🎮 Andre's Gaming Odds & Ends: MultiVersus Returning, Undisputed (Boxing) Career Mode Beta Review, Last Epoch Version 1.0 Campaign Review, Game Playthrough Schedule

MultiVersus Returning, Undisputed Career Mode Review, Last Epoch Version 1.0 Campaign Review, Game Playthrough Schedule

Mar 06, 2024

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📝News & Opinion

😠MultiVersus Returning in March or April?

MultiVersus is a platform fighting game that “released” in 2022, but was pulled from all video game storefronts on April 4, 2023 with the promise of it returning in 2024. This holds a very complicated place in my gaming heart due to the statements by the developers. Adding more consumer insult to the process is the fact that I and others bought supporter packs (the game is free-to-play), so the shutdown meant we could not play the game online the way it was meant to be played. Despite selling supporting packs and treating it as a release, they claimed it was a beta all along. The developer’s actions and statements during the course the game was open did not reflect that. It was clear the game was struggling with player numbers and development of new content, but stating the game was in beta all along, coupled with the fact that the game was removed from storefronts felt like the rug being pulled from underneath us players. This is the first time something like this has ever happened to me after paying for a game. This was also the first time I ever requested a refund from Steam. (The refund was denied.)

Now there are signs MultiVersus is set to return. There is a promotion at McDonalds with their Happy Meals in other continents that will eventually reach the U.S. in mid-March. I feel very weird about this because I really did enjoy my time with MultiVersus, playing as Bugs Bunny and other cartoon characters. At the same time, I feel like a jilted gamer. I paid money so I still have all those extra credits to spend on new characters. I do feel like I still need to get my money’s worth.

No official re-release date has been announced yet, but it would make sense for MultiVersus to come back in the middle of a McDonald’s promotion. It’s also speculated that a McDonalds character will be added into the game. Player First Games, the developer, will definitely need to regain trust from everyone after the stunt they pulled on us. When MultiVersus does eventually return I’ll be playing, but my patience will be running very thin.

🎮Steam Early Access Report:
Undisputed (Boxing) Career Mode

As a boxing fan, I was excited to play the new Undisputed career mode that was just recently released as a beta in Steam Early Access. Given that it’s still in beta, it can hypothetically still be improved upon and fixed, so please keep that in mind. Undisputed has been around for just over a year with online matchmaking play, but the career mode was something sorely missing that I was looking forward to. Career mode is not that bad, but it has a lot of work to do to make it better.

I created a custom character in the Welterweight (147lb) division starting from scratch to climb and try to become the “Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World.” The character creation itself is actually not that bad all, as it allows you to pick different stances, colors for your attire, and distribute stat points for your character to start with, like stamina, punch power, and other boxing related skills. Right off the bat the game does a really good job for the start of your journey, as you start low in the rankings and have to climb your way up each of the four different boxing organization’s rankings to fight for their championship.

The gameplay loop of career mode is a combination of a simulation training camp mini-game mixed with fighting your actual match. In between matches you have to hire and level up a trainer, plus a cutman and manager, Most of the them are made up people, but the game does feature some well known guys at the highest of ranks that you can hire. Each staff member has a letter grade in a different stat area that can help your fighter, plus you can actually level up your trainer with the “staff points” that you accumulate after matches. This is one of the more glaring oversights in the game, as the “Staff Points” can only level up your trainer, but why not others? Either allow the cutmen and managers to be leveled up or call them “Trainer Points” instead.

The fight camp simulation leading up to a fight is not that bad, but it has a few issues. The simulation part of it is an actual game in itself because you have to manage your energy, weight, and avoid injury at the same time based on the amount of weeks your fight camp is. The number of fight camp weeks is dependent on the contract you agreed to with your opponent. A longer fight camp means you have to manage your energy in simulation a bit differently. Every fight camp drill or exercise takes up a full week and uses a chunk of energy, while at the same time leveling up stat attributes for your boxing skills. The stats upgrade increments is determined by a combination of your trainer and the chosen gym for that particular fight. The energy each drill drains from you varies per exercise and that is where the game within the game of managing your fight camp comes in to play. Train too hard and you will suffer an injury. The gym you pick also plays a role in how you approach fight camp.

This is not a terrible system in theory, but I want to actually spar and practice boxing, not just as a text menu simulation. Franchise and career modes are always kind of interesting in other games, because in the beginning I usually find myself interested in playing every inning or quarter, but eventually you want to just simulate a lot of it to move it along. That’s kind of how I feel about this. At least give us the option to jump into a boxing gym and throw hands as practice. Another issue that actually made me want to throw my controller across the room are the effects and impact of media obligations. Every fight contract you get to negotiate how many media activities you have to fit in during a fight camp. Each media activity you can do has financial benefits and bonuses to increase your fame stat to get bigger fights and access to better gyms. Unfortunately, it also uses energy and shockingly increases your weight. I was in a situation where I needed to fulfill a media obligation at the end of my fight camp and stay a few pounds under weight. Little did I know, “Posting on Social Media” would cause me to gain a couple pounds and become overweight. One of the silver-lining realistic positives of that is you start at a sluggish disadvantage during the actual fight from being overweight. I think I actually lost that fight, making me even angrier.

Putting together your fight contracts might be one of the better features of career mode. Unfortunately, in boxing the fight negotiation aspect has become a spectacle in itself for the sport, so it makes sense to include it in career mode. Your manager can propose three sets of fights to you with a preset of agreed terms, but you can intervene and renegotiate. Alternatively, you can go through the rankings and make a proposal to anyone else within a range of your ranking. The manager takes a financial cut if you use their fight contract, but if yours gets accepted then you pay nothing to your manager from the fight. This causes a broken career dynamic because there is zero incentive for you to accept your manager’s first fight contract proposal. The “rematch clause” part of the contract is probably the most broken part that needs refinement. Typically, the fighter who loses has to trigger a rematch clause, but that does not exist here. If a rematch clause is agreed upon then it happens no matter what. Also not having the option for a one-way rematch clause where it only applies to one fighter is sorely missing. The other major menu issue is the lack of ability to look through rankings of each individual boxing organization and make a fight proposal. The game has one ranking list to make offers from and that makes it annoying if you want to climb the rankings of one specific boxing organization.

The most important part is the fight experience itself. This career mode update also included over-the-shoulder camera view for the first time, which I used for my entire career. This is definitely the way to play, as you feel far more immersed with the ability to better read punches coming at you. Due to this, I was able to quickly react to left and right hooks with counter body punches. That part of the experience was great, but getting hit in the head and being taken down to almost no head health instantly made the game more annoying across the board against every boxer in the game. Canelo Alvarez was my final opponent to become Undisputed Welterweight Champion and it was actually tough. Probably the hardest fight where I had to actually implement a smarter strategy, actually intense. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for the game, it also exposed another flaw with the career mode. I was able to get another bite at the championship apple too many times too soon without having to fight my way back into contention. Losing felt meaningless and less punishing than it actually should be. This, coupled with the rematch clause issue I discussed above gave me almost an unlimited number of chances.

In conclusion, Undisputed career mode is still in beta, so hopefully it gets adjusted before exiting Steam Early Access. The most glaring issue of all is the load times. Please fix these damn load times. Undisputed career mode has extremely slow load times. I haven’t experienced these kind of load times since the Playstation 3. Adding insult to the load times is the fact I’m playing the game on a SSD drive. Inexcusable.

Check Out Undisputed on Steam

🎮Last Epoch Version 1.0 Campaign Review

Last Epoch, developed by Eleventh Hour Games, is an isometric Action-RPG similar to games like Path of Exile and Diablo. For many years it was in Steam Early Access, but on February 21st it released into Version 1.0. This is one of my most anticipated games of 2024, so I was eager to jump in and finally play the “finished” product of Version 1.0. I will be writing a full length review later on after I’ve spent more time with the game, but for now, here is my brief campaign review.

Last Epoch, like many games in the ARPG genre, is about character building and killing enemies to get the best loot possible to make your character even more powerful. Typically, campaigns are more of a backdrop and players usually focus more on the gameplay than the actual game lore. Last Epoch’s campaign involves time-traveling multiple timelines, a plot premise that I always feel looks great on paper, but in execution can cause the gamer (or movie watcher) to be confused if done too erratically. Unfortunately, the campaign is very messy and hard to keep track of who the bad people are in each timeline. Bouncing between timelines from a gameplay perspective is easy, but you aren’t completing one timeline then going to the next. Instead, you zig-zag among five timelines at various points. You will end up fighting bosses who eventually have a different alignment with you in other timelines.

The difficulty of the campaign on the regular setting is relatively easy. I was playing as a Rogue with my subclass being Falconer. I have a bow as a weapon and a pet falcon that swoops down and dive bombs enemies. It was generally very powerful, and I rarely if ever felt like I needed more damage on my bow. The campaigns are generally a way to introduce the player to the game, and for the most part, it does it well. Last Epoch has a great crafting mechanic that unlocks at some point in the campaign. It can also be accessed anywhere by using a hotkey. I don’t like that the game allows the player to open up the forging menu at the start when it can’t be used. There should be a more standard progression unlock that then allows you to open the forging menu. It was also weird when I was playing the game and not only was forging already unlocked, but a quest told me to go to a forge. It was as if an old campaign tutorial was left in the game.

My biggest issue with the campaign as a whole is the consistency pattern of voice acting. Either have it all in a specific pattern or don’t have it all. The voice acting itself isn’t that bad, and for most of the game the NPCs that give yellow main quests have voice acting. Then there comes a point when the voice acting stops or is not there for the mainline quests. I had one piece of dialogue where the voice acting stopped after the first sentence, just sloppy. As a version 1.0 of a campaign I expect better. Even worse, the campaign isn’t even complete yet, so a rushed story. The last issue I have with the campaign are the quest rewards, as there are more passive point rewards and special idol slot rewards than the maximum amount allowed per character. This can be misleading to a player once the limit shown on the map screen has been maxed out and the quest log still displays the passive points/idol slots rewards in the quest window.

Aside from the story, most of the issues I mentioned are fixable. It’s just disappointing to get a campaign product that is half-baked for version 1.0 after all these years in Steam Early Access. Some of the campaign events and boss fights are fun, but I’m not thrilled to do them again in future playthroughs (like most ARPG campaigns).

After I play more of Last Epoch you can expect a full review.

Check Out Last Epoch on Steam

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Stream and Game Playthroughs Schedule

Upcoming Stream Games Schedule

Pacific Drive - I just started my playthrough after completing the campaign of Last Epoch. I’m in the very beginning and haven’t decided whether I like the game or not. I expect to stream this again later in the week.

More Demos - I actually have a list of backlogged game demos that I really want to play. Playing demos will likely be part of my weekly routine of things to stream.

Most Recent Playthroughs being Updated on YouTube

Here are direct links to the playlists of my most recent active YouTube Playthroughs

My first Pacific Drive videos will be ready soon after being uploaded to YouTube.
Last Epoch Campaign - The version 1.0 campaign mode that I based my review on is almost fully uploaded. I just started the endgame monolith system. Expect endgame videos to be uploaded on a periodic basis that will most likely not be streamed. Not every segment of my leveling will be recorded in order to speed up the process. So for example, I might skip recording videos of this until I reach higher levels.
Stormgate BETA (only 1 video so far) - I may or may not be playing more of it within the next week. The last time I wrote about this I mentioned that the beta would be closed from creating content, except that was lifted until March 11th. I may or may not go back to it before March 11th, depending on my enjoyment playing other games.
Undisputed Boxing - Career Mode BETA (COMPLETE)- Career Mode is finished and fully uploaded for your enjoyment. I do plan on playing online multiplayer offstream randomly and uploading the matches at some point. My Undisputed videos received the most positive response of anything I’ve put up so far. After the career mode is out of beta I’m open to doing another career mode run in a different weight class and/or difficulty setting. Let me know in the YouTube comments.
Dre’s Game Demo Playthroughs and Feedback - Expect this one to be updated fairly regularly. I’ll be playing more demos this upcoming week.
Persona 3 Reload - I started the playthrough on release and I’m enjoying the game. I have some content that still needs to be uploaded. I plan on continuing this playthrough to finish the game either in March or April.
Palworld Early Access - Not a high priority at the moment for new gameplay because it’s still in Early Access, but content is still being uploaded periodically of gameplay I already have. New content is already being teased, so I may jump back in for a session or two if the content is enticing. I will likely play this randomly throughout 2024.