Thomie: rambling about Video Games since yesterday

 Ah yes, the White Lotus, or, as I like to call them, ATLA's premiere aurafarmers. Realistically, if you want them in the game, it's because of some insane bending feat they pulled off in the show, and who could blame you? I already went over Iroh and Bumi, so let's talk about the other three and why, weirdly enough, none of them are likely candidates. Pakku is not just my least favorite, he's also maybe the least likely candidate for a slot on the roster, since, in a masterstroke of feminist game design, he's been reduced to a support for Katara. 10/10, no notes. I've seen people ask for Jeong Jeong and have used his superior bending ability to justify blocking Zhao from being added, but I also stand by my assessment of the game not needing any more firebenders. To his credit, he would be a fairly different and very visually impressive firebender, but bending feats alone can only get you so far when you're trying to get into a game with 3 avatars (not that ...

I am very happy to report that I have not run out of groups of three yet. Avatar Legends' roster could always use more villains, so let's talk about Korra's main antagonists and which of them would or wouldn't make good playable fighters Of the three, Amon is by far the most iconic villain of the series, as well as the most requested one. He's a master manipulator, successfully anticipating his opponents' moves and goading them into attacks he can exploit. Even when pretending to have no bending, he's a competent fighter and leader but, of course, the main attraction here is his more advanced bloodbending. Amon can straight up take away someone's bending ability and if Ty Lee's chi blocking would already be a lot to ask of this game, this may just break it outright. Blood bending in general seems like an inherently frustrating mechanic to put into a fighting game as well, so I have no idea how a faithful recreation of Amon would even work for this ga...

In contrast to what I’ve been doing for the rest of this shorts-series, here I want to talk about three characters who I think either don’t deserve or just can’t really get a place in this game. Realistically, given the base roster of 12 fighters with at most 6 more on the way in the first year, most of the characters I’ve covered are not making it, but the following few would, in my opinion, either be a waste of a slot or just not really feasible. Starting with the one I like the least, we have Admiral Zhao. As the main villain of the first season of Atla and one of the strongest firebenders in that show he would probably deserve a spot, were it not for the fact that virtually every other firebender in the show is either more important or more interesting than him. The entire royal family of the Fire Nation is comprised of stronger benders with more appealing villain-personalities or compelling redemption-arcs, and even his master Jeongjeong has more impressive firebending feats tha...

The existence of non-benders, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects of Avatar’s world-building. Having to contend with and, on occasion, fight people who spawn into this plane of existence with the innate ability to cast fireball truly breeds innovation. In Avatar Legends, they are represented by Sokka, who does a good job but cannot cover every aspect of them on his own. To help him out with it, here are three or four characters who showcase different ways of surviving this world. Suki, proud Kyoshi-warrior and Sokka’s girlfriend, is already in the game as a support for Sokka, as well as aiding him in his now infamous “girlfriend install” super. As mentioned previously, I don’t know if that disqualifies her from becoming a full-fledged fighter in the future, but I hope it doesn’t so we can see her interact with the rest of the Gaang and her culture’s idol Avatar Kyoshi. Also, her more disciplined fighting style would make for a great contrast to Sokka’s more humorous m...

I truly believe that this game would be incomplete without this kid. Let me explain. Kai, much like Zaheer and plenty of other people who are not as cool as him, gained the ability to airbend through harmonic convergence. Unlike most of them, however, he did not have a regular life he was asked to forsake to join the air nomads. He was a child adrift, running around with no guidance just being a mischievious little rascal with a bit of a kleptomania problem, until he found an opportunity to escape that life and, with a bit of a rough start, become a valued member of the air nomads. He represents the future of them not just by being a new member, but by being the first recipient of their new philosophy. He's given a home and a cause, struggles at first but is not given up on and is supported as he helps out in turn. That, to the world, are the new air nomads. A group of benders dedicated to helping where they can and improving the world they wander one problem at a time. In terms o...

Allow me to start this one by appreciating just how genius the addition of Zaheer to the base roster truly is. The game needed another villain , a pure airbender and another character from TloK, especially since there are no pure airbenders left in ATLA. Zaheer solves all of these problems at once by design. That being said, his character and fighting style are also informed by his past as a lethal non-bender and the mastermind behind the Red Lotus, before he gained the ability to airbend. As such, he is not a perfect representation of the art as it was or as it is, and especially not where it is going. I'd like to see one character to represent each of those three states, if possible. I'm not sure if adding a character as a support deconfirms their potential inclusion as a full fighter. Assuming it does, that means no Gyatso. A shame to be sure, but I'd like to make the case that we don't actually need him to represent the past glory of the air nomads and their elemen...

The game, as it is now, is hardly lacking in firebenders. I don't think it needs any more of them, but there are still a few iconic ones missing, so at risk of creating a "Rivals of Aether-esque environment", let's go over a few. Iroh may be the most glaring omission from the existing cast, though, considering the other choices the devs made, I can see why they left him out. Zuko is essential for obvious reasons, Ozai is here to add a "main villain" / "final boss"- type character and Azula has the most unique firebending in Atla. That being said, the Dragon of the West is definitely not without a few cool tricks of his own. Though flawed in execution, NASB 2 Iroh's "tea install" is a great idea in concept that would not only set him apart in playstyle from the more aggressive firebenders but emphasize his calm, yet dangerous nature as one of, if not the most proficient firebender in the realm. I'd also love to see him interact wit...

I admit, earth is not exactly my favorite element in Avatar. However, earthbending does have some of the most fleshed out specific bending-subforms of any element and I would like to see those represented beyond just Toph and the avatars. There's so much moveset potential in the way Toph's daughters metalbend. The cord they use could function as a whip, a grappling hook or simply a long-ranged button that, combined with their more "regular" earthbending creates a fighting style unique to them and their disciples in the police force and Zao Fu. Furthermore, since the game does have an arcade mode with character interactions, teenage Toph talking to her daughters is certainly an entertaining prospect. Realistically, Lin would be playable with Su as an assist but I would not mind any combination of that. Lavabending, as an idea, is beautiful. Lavabending, in practice, means adding Bolin to the game and I don't like Bolin very much. There's really only two optio...

I’m limiting myself to three additional characters per element. With the exception of fire, each element is only granted one exclusive bender in the game’s base roster. Of course, that position was always going to go to Katara. She’s THE waterbender of the entire franchise and especially ATLA, a title that seems to be hereditary given how her daughter Kya is arguably the waterbender of TloK, barring Korra herself. Beyond that, it would make for a cool contrast to have grown-up Kya and teenage Katara in the same game as a subversion of a mother-daughter dynamic and a showcase of how Kya’s bending style evolves from Katara’s. They’re masters of their element’s offensive and defensive capabilities, with Kya in particular being a healer and.. ok fine, I just want to see her break the game with that Elena-style, it would be funny. I can’t decide if this is cheating or not, but there’s just too much potential for a great character design in the waterbending twins Desna and Eska. As one cha...

  Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, as a concept, may be the easiest slam dunk of all time. The bending forms are already martial arts-based; there’s a distinct fighting style to each one that can still be adapted and personalized. The shows and characters are beloved, there’s still new media for it 20 years later and who doesn’t love a good opportunity for promotion (use my link to buy the game on Instant Gaming^^)? Both the idea and the timing could not be better in my opinion and I have been looking forward to this game ever since it was announced, though I sadly did not manage to get into any beta tests. Anyway, what makes or breaks this kind of game is the roster of playable characters, and in this case I am rather… whelmed with the choices on offer. 3 Avatars, the Gaang, the firebending royal family and Zaheer are all worthy additions and make sure there is at least one representative for each specific element and non-benders as well. It’s perfectly serviceable, if a b...

Street Fighter 6 sees Bison emerge with a severe case of amnesia, roaming the streets like a feral animal as he fights whoever he can find to quell his hunger for battle. Eventually, in an “unknown location”, he stumbles upon the answer to his questions: Juri, who accidentally reveals to him who he was. After defeating her, he adopts the identity of Bison and resumes doing what he does: seek more power, attempt to subjugate more fighters (as seen in Sagat’s story) and potentially rebuild his organization. On one hand, this technically counts as a reinterpretation of his character? This Bison is basically a revenant, a beast hungering for power in contrast to the still insane, but more visually put together crime boss Bison from previous games who would have otherwise competed with JP in his role, at least design-wise. The dark hood and ripped cape over a bare chest and stomach in combination with his messy hair really works to emphasize this change. Capcom tried their hardest here, but...