As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, WrestleQuest is one of my most-anticipated games of 2023. Diablo 4? Final Fantasy? Dragon Quest? Those can all be shoved to the side. My love of wrestling is as old as my love of roleplaying games. So seeing these two entertainment genres come together in such a fascinating way was exciting. However, I can only talk about the game’s first few hours ahead of its August 8, 2023 release date.
WrestleQuest is genuinely one of the games I’ve had the most fun playing so far this year. It’s clear to me that the developers behind it love wrestling. Some of the biggest names of the past are featured in it, including many of my personal favorites.
What exactly is WrestleQuest?
WrestleQuest takes place in a toybox, where we see the beginning of a journey into professional wrestling. Spandex-clad Randy Santos ultimately tries to walk in the boots of his idol – Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Ultimately, he puts his own spin on the character. Taking on the name of the “Mucacho Man,” he sets out into the world to become the best wrestler of all time.
He’s not the only character you control in the early portions of WrestleQuest, either. Brink Logan, one wrestler in the frozen north, is reminiscent of Bret Hart. His partner, Stag Logan, could easily be a reference to one of Bret’s brothers or even Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart.
Despite WrestleQuest being set in a fictional setting, several of the biggest names in pro wrestling are referenced or outright shown in-game.
- Randy “Macho Man” Savage
- Jeff Jarrett
- Jake “The Snake” Roberts
- “Diamond” Dallas Page
- The Road Warriors, Hawk, and Animal (Referenced in-game)
- Sergeant Slaughter (Starting screen)
- Andre the Giant (Starting screen)
- Koko B. Ware (Starting screen)
In addition, the godfather of modern professional wrestling podcasts is in the game – Conrad Thompson! I was shocked by that at first, but it made sense. If you want to tell a story of legends, why not include Conrad?
I won’t spoil the story, but I’m loving it so far. The writing is clever and feels as over-the-top and ridiculous as the era of wrestling it’s representing.
Combat feels like a real wrestling match in WrestleQuest
This is the big part for me – everything surrounding the combat. In general, combat is a turn-based affair, where you control a selection of characters who form your wrestling stable.
Each character has HP and AP – AP being how they activate special moves and maneuvers. As you defeat enemies, you gain exp and level up, as is tradition in an RPG. This will unlock more moves for your characters, including tag-team moves!
That’s one of my favorite parts. You can sacrifice a party member’s turn to “Call for a tag.” Then, when someone’s turn comes up who has a tag move with them, you can trigger it for devastating results.
When a party member’s turn comes up, you can Strike, use an Ability, Taunt, or use an Item. When you strike, you have a chance to knock your opponent back into the ropes. This is done with a timed strike. Then you do a second timed hit – if you fail, your opponent will hit you back.
Taunting’s very important – this is wrestling, after all. There’s a Hype Meter at the bottom of the screen. Depending on what Hype Method your wrestlers use, you can influence this. This could be from taunting, landing attacks, or triggering status ailments.
As it goes up for you, it fills in with golden energy and offers a variety of buffs, such as more money and more damage. However, if your opponents get the upper hand – and they will – it can go down, and the benefits go to your foes.
Certain enemies can also be pinned after they’ve been fatigued. Humanoids can typically be pinned, but non-humanoids need to be battered until they drop. Pinning someone requires a simple rhythm game – but don’t fail! Your opponent will get up with a bit of HP.
In short, combat’s incredible. I wish there was a clearer indication of how low or weak my opponents were, but that’s a minor gripe. The only other thing I would like is a better way to restore AP – perhaps through taunting.
Players will get to unlock two/three-person tag moves – similar to the Chrono Triggers combo system, and even manager abilities. Combat feels like it has the potential to be quite deep, with a variety of ways to put the beating on your opponent.
It serves a mechanical purpose in addition to being authentic to the wrestling product. It helps you with Match Hype, which is key to victory.
Other important facets of combat are for your big wrestling matches. You’ll need to be able to cut a promo (pick the correct answer for a cutting remark) and set up a cool entrance. You will likely have to hit a few buttons during the entrance – but it’s nothing challenging.
Visuals and presentation of WrestleQuest
The pixel art for WrestleQuest is fantastic. When a classic wrestler or personality is on screen, you can undeniably tell who they are.
I feel like the overworld map – which also reminds me of Chrono Trigger – your character is just a bit too small. I also wish their movement speed was just a tiny bit faster without having to constantly hold the run button. That said, it all visually looks quite nice.
I had some issues with the resolution, but my primary monitors are 4K. I had to play at 1920×1080 in Windowed, a fairly small window – about the size of a Nintendo Switch screen. It was fine, but it’s something I imagine will be addressed in the release of the full game.
The character voices were solid, but they weren’t really reading a script. The wrestlers/personalities have a random blurb to say when the opportunity arises. This is fine and probably saved a bunch of money.
In Conclusion
WrestleQuest still has a few kinks to work out, but it’s exactly what it presented itself to be. It’s a loving tribute to the professional wrestling I and many others grew up on. It has clever references to the Sport of Kings. The writing is sharp. I love the combat. If I could have more reliable ways to regenerate AP, that would be fantastic.
Each character I’ve come across has been memorable – from the Muchacho Man to the Logan family. If you love turn-based, classic RPGs and professional wrestling – or even if you don’t – you owe it to yourself to give this game a peek.
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