This Week On PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale: Free Avatars, Oh Kratos... you continue to goof.

[LunarEdge]

I really enjoy the game, but if you can get the ps3 version new for less than 30 I would say go for it. It's still fun besides its quirks and seeing how some DLC content is going to be free soon why not. Not to mention free vita version for the vita owners out there.

[Autosaver]

You can get it $20 off Amazon.

[Chooch]

I'd highly recommend grabbing PlayStation All-Stars for that price.

[LunarEdge]

You can get it $20 off Amazon.

good ol' amazon, never let me down. I take advantage of the Target price match with amazon products to get my games right away lol

[Teoskaven]

Well, at least there is a patch coming along with the missing costumes. Better then nothing.

 

Maybe this game will take the Capcom route and after 2-3 more years, it will have another update.

 

Hopefully.

[RK64]

Well, at least there is a patch coming along with the missing costumes. Better then nothing.

 

Maybe this game will take the Capcom route and after 2-3 more years, it will have another update.

 

Hopefully.

 

If anything, I would think that Sony would try to salvage this game by making it a PS+ tittle for the PS4 (a modified version with all the DLC, patches, and costumes) around the release date of Smash Bros Wii U/3ds to tell PS owners "hay, we have a Smash game too, check it out!" and give the series to Naughty Dog or SSM to make a full on sequel for the PS4/Vita with great presentation, a much better roster of fighters, more modes to play through, and tweaking the gameplay to be more like Smash (instead of the super moves, have there be a heath meter that goes down with attacks, have ring-outs like Smash has, and have the super moves have a different use like recovering health too damaging foes).

 

Sony would be stupid to not try this formula again, but they need to give it the polish and respect they give there other franchises so that way not only the game will be great but classic 3rd party characters that are part of PS history like Abe, Cloud, Crash and the like will appear (I can understand the lack of big 3rd parties in PSAS; it doesn't give them justice to be in a PSN-looking tittle).  Nintendo doesn't give a pitiful budget for the Smash games, so shouldn't Sony.

[Chooch]

I don't like any of those ideas outside of maybe making ring outs KO. Even then I don't actually think it would work because knocking someone off the stage is way easier in PS All-Stars than in Smash Bros. and it's already practically a death sentence if you know how to play.

[LunarEdge]

I'm actually hoping for another PSA, I just hope they get their shit together and make it better. Don't get me wrong, I love PSABR, but there's so many quirks with it that at times it can't be taken seriously on the scale that Smash can be.

 

For example, using a level 3 special (or 2 on occassion) that allows you full control of your character, walking off the stage to respawn in a fixed spot with no punish is ridiculous. Also, KO'ing people can be a pain sometimes, especially when time's running out and your opponent runs aka jumps away. Air variations of special KO attacks should have been a thing to prevent that, kinda dumb that you can only initiate a special attack on the ground (kinda like MvC3 and Xfactor). Ever other attack shouldn't cause a ridiculous knock back, it gets frustrating after awhile, if anything, that kind of knockback should only be there when you do a 100ap combo.

 

Given, there's more I can go on about but for the most part I like the game and would like to see a sequel at one point or another with a bigger, more playstationy roster. Sony should take the Nintendo approach and have a developer like NamcoBandai develop the game (SSM or whoever else) instead of a brand new develop.

[Chooch]

At the most I'd suggest the time for those level 2s and level 3s be lowered when you fall off of the stage and respawn but any penalty more harsh than that (such as cutting them off preemptively) would be serious overkill.  Adding air supers just makes the game too complex and even harder to balance.

 

Does everyone get an airborne super? Do only some characters get them? When you use air supers do they cost more AP or less AP? Do characters get completely different supers in the air than they do on the ground? The way a lot of characters' supers work currently don't even make sense in the air.

 

If most attacks didn't cause knockback then zoning characters likes Ratchet would be garbage in the meta game and characters like Raiden and Kratos would dominate even more than they do. Lack of hit-stun is the primary reason why Brawl is looked down upon by several people in the Smash Bros. community so I'm not sure why you'd even suggest that in order to improve things.

 

Also I never for the life of me will understand why people keep saying this game's roster "isn't PlayStation" enough. Outside of the two characters that are owned by Activision, the game more or less has everyone you would normally expect except maybe Abe? Because a few notable inclusions are missing suddenly Parappa, Ratchet, Sly Cooper, Sir Daniel, Spike, Toro, etc etc don't represent PlayStation well enough? It's nonsense.

 

X-Factor

can be activated in the air in Ultimate Marvel 3 so that point is moot. I'd argue Marvel 3 was honestly better without air X-Factor, but I digress.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Chooch

[LunarEdge]

At the most I'd suggest the time for those level 2s and level 3s be lowered when you fall off of the stage and respawn but any penalty more harsh than that (such as cutting them off preemptively) would be serious overkill.  Adding air supers just makes the game too complex and even harder to balance.

 

Does everyone get an airborne super? Do only some characters get them? When you use air supers do they cost more AP or less AP? Do characters get completely different supers in the air than they do on the ground? The way a lot of characters' supers work currently don't even make sense in the air.

 

If most attacks didn't cause knockback then zoning characters likes Ratchet would be garbage in the meta game and characters like Raiden and Kratos would dominate even more than they do. Lack of hit-stun is the primary reason why Brawl is looked down upon by several people in the Smash Bros. community so I'm not sure why you'd even suggest that in order to improve things.

 

Also I never for the life of me will understand why people keep saying this game's roster "isn't PlayStation" enough. Outside of the two characters that are owned by Activision, the game more or less has everyone you would normally expect except maybe Abe? Because a few notable inclusions are missing suddenly Parappa, Ratchet, Sly Cooper, Sir Daniel, Spike, Toro, etc etc don't represent PlayStation well enough? It's nonsense.

 

X-Factor

can be activated in the air in Ultimate Marvel 3 so that point is moot. I'd argue Marvel 3 was honestly better without air X-Factor, but I digress.

airborne specials don't have to be complicated, just a slight variation of their normal special but in the air. For example, Spike just swipes his net in the air for his level 1. I had the same feeling that it would make balancing the game more difficult than it has to be, but personally I've had too many people, be it local w/friends or online that if they know they're winning they'll just run back and forth and constantly jump around, making it retardedly difficult to get a KO on them. Also, I know UMvC3 has an air factor, thus why I made the example using MvC3, the version you couldn't use Xfactor in the air.

 

As I said every other attack. Some character combos just cause way too much knockback, long range character or not. I can understand it for Rachet or Emmet or any other character that relies on it.

 

At points I just felt that, even though the did make up a good part of playstations history, there were a lot of third party characters. Given, I loved Dino's, Isaac's and Heiachi's inclusion, Big Daddy I'm eh about. Personally I was hoping for Max and/or Monica. But I do agree with you, I guess the game did get plenty of Playstation first parties.

[Tani Coyote]

The good news is a second game is almost always better than the first. Sonic 2, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2, Sly Cooper 2, Jak 2, etc. to name a few examples. This is ultimately because of a) higher budgets and b ) better capability to exploit a console's capabilities for the same or less time and money.

All Stars did well enough with reviews, so it's really just a matter of sales; if it's sold well we can presume a sequel (which is almost guaranteed with those same good sales) will have a better budget, and also be able to improve on this game's flaws. Assuming the roster doesn't expand, balance will be better, more stages will be included, and something will probably be tweaked to make full use of the PS4.

A third game, far into the future, is where the trend breaks down and it can go either way. But 2 is almost always going to be superior to 1 in any franchise.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[Autosaver]

All Stars did well enough with reviews, if it's sold well we can presume a sequel (which is almost guaranteed with those same good sales)

 

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/playstation-all-stars-battle-royale

 

Did it? A 74/100 metacritic with it hitting the "MIXED" section may have pulled the trigger for Sony. All Stars also seems to have bombed according to online sources. It barely hit half a million worldwide. Both of these factors combined is probably the reason why Sony let go of the company responsible for the game.

[Tani Coyote]

Depending on the person 70s can actually be considered positive. Not great, but not horrible either. Not a real groundbreaker but satisfactory enough.

As for sales, well that's a different metric of course.

...though I won't get into how I find it weird that selling half a million copies is a "failure." It's not a landmark, but that's a fair deal of money and ties into how game companies today treat games as if they were movies in terms of budget and standards.

Overall a shame of course.

...obligatory request that if they do get a second game, they try harder to get Activision's fat, slimy tentacles off of Crash Bandicoot. That IP squatting is driving me nuts.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[RK64]

The good news is a second game is almost always better than the first. Sonic 2, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2, Sly Cooper 2, Jak 2, etc. to name a few examples. This is ultimately because of a) higher budgets and b ) better capability to exploit a console's capabilities for the same or less time and money.

All Stars did well enough with reviews, so it's really just a matter of sales; if it's sold well we can presume a sequel (which is almost guaranteed with those same good sales) will have a better budget, and also be able to improve on this game's flaws. Assuming the roster doesn't expand, balance will be better, more stages will be included, and something will probably be tweaked to make full use of the PS4.

A third game, far into the future, is where the trend breaks down and it can go either way. But 2 is almost always going to be superior to 1 in any franchise.

 

...All Stars did sell enough to pay off for the games budget (and its still one of the most downloaded games on the PS3), but the with the games presentation looking something out of a PSN tittle and the lack of huge 3rd party stars, I think the game had a very low budget.  If anything, the PSV sku must have been the most significant bunch of the budget used of the game. 

 

Review wise, the game was very mixed and negative reaction from the public (and lack of notable PS Icons) gave the game the sad image of a failed party fighter, something very bad for Sony's image. 

 

Both of these factors combine alongside with SuperBot being heavily downsized and SSM dropping support of the game pre-maturely (as the scraped Dart and Gravity Rush/Journey stage proves), I think a sequel is very unlikely to happen.  If it were to happen though, it would have to be during the PS4 launch/launch window as it can ride off of the systems "newness" and be the definitive fighter for the system in its early days (hell, even Microsoft is having a fighter day one for the X1). 

 

I hope the game does get a sequel in the future though; it had a ton of potential and all of the great things the game did were for nothing when it had huge problems that couldn't be fixed with the game pitiful budget. 

[Tani Coyote]

Managing to turn a profit is definitely a good point. The question is how large of a profit; opportunity costs being the demon they are, they will work on something else if they presume they could make more profit elsewhere.

The saying "give a man a second chance but never a third" should be taken to mind by Sony to consider a sequel, certainly. The concept has great merit, and reshuffling the character roster and giving them more to work with could produce grand results. After that point, it could be decided whether this would become the Playstation's Smash Bros or be shelved permanently.

[RK64]

What Sony should do if they tackle a sequel has to be giving the game a dam budget; its was very clear that the game had high ambitions (look at the Tittle Fight video, it looks much better than the final game with stages being much more dynamic and interesting) and had a lot of ideas for characters, but where cut short on budget and had to significantly cut back to get the game released.  With a bigger budget and a talented developer (like Dimps, SSM, the downsized SuperBot, or even the original devs on the game Naughty Dog), then you have all the base tools to get everything in order.

 

Then they NEED to have these four 3rd party icons: Crash, Cloud, Lara Croft, and Solid Snake. These are characters we EXPECT in a huge "celebration" of PS history and these guys and gals helped push the PlayStation brand to what it is today. Other 3rd party characters would take up a 1/3rd of the roster and be a mix of iconic characters like Abe and Rayman with some Japanese characters from companies like Altus (some Persona or Dissada characters for example).

 

First party characters would be most of the roster of the original PSAS but having more obscure characters from Sony's history like Rabbot and Dart with some huge omissions from the PSAS like Wander. 

 

Gameplay would be a mix of the more combo-heavily systems in PSAS with the core mechanics of Smash; percentage meters and ring outs.  Re-work the super meter mechanic so that it can be used in different ways (Level 1 supers would be an area attack that slightly pushes foes back, Level 2 supers would be a Home-Run Bat level power attacks, Level 3 supers are effectively smash balls) and BAM, the gameplay issues are fixed.  Sure, people who really like PSAS would have to adapt to this new gameplay, but the mash up of combo attacks and the percentage-damage system would make the game not only competitive but would ease people into the game like how Smash is so welcoming of new players; mash some buttons and have a good time.

 

And with the final touches of more solid mash-up stages that musically/thematically make since, lots of content online/offline, and really great presentation, and you have what PSAS should have been day one. Who knows if Sony would even make another mascot fighter after PSAS but if they do, I hope they would use these ideas to make it great rather than a fun but mostly average fighter.

[Teoskaven]

The good news is a second game is almost always better than the first. Sonic 2, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2, Sly Cooper 2, Jak 2, etc. to name a few examples. This is ultimately because of a) higher budgets and b ) better capability to exploit a console's capabilities for the same or less time and money.

 

Devil May Cry 2.

Your argument is invalid.

[buba]

We got our sequel!

Playstation All-Stars Island Sponsored By Coke Zero®

 

You can now play such gems like "Uncharted: Drake's Pursuit", "LittleBigPlanet: Epic Race", "Infamous: Survival" and "Gravity Rush: Infinite Skies" on your iOS/Android device!

 

Some screens from this marvelous sequel:

 

 

And this is enough.

 

Thank you based Sony Santa Monica! You really saved the game by abandoning it and allowing this incredible thing to be made!

 

A bullet through the brain would hurt me less than this...

[Chooch]

They totally abandoned the game when they're working on a balance patch scheduled for later this year.

 

Yes, of course. That is the fucking epitome of abandonment.

[buba]

They totally abandoned the game when they're working on a balance patch scheduled for later this year.

 

Yes, of course. That is the fucking epitome of abandonment.

 

No, the epitome of abandonment is Abe, Dart and Gravity Rush/Journey stage.

And if the patch its like the previous ones, it won't change much.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Tmsp

[Badnik Mechanic]

Coca-Cola Island

 

... .. ... You guys have no idea how happy I am that I picked 'This week on Playstation All Stars Battle Royale' as the topic title now.

[Autosaver]

Update: Sony has confirmed that PlayStation All-Stars Island will not be coming to the United States. A Sony representative provided the following statement to IGN:

 

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Edited August 8, 2013 by Autosaver

[Badnik Mechanic]

Update: Sony has confirmed that PlayStation All-Stars Island will not be coming to the United States. A Sony representative provided the following statement to IGN:

 

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

 

It's the greatest injustice since... ever.

 

How dare you North American people not get this piece of crap like us Europeans have to.

[Teoskaven]

The funny thing is that this was leaked... by the end of this May.

[Blacklightning]

Wait, hang on a minute. This is a mobile game?

 

They musn't be very confident about this if they're not hosting it on their own fucking platforms.