MultiVersus is the newest platform fighter on the scene, published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment. In this subgenre of fighters, the goal is not to reduce the opponent’s health to 0, but to knock the opponent off of a levitating platform. Multiversus has three unique mechanics that make it a fresh look at a classic genre – Perks, Team-Oriented Gameplay, and a renewed stance on Aerial Resources.

The Perk System

The Perk System is something I’ve never seen in a fighter before. It provides a variety of bonuses, from modifications to your abilities, to additions to base stats.  Because of the Perk System, every character has a certain range of playstyles, rather than having a fixed role.

There are 4 slots for Perks – one Signature Perk, and three General Perks. While both provide a lot of value and room for differing character feels, the Signature Perk has the most obvious effect on how you interact with a character’s kit.

The Signature Perk modifies one of the more commonly used abilities of the character, or adds a character-unique passive that adds to the dynamic between the character and their allies or opponents. For example, Arya Stark has two Signature Perks – one makes her obtain 5 stacks of Stolen Face (her unique resource) whenever she gets a KO; the other allows her to empower a friend by using her throwable knife, a high-cooldown ability that’s normally only used to extend strings, or for sneakily blinking around the stage.

The General Perks add up to have a roughly equal amount of value, but in a much less evident way. They generally add percent modifiers to basic stats, such as damage dealt with projectiles, or DI-effectiveness (how much you can influence your knockback when you’re hit).  Depending on the character you’re playing, some General Perks are stronger than others. 

Up, Up, and A-Slay is a perk that increases the effectiveness of vertical attacks, which is great for characters like Harley Quinn or Arya Stark, but is pretty bad for characters like Shaggy or Superman. Some perks are only good for 2v2 play, such as Wonder Twin Power, which gives you some damage reduction whenever you’re near an ally. Obviously, this rarely applies when playing in a 1v1 game, so it’s not worth equipping when you’re on your own.

Overall, I think the Perk System is an interesting addition to the fighting game sphere,  and I’m hopeful for future games to make systems like this. Some interesting  Perks might include ability swaps, hitbox modifications, and frame data changes.

Team-Oriented Gameplay

Unlike most fighters, platform or otherwise, MultiVersus has dedicated gameplay changes for 2v2 play. For example, Arya Stark has a passive ability which causes her to drop a pie onto the battlefield when she secures a KO. If an opponent picks this up, they are slowed, and, if an ally picks it up, they are healed by a small amount. On top of this, she has a perk that allows her to use her Side Special, a traditionally offensive kit as a defensive/supportive ability.

Though Arya has some minor team-based abilities, there are some characters who are specifically made as supports – players that don’t do that much damage, but can zone, buff, or heal, in an attempt to help the other player, who is now stronger than either opponent, individually. An excellent example of this is Reindog, who has the ability to throw a tether. In 1v1, this makes a weak laser that is mainly used for stage control, but it works drastically differently in 2v2. If Reindog hits an ally with his tether, it sticks to them, and can be reactivated to pull the ally to Reindog, no matter where they are. This can be used to save an ally who has been knocked back, but can also be used to enable an opponent to ‘bungee jump’ to go for a deep kill. 

Abilities like this allow for a lot of cooperative skill expression, which is rarely found in most fighters. In most platform fighters, the full extent of teamwork is found in either team combos, which are not really that creative, once they’ve been labbed out, or helping allies recover, which can but characters like Reindog and Wonder Woman create some completely new variables that drastically the ways that players interact with both their allies and their opponents.

Buffs and Debuffs

Buffs and Debuffs are fairly common in fighters, but MultiVersus designed them in a more user-friendly way than the others by codifying how they work. Every Buff or Debuff (hereon referred to as a Modifier) has very obvious visual effects, as well as a symbol above the head of the affected target, and every Buff or Debuff has a specific entry in the Glossary, under the ‘Modifiers’ tab. These descriptions are informative enough to give a new player an idea of how they work, but vague enough to reward those players who enjoy labbing and researching to optimize their play.

For simpler Modifiers, there isn’t much to hide, but they can still be surprisingly vague. The Stunned Modifier states that you become Disabled, but Disabled is not a Modifier, so it doesn’t have an explicit definition. Of course, a player reading this will assume it means something along the lines of being unable to move, attack, jump, or dodge, but how long does it last? Does it stop anything a character is currently in the middle of? Does getting hit disable it? These are all crucial bits of knowledge for continuous improvement, and they can only be learned through first hand experience.

Summary

MultiVersus is an excellent addition to the platform fighter genre. New, interesting, and simple mechanics/systems allow for experienced players to immediately start learning new concepts, and for newer players to slowly develop their skills without having an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. Whether you’re looking for a fun party game to play with friends, a new fighter to take seriously, or a completely unsolved game, waiting for labbers to fully research, I think MultiVersus will make a great addition to your library.