Should Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale Make a Comeback?

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Should PlayStation Bring Back All-Stars Battle Royale?

The imminent release of the PlayStation 5 in the foreseeable future has caused speculation on what potential video games are in store for the new console. Rumours have circulated that Sony may release a sequel or spiritual successor to PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale for the new PlayStation 5. However, should Sony even attempt to revive the game? We’ll investigate the pros and cons if the title was to resurface.

The Original PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Firstly, you might be asking, what is PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale? To simply sum up PlayStation All-Stars, it was Sony’s attempt at Super Smash Bros. The game came out in November 2012 and was released on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game was developed by SuperBot Entertainment and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The free-for-all fighting title got mixed reviews upon its release.

The Ups

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

So, what did the game get right? The multiplayer is by far where the game excelled. Regardless of what platform you played the game on, the multiplayer ran smoothly. The player had the option to play online or locally and had a diverse range of options of what type of ‘battle royale’ you were about to partake in. Whether it would be to exclude certain items, free-for-all or teams. It even had a tournament style set up.

In addition, the stages where the fights took place were also fantastic. The stages would merge two well-known locations from PlayStation franchises and combine them into one. For example, Sandover Village from Jak and Daxter merged with Hot Shots Golf and the stage Stowaways was a mix of Uncharted 3 and Bioshock Infinite merged into one.

The Downs

The character roster divided opinion. On one hand, it has some hard-hitting well known PlayStation characters, including Jak and Daxter, Kratos, Sly Cooper, and Nathan Drake. Furthermore, it even brought back some more obscure PlayStation characters such as Fat Princess, Sweet Tooth and Nariko, which were a refreshing addition at the time.

Nevertheless, some players noted that Parappa fighting the alkies of Isaac Clarke from Dead Space was too polarizing. In essence, this train of thought has a compelling point. However brawler free-for-all titles should be where we see franchises that should never affiliate with one another come alive – and the abnormal becomes the norm. What it could be potential argued, is that the playable characters need to blend into one another and have enough synergy along with the graphic design to match that tempo as well. Unfortunately, the game did not accomplish this and as a result, the character roster fell short.

Combat is tricky in this game. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale attempted a tactical combat system but at the same time, it’s also its biggest flaw. The title throws away the traditional health bar system and introduces an AP system. Every time you hit the opponent your AP gage goes up. This allows the player to do a ‘super move’ when your gage is full. However, you can only ultimately end a battle when you finally land a ‘super move’ on the opponent. Upon reflection, the game was probably hoping to achieve a combat structure where at any point the player could have the ultimate comeback. However, it leads to frustration for most players more than anything else.

Current PlayStation Landscape

We’re slowly heading towards a new era for PlayStation. If the game was to be revived, what would need to change? The majority of players ironically envision Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon as PlayStation royalty. The fact that these icons weren’t in the original game is rather baffling. However, with their recent remasters it’s almost perfect timing to put them into a game like this.

Sony exclusive titles for PlayStation 4 without a doubt played a big part in its success in the current generation. However, this provides a brand new diverse range of potential characters that could be introduced. Ranging from Insomniac’s Spider-Man, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.

The combat system is where Sony would have to put the biggest consideration. If they were to make a spiritual successor to the game. They don’t necessarily have to ditch the free-for-all combat system, however, they seriously need to alter or entirely ditch the super moves aspect of the game. Attempting to bring a more complicated system than their competitors would lead them to make a disjointed battle system.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Comeback Verdict

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale fell short. However, the concept of a fighting free-for-all or beat-them-up game with PlayStation characters definitely has potential. If they were to replicate what worked in the original game, predominantly being the multiplayer system and the stages, and combined it with a character roaster that blended itself well with the stages and graphics, it could seriously work. However, they would have to be aware that the combat system is what heavily held back the original game. Overall, if they addressed these issues when making a sequel or spiritual successor – it would have the potential to be a stand out success.

Yasmine Jenna

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