The dream of being a professional wrestler has never been closer than in AEW: Fight Forever.
THE GAME
AEW: Fight Forever is a wrestling game developed by YUKE'S and distributed by THQ Nordic and All Elite Wrestling LLC. Fighting for the famous wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, you'll get all the experience of an AEW wrestler, complete with all the match types and stipulations you've ever seen on the show. With a roster filled with famous wrestlers, you can take control of any of them or create your own wrestler and become a professional wrestling legend. Fight your way to the top and become AEW Champion!
MY IMPRESSIONS
I'm a huge fan of professional wrestling. I've followed All Elite Wrestling since its inception and I've seen the evolution since then. One of its founders and also a fighter, Kenny Omega, is known to be passionate about games. It doesn't impress anyone that he would want a game of his own promotion. And that's what happened. AEW: Fight Forever is the fulfillment of that will. Professional wrestling games are nothing new and have been around for a while and, more often than not, disappoint. So, having this history in hand, you can know where to improve, right? Well, not exactly.
Betting on a more arcade game, AEW: Fight Forever succeeds in being faster, but lacks in the controls. Everything seems plastered, from the movements to the characters, especially when there are more than two fighters in the ring. Speaking of which, every game of this style misses this type of fight. It's hell when you're in a tag team match and you're going to count on your opponent. Your opponent's partner ALWAYS stops the count. Does your partner show up to defend you? It appears, but he is barred by your body on the ground, he cannot pass and defend you. It's very frustrating.
Customization also leaves something to be desired. I imagined that I would have many more options to create my own character, but I found myself with a very poor selection of choices, both visually and in the range of moves. As for the squad of fighters, I think it could have been more updated and with more characters, but since we already have DLCs with the implementation of new fighters, we already have a glimpse of how to update the squad.
The Road To Elite mode is interesting. Career mode style, you live as an AEW wrestler making his way in the sun. Your fighter must train and recover for the weekly shows and PPVs. The dialogues between the characters are sometimes very funny and full of references to the world of professional wrestling, sometimes they are so generic that they take you out of the immersion a little. In general, it's a mode to evolve your character or to use the fighters you already know and create completely new stories. The game has subtitles in Portuguese-Brazil, minus the names of the moves, which was a wise decision.
I haven't played the online mode, but from reports I've read, many opponents force their way out of the game when they're about to lose and players who would win don't get any compensation for it. If I already didn't have much desire to play ranked games, after these reports, I'm going to skip it. For a game this size, I expected more. Still, it's a fun game and will yield some good times.
ACHIEVEMENTS
We have different types of achievements in AEW: Fight Forever. And I warn you: it takes a long time to complete 100% of them. That's because some depend on a lot of repetition, such as playing with 50 different characters or finishing Road To Elite 10 times. Some others will require focus, like doing the same action several times in the same match. And others will depend on your opponent's willingness to put himself in a specific situation for you to perform a specific action.
Fact is, if you don't play often, it will take a long time to complete all the achievements naturally. If you want to get 100% quickly, just focus on each achievement to force them at once.
CONCLUSION
I was excited when I saw an announcement for an AEW fighting game. I haven't played games of this type for a long time because, year after year, I haven't seen improvements in this genre. So I was hopeful for AEW: Fight Forever. I confess I was a little disappointed. Errors that already happened in other games of this style being repeated here. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun, but when you look at it with a more critical eye and play for longer, many aspects of it annoy you more and more.
The robotic way in which the judges count, not being able to control the direction in which your blow will come out and even some mechanics that are not precise made me a little upset. Even going in the other direction, AEW: Fight Forever ended up in the same place as other games in the genre.
Despite this, all is not lost. Since it's only the first game in the franchise, it's normal to have these types of errors, even if I think they would be avoidable. I think with that foundation they can improve so many aspects and listen to the community about what's good and what's wrong with the game. The professional wrestling community is passionate and demanding, so I hope they listen to your suggestions and improve in the near future, whether it's this game itself or a possible sequel.
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