Steam review code provided by Skybound Entertainment
WrestleQuest is a brand new take on Wrestling games no matter how you want to look at it. Developed by Mega Cat Studios and published by Skybound Entertainment, they have brought an entirely unique experience. Whether you want to say wrestling games have gotten boring or if you’re just itching for the classics or even if you’re just looking for a new RPG this might be the game for you. Let’s see how Macho this game really was.
Story
WrestleQuest is the ultimate pro-wrestling adventure. As much as it’s nice to play through a storyline in a Wrestling Simulation game, this game is an adventure and a half. You’ll powerbomb and piledrive your way through a massive pixel art universe where pro-wrestling and fantasy RPG have meshed into one journey. The journey you will take will be followed by multiple storylines for action figure wrestlers such as Randy Santos or ‘Muchacho Man’ and The Honest Bucks, a tag team bearing a mighty resemblance to the Hart Family.
You’ll draw inspiration from pro-wrestling legends like Macho Man Randy Savage, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, and even Andre the Giant. That’s not nearly all the references you’ll see but it’s enough to get wrestling fans to know what kind of respect this game has. The game shows true love for the pro-wrestling scene, with all of its references to real wrestlers, finishers, or ‘gimmicks’, and even the wrestler’s journey from the Indie scene to the Big Leagues.
Playing as Muchacho Man you are making your way to the top of the pro-wrestling business. You start your way at the bottom and you fight through company after company trying to prove that you are the best that has ever set foot in a ring. Obviously, you have a plan, but just as obvious you can’t do it alone. Muchacho Man makes friends along the way to partner with that will help him reach for the stars and get the ultimate 1-2-3 count on the mat that really matters.
As the Honest Bucks, you are a tag team that is wrestling for an indie company owned by their father. They’re what is known in the wrestling business as ‘jobbers.’ A jobber is basically a wrestling talent that is just there to make other people look better. They show up match after match just to take loss after loss and never really get their big break. In real life, this is an unfortunate event that is seen all too often, but in the game, it offers a delightful underdog story for the Honest Bucks.
Gameplay
This game comes with a wonderful twist on classic RPG gameplay. You’ll put together a party of three wrestlers and along your journey, you will get into fights with tons of crazy-looking action figures with different moves and abilities. In each match, depending on the type of action figure you’re fighting, your goal is to get your enemies health down to zero. If they are another wrestler when their health gets to zero they become fatigued and you have to pin them with a quick time mini-game to remove them from the match, if you fail the mini-game the opponent is revived with a small amount of health and a debuff.
In the matches, you also have a Hype meter at the bottom that you have to pay attention to too. If you just do the same move over and over again you will not gain hype or even worse your opponent will gain hype over you. If you gain hype, you can gain bonus rewards for winning or you can even gain buffs for your wrestlers. But be careful, the Hype may also go the other way if your opponents are catching the crowd more than you.
The attack system is composed of four different options, Strikes, Gimmicks, Taunts, and Items. Strikes are just your basic attack to deal a decent amount of damage. Gimmicks change for each wrestler, certain wrestlers will have heavy damage moves that will knock out enemies with one sweep, and others have healing abilities where they can give health to your party. In the gimmicks, some characters have tag team abilities where they can prepare a tag gimmick, and depending on compatibility they have different tag gimmicks to deal even more damage or debuff or even poof somebody out of the match. Also included in the gimmicks is the option to pin or use a manager's ability. Managers are not active wrestlers but they will sit on the sidelines with you and they can assist you in the match in a number of ways depending on the type of manager you have. Then you have Taunts, a quick way to raise the hype bar but don’t be too generous with it your defenses lower when you use this. Lastly, you can use items to restore health, AP, or remove status effects.
Along the way, you will collect different wrestlers to add to your team. Build your team to fit your strategy, and yes the people you pick matter. Certain wrestlers likely won’t mesh with your strategy. If your strategy is to just deal tons of damage then you want powerhouses, but if your strategy is to defeat your opponents through buffs and debuffs you may want a hypeman that’s going to help you gain hype quickly. Winning fights gains you experience points that will level up your wrestlers to make them even stronger and more durable. That’s not the only way though, you can find or buy items that you can equip your wrestlers. New hands to make them pack more of a punch or a hard plastic body that will raise your defense. There are many items you can find scattered all over in chests, shops, or from completing mini-games.
There are a few different kinds of matches you can find yourself in as well. There are normal enemy matches that tend to be a little easier. Your goal is to just bring the enemy’s health to zero, no pins necessary. Then there are matches against other wrestlers where you will need to pin them after their health reaches zero. There are also different versions of matches against wrestlers, more important ones you will get an entrance to the match where you will have to perform quick-time actions to raise your hype meter. Then there are matches against bosses, they play the same as a normal match just with an enemy that has a significantly larger amount of health.
Replayability
Call me bias if you must but I see plenty of miles coming from this game. There are plenty of items to collect and wrestlers to collect. You fight a number of enemies and you get a sort of trading card unlocked after defeating them. There are mini-games like the dancing one shown above, and just replaying it to use a different wrestling team. I could see there easily being multiple playthroughs of this game.
Audio and Visual
Being a huge wrestling fan, especially for the classics, I couldn’t help but just smile ear to ear when seeing all the nods to the legends. The statues that are put up around the world and the character models for the wrestlers are just perfect.
The voice acting is also amazing, it’s not full voice acting so not every line is spoken but when a character is supposed to be talking they have their little quips that they say. The lines that are used are hilarious and they’re once again nods to the legends and I couldn’t be happier with it.
What It Could Have Done Better
I thought about omitting this section entirely because I really couldn’t think of anything. So the couple things I could think of are simple, cosmetic changes. When I equip an item I would have liked to see that reflect on the character but at the same time since some items are made character specific and some are just meant for a sub-type in general it would be difficult to have it actually fit.
Another way that would’ve satisfied my cosmetic craving, is by allowing me to create my own wrestler. I love the wrestlers you play as Muchacho Man is perfect, but it would be cool to play your classic rise-to-the-top story as a custom wrestler or even just an arcade mode.
Verdict
WrestleQuest is by far one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had with a wrestling game, and I’ve played just about all of them. I grew up watching wrestling so sometimes mimicry is used and is distasteful but the game you can tell was made by people who really love pro wrestling. All the references, the characters, the voice acting, the dialog, it’s all made for wrestling fans. This game, if you’re a fan of pro wrestling, or at least if you were at one point, is a 100% recommendation from me.
WrestleQuest will be available on August 8th for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
