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Summary of all the stuff below: Gigabash is an amazing tribute to giant monster media and a great party fighter to boot. It’s got a really charming personality, the combat delivers pure chaotic fun, and you can easily tell this game was made with a lot of love and care behind it. That all being said, the price tag and a lack of crossplay and releases on other platforms severely damaged the online playerbase since day 1. If you’re a fan of kaiju stuff, I recommend it with some friends on remote play. If you’re here looking for a new party game to play, wait for it to be half off during a sale. I’m sure the devs are already hard at work on adding content and more online support, but as of now there just isn’t enough replayability or players to make the full-priced purchase worth it.
The very first video game I ever played was Godzilla: Save the Earth on the PS2 back in 2005. Ever since then, giant monsters and gaming stuck by me. And also ever since, the two rarely mixed. The last decent kaiju games I’ve played (haven’t gotten around to Dawn of the Monsters yet) was Godzilla Unleashed on PS2 in 2007 and a download-only PS3 title in 2012 called ‘Eat Them!’. Pretty long wait. So now, ten years later, comes Gigabash. Was it worth the wait? After 45 hours and nearly 100%ing the game, I can answer that with “Kinda”.
Getting the technical stuff out of the way first, controller support works great without issue. I’ve seen a handful of bugs but nothing game-breaking and remote play works surprisingly well, though I’ve heard others having problems there. The online lobbies are peer-to-peer so that means occasional lag. I’ll get more into the online stuff later on.
The controls are incredibly simple. It’s similar to Smash Bros. in how moving, blocking, grabbing, or dodging paired with a button performs a different attack. Because of how easy it is to pick up and play, you can have friends who’ve never touched fighting games catch on in a couple matches, which is fantastic for remote play.
Chances are you’re here because you’re a fan of the kaiju genre and the old PS2 games like me, and you want to know about the monsters. I’m happy to say the devs did a wonderful job. There’s ten of them currently, all with great animations and designs giving nice twists on their inspirations to help them stand out. I’m really glad the devs went with a campy light-hearted tone for the monsters and their world, it’s a great complement to the party game aspect.
Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses in their playstyles. Some focus on speed and projectiles, others are slow but tanky, there’s even a good variety in mobility for each one too. The combat’s depth is in juggling your opponents around in the air with combos, but blocking and countering at the right times to prevent switching places with them.
Then there’s the stages; my favorite part of the game. Everything can be thrown, toppled, or torn to pieces. By the end of every match, the whole area is levelled to debris. The fun comes in how each stage has their own creative playground of items and hazards. There’s a Hawaiian city that’s gradually flooded with lava, an Air Force base with all sorts of tanks to pick up and use as weapons, an oil refinery with a missile you can ride on, and over a dozen other maps. I really enjoy how almost everything can be picked up regardless of size. It gets the message across right away that you can experiment a lot with the environments. When it comes to the music, all of the tracks are surprisingly catchy and stick in your head after playing. They sound like music you’d hear in classic kaiju films but modernized and more playful.
My favorite gamemode is Mayhem Mode, a series of minigames showcasing all those different items and hazards. These include fighting on thin ice that breaks, sudden death using trees as clubs, and a game of hot potato with a giant sea mine. It’s a shame that it’s exclusive to local/remote play, but I’m sure it’ll be added to online soon.
One neat twist to the gameplay is the S-Class mechanic. Destroying the stage and attacking other monsters fills up a meter. Once it’s full, your monster triples in size, giving them a kind of boss fight form. Not only does this encourage players to stay in the fight, but when an S-class monster reverts, energy orbs fly out to make more monsters turn S-Class. It’s a really nice alternative to a timer or sudden death mode while also keeping up the chaotic nature of the combat. There’s also an ultimate ability orb that shows up about two minutes in, allowing for the tables to turn with flashy powers. I kinda wish it took more damage to open since some characters can break it way faster than others.
For the single-player experience, there’s four campaigns. Each one’s about half an hour long with five stages each. They have nice artwork during the cutscenes and do a good job teaching you how to play the first four monsters, but that’s about it. It’s serviceable, but nothing special. Think of the story mode as a decent extended tutorial with a little bit of neat lore thrown in to keep you interested.
There’s a nice practice range mode and stage for trying out combos. I’m a casual player, so I didn’t use this much, but I can see competitive players getting a kick out of it. Speaking of which, competitive play doesn’t seem to be implemented yet. There’s a grayed out ranked option in the online menu so 1v1s and brawler modes are your only choices. The monsters are balanced fairly well but not to the point of making deep strategies. There’s also no lock-on mechanic so you’ll be missing about a third of your shots. I know I’ve made comparisons to Smash, but if you’re hoping for competitive play, this game’s just not really designed for it. I’m personally ok with this, it is a party game after all, but I just wanted to point that out in case.
The few big gripes I have with this game is the online support and the price tag. According to SteamDB, Gigabash’s highest number of players at a time was a little over 200. On average, it ranges from 10-40 players a day, and this just under a month after release. Some people think this is due to a lack of marketing or the kaiju genre being too niche but I believe the major cause is the price tag. $35 is just too much for too little content. You can see all the game has to offer in about 5 hours, and when several other party games are releasing for $15-$20, I really don’t see the price staying the same for long. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for continuing support for Gigabash through buying future content or merch, but I’d prefer a cheaper game with paid DLC. I hope the game comes to subscriptions services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, feels like a perfect fit for something like this.
Gigabash is the giant monster party game I’ve been dreaming of playing for a decade now. The combat is delightfully chaotic and over the top, the characters and stages capture the fun and spirit of kaiju perfectly, and a lot of talent and passion from the devs can be felt when playing. However, in its current state, Gigabash can practically only be played locally, which I really hope is temporary. If you’re just looking for a neat party game to play with friends, wait until a sale or content updates. But if the wait for a good kaiju game’s been long enough for you too, try it out and spread the word if you enjoy it.