful, too often you'll get counted out if you don't get in the ring by nine (so weird), the difficulty in story mode is insane for certain characters (Ember Moon is soooo overpowered), and there's a surprising lack of wrestler specific moves and taunts, but mannn if they could fix these issues and add some new match types next time around (if there is one), a sequel could be pretty great. It's by no means a suitable replacement for All Stars, but it's offered a lot of amusing moments since I picked it up on Black Friday.

Love the artstyle, some of the models looked bad in their profile pic, but in game? Awesome. Some of the women, especially Asuka look better here than in 2K...not to mention feeling way more lifelike with some of the reactive animations. While some of the developmental choices made are quite puzzling, there actually seems to be a pretty smart logic system in place rivaling Fire Pro under the hood as I've had instances of my opponents doing things I've never seen in 2K stringing specific moves and spots to taunts. Moments like that go a long way in evening out the drawbacks. I got a bunch of clips I need to toss together in a montage at some point.

Decent game on the cheap, especially now that they added so much content.

So, apparently, and I don't know how something like this happens, but an older version of Action Arcade Wrestling released by mistake a couple months ago on the PSN for $14.99 and was immediately pulled...

Pretty bummed I wasn't aware of this goof, I would've definitely scooped it up. Hope that's the launch price. The dude below was lucky enough to get in on it and it looks as if all of the pc creations will be available to those on console, which is pretty awesome...

Can't wait for its official release!

AAW finally dropped today, looks cool. You need the pc app to create, it has a 300 limit on creations, and you can download sixty per day. Looks like a solid offering at $15/$12ps+, I'll probably bite.

I don't know how good this game actually is as the day one patch was paused by the developers on PS4 because of crashes, and what we got is an early build. That early build has a lot of issues. Might wanna hold off on this one for a bit as even $15 is too much for what they're serving up.

Once it's patched I'll give y'all the lowdown, but I'm not terribly optimistic as the core gameplay is incredibly limited, and with an awkward control scheme to boot. Opponent pick up is the same button as pin. WTF...

@shiftygism: Yeah, it looks pretty bad, unfortunately, and I don't plan on buying it.

I don't keep up with wrestling, but I love a good arcade-style wrestling game like WWE All-Stars. Is there anything like that out there currently that's actually good?

@bonorbitz: Battlegrounds, while not in the same ballpark as All Stars, is as close as you'll get. It has its issues, the reversal system isn't very good, limited moves and uncharacteristic taunts for superstars/legends, some cheap boss-like characters in story mode, and there's a grind to unlock everything...but it's still pretty fun, especially if you're playing against/with someone.

If Visual Concepts hadn't dropped the ball with 2K, they probably wouldn't have rushed Battlegrounds out allowing time for more moves, taunts, and modes, and because of too many wrestling game fans being so half glass empty, it didn't sell well and likely won't get a second shot at delivering a solid followup. If you can get it cheap digitally, like $10...(if you didn't nab it for free on PSN last month), it's the perfect pick up and play title doing the daily missions to earn cash to unlock the pretty large roster they added to over the months after release.

this is just an updated version of that chikara game, right?

@newmoneytrash: Yep, which was PC only...haven't had a chance to check it out until now.

So they finally patched the PS4 version of Action Arcade Wrestling and quickly addressed issues which popped up in it like weird multi-colored particle effects and oddly colored skin tones for created wrestlers. Also added in a Royal Rumble-like mode which is pretty fun, but as I've said before the gameplay is super limited as it's strictly sideways interaction, no corner moves outside of dives, and various neglected wrestling game standards that have been around in some form dating all the way back to Japanese SFC offerings. It's ok, but I'd recommend waiting on a sale. Lot's of cool created content, but sadly it still lacks a recently uploaded filter. Hopefully that'll come in the next update.

Also, in wrasslin' game news, we got our first look at yet another new indie focused game currently in early development...

Retromania's first big update is live, three arenas, Chris Bey, tons of additions and improvements, more stuff coming including an eventual big announcement of more legends. Really hope they were able to sign Hacksaw...but yeah...here's the trailer...

'SATURDAY NIGHT SLAM MASTERS', one of the greatest wrestling games ever conceived has just dropped on consoles for the first time since the 16bit era, now in all of its arcade glory for only $4 after a free download of 'Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium'... https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0102-CUSA30639_00-CAS2DLC000000009

AEW lookin' good. big Show is a bit small, and some of the animation isn't so great, but it looks like it'll be pretty fun. Not a fan of the return of the Smackdown era evasive roll move though, should've put in attacks or something if you're close to your opponent while getting up...the rolling has never looked natural.

@shiftygism: I disagree. The game might be great, I haven't played it obviously, but for an 8th/9th gen title it does not look good. It has 7th gen quality graphics and the animations (which maybe aren't finished, I hope) look like action figure stop motion. I watched some WWE All Stars to remind myself and while yeah, these models are more detailed, the animation there seems to have more weight and smoothness.

I'm withholding judgment because the game's not finished so maybe they'll smooth this stuff out, plus it could be a ton of fun to play even if I don't think it looks great, but I do hope it gets a few more rounds of polish.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the footage of Fight Forever. It's certainly not perfect and looks distinctly lower budget than WWE 2K, but the wrestling fundamentally looks pretty solid and fun. This game was unlikely to be able to compete in terms of overall graphical fidelity or feature set with WWE 2K, but it seems like they're making up for it where it counts with building a game that's actually fun to play.