Very disappointing

[Soratna]

Rivals 2 looks much slower and less skilled than the first one..

The Zetterburn model is too ugly.

Some colors, especially some attack effects, are too flashy, it looks like a mobile game. We need to improve the visual rendering and make it homogeneous with the backgrounds and take special care of the artistic direction of the arenas.

I don't understand the choices made, either in the visuals or in the gameplay. Rivals 1 was as good as Smash Bros Melee (best smash bros) and it looks like they decided to make the game slower and less deep for casual players.

Visually it would have been better to have a 2D HD render like Fraymakers but even better looking..

[Caius]

Ultimate's popularity does nothing to change Melee's existence and support. Rival 2's existence and perceived accessibility for newer or more casual players will do nothing to stop any grassroots or workshop support for Rivals 1.

[D-Burgundy]

I somewhat personally speaking with the sentiment of general disappointment.

The main things I loved about Rivals 1 was the game was quite fast paced and promoted good defense with proper movement, DI, and reads with parries. Additionally, Rivals 1 did not have ledges which was very awesome/fresh for the genre. This added depth in how you approached off stage play and the ledge since you could not camp the same way you could in other games. Additional features like air dodge after recovery specials and jump recovery from the walls were quite special as well.

Having a shield like smash, pummels, shield grabs, Melee ledge mechanics, and changes to knockdown being more Smash Bros like in general is pretty lame. The combat speed looking slower is also disappointing.

I'm personally not a fan of Melee as someone that played it back in the day in 01' and learned the tech as it has aged horrendously and it was already kinda rough coming from traditional fighters. I'm aware of its inspirations to other games in the genre in the same way Capcom inspired so many other fighting game devs including platform fighters, but Melee's design as loud as its fanbase is doesn't hold up nearly as well as stuff like SF2 and maybe that's my bias towards traditional fighter design showing; Smash Bros Ultimate is the only Smash game I care for to be honest as that fixed my issues with 4 and the design of the other Smash games which feel dated/outclassed in look/feel to me and what I want from a platform fighter.

Overall, I think Rivals 1 and other platform fighters like Smash Ultimate's deviation, doing things like vastly improving movement on and offstage, having input buffers like traditional fighters, having way more unique combat mechanics per character, and improving pacing in different ways seems so much better than what we're getting here. The varied combo systems straying away from popular templates, how you attack and defend and present options and the spectacle of it all is what I'm paying attention to in this new era where platform fighters are trying to cement themselves how traditional fighters already have done.

As far as aesthetics go, I think that part can grow on me. They have a decent baseline and I'm sure within a year more shaders, textures, and lighting adjustments can improve that bit and even allow for more costume variety that sprite edits don't (Rivals 1 sprite costumes were pretty neat and a treat for a 2D game since 99% shy away from that).

All I can do is wait and see.

[Milobadger]

Kanoon definitely has points here that I resonate with and as Caius also state's this doesn't mean support for RoA regarding the community will end. But Soratna simply said, what are you smoking or taking??? Because I'm pretty sure my GP would be prescribing it to me if I was having so many concerns on something that isn't even released yet. All models may still be adjusted and improved colours and backgrounds may, again, be adjusted to be more suitable upon the eye.

I will note and agree that the game-play seems slower, oddly (and this wouldn't have come to my attention without this thread!), but that really isn't directly indicative of it impacting on casual players over competitive players (meaning it isn't to cater to one audience over another) - it's most likely a direct adjust of the game-play irrespective of casual/competitive to provide progress on the series.

I certainly empathise will all aspects/concerns listed by each one of you and don't mean to dismiss/undermine any of them, as I too wish the best for the player-base and the studio.

I'd personally love to see some feedback from the community manager (George Rogers and/or Dan Fornace himself), on this matter. Further clarification of any adjustments on the game-play aspects would be of considerable value to the community in these early days prior to release.

And a final note yes I'm the tool that caused RoA to make adjusted scheduled for EU players, as I was devoted to RoA in the early days and couldn't fit their schedule. Called the team out on Twitter and they were more than responsive and supportive in the initiative. Yes I respect and support the decisions made by this team.

Always got my love and support!

[Captain Dumbass]

Yall just mad you can't bash your heads into 50/50 situations over and over again anymore lol. Slower gameplay just means more thought has to go into what you're doing. Plus you can't judge the speed of the gameplay by what we seen so far, the game isn't even out yet. Also judging the visuals while the game isn't out yet is also big buggin. Though I doubt it'll change much before the release its looks are subjective. I don't mind it. Although I wish the models weren't so shiny I also think that it doesn't look bad. Give the game a try first before buggin out. Also there'll probably be visual mods like there are for melee eventually, so I wouldn't not play the game because of how it looks. I'm more concerned with being able to have fun with it. Plus you can always play rivals one if you want to continue to play punish game the video game lol. Don't get me wrong there's tons of neutral in the original rivals but adding shields, grounded states and ledges allows for more neutral and oki options than just movement and techs. Personally I love the way melee plays in comparison to Rivals and plenty of others do as well, that's one huge reason why it has such a bigger player base.

Hopefully Rivals 2 has just as many defensive options as melee like: Stronger CC, amsah techs, V cancelling, stronger sdi, etc. Melee allows you to actually be better than your opponent in more ways than the punish game and movement. Personally I've been turned off by this game because It was way harder for me to get good at than melee for those specific reasons among others like the player base, I'm sure many others have as well. Not knocking the original Rivals, just my personal taste is more suited to a bit more methodical gameplay but I love hitfall, the characters, the balance, the community, and many other things about this game which keeps me coming back despite the things I dislike about it in comparison to it's inspiration.

Though don't mind me, my opinion doesn't really matter. Just putting my thoughts out there as well

[Chris]

Fleet's model looks great at least.

[Soratna]

Originally posted by Chris:

Fleet's model looks great at least.

I agree

[TheHolyCinderblock]

I do think that the most likely reason it looks slower is simply because if it went way too fast, then it would be way harder for people seeing the trailer to actually see whats going on.

[Ziack]

I think it looks amazing and the slower more intentional pace seems to match the added mechanics.

[Ol' Justy!]

I think judging the game's pace based on developer videos isn't the best thing to do. If you look at Melee based on promotional material, it also looks a lot slower. Truth is that we won't know for sure until it gets into the hands of the player base.

[turrón master]

you're preaching to the opposite of the choir here, yknow. the satanic choir, if you will.

you're basically telling these people who have already decided this is the best game ever because "its in 3d and its a sequel to a good game!" that this game is infact, not the second coming of christ. hence the 3 massive paragraphs defending it.
let the children waste their money and let the game rot in their library.

[Cosmic_apple]

Originally posted by turrón master:

you're preaching to the opposite of the choir here, yknow. the satanic choir, if you will.

you're basically telling these people who have already decided this is the best game ever because "its in 3d and its a sequel to a good game!" that this game is infact, not the second coming of christ. hence the 3 massive paragraphs defending it.
let the children waste their money and let the game rot in their library.

Let us be excited for the game and I am excited for the future of the game so why do haters have to try to ruin it for us

[turrón master]

Originally posted by Cosmic_apple:

Originally posted by turrón master:

you're preaching to the opposite of the choir here, yknow. the satanic choir, if you will.

you're basically telling these people who have already decided this is the best game ever because "its in 3d and its a sequel to a good game!" that this game is infact, not the second coming of christ. hence the 3 massive paragraphs defending it.
let the children waste their money and let the game rot in their library.

Let us be excited for the game and I am excited for the future of the game so why do haters have to try to ruin it for us

Im expressing disapproval towards a game that seems mediocre

Enjoy it for all i care, just cause im predicting it'll sit in your library with an hour of playtime doesn't mean im magically making that happen, im just expressing a disapproving opinion

♥♥♥♥ i already said expressing disapproval, get me a thesaurus

[Cosmic_apple]

Originally posted by turrón master:

Originally posted by Cosmic_apple:

Let us be excited for the game and I am excited for the future of the game so why do haters have to try to ruin it for us

Im expressing disapproval towards a game that seems mediocre

Enjoy it for all i care, just cause im predicting it'll sit in your library with an hour of playtime doesn't mean im magically making that happen, im just expressing a disapproving opinion

♥♥♥♥ i already said expressing disapproval, get me a thesaurus

Also you never played the game and the people who play tested it say it's an improvement, the haters either say it's just rivals 1 but 3d or they are coping smash bros and I don't want to hear trash talking so do it somewhere else

[HSV | P0kePanda]

I'd recommend watching some of the new gameplay that got shown at PAX and reconsider your claims.

[Zaruma]

Originally posted by HSV | P0kePanda:

I'd recommend watching some of the new gameplay that got shown at PAX and reconsider your claims.

As a beta tester, I can confirm, it's not slow.