Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends and Arcane have unveiled one of their games in progress, a fighting game based on the characters and moves from League. I was incredibly excited to see their work on this project because the last time they mentioned this was 2 years ago. But there was one change I saw which I wasn’t the biggest fan of.
In 2019, when test footage was first unveiled, the fighting was between characters who had more of a 3D model sort of feel.
The big difference I noticed was the artistic style in which the characters were rendered. It ditched a 3D animated look in favor of a more animated, 2D looking style. This is the most evident looking at the character Darius in both test footages. I was surprised to see this change and because it was different from fighting games like Super Smash Bros. as well as the general aesthetic of League of Legends that I was used to, I was confused as to what led to the design decision.
But then I considered what a fighting game really required. The micro movements of the characters and the animations and hit-boxes are crucial to gameplay. Much more crucial than a MOBA style game like League of Legends. And in contrast to some other fighting games, the roster of League may end up having more wild and flashy abilities that are more than just punching, kicking, and dodging. In addition, the recent success of Arcane and their animated style may have inspired the developers and artists to pursue this aesthetic.
All these factors seem to influence the change of the art style and add to the clarity of gameplay. But as shown by the 2019 footage, they had quite a lot built before they made this shift. This just goes to show how much changing and fluidity in game development and how much a game and game concepts change during the many years it is in development.
