When All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was announced as a new wrestling company back in 2019, it was widely accepted that they leapfrogged the likes of Ring of Honor, IMPACT Wrestling to become an instant competitor to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). As AEW continues to grow, it was inevitable that a video game would come sooner rather than later.

Of course, the game was announced only a month after the company’s debut episode of AEW Dynamite, and with that the announcement that well-known Final Fantasy VII fan and executive vice president of AEW Kenny Omega would be producing the game with WWF No Mercy alumni, Hideyuki Iwashita.

On the surface, this looks like a winning combination that would be a thrill to play. For the most part, AEW Fight Forever is a blast to play and pay homage to the Nintendo 64 titles rather well. It definitely feels like the first title in a sports game, building a foundation for future titles to come and leaving a lot to be improved upon.

The first, and probably most glaring thing in the game that feels outdated for a sports title, is the roster. Due to the fact that the title has been in development for roughly three years, the roster feels instantly outdated. Wrestlers that joined AEW in 2023, and most that joined in 2022 are not present in the game. Popular characters that have been in AEW for over a year but were already announced as paid DLC include Danhausen, Hook, Keith Lee, the Bunny, and the current AEW Tag Champions in FTR. Other notable omissions include two former Women’s Champions in Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter, and scissoring sensations The Acclaimed. When some of these athletes have been around longer than some of the included wrestlers here, it makes me scratch my head.

In addition to this, anything related to Ring of Honor is not present in the game either. While I understand that this is AEW Fight Forever and not ROH Fight Forever, Ring of Honor wrestlers and matches have been intertwined throughout AEW for well over a year now, and Chris Jericho was even ROH Champion for a while. Hopefully, this can be built upon in a future title as the current season of DLC costs almost as much as the game itself, though the number of omissions is enough to build an entire Casino Battle Royale around there are so many. I have to admit though, the inclusion of two wrestlers that were in WWF: No Mercy (Christian Cage and Paul Wight), and one wrestler from WCW vs NWO Revenge (Sting) was something that I personally found amusing.

You might think to yourself, “That’s ok, I’ll create everyone that’s missing in the creation suite.” That would be fine, but the creation suite here is so bare bones that most creations look remarkably similar to one another. There are a limited number of clothes to choose from, with anything remotely interesting needing to be unlocked using in-game currency. Thankfully, the move set pool to choose from is as diverse as I have seen in any wrestling game. Every situation, from standing strikes to aerial moves, has an extensive range of moves to choose from, so even if custom wrestlers mostly look the same as each other, their move sets will set them apart.

In the face of the issues that plague this game, from a gameplay perspective, AEW Fight Forever shines in its homage to the wrestling games of yesteryear. Prior to release, I was worried that the game would move much faster than the old Aki Corp wrestling games and lose its charm as a result. I was relieved to find that Fight Forever did not feel too fast when I was playing it. You get light or heavy attacks based on if you press or hold the strike or grapple buttons. Heavy attacks leave you open for a quick attack from an opponent, so you need to be strategic about when to use them. From a grapple, holding a direction and pressing a button initiates a range of different moves. You can also quickly pause the game and look through a move list to see what moves your wrestler has and where they need to perform them. It is simple and intuitive, and most importantly, fun.

There are a number of match types as well, including many that AEW debuted themselves. You have your typical tag, triple threat and fatal four way matches as standard. The now-famous Casino Battle Royale is included, though it plays out more like a Royal Rumble due to limitations on the number of wrestlers in the ring. There are also weapons matches including AEW stalwarts the Lights Out match and the infamous Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, which includes a fun homage to Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega’s match that ended in a whimper.

A wrestling game would not be a wrestling game without some sort of story mode, and Fight Forever’s Road to Elite mode is quite a bit of fun. The mode is not accurate to AEW history by any means, I picked Christian Cage and was featured on Dynamite’s first episode, and this is true of just about anyone you choose. You begin by being signed by Tony Khan, and then proving yourself in four-week blocks to reach the next Pay Per View. Repeat this four times and the mode is over. Where you end up is based upon a number of factors, matches you win or lose, and decisions you make in cutscenes. You could win the AEW Championship, you could join the Dark Order, there are enough inclusions to warrant multiple playthroughs.

AEW Fight Forever is a game that was made for its fans, and produced by Kenny Omega, who by his own admission grew up on games like WCW vs NWO and WWF No Mercy. Bringing back this kind of gameplay was always going to either feel outdated or modernised enough to pass as a game released in 2023. Thankfully, it is the latter. What is holding this game back is the roster, and while this is due to the time it takes to develop a game, it will be very obvious to anyone who picks this up. I am hopeful that the game will keep expanding, as there is a lot of potential here, but people’s trust will quickly fall if every update to the game is in the form of expensive DLC.