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GRAMDespite the avalanche of bad news emanating from the games industry over the past 10 months, it was somewhat reassuring this weekend to sit among a crowd of 20,000 happy and passionate fans, watching the biggest event on the sports calendar. electronics: the League of Legends world championship. finals. The event, at London’s O2 stadium, was the culmination of a five-week competition to discover the best team in the world. Having never attended before (mainly because the final is usually held in Asia, where the best players tend to come from), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Could I follow what was happening? Would I care? Turns out the answers to those questions were “sort of” and “hell yeah.”
For the uninitiated, League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game (Moba for short) in which two teams of five players choose warriors from a selection of 170 and then fight to control a fantasy-themed map before to destroy the other’s base. . The arena is divided into three lanes with an area known as a jungle in the middle, and each of the team members patrols their own specific section, as in any traditional team sport. Adding complexity is the fact that all champion characters have their own skills, weapons and magical attacks, and throughout the game, they also have to defeat monsters and dragons to gain experience points that make them more powerful. It is both a profound game of strategy and a bewildering riot of stomping warriors, galloping horsemen, and levitating wizards.
This year’s final was between experienced South Korean team T1 and Chinese newcomer Bilibili Gaming (BLG for short). The latter were on top after crushing local rival Weibo Gaming in the semi-finals, but T1 were the firm favorites having won the cup four times. They were almost eliminated from the competition at an earlier stage, but apparently they have a habit of returning to the competition just when everyone has written them off. In the arena, I manage to sit next to James Lynch from the esports news site. rightwho volunteers to explain the action to me. He describes T1 as the League of Legends equivalent of the Dutch 1974 World Cup team: free, unconventional and full of neurotic genius. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, widely considered the greatest player in League history, is the maestro at the center of it all: their Johan Cruyff. “Their movements are very strange and unpredictable,” says Lynch. “It’s very difficult to kill.”
Before the final even begins, there is a 10-minute mini-concert with American rapper Ashnikko and Linkin Park, which features stunning art direction with pyrotechnics, giant LED screens and dozens of dancers. It all has the feel of a major sporting event mixed with a K-pop concert: a riot of color, passion and performance art. In the hours leading up to the finals, fans gathered at the venue, purchased custom merchandise, met with friends from the community, and of course, dressed up as their favorite League of Legends characters.
It turns out that I was extraordinarily lucky that this was my spectating debut in League of Legends. It is an exciting meeting. Once the matchup begins, the best-of-five game format is pushed to the limit, with the two teams taking turns killing each other for the first four matches. Throughout the finals, Faker is the dominant playmaker, continually jumping in and out of skirmishes, taking down enemies and then somehow escaping with barely a millimeter of his health bar remaining. In the arena, we watch the action on giant screens suspended above the stage where the 10 young players face off. Instead of separating us from the action, these exhibits draw us in. The crowd, mostly fans in their twenties, loudly roar their approval at clever moves and chant when their team takes the lead.
The decision is a cautious affair, warriors pushing and shoving each other as they cautiously prowl the map, until it all explodes in an expanding clash that makes the Battle of the Bastards look like a minor brawl outside a convenience store. kebab.
It was T1 that emerged victorious, but it was also a victory for the entire esports concept. The scene has struggled – at least financially – to live up to the expectations of the 2010s, when inflated estimates of its global value attracted big investors and sponsors, leading to oversized team organizations and inflated salaries. for star players. A slew of those organizations, events and tournaments were shut down last year, including Activision Blizzard’s much-hyped Overwatch League. However, this weekend’s event attracted a peak audience of 6.94 million, most watching from home on streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, a new record for esports.
Sometimes it’s easy to think of video games as an industry, rather than a culture that brings joy to people. Sometimes it’s important to look beyond the sales and viewership numbers and sit in a stadium with 20,000 adoring fans. Outside the O2 megaplex, I spoke to an attendee, Morgan, perfectly dressed as Aphelios (in his Heartsteel suit, to be precise), who explained the appeal: “There’s such a competitive spirit, everyone is here to support their favorite teams. but he is very kind. There are also so many different communities in League, it’s great to see them come together and be able to come together because of the one thing they have in common and are really passionate about. “That’s what’s really beautiful about it.”
what to play
Released in 1996, the original Metal Slug was a thrilling pastiche of the side-scrolling military shooter in which lone, muscular soldiers took on entire armies of swarms of bullet meat. The brand has never really gone away, with dozens of sequels and spin-offs over the last 30 years, the latest of which is Metal Slug Tacticswhich takes the look and feel of the SNK franchise and turns it into an attractive and stylish turn-based strategy game. Here you assemble a team of warriors and take on the Rebel Army, using a wide range of customizable weapons and special attacks.
Recognizing its heritage as a “run and gun” game, the emphasis is on movement and dodging, with characters boosting their defenses as they take more steps, giving each turn a dynamic feel. And while the strategic gameplay has genuine depth, the isometric pixel art visuals perfectly capture the light-hearted feel of the series. Metal Slug veterans will love it, of course, but fans of Advance Wars, XCOM, and Into the Breach will also really enjoy it.
Available in: PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC
Estimated playing time: 20+ hours
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what to read
PC Gamer has a great feature about an immersive stage production of silent hill 2 by Niko Wilkins, student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I’m certainly looking forward to the West End musical adaptation.
Thanks, Polygon, for this handy guide to best board games of 2024. It is a diverse group It includes everything from building cities to detecting aliens.; I especially like the sound of Burning Banners: Rage of the Witch Queen.
GamesIndustry.biz has an interesting article on accessibility issues facing video game content streamersincluding punishing demands from YouTube and Twitch audiences.
Minecraft fans looking to complete their Christmas lists may be interested in The world of Minecrafta hefty new tome featuring plenty of concept art, archival materials, and interviews with the Mojang team about the creation of the game.
What to click
Ask Block
This week’s question comes from the reader. TurloughEdit:
“I always avoided FromSoftware games thinking they would be too difficult. Then, in 2021, I experienced a very painful grief and started playing. Elden Ring. It helped me overcome my pain and It was one of the best games I’ve ever played. Have worked through all F.S. souls and souls-like games, which also helped me get through a rough patch at work (I’m a child psychiatrist). Is there any other Do you like that they are so good? Am playing Lords of the fallenwhich is definitely fun but lacks the magic of the others. Yo fear “That FromSoftware has kind of ruined every other game for me except Zeldas.”
Thank you for your question and for reminding us that games can help us get through difficult experiences. I hope things get easier for you. As for the Souls-likes, many of my colleagues really enjoyed them. lies of pa complex adventure based on the adventures of Pinocchio, although the narrative is extremely dark. Alternatively, I really enjoyed the nioh Team Ninja series, which provides incredible depth in terms of combat and weapon systems; Nioh Collection on PS5 brings together remastered versions of the original game and its sequel.
If you’re ready to stray a little further from the Souls archetype, I’d also recommend hollow knight, star sword and Nier Automatawhich contain elements that make FromSoftware games so engaging and immersive.