Cyborg Sun

OmniVersus: The ultimate fighting game... or, kart racer? Party game?? What even IS this???

The omniverse (a term seen by many as the one "verse" that encapsulates every universe, multiverse, and beyond) is truly endless, full of possibilities. Countless stories, countless characters, countless ideas... all will come together for the never-ending showdown to end all showdowns. But enough of the marketing blurbs, what is "OmniVersus"?

This is a silly & unrealistic game concept inspired by humanity's obsession with giant media crossovers, as well as a true celebration of the very concept of fiction. One of the big draws of this game is that it has everyone. Yes, every fictional character ever made. From the big stars, to the unknown indies, to weirdos that no one has even thought of yet, I truly do mean "everyone". Naturally, this was originally proposed as a "Monkey's Paw" scenario, as the selection of characters really boils down to an alternate Library of Babel. I mean, how will you ever find who you want to actually play as?

But then this idea grew, mainly quality-of-life improvements to make actual character selection easier. Before getting into the gameplay, let's talk about how the selection process works. Powered by magic, perhaps even heavenly, technology that is eons ahead of ours, you don't have a traditional character select screen, but rather... a search engine. Yes, you have to spell out who you want to play as (This can also be made easier by searching the actual internet and plugging in an image of the character; Don't worry, it WILL recognize who it is). So, say you search for Nintendo's Mario. Simple enough, but remember, I compared this to the Library of Babel. So, how do you keep it from spitting out a trillion different strange incarnations of him, ranging from 18+ parody portrayals to the slightest outfit changes?

For this issue, filters are your friend. In fact, by default, an "All-Time" character version filter is always enabled. This takes into account any character's full official history, and gives you a version of the character that exemplifies their most ideal traits. Most people won't want to fuss about getting an exact version of their favorite characters, so right off the bat this is a great way to simply search a character, choose them, and play right away. Other filters include Safe For Work/Family Friendly/General Tastefulness specifications (Some of which are also enabled by default; To get really degenerate, you'll have to do some real work tweaking these). The adventurous types can fiddle with these filters to their hearts' content.

You can also build your own roster. Use the search engine, save your characters, and arrange them in your own selection screen. This is best for quick access to your favorites, seeing your dream game come to life, limiting characters for a tournament setting, etc. This should overall be a great way to keep you from constantly using the search engine over and over. Another alternative is the Hardcore Selection mode, plopping you in a random place on the world's largest character select screen ever. Now this is the true Library of Babel experience, an endless exploration of random characters (though whatever filters were enabled still apply). You never know who you'll find in the infinite Omniverse... perhaps you may stumble across a new favorite!

But, how does the game actually play? The title is a rip-off of "MultiVersus", so obviously it's a platform fighter with an emphasis on team battles, right? Well... yes and no. See, what's the point in infinite characters if you can't play them in an infinite number of scenarios? Indeed, this game is multi-genre, letting you play in environments similar to just about any game you can imagine. Want to see Sol Badguy in Third Strike? It's there. Want to play Crash Team Racing as an obscure Disney character? It's there too. Want to ignore "versing" entirely and play as Walter White in an Animal Crossing-styled cozy game? Yup, you bet you can do that. And yes, the game genres themselves are also subject to filters. You can choose to simply play an existing game, or tweak the genres however you please to bring your ideal gameplay visions to life.

Depending on your genre selection, there's potential for an infinite amount of stage/level locales well. You know the drill, these can also be filtered. Witness a change of scenery in your old favorites for a brand new experience! These can range from simple aesthetic changes to entirely brand new level designs; It all depends on the genre, and what you want.