AEW Fight Forever (Nintendo Switch) review: A long road to go

Match Types

The first match type I chose was the Casino Battle Royale. I wanted to see how it was run outside of the WWE. AEW Fight Forever uses a 4-card system that puts wrestlers into teams. You pick one of the four cards and you have the ability to control each wrestler on that team. You can also do a singles Battle Royale, but your wrestler might not come out at the beginning of the match. You might have to wait for your card to be called before you play. Players love waiting.

I dreaded the thought of how hard it was to knock your opponent out of the ring in No Mercy, but luckily that is not a problem here. As long as you beat your opponent down and Irish whip them near the ropes they are easy to knock out.

I noticed that the Switch could handle four wrestlers in the ring at a time with no stuttering. That was a worry in the Nintendo community.

Singles and Tag Team matches are self-explanatory. You can choose between a light’s out match (lots of weapons), a falls count anywhere, or a normal match (not as many weapons). Tag Team modes are always the most frustrating matches in wrestling games. Matches last forever because once you knock out your opponent and go for the pin the tag partner always breaks it up. It isn’t as bad in AEW Fight Forever.

The Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match feels like it belongs in an anime. Lots of flashing lights and explosions. It’s fun to throw your opponent into electrified tables and barbed wire. When the timer reaches zero the whole ring explodes and both wrestlers get hurt (but no HP is lost). The matches end much faster in this mode and it serves as a quick way to see wrestlers get bloody.

The ladder match is decent. Two wrestlers fight to see who can grab a casino chip off the top of the ladder. The ladder mechanics to get the chip were simple to understand. I wish there was more customization to make this a 4-way match.

The mini-games are great to try, but I don’t think they have any longevity outside of a slumber party. The game starts you off with three mini-games. I tried the casino chip collecting one and found that it was as pleasant as anything Mario Party can produce.

The biggest qualm that the internet has is the lack of wrestling modes and customization. AEW wanted to start small and add “new things” with free updates, but a three-way dance, handicap, cage, 3-on-3, and fatal four-match is sorely absent. Any wrestling game worth its salt knows to add those modes on day one.