Smash It Wild Review
Short but Smashing
At first glance, volleyball and turn-based combat can seem an odd pairing. Sports and RPGs have mixed together in the past, most notably with series such as Golf Story and Inazuma Eleven, but these experiences often contain RPG elements sprinkled into what are otherwise simulation titles. Upon further inspection, however, volleyball offers a rather natural blend between the two genres as a non-contact, turn-based sport with straightforward point-scoring on a rectangular pitch. Thus we arrive at Smash It Wild, self described as “a tactical volleyball roguelike”, which offers up sharp presentation and a fun, if repetitive, gameplay loop based around choosing a team with whom to blitz through a winner-stays-on volleyball tournament. It may be severely lacking in replayability, and its roguelike nature means with the right luck some runs will simply become trivial, but it still serves up a very fun and stylish package for sports and RPG fans alike.
Smash It Wild wastes absolutely no time setting itself up. There is no semblance of plot to be found in the game and, while the premise is so simple there was little introduction required, even the shortest and silliest of story setups would hardly have hurt when making a first impression on the player. As it stands, the player opens the game to a brief tutorial to get them to grips with the basics of attacking, defending, movement, and turn order. Each team comes equipped with a light, medium, and heavy character, which all operate in ways familiar to any RPGamer, offering a blend of mobility, technique, and power respectively.
The game’s presentation with vivid splash screens elevates the experience.
While a new player is equipped with the basics, however, the tutorial does a subpar job of exploring the more complex mechanics that help to make the game a richer and more enjoyable experience. These include the status ailments that can be applied when attacking opponents, or the special abilities that vary wildly between each team, usually with two unique traits to learn when beginning as a new team. This rushed explanation could cause some to become slightly confused or overwhelmed in the early game as they attempt to fill in the gaps. On the bright side, the player is swiftly made free to start their first tournament with whichever team they choose with the only restrictions being level of difficulty, where harder difficulties progressively unlock after beating previous runs. The excitement is slightly dulled, however, when one beats their first few runs and begins to realise the short length and lack of replayability on offer. Adding more teams, difficulties, characters, or even a multiplayer mode could’ve added variation that would incentivise players to return after finishing the game but we are instead left with just a dozen unique runs, each with four teams across three modes of difficulty, the easiest of which will likely be completed in an early flurry.
Fortunately, what there is to play is great. Balancing the positioning of one’s own team to nullify the opponent’s attacks before inflicting maximum damage on them becomes an incredibly fun ballet with multiple moving components. Once the player begins to understand how each status ailment and specific team works, they start appreciating the many ways one can take down an opponent. The two unique skills carried by each team can at first be somewhat overwhelming but it ends up helping to change how one can play between each run. The game encourages the player to play around with each team’s abilities through the upgrades it offers at many intervals, whether after a match or during one of the free days in the team’s schedule, with the attacks and passives often leaning into the current team’s abilities.
The presentation is a strong point of the game, with anthropomorphic animals completing impossible feats of athleticism backed by striking guitars. The sheer power of each spike is felt through the sound design and dramatic on screen animation as each team’s players struggle to contain the opposing strikes of the ball. Even when not scoring, the player feels the power they wield with these characters. When they do score a point, they are met with a satisfying and dramatic slow motion animation as the character jumps into the air to land the killer blow, the ball swiftly landing in a blaze of fire around bewildered opponents while the scorer celebrates. This is repeated with the screen shown at the end of the match as the game splashes dramatic character cut-ins on the screen with accompanying guitar riffs signifying celebration or consternation.
The splash screens for scoring a point are incredibly striking and satisfying.
Unfortunately, the striking UI can at times fail as there are instances of UI elements overlapping with one another, important gameplay descriptions and signifiers being too small, and general navigation between menus being more complex than necessary. Performance on the Nintendo Switch is also less than stellar, with visual and audio slowdowns unfortunately common, albeit never game-breaking.
Upon completion of a run, whether successful or not, the player is given Glory, which can be used to purchase permanent upgrades, either personalised to a specific team or general for everyone. Although minor, it does help to keep a sense of progression for the player and, very importantly, acts as the only lasting reward from a losing run, giving the player something to alleviate the frustration or disincentivisation that could otherwise fester.
The assistant manager upgrade, in particular, is a great addition that encourages the player to explore different aspects of the game by giving your team a certain perk based around one of the upgrades they can grant your players. Options include making it cheaper to buy equipment at the shop, giving players a boost based on how many relics are owned, or increasing the stamina drain on opponents when inflicting certain types of damage. Players will naturally gravitate towards a favourite perk but by changing which can be selected each run, the game encourages the player to change how they choose to build their team before they even properly start their run.
Victory! The animal athletes celebrate their win on the splash screen.
Variation between runs could be greater, but as it stands the game does a solid job as a roguelike of keeping the player guessing. When not playing a match, the player faces a schedule where they can perform one action a day, with random chance dictating what they are offered. The shop allows for the purchasing of equipment and relics with gold, the latter giving unique bonuses to the team, while the lottery or fan gifts offer less choices but come without having to use gold. This is important when considering that upgrading players’ stats costs gold and/or inspiration. Raw stats can be boosted, new attacks can be unlocked, and unique traits can be activated, ranging from attacks bringing new status effects to gaining stamina when that teammate defends the ball.
There is enough variation so as to stop a player simply using the same tactic or upgrade each time to bulldoze the competition, while still allowing the player to feel powerful most of the time, a tricky balance mostly pulled off by the game. The only time this somewhat fails is on the hardest difficulty when a player can at times feel a loss is simply because the opponents had double their stamina pool and strength. Otherwise, it becomes a fun loop to dive into, though it is puzzling that an option to play single matches is not included.
Smash It Wild is a wholly original title that sticks the landing most of the time. The gameplay is fun and engaging, each team feels unique and challenges the player in different ways, and it blends what feel like two opposing genres together excellently. It is frustrating that the game is so short, especially when the options to make it longer feel so obvious. The final difficulty spike, combined with the roguelike elements, could frustrate some players, but that cannot detract enough from the strengths of the game to stop it from getting my recommendation. The game feels tailor-made for Switch with its bite-sized, pick-up-and-play nature and, although the playtime will likely only clock in at just under ten hours, the brief time with the game is time well spent.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
The gameplay is superb
The sound and visuals are excellent
Different teams bring variety
No replayability
Late game frustration with some unfair losses due to stats
Some UI errors on Switch
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