Topic: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Impressions?

A thread for anyone who has played the beta (and eventually the final game).

I want to get the game Day 1 because I love Smash Bros. so much, but I have been having second thoughts because it just looks too different. Can anyone give their thoughts of what they played so far?

I did play the Beta, and I will gladly warn you that yes, it's really too different.  Whereas Smash has you beating people up to increase their aerodynamics, PSASBR has it that no amount of attacking opponents will actually lead to their destruction.  All it does is fill up your bar which then allows you to use a super-move which IS capable of scoring kills.  When you connect with those attacks, your foes simply disappear only to respawn and continue the battle.  One of the largest problems, though, is that there is NO period of invulnerability when you spawn...I only played a few matches, but found myself spawn-killed rather quickly.

The controls are also...unclear.  There are three attack buttons (circle, triangle, and square), all of which seem to do different attacks if you're on the ground or airborn, and possibly also in combination with analog stick direction.  But for my money, figuring out what does what is MUCH harder than in Smash.

I had been looking forward to PSASBR, but after playing the Beta, I lost all interest and cancelled my pre-order.  If you're a Smash fan, you'll be hard pressed to find something to like about this game.

Thank you for your impressions! I thought this thread would never see a reply.

What were your thoughts on the characters and stages available in the Beta? I'd really like to try a demo before I throw down $60 for this game. The fighting system sounds clunky and I don't like the idea of usings Supers just to get a kill.

Anyone else?

@IAmNotWill Impressions haven't been overwhelmingly promising across the board, unfortunately.  Destructiod seemed to like it somewhat, but IGN and Gametrailers weren't hot on it at all.  I remember an editor from Gametrailers saying "it puts itself on a flawed foundation just to be different from Smash Bros."  Plus there's discrepencies as to what it's trying to appeal itself to.  It seems too complicated to be a good party fighter like Smash, but there isn't a lot of stuff for the core fighting gamers either.  Also, I've heard of some big balancing issues, but those could easily be fixed, and its probably why it got delayed.

I only played a couple matches from the beta but it felt pretty smooth. I've not played a smash brothers since N64 so I cannot compare to the newer ones (if they are even different at all).

The attacks were more advanced than I thought and I worry this will make too much of a gap between gamers and non gamers. With SSB64, anyone could pick up a controller and win with button mashing and what not... this doesn't feel like it's the case with PAS. The specials are a lot of fun and do add a bit of depth to each character which is awesome.

For $60, I'm not sure if it's for everyone. If you aren't playing these types of games with friends on a couch, they aren't that great. Sure, it has online play but it's really not the same. I think if you have a Vita and a PS3, it's worth the cost if you get both for $60.

I'm looking forward to playing a more 'complete' version of the game via either another beta or demo of some kind

Do you have any links? I couldn't find too many impressions from the larger game sites.

I think this game is going to get a lot of flak from reviewers because it relies on the super system. I think it's going to be the same with the hardcore fighting crowd. Personally, I'd rather have Super Smash Bros. style fights and I'm sure many others would, even if it is just blatant copying.

That said, I think it'll probably play better than most people think, at least with some practice.

From what I've seen so far, I like it and will probably be buying it, especially since I get a free Vita version. I think we have a balanced roster right now (even if slightly lacking in some areas) and there seems to be plenty of content.

So really my only concern is the gameplay itself...

I really enjoy it as a fighting gamer. The online is fine, but is still buggy. I play Raiden and have been randomly teleported into the battle ball several times without dashing or jumping into it and a lot of times I can't find a game, sort of like in Marvel 3.
The diversity of skill is nice, but the ranking is a little daffy. I can be playing in a 2v2 and still be demoted if I end up losing that game. Now, the roster isn't fully used like in most fighters; well, I at least haven't fought every character online yet.
Now, the standard arcade stick layout is a bit messy, they should have had Clowckw0rk make that. I was surprised they made throwing a possibility on stick without my having to shift from DP to RS.
So far, with the current roster and general accessibility to everyone I give it an 8/10.