I can't believe ive left off reviewing this game for as long as I have considering its one of my favorite games of all time, but you should know that this is the most enjoyable platform fighter ive ever played, including every smash brothers game. people say this game isnt for casuals, but I no longer agree with that. with the workshop the game brings in the potential audience of any casual, which is amazing to see.

the workshop is amazing and all, but im not going to be talking much about that. when it comes down to it the base game and its dlc, are some of the most fleshed out, interesting characters ive ever played, focusing on quality over quantity to the highest degree. every character played super different, and super unique even if at first glance, they seem super basic. the fact that I enjoy playing as literally every single one of them is a huge achievement.

If you've ever seen competitive melee, you may be discouraged to get into it with how technical it is. however, this game tries to imitate the feeling of those games when you are really good, keeps its high skill ceiling, but gets rid of the barrier of entry. instead of L cancelling, there just isnt much lag, wavedashing is incredibly generous, and the knockback paired with the hitstun is incredibly combo based.

offstage is the most fun that ive ever had in a platform fighter, if you just played offstage it would still be my favorite of the genre. in games like smash bros, you get a standard ledge that grants invincibility, which is where most edgeguarding takes place. however, in rivals there is no ledge, instead you get a walljump, in which grants you your up-b again. this allows offstage to be threatening, without being strictly a death trap like it is in games like ultimate.

other things that are drastically changed are the grabs, which dont exist, giving more emphasis toward using your regular moves to get the opponent where you want, instead of just grabbing to start a basic combo. The other change is to the shield, instead of a shield every character gets a parry, which acts like a standard counter, but if activated, stuns the opponent like when you get a shield break, which emphasizes true combos or aerial combos. if its not true or confusing to the opponent, they cant parry at the correct time, which allows you to keep a combo going

on the topic of combos, in games like smash ultimate particularly, combos are quick, done in a few moves, or highly technical. Take mario for example, marios notorious combo involves a ♥♥♥♥ ton of up airs, a few up tilts sometimes, a throw, and an up b, but mainly a ♥♥♥♥ ton of up airs. in rivals, I have never looked up any combos, seen any and tried them myself, or anything, but I came up with a bunch for myself. They happen almost subconsciously, its really something you have to play for yourself. just know that if you look up a combo video, they arent THAT hard to do. with a little practice you could probably do something very similar, be it worse or better.

People say that the singleplayer is horrible in this game, and for the most part I agree with them. however, abyss mode seems often overlooked. the ui is really confusing but if you find it, unlock it, and play it, its very fun. you use coins you get from playing the game to buy runes which change up your characters moveset in minor or major ways. you start with nothing, and you wont get farm but overtime, you get more gear and get better. another bonus is you can play it with friends which goes a long way.

you wont regret buying this game if you put the time in, its that good. definitive edition is on its way and I highly HIGHLY reccomend it. Im personally getting switch because I already have the regular pc version obviously, but on the topic of portability or workshop, go with pc first. workshop does add a lot to the game, but dont look over the main game, its a damn good time.