I have been in the platform fighter scene for about a decade now as a competitor, organizer, commentator and Rivals 2 is an absolute love letter to the platform fighter genre. Rivals 2 is just fun. The depth is there and offers an amazing competitive experience including LAN events which I have already began attending, the roster is great, the mechanics are unique while building upon many mechanics of games past and offers one of the best entry / casual experiences for an FGC I have seen.

The community as well has been one of the kindest and most welcoming scenes I have ever seen, from the online community and official discord to the people you might meet at your local events, everyone seems to be having a good time and wants to share that.

If you are interested in the game at all I highly suggest giving it a chance.

EDIT: Steam Awards 2024 Nominee and +110 Hours since last review.
I have nominated this game for not only "Game of the Year" but "Better /w Friends" "Outstanding Visual Art Style" "Most Innovative Gameplay" and "Best Game You Suck At" Awards.

I truly truly find this game checking all those boxes for myself. It is my personal game of the year, the enjoyment, friends, new and old who I have reconnected with over this game is amazing. Its been pure fun the entire time casually and as a competitor as well as a community organizer / commentator. Every different way I interact with the game I find more value out of it.

The game is a clear choice for "Better /w Friends" and "Best Game You Suck At" (unless youre I0n) - You and your friends will put hours into this game just trying to get better with a never ending ceiling of skill expression but while still being fun the entire ride. Visually the game is so cute also with amazing animations and character identity. The game OOZES personality.

Dan and the OffBrand Game team have already shown so much love to this game and the developers alone are a great reason to support the game because they will support it and you back. The events they host are already amazing and the way the item shop / cosmetics set up is refreshing and fun. The twitch drop skins / palettes are also an awesome touch.

This game deserves many nominations and the awards in my opinion for the Steam Awards 2024.

There is nothing that does DayZ like DayZ does DayZ.

If its your type of game, it probably will be one of your favorite games for life.
Theres also a great chance you will absolutely hate it.

There are more issues with the game then i ever could care to put in a review but there are also more moments that i have had playing this game that are the most enjoyable, satisfying, heart pumping and FUN i've had out of any game ever.
(unless maybe you devote thousands of hours to learning super smash brothers melee and lose to your local fox still 7 years later)

I have thousands of hours going back to the mod days and took years off - much of my time in standalone is more recently and i can say that the game in a good state and especially with the plethora of amazing community servers the game is absolutely worth it but it is most definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

If you enjoy learning then DayZ is the game for you because you'll never stop.