AEW: Fight Forever Reviews
The game has potential, but there are quite a few things that need to be fixed before we can recommend it. If AEW plans to release a game each year or every few years, they might want to consider a new developer or a co-developer because the overall graphics are a bit lacking. At the price point, we can’t recommend you rush out to buy it; picking it up when it is on sale might be the best route to go.
In a faithful leap forward that's meant to kickstart a fresh wrestling game franchise, AEW: Fight Forever stumbles quite a bit. This is true for its real-life counterpart as well - a relative newcomer to the scene which will take a while before standing toe-to-toe with WWE's decades-long legacy. Much of the gameplay feels like a good start though, thanks to a fast-paced experience that isn't harsh on novices, mixed with an absurd amount of brutality and gore. Unfortunately, the game is tarnished by clunky mechanics, dimwit AI, lack of commentary, shortened entrances, and a poorly-written story mode that does not justify its high price tag. I'll admit there's a foundation for a better sequel, but for now, I find it hard to recommend this to wrestling fans.
AEW: Fight Forever nails the gameplay mechanics, but struggles in several other areas, with a lackluster presentation and gaps in the roster. It doesn't hit the lows some of the recent WWE 2K games, but it also can't match that series' current high.
But as a multiplatform game, the Switch is clearly struggling to handle it, which is odd as THQ Nordic ports on Switch tend to run on par with their counterparts on other consoles. Hopefully this isn't an annual release and it gets some post launch support to clean things up, because as of now it didn't meet the pre-launch goal of being a WWF No Mercy killer. It's more of a WCW/nWo World Tour - a good first effort with potential to be a classic, but it needs a bit more work.
Inspired by classics but with very modern limitations, AEW Fight Forever is a fun game, but a series of small problems end up limiting at all times how much a wrestling fan can enjoy it. While far from exceptional, the foundation is here for a true elite gaming in the future.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A solid wrestling entry that helps to bring the spotlight over the AEW
Fans of the promotion and wrestling games in general will find themselves partially satisfied with AEW: Fight Forever. The flaws are noticeable, such as the truncated introductions, limited arenas, and a smaller roster compared to the competition. The presence of creative tools gets hampered by the lack of a built-in way to share them, and the absence/trimming of match types can feel off. While the story mode is goofy in several ways, it is the strength of the wrestling engine that keeps the game fun to play, match after match. If the rumors are true, then this good game can get much better with patches and downloadable content for years to come. Otherwise, if this potential series follows a more traditional development cycle, this title is a very good base to work with for a hopefully more ambitious and meatier sequel.
AEW: Fight Forever effectively takes after its parent company AEW in that it’s young but with a rich pool of potential, of which many are anticipating great things in the future. While it certainly impresses in its first outing, the game somewhat struggles to find its third and fourth gear late in the game.
There’s room for improvement, and it’ll be interesting to see how that takes shape, given that they’ve said the plan is not for annual sports game style releases, but instead iterative development over many years. Maybe adding in a cage match, smoothing out some of the games’ slightly rougher animations, even if they are hand-drawn, and adding commentary would be good for a start. Yes, I know, I’m asking for them to add in even more DLC, but it seems like that’s what they actively want to do here, and it might just be the right approach for the challenger brand.
Despite its lack of content and underwhelming career mode and creation suite, AEW: Fight Forever is a fun arcade wrestling title that harkens back to the golden age of the genre.
To sum it up, AEW Fight Forever is a good game that has tons of potential. If I were to recommend it to those who are new to wrestling games, I could but for those who are veterans of these types of games, I wouldn’t recommend it. It lacks the appeal it needs to stay active for at least half a year and it would have appealed to a much larger audience if it took some cues from contemporaries like WWE 2K23. At the very least, it should try to find ways to stay up-to-date with current happenings within AEW. That can go along with fans of both the brand and wrestling games in general.
Great in-ring action, but certain areas need more depth
AEW: Fight Forever is the wrestling video game we wanted for over 20 years and no one wanted to make until now. Everything about it screams N64 nostalgia, but is modern enough and easy enough to learn that anyone can grasp it. Also, hey! Brand new wrestling company to play with, so all new faces to have dream matches with, along with your own creations!
When we reviewed WWE 2K19, the last game from Yuke's before today, we said it was time for the Japanese developer to hang up the ring gear, and AEW: Fight Forever has not changed our mind. After five years, more was expected from these wrestling game veterans, but unfortunately, the first official game from the federation founded by Tony Khan fails in every aspect. The idea of an arcade game structure was perfect, but it needed to be executed well, and not with such superficiality that makes the gameplay so clunky. The technical part is at least two generations behind (in 2023, limiting matches to a maximum of four wrestlers is unacceptable), and content-wise it is poor and not up to date with AEW's frequent innovations.
Review in Italian | Read full review
AEW: Fight Forever is a faithful tribute to the wrestling games at the turn of the 90s and 00s -- foremost among them WWF No Mercy -- and you can tell this from the gameplay -- clearly arcade -- going through (or rather navigating) the (old style) menus, all the way to the wrestlers, with their uncertain, angular and funny features. Unfortunately, more than two decades have passed since the various No Mercy, WWF SmackDown and the unforgettable SmackDown VS Raw and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain and the world as well as wrestling has moved on and to have stubbornly wanted to bring a wrestling video game that basically goes to honor what came before makes AEW: Fight Forever an acerbic, soulless and damn low budget title, even if the asking price is that of the biggest AAAs on the market. The hope, considering that it will not have an annual release but rather will be updated on a cadenced basis, is that the product can improve. As it stands, it is difficult to recommend AEW: Fight Forever except to the most die-hard fans of All Elite Wrestling AEW.
Review in Italian | Read full review
After the bad decisions Visual Concepts and 2K took with games like WWE 2K20, AEW: Fight Forever needed to be a solid game so it could replace the wrestling IP. Unfortunately Yuke's work in this game is ok-ish. The game have a lot of ideas but the execution is quite lacking in some aspects, and feels more like a test of what the studio wants to do with the IP instead of a Guns blazing entry to try and take the reigns of the wrestling genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Where AEW lacks in presentation, It is certainly "All-Elite" at being the most approachable wrestling games on modern platforms.
AEW Fight Forever, with some bugs, a very weak career mode, a limited number of fight modes and a very small number of fighters, is far from being a "rival" wrestling company game . It's sad to note that the entrance music and the entrances of certain fighters are present, however the fighters themselves are not present in the game and, in some cases, they appear as DLC on the launch day of the game itself! Even though I think it's a pretty fun game, there wasn't a single moment where I felt really hooked on the game, much less excited about playing it. It's not that it's bad, it's just not "there yet". Perhaps this is the beginning of a great game franchise, but this initial entry does not go down in history without a doubt.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
With a much more arcade and fun point of view, AEW Fight Forever moves away from the simulation and realism of its competitors to offer a unique wrestling experience today. A different proposal that, undoubtedly, fans of Tony Khan's company will enjoy a lot.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While it is definitely great to see a new contender step into the ring, AEW: Fight Forever feels like it is just making up the numbers in its current state. There is much potential based on the few solid ideas the game pushes, with its fights being frenetic and characters being larger than life. Everything else, however, is well below the level of a main event and ultimately contributes to a missed opportunity for a shot at being top of the ladder.