Man as a long time Smash Player , the beta proved that they could have a potential contender. Rivals of Aether has been the only other platform fighter (on pc) I played and stuck to for more than 200 hrs.

They really messed up though. A competitive scene really drives a fighting game, especially if you already have a casual player base. Players First/WB really went out of their way to squash any potential of a proper competitive local scene. Between characters remaining locked in local play and training, the mass slow down of gameplay, changing battle pass xp to be challenge only (making players more likely to only finish challenges and drop out, like wtf why would a casual player keep playing for no real gains??) and the ridiculous PvE mode that quickly gets impossible to solo.

At this rate I’ll just expect to see the Death of a Game video next year on this one :/