Rematch just isn’t a game where you can 1v5. Goalkeepers are blessed with unlimited stamina, ball hogs are easily stolen from, and it’s pretty easy to react to a lone player’s desperate shot at the goal. That hasn’t stopped some players from instantly dropping ten smackers on the Ronaldinho skin and treating the ball like the One Ring.
Rematch is in the advanced access phase of its Steam launch (it’s out in full on Thursday) and players on Reddit have already been bonding over a mutual disdain for anyone with anime protagonist syndrome, particularly those dressing up their characters to look like those from soccer manga Blue Lock.
“During the beta I was wondering why every wannabe Messi who doesn’t know where the pass button is had the same exact haircut,” observed user fkitbaylife. “Looks like it has carried to release as well lol.”
The game launched with a skin available for $10 in the shop modeled after the Brazilian wizard himself, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, and some players are finding it’s a reliable indicator of World Cup-grade egos.
“Every single person who uses the Ronaldinho skin is trash as well,” said Business_Criticism42 on the same thread. “Think they are the best thing since sliced bread trying to 1v1 everyone and never pass. I’m gonna continue to quit if I ever see a skin in a lobby.”
Of course, plenty of folks are just having fun and finding their footing in the world of Rocket League sans cars. X user GameParax laid out their experience of an earlier beta as a Blue Lock fan: “After playing Rematch all weekend I can 100% say everything they do in Blue Lock is justified, it’s 1000% that serious.”
Reddit user The_Falenator also stood up for the soccer shonen community: “Not everyone is like this. I’m Tabito Karasu or Reo normally, but I’m a more defensive type of player and cant attack to save my life. I personally don’t think I’m toxic myself, though.”
Underneath the jokes, the common complaint is that some players refuse to pass, a behavior they’ll have to shed to move up the ranks. Players are debating whether there should be some more obvious mechanical incentive to convince these players that it’s a team game.
Reddit user Adventurous-Peak-778 argued that “without some kind of penalty, people have no need to pass;” though in the replies, Next-Cheesecake381 pointed out “the penalty is losing.” Taking a more imaginative posture, MysteriousElephant15 replied: “Yeah, coach should run out onto the field and beat them with a stick.”
Suffice it to say, hogging the ball won’t get you far and it certainly won’t make you popular. No asymmetrical roles or carry mechanics exist to prop up all star players; the true mark of a great Rematch player will be the ability to make nice with strangers for the six minutes or so it takes to get through a game.
“If they throw, play selfishly, be an asshole, then yeah, fuck them, but as a sub can we not just hate on everyone and anyone who likes Blue Lock and also plays Rematch,” said SerowiWantsToInvest. Reddit user Jangerows, who started the thread calling in-game Blue Lock cosplayers “mediocre LARPers,” issued a simple reply: “I’ll try.”
If you’re prepared to join hands with your fellow gamer, whether they love Blue Lock or have no idea what that is, and hit the pitch together, you can find Rematch on Steam.