My Impression

Summary

Positive Mediocre Negative ~ Lore WIP + different, cool arenas ~ selection seems to need an overhaul - console-"friendly" UI + 9 different champions in each melee, ranged, support + good balancing in 3v3 ~ 2v2 is lacking it though + Supports are not generic healbots + skillshot based gameplay - endless waiting + great style and animations + beautiful skins + excellent sound design

The Lore

[lore.battlerite.com]

The Arenas

The UI

The Champions

The Gameplay

LMB: your basic attack, which can have a charge empowering the next hit with it - so aim well not to miss it.



your basic attack, which can have a empowering the next hit with it - so aim well not to miss it. RMB: often a low cooldown, signature damage ability or heal for supports - use it often and use it well.



often a low cooldown, signature damage ability or heal for supports - use it often and use it well. E: hard to generalize but mostly an AoE ability.



hard to generalize but mostly an AoE ability. Space: this is generally a movement ability, or escape - so you should use it like this and not waste it to engage with.



this is generally a movement ability, or - so you should use it like this and not waste it to engage with. Q: the counter (with exceptions) and arguably most important move - refrain from hitting them.



R: this skill always uses energy and mostly has some defensive properties to it - use it smartly.



this skill always uses energy and mostly has some defensive properties to it - use it smartly. F: your ultimate trademark move. It depletes your whole energy but can be an absolute game changer. Mind, however, that it can be countered like everything else.



your ultimate trademark move. It depletes your whole energy but can be an absolute game changer. Mind, however, that it can be countered like everything else. Shift: offers you access to your EX-abilities which are alternate versions of your base abilities with an energy cost to them. Learn to use them just like all the others.

The Visuals

The Sound

The Verdict

Note

This game gave me back a long missed arena-feeling where it's all about skill and tactics. It's a shame so few people know about this, apparently hidden, gem.Let's hit you with the short before I go into detail why you should join the fray:Just recently the development team(SLS) released a Book of Lore for the Battlerite universe.Up until now, it doesn't feature a lot of background information on our dear champions, but I am positive that this will be extended in the future.However, if you don't want to go looking at slightly external sources, as the book is sadly not accessible from directly in the game, you will have to listen to the voice lines and figure out what little meaning they have.There are a bunch of arenas featured. Some in day- and night-versions to give off a different vibe.Still, the more important aspects of them are the tactical possibilities they offer. Some of them have more open space than others and therefore better lines of sight. In the end, it will be up to you to use and abuse the layout to your advantage.Lastly, there is a feature, that lets you chose up to 5 arenas which you don't want to play in. Yet, it is kind of tricky to find in the current UI - you have to go into a champion selection and use the settings at the top.I'm giving you this last bit of information because my friends and I had some days where we would play the same arena over and over again, which gets a little stale.So, I really have to put this in here...Because the "new" UI is a real downgrade over the one they had back in Early Access. It has been said so many time by big parts of the community before, but nothing has changed yet.I think by now most players are used to navigating through endless menus to get to where they want to be. But it's definitely not a great user experience.As this is a "hero-based" game, the champions obviously make up one of the cornerstones of the action.Nonetheless, there is no need to worry here. Because our cast consists of male, female, young and old and even a few things from farther down the nether realm.They are grouped into melee, ranged and support. The latter having the ability to actively heal their teammates, while the former may have some kind of self-sustain.The chances are good that you will find someone fitting for you. But, for a beginner 27 champions, each with 9 abilities is probably a lot to handle. But don't worry. Learning is half the fun.Now, at last, we are at the core, the essence, the heart of the sport.After you’ve chosen your champion, you either queue up for a 3v3 or 2v2 or maybe even a Duel. But let me warn you - the game is balanced around the former. Therefore you may have some problems with the other modes depending on the picks.Then you enter the arena. There you will be able to select your- these enable you to create your own build for your alter ego in the arena. You can either play with the default ones or create up to three custom sets in the lobby.Lastly, after a sheer endless amount of waiting, you will be able to finally enter the arena and face your foes in a best-of-5 match.What you will realize though, is that there is more to the field then just you and your foes. In the middle is a circle which fills up and spawns a big orb, with smaller green and orange orbs at the side walls.Obviously, your main objective is to defeat every enemy player, but for that, it is important to control all the orbs which will offer health (green), energy (orange) or even both (middle orb) for you and your team.Now I said that there is a resource called energy in the game. Earlier I also mentioned every champion has 9 abilities.Let me break that down:Oh and also: if you go into the game coming from my review - don't ask "who do we focus?". In this game you focus whoever is vulnerable, which means no escape, no counter and maybe out of position.With these stylised games, it's always a matter of taste but I really enjoy the look of the game.Animations are a) great looking and b) precise, which adds to the general excellent feel of being in control.Another point I particularly like are the skins. Firstly, they can be obtained through gameplay with relative ease and secondly, there are some real stunners to be had.Audio cues are a really important gameplay aspect. They can tell you where some invisible characters are hiding or which attack is coming your way. The most important warning being the ultimate voice lines, where everyone has a specific thing to say.Adding to that are thelines, that every voice actor perfectly performed. As mentioned before they might open up a little bit of insight on your hero.In the end, I want to address the price of the game, as it is f2p you will have a lot of grinding to do, to unlock every champion.That's why I recommend you try it out for free and if you like it get the All Champions Pack, preferably on a sale. That way you have your coins to buy chests to unlock skins, since buying these for gems aka real money currency is overpriced as ♥♥♥♥.Nevertheless you trulygive this game a try, because it is great fun with a lot of stuff to learn and master and a blood-pumping intensity that might leave you exhausted.If you have read this far -I hope this review helped you in deciding to give this game a try and if you liked my review, I would be grateful for a 'thumbs up', if you didn't like it, you can give me a 'thumbs down' but I would be glad to hear your opinion on what you didn't like.