Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Preview Final Impressions

Much has been said and written about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Some said that it was a luxury version of the Wii U game, others said it was the most ambitious crossover in the world. Video game history, and some bet that this could become the best entry in the series. What has not been said yet, nor explained correctly, is that it will be a gigantic and amazing encyclopedia transcending the Nintendo universe and paying tribute to the video game industry in general. And we can now testify.

We have played different debut throughout the summer, but we have just got our hands on a nice, final version of the exclusive Nintendo Switch. Its release date, December 7, looks much closer now, but after deepening its wide range of content for a longer and deeper preview session, every day seems to be waiting too long. It's really a monstrous game.

This session was divided into four sections which, for the moment, will be the four main game modes. Yes, we experimented this moment when, as he was a villain of Marvel, Galeem (aka Sakurai) erases every character in the series from the surface of the Earth (well, all but one: Kirby), and we explored this adventure. Yes, we also played more classic mode. We also took a closer look at his challenges and experienced tons of fighting. And yes, we are absolutely dazzled.

There is a lot to digest with this entry, because this time, the development team was not satisfied to reach the same numbers in terms of content. As if the number of steps, characters or soundtracks was not enough (do not even try to do any calculations), the creators decided that everything in Smash Ultimate had to be somehow connected. They went as far as flirting with the RPG tropes and stealing some elements of the Fire Emblem series to experiment with.

Adventure Mode: World of Light

But how to combine and present something like this without breaking the mechanisms that define the game? Thanks to the World of Light story mode, it's like that. The solo campaign, which for many serves as a spiritual successor to the subspace emissary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, plunges you into a world where Kirby is the only playable character, fighting to reunite all heroes against Galeem's power. Beyond the homage rendered by Masahiro Sakurai to his favorite creation (perhaps also a nod to Satoru Iwata), the first minutes of the story tell two very clear things: l & rsquo; Purpose is this mysterious winged orb and, as evidenced by the very first movement of the camera, the map is massive.

The world is covered with levels represented as battles, and each battle is at the same time a tribute to a character or a franchise and a challenge in terms of strategy and skills. Here, as in another mode that we will discuss later, your ability to win depends not only on your dexterity with the controller, but also on your mastery of using and taking advantage of spirits video games). characters).

At this point, something very interesting comes into the mix that adds both a unique character and a historical value to the game. Every battle you encounter is opposed to the "mold" of a fighter from the list. but with the soul of another. That is to say that you may be fighting Metal Sonic, which is a metallic version of the hedgehog with a jetpack. Or a guardian of Breath of the Wild, who is a giant, R.O.B. laser shooting, or even Ness and his father, the latter being an invisible snake (a reference that only fans of Earthbound will understand). In addition to this, the steps can also be transformed, adding even more challenge.

The combinations we encountered during our session were full of invention and challenge. In fact, even though we had a good start, it did not take much time before we had to stop, go slowly and explore the role play side. The fusion of roleplaying with the Smash fight is a constant, and the result to date seems both amazing and complex.

Smash Spiritism: connect with those on the other side

In practice, it's much easier to understand, but on paper, the Spirits system may seem a little confusing. Throughout your adventure, you can access a specific menu to change character, manage the spirits that accompany you (or defeat them), or equip abilities that you unlock in a skill tree. These companion spirits are the most important aspect here because they bring to life all the rest.

Then there are two classes: primary spirits and supportive spirits. The former have attributes such as Attack, Grab, Shield or Neutral, which are all related to each other in a kind of fire-scissors-inspired rock-paper transaction. This makes more sense considering Sakurai-san's love for the S-RPG series, attacks, attacks, shields and shield attacks. The neutral has no advantage or weakness compared to others.

This setting, coupled with the special skills provided by the spirits of support and the upgrade of the primary spirits, constitutes the heart of the experience. We admit that it did not take us more than ten minutes before we bit the dust in the fight, so we had to properly check our state of mind to get any benefit. There are scenarios and battles in which the role of the support is vital, even more so when they provide you with additional enhancements or status, such as poison resistance, artifacts and less recoil from your attacks.

So, say that spirits are the soul of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may seem like an easy word game, but we really think so. It is true that we must still dive deeper into the game, but the fact that everything in this mode is bound to them – even to the point where entering certain areas of the map requires you to have a specific mind with you – emphasizes their role. . And keep an eye on this map, as roads and gates will require you to go back and find all the secrets and unlock the characters, while exploring a story that should lead to fun twists.

This is not the only new fashion in the new Smash Bros. Although The World of Light is one of the most tempting additions for solo players, there is another part of the game that is closely related to story mode, these are the Spirits. Board. At first, it seemed to be an improved version of the good old fashion Challenge of previous entries, the significant difference being that the number of battles is, again, enormous.

Each battle focuses on a specific subject, a certain reference, a sign of approval or a wink to highlight a particular franchise, alive or extinct. We fought Castlevania, Mario & Luigi characters, Paper Mario, EarthBound / Mother, Elite Beat Agents and even more obscure titles like the Famicom Tantei Club. We even crushed poor Waluigi, and the best part of it is that his essences have been carefully adapted to the mechanics of the game. Everything is perfectly threaded, with a breathtaking precision.

Let's not forget that we are not talking about 3D playable models, but "interpretations" of existing fighters via appearances, decorations and moves, but that's precisely what makes some of the even more hilarious appearances. This part of the game also retains the Spirits systems of Adventure Mode, so you can equip them at your leisure and keep all minds defeated (as well as those you hit during a brief mini-game after the victory) . Indeed, everything you unlock here is transferred to The World of Light and vice versa.

Smash Bros. Ultimate, these two Spirit-based single player branches are already colossal and seem ready to provide content that can satisfy even the most gluttonous player. And if that was not enough with the standard Smash mode, which has a vast list of characters (which you unlock by unlocking both by progressing in adventure mode and by meeting other requirements we do not have. have not yet learned) and an equally extensive range of stages, Sakurai and co. have built a huge game world that is connected to a very simple experience.

The world of light is something you can enjoy at a slower pace, while discovering new places, looking for new paths and releasing new minds to progress and get more characters. But Spirits Board is something much more direct, offering faster gaming sessions to those who want to master this new addition to the series. Given the portable functionality of the switch, it also seems very practical too.

The traditional smash

Much simpler than the single-player variants we have already described are the classic mode and the traditional Versus. In these cases, the spirits are out of the table and the basic gameplay, which was quite complete, goes under the spotlight. These are the two branches that address the most experienced players, those who would prefer to test their skills to control the fighters and their detailed knowledge of movements and stages.

So, just like the Smash 64 that triggered everything, the arcade mode takes you through a total of eight levels, including a bonus stage and a final battle against a boss. We tried with Duck Hunt and Mario, and once again we were amazed at how much love had been put into everything, including a mode that could be easily randomized and separated from the story modes. In fact, each character has his own way in the classic mode and, as such, he faces different opponents according to their role. The duck and the dog are all hunting subjects, with NES Zapper references and each fight featuring an animal, for example, but the best hunting reference was recorded for last, as we tackled the 39, one of the most iconic monsters of the game, "huntable", the rathalos.

Elsewhere on Mario's path, we fought other iconic Nintendo franchises, and we even saw Wolf follow his own path, fighting only rivals who make a comeback after already leaving the Smash series. So everything is calculated and continually evaluates your skills, providing you with food for the spirits (to activate and evolve them), spheres of skill (for this skill tree above) or coins for d & # 39; Other purposes still undiscovered. . You may be better or worse, but you still get great rewards with a corresponding difficulty adjustment, so your time here is more or less tricky next time.

A smash as technical as you like

Even if talking about the standard mode versus the multiplayer mode would be redundant at this point, there is something that we have noticed that deserves to be mentioned. When we played the summer versions, we pointed out that the speed of the game, the weight of the characters and the behavior on the stage had been significantly modified. In this almost final version, we noticed even more changes, aside from the addition of newcomers such as Ken or Incineroar (the latter being very difficult and fun to play). The pace, which was much more dynamic than ever before, has remained unchanged from previous versions, but the controls have been relaxed to get closer to what we had on the Wii U. This might seem like a conservative decision, but some adjustments were brought to overthrow him. , falling off the board if you stay too long, or the fact that the characters can not cross each other, are crucial for the stimulation and development of each fight.

We look forward to looking more closely at the differences between TV mode and Wearable mode, as well as between the Pro Controller and Joy-Con, at our next comprehensive review. Until now, considering our habit of using tilting movements, small controllers might well become our weapon of choice. As long as there is of course no GameCube controller …

But even after all that we have written about it, we insist: we have not been able to play as much as we would like. So, although we have tried what seems to be the four main game modes of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we are sure it will hide much more than we could see. The official numbers are already titanic, and everything we tested was clearly worked with reverence and care. As a fighting game, he is fast becoming a reference; as a video game, it's just crazy. We may be watching the biggest success of Super Smash Bros to date.