I am a sucker for big crossover games. I find myself playing Fortnight once in a while, despite not really enjoying it that much. I played competitive Smash Bros for years. I played Heroes of the Storm since beta, until its death and I currently play League of Legends like it’s a second job. All you need to do is throw a bunch of characters together and I’m interested. Multiversus does that, but doesn’t offer anything of real substance beyond the novelty of seeing Shaggy go Super Saiyan and deck Marvin the Martian in the face.

I played Multiversus during its open beta and was not really impressed, mostly frustrated. It felt really sluggish and the mechanics were slippery and imprecise. A fighting-adjacent game is made or broken by its mechanical prowess and this game was broken. Character balance was all over the place and the perk system is so uninspired it feels like a gimmick to differentiate it from others in the genre. Another aspect of this “gimmickiness” is the default format. It’s meant to be a 2vs2 game. Now this is interesting in concept, especially when you have perks that apply teamwide and have bonuses when both players choose the same one, but that also means the single-player experience is abysmal. Characters are “balanced” with the 2vs2 format in mind and nothing else. This leaves characters, like Reindog, being completely unplayable in solos. Speaking of characters, the roster for this game is dismal. They chose some off-the-wall characters to fill out spots and some seem like they were introduced purely for marketing purposes (looking at you Black Adam and Lebron James). We see Bugs Bunny, Gizmo, Arya Stark, and Finn the Human and the representation of different eras in media is commendable, but makes me question who the game is being made for. The beta also had problems with connectivity as matches would frequently disconnect. All of this led to a middle-ground experience with nothing special or offensive about it. It was a flash in the pan, because the game then went away for almost a year.

Now it’s back. The game moved to Unreal Engine 5 and added Banana Guard, Jason Voorhees and the Joker to the roster… None of the issues from the beta were addressed. Everything I mentioned above is still true, which lead to me as a player feeling disrespected. The game still feels like trying to swim in mud. A game that requires precise movement and inputs feeling like this is unacceptable. The game plan still hasn’t changed. Players still focus on spiking the opponent into the abyss and there is still little counterplay to this style of play. Most characters received no moveset changes, save Velma who is now borderline unplayable, except that everyone has a dash attack now (no dash animations though). The fact that none of the beta issues were addressed really comes to a head when you see what really changed. There is a robust cash shop. After one year of development between the beta and full release, you can tell what all that time went into when you click Store on the menu. There is a plethora of stuff for you to buy and a ridiculous amount of currency types. It’s almost like a mobile game, with all the gems, crystals and prestige shards you can acquire. Prices are basically robbery as well. The shop is a slap in the face of those that actually enjoyed the beta and were patiently waiting for their concerns to be addressed in the full release. Instead we got a background character with an uninspired moveset (Banana Guard), an expansive cash shop, no meaningful gameplay changes and a lackluster single-player mode.

The single-player offering here is some of the worst I’ve ever experienced. It’s a combination of the most dull and lifeless minigames and mind numbing fights against cpu opponents. The fact that the game has daily missions centered around these makes me think the developers actually think this content is worthwhile. It is not. It’s a waste of your time and affords no sense of accomplishment. It doesn’t require any of your attention at least. (I was able to breeze through an entire panel while watching a video essay on Resident Evil.)

Mutliversus is a waste of time. I believe crossover games like these are usually just marketing ploys to draw in big audiences for some quick cash, but the way this game has been developed, really makes it seem like they are aiming towards the competitive fighter market. The problem is, they have no idea what they are doing. The choice of characters, lack of mechanical solidarity and overall instability of the title regarding its availability and marketing, only damages the game’s perception. Based on the actions taken thus far, it is doomed to fail and I’ll be here in my front row seat, laughing as it implodes.