As a decades-long fan of professional wrestling and RPGs, WrestleQuest is my dream premise. A sport that distills the most effective traits of classics like Chrono Set off and Ultimate Fantasy VI and injects them with a hearty dose of sports activities leisure? Signal me up. Nonetheless, what begins as a fantastic thought on paper falls aside because of a botched execution that sees the sport stepping on rakes any time it tries to choose up momentum.
WrestleQuest unfolds in a dwelling toy field inhabited by motion figures. If you happen to mix the whimsey of Toy Story and the wrestling-centric zaniness and world-building of reveals like Final Muscle, that’s a tough thought of WrestleQuest’s vibe. The presentational eye sweet is my favourite aspect. The brilliant, colourful artwork route, typically foolish character designs, and spectacular animations give the sport a enjoyable persona, befitting the wacky sport it each celebrates and lampoons.
Copious references abound for fans, together with appearances from real-life stars like Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Diamond Dallas Web page, Jeff Jarrett, and even personalities like Conrad Thompson. As neat as it may be to see a well-recognized face, different cameos are unusual and really feel shoehorned. Operating into YouTube star Offended Joe and filmmaker Adi Shankar feels misplaced and included for the sake of getting notable non-wrestling celebrities. In-game billboards selling a number of real-life wrestling podcasts and platforms additionally come off extra as pure ads than enjoyable references, clashing with the in any other case fantastical ambiance.
As Randy “Muchacho Man” Santos, primarily a Randy Savage tribute performer, you’re on a quest to grow to be the largest star within the toy field. Since he absolutely believes professional wrestling is legit (whereas everybody else is aware of it’s scripted), he additionally needs to cease a robust promoter from turning it into pure leisure. His journey takes him to varied areas, many themed after a selected promotion or type. One area highlights ECW-style hardcore wrestling, whereas one other parodies Canada’s Stampede Wrestling of yesteryear. Different locales, corresponding to a futuristic sci-fi world, break this conference and really feel generic and misplaced consequently.
Alongside the way in which, you’ll recruit a number of allies, with events usually splitting off into their very own separate tales. Anticipate to leap between Muchacho Man’s quest to a story of a Hart Basis-esque group’s climb to stardom to the story of a street-wise thug hoping to win the love of a Transformer-style robotic he simply met, amongst different threads. Regardless of smiling at some references and nods, I didn’t discover any of the characters attention-grabbing or participating. The writing isn’t very humorous, typically counting on surface-level recognition of references. The general narrative shouldn’t be solely flat however could be chaotic to comply with for the reason that sport jumps between a number of tales so typically. You’ll go from exploring a jungle with one group to looking for a wrestler’s misplaced merchandise in a cemetery with one other celebration to stealing automobiles in a crime-ridden metropolis with one more grouping. These jumps make for haphazard pacing and happen so typically that it usually cripples any narrative momentum a selected story thread could also be constructing.
The turn-based gameplay borrows from the Mario RPG playbook, with gamers hitting timed button presses and different QTE-style mechanics to execute instructions. Performing effectively builds a meter known as Hype, which sways spectating followers in your aspect to bestow useful bonuses like regenerating mana or harm buffs. Conversely, taking a beating swings Hype in your opponent’s favor, stacking the deck towards you. Equipping managers can add further perks, and numerous tag group maneuvers add a enjoyable aptitude for a robust punch. In a neat twist, downed enemy wrestlers should be pinned, with the acquainted “cease the needle” pinfall minigame feeling extra acceptable right here than in a simulation sport (although failing this revives foes with some HP)
These are cool concepts that incorporate the spirit of a wrestling match whereas rewarding skillful play and an evolving problem – in concept, no less than. Whereas the gameplay is competent, the issue typically feels in every single place. Typically, I’d breeze by means of battles solely to all of the sudden hit tough patches the place I’d barely survive a struggle. The latter turns into a nightmare since you’ll be able to’t flee battles (or stop/restart them), so that you both need to win a struggle you’re not prepared for or die, reload a save, and probably retrace fairly just a few steps as a result of sport’s questionable auto-checkpointing. You can also’t skip cutscenes, making replaying greater encounters much more of a chore. These issues imply battles typically unfold in certainly one of two methods: as repetitive cakewalks or infuriating wars of attrition.
Some battles pressure you to finish a listing of aims, typically to your intentional detriment. Taking a cue from wrestling’s scripted nature, typically you could let your self get beat up, launch foes from pinfalls, or lose Hype to “win” an encounter. Nonetheless, this places you on the mercy of the opponent, who doesn’t at all times maintain their finish of the cut price as promptly as you prefer to. Deliberately dropping Hype is the worst since virtually all the pieces you do provides to the meter, and there’s no “go” choice, so merely taking part in works towards you. The one technique to full a flip with out gaining Hype is to make use of an merchandise, then pray your opponent finishes you off earlier than you needlessly eat all your valuable therapeutic items. I hated a lot of these battles as a result of the sport merely doesn’t let you throw fights as effortlessly because it must, and so they simply aren’t enjoyable.
Occasion administration feels antiquated since new allies be a part of the group at Degree 1 as an alternative of scaling to the group’s common stage. There’s additionally no shared expertise achieve, so that you’ll need to throw a jobber alongside your most important eventers to get them as much as snuff, which mainly turns them into fragile punching luggage in battle. I typically selected to stay with a core crew to keep away from this headache, which labored more often than not. Nonetheless, the sport typically forces you into sudden conditions the place you’re caught with a bunch of losers towards a robust foe, and also you don’t at all times have the rapid freedom to prep beforehand.
Although you’ll be able to see enemies within the discipline and actively sneak by them (with enemy consciousness meters dictating success in that space), some tight areas pressure a struggle. Prepping for robust bouts meant backtracking to city for provides, however finding the precise shops, or something for that matter, is a problem since there’s no readily accessible map. Signposts on the town supply the one steering in addition to a imprecise minimap that solely shows compass waypoints and nothing else. In consequence, it may be simple to get misplaced as you discover what you assume is the precise path, solely to hit lifeless ends and need to backtrack. Whereas extra acceptable for a primary journey in an space, backtracking is a chore. WrestleQuest admirably tries to combine up exploration with numerous puzzles, like finding lacking kids or accumulating clues to resolve a homicide thriller, however these typically don’t make a lot impression.
Saving progress can be an issue since there are solely three save slots. That’s not sufficient in an enormous RPG that usually forces you into unfavorable celebration lineups and conditions you is probably not prepared for. Saving your self right into a nook is frighteningly simple because you’re so boxed into exhausting battles that you simply’ll typically wish to save after even marginally troublesome fights or prolonged segments between cities. Different occasions, you’ll be in conditions the place you’ll be able to’t discover or grind and have to instantly enter a tricky struggle that, once more, you weren’t anticipating and don’t have a save file set in a extra explorable state of affairs.
I used to be prepared to like WrestleQuest, and a few enjoyment could be discovered for these with the persistence and fandom to fireman carry them alongside. However the imaginative concepts die by a thousand cuts that maintain Muchacho Man and his associates again from world title rivalry. The sport has cool concepts; it simply wants extra refinement and a critical reexamination of sure programs earlier than it’s prepared for the large time
