Brawlhalla - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - The Game Review

This is one that i've been really excited to talk about. Brawlhalla. I've spent endless hours with my friends and family playing this game. In the review below you'll get a general idea what the game is about. Me and the friends have literally spent countless hours playing it.

Some people will tell you it's something like Super Smash Bros. or maybe some people will tell you it's like another action platformer. Let me tell you this, plain and clear. It's in it's own league. One of the main things that sets it miles apart from competitors is the wide character options. That means a wide range of possibility in game and to me, that's what makes a game exciting. One of my favorite multiplayer games is DOTA 2, so whenever I play a game that reminds me of "Virtual Chess" I get excited!

It's really cool to go through all the different options available to you in this game. It's in Beta too so there is always more to come! It's had so many updates since it's release, I don't see the Developers slowing down any time soon.

In this Blog, we will touch base on many of the aspects that make Brawlhalla a truly Brilliant game. From the Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I'll also drop a few Tips if you plan on playing it and the Trailer too for you to watch.

So please, sit back, relax and enjoy the review.

Brawlhalla is a competitive brawler game similar to smash bros.
There is a nice selection of character that you can play, each having their own stats and set of two weapons. Each weapon has the same move set but characters have signature moves (or just strong attack if you will) that change depending on the weapon and character.

The game play at high competitive levels can be insanly complex so personally I know that there is massive depth to the fighting in this game but with that being said, like in most fighting games, there's always the group of players who decide to play in a very cheap way and do whatever they can to win.

The developers are hard working guys who listen and interact with the players. Once a week they do a developer stream, talking with the players and maybe showing off new characters and giving sneak peeks to new things in development. Seriously they are doing an amazing job keeping the game together.

The Good

• Endless Brilliant Possibilities
• Remarkable Development Team
• This game is honestly a fun game to play, easy to learn and hard to master.
  The way most people describe the game is that it's a "Pound Store Super Smash Bros" and I can see where they're coming from but with that logic nothing would be original.
• The supprt for this game is tremendous and I'm happy with how they regularly update the game with new legends every month or so, events and even a mode called "Brawl of the Wheel" which is a new party mode every week.
• They also allow users to test modes and features and listen to the players about what is good and what isn't which is great.
• Every week they change a rotation of free legends, allowing players to experiment with character until they find one to their liking and then to purchase with Gold which is easily earned.
• Ranked Play is what keeps me hooked into the game as the rank progression will leave you saying "one more game" after every intense match you play and there is a high replayability factor to this. Games are quick and rather than casual "quick play", it plays with an 8:00 time limit (that is rare to see actually play to the end) and 3 lives.
  You can play 1v1 or 2v2, and I like that a lot as I find 2v2s a good thing to do when with only 1 other friend.
  

The Bad

• Cheaters
• The Blame Game
• Toxic Community Behavior
• I mentioned before that the devs have many different ways that players can voice their opinions and help shape the way the games plays in the future and to be honest, sometimes they don't listen. For example they recently made a hot fix and added a limit to how many times you can "wall hug" (bouncing and clinging onto a vertical surface such as the side of the map) and they made it so you can only bounce off the wall 15 times, with little warnings at 9, 11, and 13. Before the hotfix there was no limit which the majority of players liked because it's annoying to get people waiting for you at the edge of the map not letting you back onto the map (aka Edge guarding).
• The customization is VERY extensive, but the problem is that there is almost ZERO customization that players can choose from without spending anything. Player and Weapon skins are all only acquired through in app purchases which is honestly a shame.
  

The Ugly

• There is only 1 "ugly" aspect to this game, and that is the legends themselves.
• The game requires skill to conjure up combinations of hits in the fastest amount of time to do more damage and do that fast enough to stop the opponent from dodging. Unfortunately all this skill can mean nothing...
• Some characters, in particular Ada, Orion and Thatch, among others have ridiculously large hit scan areas for the weapons. -
  This takes the "skill" and turns it into that soggy chip at the end of the plate that you just don't want to eat.
• This is game breakingly bad as it means that hours of practice can evaporate to some RNG bs.
  

A Few Tips!

• Practice is rewarding:
  Brawlhalla is all about fast-paced reactions and learning each characters' move set. Strings, a combination of moves followed up in a linear fashion, help add a very satisfying edge to the game. With the ~300 hours I've spent, a vast majority of that is just playing with friends in a community, and we all work off each other while laughing to death about a clash killing both players.

• At First, It's not all about winning
  Winning isn't everything when learning. Many will tell you that you learn more from a Loss than a Win. As long as you're learning, you're winning. Remember that.

• Competitive has it's ups and downs [GOOD]
  I see many reviews back talking the Brawlhalla community, saying how toxic it is. While Ranked in Brawlhalla has many players trash talking each other, the people who do trash talk at the end of a game are not part of the community. The people on the reddit of Brawlhalla and the Discord are one of the most helpful, hilarious people you will ever meet. The person who spams then talks trash at the end of the game will most likely not be on the reddit throwing out a guide on katars.

• Playing with friends is the greatest thing ever
  Hopping in a custom online with 7 other friends is the greatest point of playing this game. It's filled with laughs, "quit targeting me!", and overall a jolly time.
  

The Trailer

Final Verdict

75/100

This game was so unexpectedly good! I really was expecting to feel let down by this title but I was more than pleasantly surprised when I started playing. It has very fast paced combat as you slide around in small arenas and get to jump around so much you think your character can fly. It's fun, it's fast and the game might just be one of the best fighters in Steam! I love the colors, character designs, weapons and levels. Great game! Only thing was that I wished there would have been good story mode because that would have make this perfect. Because this is Early Access, maybe story is still coming? Wouldn't that be great, a game that already has so much to offer, bringing more and more to the table.

If you get a chance to pick this up, give it a go!

Thanks for Reading my Review!

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