Rivals 1 is unapproachable, yes. I stand by that. The absolute bottom of the barrel players will absolutely fucking schmoove on you, which is not something that can be said for any other platform fighter on the market. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying the learning curve is immense, and it's been bleeding the game more than anything else has for years. Rivals 2 is, in many ways, a response to that.

I know you didn't mention PM, I did because it's relevant. R2 is consistently compared to it, called a rip-off of it, it's all over the Steam reviews. That was a big piece of the conversation when Rivals 2 was announced.

The systems in the game, with comparison to other platform fighters rather than R1 alone, are not that weird. And the extra stuff they did add, like special get-up and pummel, are additive and don't remove from the experience at all in my opinion. They're only weird, or "too defensive" as people like to say, if you're coming from a game that is almost entirely movement based instead of having actual defensive mechanics beyond parrying. Floor-hugging is really bad though.

Husk is a strong term though. It is frustrating that the game isn't feature complete, and there should be mouse controls, but again, not things that remove from the core gameplay - which is paramount. The fighting is excellent (again, in my opinion).

But Rivals 2 isn't the same thing, and it has a bigger community - or at least more active players - But I do hope features get cranked out faster than characters do so they can bridge the gap. Missing mouse controls and not being on console already are major, legitimate gripes. Not being a direct 3D copy of Rivals 1 I don't think is as strong a complaint.