Those who watched the Ubisoft Forward event saw that Brawlhalla is coming to mobile on August 8th. Yet I’m sure many in the fighting game world have only heard whispers of this game. I’m more than sure there are many who hadn’t heard of it at all until this event. Let’s start with a little history of Brawlhalla shall we? Brawlhalla is a 2D fighting game developed by Blue Mammoth Games. The game was originally released on October 17, 2017 for the PS4, Windows, and Mac. It was later released to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on November 6, 2018, after being acquired by Ubisoft.
The story of the game is that various Legends have perished in their respective worlds, and because of their immense fighting spirit, they have been invited to fight in the Battle Arena hosted in Valhalla for all eternity.
Brawlhalla currently has a roster of 50 Legends that all have their own unique skillset and difficulty curve. The game is free-to-play with a freemium concept. Every week, eight Legends are rotated into a “free play” roster. However, if you like the Legend you can either purchase them individually or you can purchase a character pack and unlock all the current and future legends. These require either Mammoth Coins (premium currency) or the usage of real-world money to buy the Legends Pack.
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The Legends vary in numerous ways. From aliens to gargoyles, Brawlhalla has something for everyone to play with. There are various cultures highlighted in the game as well from Viking to Japanese to Occultist. Every Legend has two weapons in their kit that can be picked up from off the battleground, you can only have one weapon equipped at a time. Each weapon has a series of unique skills that have a neutral, side, and down attack. For example, Queen Nai and Lucien both utilize Katars. Though the neutral attacks will be the same, their unique skills differ. Queen Nai has more anti-air and zoning skills with her Katars, whereas Lucien’s unique attacks focus on raw damage output and multiple hits. Combat in Brawlhalla is fast-paced and fluid.
You also don’t have the traditional “health bar” like traditional fighters. It is more like what you see in Smash Bros with a percentage system. Instead of a number though, you have a bar that starts of white (no damage) and changes to red (heavy damage) as you battle.
Now, back to why you should be playing this game. For starters, Brawhalla has cross-play as of October 9, 2019. This means you can play with your friends on other consoles and not have your progress hindered. This will also apply to mobile devices in the upcoming release. So if you’re working on that battle pass, you get to keep your progress across the various consoles.
There’s a variety of game modes such as Competitive Mode which can be played in 1v1 duels to claim victory or in 2v2s if you have a friend you want to play with. There’s also Free-For-All where you and 3 others duke it out for supremacy. Then there’s Strikeout which tests your skills with various Legends in a single elimination-best of 3. There is also Experimental 1v1 where you have zany rules to abide by. Lastly, there is a weekly rotating game mode. Tally this up along with the ability to play either Locally or Online and there are limitless fun options.
The gameplay itself is fast, frantic, and fun. With simple controls that are similar to that of Super Smash Bros., Brawlhalla has a low barrier to entry. You will jump, punch, kick, smash, and slash your way to victory. However there are advanced tactics in the game, such as dodging, fast falls, gravity cancels, juggling, weapon catching, and more, that can be learned as you get better in the game.
Overall Brawlhalla is a great game for getting into 2D brawlers, especially if you’re looking to not spend upwards of $60 for a game. You can download it, play it, see if you like it, and then if you do, you can grind out gold (free currency) to unlock a single hero at a time. Or you could spend $20 and unlock everyone.
You should give Brawlhalla a shot. It’s free-to-play, has local and online gameplay, a fairly large roster, and is consistently updated. Go give it a shot.
