Rivals of Aether II

Floorhug saps all the fun out of this game...

Can the Devs please add dashing out of shields and aerials? Being forced to double tap to dash out of shield is really annoying. Coming from Rivals 1, the absolute freedom of movement is what made me enjoy the game so much. Also, I know controller players have to time their dashes, but why not remove that timing requirement so everyone can auto dash? The "skill cap" argument is annoying because, with all the ways to cancel your dash in Rivals 1, why would I ever not want to be always dashing? Let me focus on learning the dash cancels and tech to get my tilts out. To say this again, I know controller players have to time or double tap to get out of their dashes, but why not create an auto dash option for controllers too? Much like L-canceling, it doesn't create new options it just makes the game more frustrating to play. That aside rivals will also be my favorite plat fighter.

If you like fast paced button mashing this is a well polished and smooth button masher with plenty of mechanics to sink your teeth in. However, if you like exchanges where you can reliably punish and make reads against even a cracked out adderall fiend because you outplayed, not just out-mashed your opponent, look elsewhere. Really cool game with a lot of potential but not a fun game once you get into it. Gets you hooked but is a hollow experience with diminishing returns.

smash bros but good

as much as i want to like this game its just not fun. call me ass or garbage or whatever but ive played plat fighters my entire life and this one is by far the most frustrating. no character is fun to play against, they will all make you question what the devs are thinking. so many aspects of this game are great, maybe the gameplay is just not for me. i encourage you to try it if you think you might enjoy it, If you're looking for something to scratch a competitive plat fighter itch and for some reason you dont want to play slippi, this is a ok alternative.

Best platform fighter that is not smash bros. The season pass and plethora of skins in this game makes it fun to actually grind and play online compared to Elite Smash GSP in SSBU. The one thing I dislike about ranked in this game is that your rank is tied to you instead of individual characters. It makes me not want to play or try out any other characters for the fear of losing rank.

Used to be my favorite fighting game ever and I've been playing it since 2016. The balance decisions suck and every time I log on and fight someone I'm reminded why I stopped playing. From a casual point of view this game is.. just fine. Especially with items on. But competitively this game is beyond uninteresting imo. shields in this game are too strong. I understand they wanted to appeal to more platform fighter players but the way they are now is not it. CC is too strong for how easy it is. You can buffer moves after CC. Why does the game feel so defensive that I feel like I'm playing ultimate at times? If i wanted to play a game where people are holding shield all game attempting to shield grab me for 50% I would literally go play ultimate. Why include all these PM/Melee mechanics if you're going to have the game play like this? On top of that there are a few characters that have been just straight up ridiculous with how easy but viable they are at every level of play, These matchups feel awful regardless of who you're playing because the character(s) is so easy but oppressive. If you played the game you know who I'm talking about. The counterplay is there but the counterplay is not only unintuitive to new players it's also insanely boring. I can't get friends into this game because these reasons.. Everyone quits. I've been playing platform fighters since Smash 64 on / off in brackets and just casually on wifi. You will lose repeatedly if you're a new player way more than you would lose as a new player on a traditional fighter. There are less new players coming to this game and the system mechanics do not help keep new players around. Regardless of anyone feels about floorhug / cc. It does not belong in a game with such a lenient buffer this game is a mash fest and if you have never played a game with these mechanics it feels horrible to play into. Not only that the developers do not know how to nerf characters. There's a chance you character will literally be nerfed to be not only worse than the rest but clunky and feel like ♥♥♥♥ to play. Meanwhile a certain character(s) are still running around doing the same BS since day 1. This is not a scrub quote go look at the communities reaction. Compare a character like Olympia to Clairen or Zetter and ask why would you ever play her? and this is only ONE example. At launch every character felt strong so these issues weren't as apparent but as time goes on they repeatably nerf characters but the same 2-3 are still belligerent and drooling on their controller against you meanwhile you're required to be way more precise than you need to be to counterplay them. Take Clairens recovery for example, you edge guard her obvious recovery but you get hit with the last frame of her up-b and you get tippered through the stage. Now imagine if you're a new player and you get hit by that. Do you want to lab how to edge guard her or do you just stop playing the game because this is your 5th match fighting her? the community for as small as it is "acts" welcoming but underneath that a lot of them including a few top players are toxic. If you're looking for a fighting game where the average player will run matches back this is not the fighting game for you. I've had to put my steam profile on private numerous times due to people raging about the game. It does not help that they put a big PROFILE button in the lobby menu so these guys can rage in under a minute lmao. It's cliquey and tightknit. A lot of people feel "fake". A top player got basically kicked out of the community for no reason because other top players didn't like them. Don't get me wrong though there are a lot of great personalities but those people are not originally from the Rivals scene originally. The positive about this game is that Dan Fornace is awesome and so is Workshop. Genuinely a great dude and I want nothing more than this game to continue to get better but it's really not worth it if you are trying to play competitively you'd have so much more fun on a traditional fighter or just simply playing Ultimate or Melee.

worth full price and on-sale is a steal

W

i like it