Massive, and I mean MASSIVE step up from the first game, but a few key issues that need addressing.


+ Slime meter is a groundbreaking mechanic for platform fighters and has been implemented incredibly well.
– Slime meter's capabilities are not explained at all by the game.
— You can spend a bar of meter to enhance special move in the game for a more powerful variant or to improve your recovery.
— You can use some meter to enhance your shield (meter gradually depletes while holding shield+slime) and make it temporarily unbreakable.
— You can spend a bar to cancel any move at any time whether it hits or not, allowing for some crazy movement options and mixup potential, and of course making the combo game immensely deep, dynamic, and creative.
— You can spend two bars of meter to burst like in GGST, cancelling all knockback and making you instantly actionable.

+ Movement is simple and intuitive while still having massive depth through interactions with each character's unique movement options and how they interact with the slime meter.
– Character's movesets are not explained by the game, like at all. E.g: Azula's side special can be angled down much like Bayonetta's Afterburner Kick (ABK) in Smash Ultimate, but it's never mentioned in her move list.

+ Rollback netcode! Yes, this game has rollback, crossplay between platforms, and dedicated regional servers for online play, and most of the time they work great.
– Ranked is mostly dead outside of the USA servers, likely in part because crossplay is off by default for some reason.

+ Campaign! And it's actually pretty good, although could still use a lot of quality of life improvements.
– Probably the worst training mode I've ever seen. Worse than Smash Ultimate's, somehow.


This is quite possibly the best core game system of any platform fighter on the market right now, but definitely held back by lots of weird bugs and a lack of quality of life features.

However, it is very clear from reading the patch notes that the developers are dedicated to improving the game, going as far as to make core game engine changes to address core balance issues.

One can only hope they direct some of that energy towards quality of life improvements so this game can grow an audience without frustrating its players and become the incredible game I know it can be.