Multiversus Proves The Next Smash Should Be Live Service

thegamer.com:

There’s a lot that Warner Bros.’ MultiVersus does to differentiate itself from Super Smash Bros., with its perk system, character progression, and focus on team-based abilities. Ultimately though, it’s still platform fighter that features characters from a bunch of different franchises. It’s novel in some ways, but there’s nothing original here. What really make MultiVersus stand out is the way it modernizes the genre, both with its free-to-play model and its various progression systems, which appeal to modern sensibilities in a way that Smash Ultimate never will. There’s been some discussion about the future of Smash and how it can continue on after the Ultimate era. MultiVersus is perfectly demonstrates what the next version of Super Smash Bros. should be.

MultiVersus’ approach to free-to-play is typical for most triple-A games. When you start you only have access to a few characters but you can unlock more using currency earned by completing a checklist of missions. As you play matches you’ll earn XP towards your battle pass, which has both a free and paid track. Experience also raises your mastery level with each character, a system similar to - and I’m sorry I don’t have a better example - Marvel’s Avengers. Increasing each characters’ mastery level unlocks cosmetic items and perks, which modify and enhance that character's abilities. Regardless of how you feel about perks in a fighting game, the important thing for our purposes is that there is no pay-to-win. Everything you can buy is purely cosmetic, as free-to-play games should be.

Related: All Hail Reindog, MultiVersus' Loveable Mascot

The stuff you can unlock on the battle pass is worthwhile. There’s taunts, emotes, skins, and ringout VFX - animations that