The fighting game genre has some excellent entries, like the fan-favorite Super Smash Bros. that burst onto the scene in 1999. Other crossover fighting games have tried to knock the Nintendo-published series off its pedestal with similar formats over the years, but with mixed success. Now Player First Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are taking their turn with MultiVersus, a free-to-play fighting game with a multitude of characters from Warner Bros. Discovery-owned franchises.
Due to its free-to-play nature, MultiVersus will periodically release seasons of new content with character skins, emotes, and challenges for players to complete. While Player First Games hasn't provided an overwhelming amount of information about what new content could be coming to MultiVersus in the future, the game is only in its open beta phase, so more details will undoubtedly be released in the coming months. There are already a few things that players would like to see, from a wider range of characters to more stages inspired by some of the best in the Super Smash Bros. series.
MultiVersus' Stages
So far, players seemed to be pleased with how MultiVersus' open beta is going, with characters like Batman, Harley Quinn, and Finn the Human becoming popular choices. It's still early of course, and it will be interesting to see what new content comes along once the first season launches. There will inevitably be a number of stages that come to MultiVersus as new seasons and characters are released, but there are a few that players have started to get to grips with already.
In keeping with the characters that are currently on the MultiVersus roster, the game has a handful of themed stages that players might recognize from their respective properties, or else serve as cool reimaginings of areas from familiar shows and IPs. With stages like Batman's Batcave, the Haunted Mansion seemingly pulled straight from a Scooby-Doo cartoon, and the Tree Fort from Adventure Time, there are plenty of aesthetically diverse areas that players can duke it out in. Even though they each look distinct, none of them can quite live up to the Hyrule Temple stage.
Why a Temple-Inspired Stage is Needed
Although more stages will probably be added across the seasons, and additions or updates might be brought to the existing arenas, as it stands most of them are all fairly straightforward. The Haunted Mansion does have sections that move throughout the matches, and other stages have their quirks, but MultiVersus needs its Hyrule Temple equivalent. This Smash Bros. Melee stage was large, dwarfing most of the other fighting areas on offer and giving different characters free rein to unleash their moves instead of trying to navigate a cramped space.
It was a stage that wasn't overloaded with gimmicks or moving pieces – players simply had to face each other and use their own skills to defeat their opponents, instead of relying on fast-moving scenery or random occurrences. But Hyrule Temple wasn't boring by any means. It still had its own unique design, as well as plenty of different areas and elevations that players could cleverly use to their advantage. Gamers could get creative or use the varied areas of the stage to hide out and plan their attacks. MultiVersus has some interesting stages already, and players will be curious about what else the developer will bring to the table, but a stage similar to Super Smash Bros.' Hyrule Temple would be an excellent addition.
MultiVersus is available to play in open beta for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.