Review: AEW Fight Forever goes all out to provide elite in-ring entertainment

videogameschronicle.com:

For decades, wrestling fans have considered WWF No Mercy to be the greatest video game representation of the sport to date.

While the genre has clearly made giant strides over the decades in terms of presentation, game modes and customisation, it can still be argued that when it comes to actual in-ring gameplay, THQ and AKI’s 2000 N64 title remains the undisputed champion.

AEW wrestler and proud video game fan Kenny Omega is clearly aware of No Mercy’s stature, which is why his role as AEW Games head of creative included bringing in No Mercy director Hideyuki Iwashita to advise on the feel of the first ever AEW game.

The result is AEW: Fight Forever, a spiritual successor to No Mercy developed by veteran wrestling game studio Yuke’s that doesn’t play exactly like the N64 classic, but clearly takes inspiration from it regardless.

The game’s combat mechanics are set somewhere between No Mercy and 2K’s more recent WWE games (which until a few years ago were developed by Yuke’s). Whereas the N64 title was a slower, more simulation-based affair, Fight Forever feels like what you would get if No Mercy had been created with a more arcade-style slant.

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Striking attacks are delivered quickly, and can be strung together to make combination attacks. Alternatively, players can attempt to grapple opponents which, if successful, gives them a selection of holds, throws and other moves to choose from.

In a sense, it’s perhaps more similar to EA’s Def Jam games, which were released in the years following No Mercy and used the same engine. While Fight Forever isn’t quite as over-the-top as those rap-based grapplers were, its pace and emphasis on