Not too long ago, Invincible VS had its first-ever alpha for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X ecosystems. After much of the screens shown, it was finally time for me to go hands-on with the 3v3 fighting game based on comic-book title Invincible (and TV show), created by the Killer Instinct Reboot producers. To that regard, it does feel like Marvel vs Capcom 3 in its attempt.
I toyed around with the cast and stuck to Monster Girl, Invincible, and Atom Eve—pretty much Bruiser, Rushdown, and Zoner characters. Battle Beast and Robot were a few of my secondaries, but Thula had some potential with her whip hair. This cohesion was nice, especially with Monster Girl being my usual mid-point to just grab opponents on off-the-ground attacks. Invincible was my starter rushdown with quicker runs, while Monster Girl did provide pressure and used her close heavy punch to grab.
There is the usual Light Attack auto-comboing, where one button does it all. There is the magic combo which strings together all attack buttons, too. Specials can be EX formed by using Medium to execute them. The Assist System does take more getting used to because there are two different active tags, which was a plus. Some character assists are pretty cool.
The Rollback netcode felt good on most of my fights online (wired), with not too many drops. However, I wished that there was an indicator that chimed or even just used a sound to signal it. There is a bit of an UI callout that helps and indicates the ping.
The simplistic movesets were cool. No real character information dives in the menu as of yet, but figuring things out lab-wise is a plus. No need to rely heavily on Tutorial **”jimmying”** like other betas. The universal throw, which doesn’t really differ, seems to be a weird choice for me. The animation is the same against everyone and for everyone. It feels a bit generic to me to see them react the same to that. Luckily, motion-based controls can also be used as a control scheme.
Invincible VS is not Indestructible.
There are some creased pages in the Invincible VS Alpha. One of my issues was the navigation, having to be actively in Training Mode to queue for online fights. Warming up shouldn’t require me to go to training in order to do this more often than actually having a training cue. There wasn’t much of an AI versus situation to practice moves on. For instance, even beating the AI once in Training Mode would have them take hits regardless of the computer control settings.
The button layout was also hard to pinpoint since things like Super moves rely on both buttons held. I tried to do this with the Hori Fighting Commander, only to feel as though I had to do a bit more to ensure that I could still throw and do specials. Maybe this could be something that can be solved on a hitbox, but a universal set should be a standard. It should be functional regardless of the control scheme one uses.
Sadly, animations do feel a bit off from time to time. Atom Eve’s throws, for one. I couldn’t tell if I was too out of range or just missing my windows. Air Dashing with certain characters does not feel correct.
Conclusion
From what I played, there is a lot to expect that needs to be polished. However, the potential to stand on its own is there. Invincible VS may have a way to go in terms of sport, but we’re glad to see that Tag Fighting is continuing to be a compelling subgenre to watch in 2026.
