First impressions playing League of Legends' new champion: Does the game really need so many characters?

After a long hiatus, I decided to return to League of Legends. Coming back to the Summoner's Rift feels like reopening a book you thought was closed forever, only to find that it's been rewritten and updated. With a flood of changes to the game, new champions, and a revamped map, the return has been quite a challenge. So, today, I wanted to take the opportunity of a new champion's release to create an article and gameplay, and also to share my impressions of coming back to League of Legends after such a long time.

Since I started playing around 12 or 13 years ago, the game has undergone significant changes. It's amazing how time flies: so much has changed since I began during the early seasons, when there were only a handful of champions to choose from—Annie, Ashe, Master Yi, and a few others. I played League of Legends regularly for the next five or six years. I remember stopping when Illaoi was released back in 2015. Not because I stopped enjoying it, but simply because c'est la vie. Since then, I've played the occasional match, maybe one or two a year, but not much more than that.

Returning to League of Legends after such a long time has been a bittersweet experience. On one hand, I feel like a noob again (and it's not like I was Faker before; I was also a noob back then, but now even more so), especially with all the new changes. On the other hand, there's a comforting feeling in seeing that many of the elements I loved are still present. The matches are still intense, the community remains passionate (sometimes overly so: in my first game there was already an AFK player on our team), and the challenge of improving is just as appealing as ever.

The first thing that caught my attention was the sheer amount of new content that's been added (is this a good thing? Well, we'll get into that later). There are new maps, game modes, and of course, an overwhelming number of new champions. Instead of jumping back into my old favorites like Yasuo or Zed (my usual go-tos), this humble servant decided to play a game with the new champion, Aurora, as a matter of duty. If you've seen the gameplay, you might have noticed it was a bit of a mess, given my lack of skill and unfamiliarity with the champion. But they call them first impressions for a reason, right? And sometimes, as I believe, the imperfections are what make things perfect.

Aurora is a champion with a somewhat unique concept in the vast world of Runeterra. Unlike many other champions, she is a Vastaya who stands out for her ability to interact with the spiritual realm—an aspect that hasn't been deeply explored in the game's universe. With her bunny-witch appearance, Aurora combines a cute design with mystical depth, reflecting her connection to spirits and her ability to heal tormented entities. This originality is part of a development story that began six years ago and culminated in a character who, despite her origins in varied concepts and some challenges in her final design, captures the essence of a modern and spiritual witch.

The champion has captured my attention with her high mobility. Her skill set, which combines agility and crowd control, is both appealing and versatile. However, the main issue I encountered is with her ultimate ability, Between Worlds, as it creates a visual saturation that makes it hard to perceive what's happening on the battlefield. During fights, I found it difficult to keep track of where I was and what was going on, which can be a real drawback amidst all the chaos. And in terms of innovation, I don't feel she offers a particularly refreshing or immersive experience (beyond a somewhat unique concept); rather, she seems like a mix of abilities from champions we've seen before.

If you want to play Aurora, you should know that she excels in team compositions that can leverage her mobility and repositioning abilities, being devastating when used strategically. While her ultimate has notable competitive potential, allowing skilled players to create surprising moments and turn the tide of a match, she is also vulnerable to teams that can keep her at a distance and control her with crowd control effects. In my experience, Aurora can shine in controlled situations, but her performance may be hindered in long-range compositions and against enemy combos.

So, playing with Aurora is a dynamic experience, thanks to her agility that allows for effective dodging and attacking. Her ultimate not only deals significant damage but also controls the battlefield by slowing down enemies, making her ideal for team fights and applying pressure. With her mix of mobility, crowd control, and damage, Aurora stands out as an intriguing champion for climbing the ranked ladder, fitting well in both the mid/top lane and support role, and offering flexibility to players.

And that's all for today's first impressions: I enjoyed playing with Aurora, but I can't help but wonder if League of Legends really needs so many champions. While Aurora has her merits, she doesn't offer significant innovations that justify her addition to the game. It's an interesting addition in terms of the game's lore and story, but in terms of gameplay, I feel that it only exacerbates the feeling of gameplay saturation—a feeling I've been experiencing with this game over the past few years. I'm left questioning whether the time and resources spent developing new champions might be better used improving other aspects of the game.

And don't get me wrong, I still enjoy returning to the game and playing a few matches now and then, so if you like this content, we'll continue analysing new champions as they're released. However, I can't help but reflect on the current saturation and the future of the game. It brings to mind Steve Jobs' philosophy, which focused on simplicity above everything else. Jobs believed that simplicity wasn't just about designing visually clean products but also about streamlining the user experience by eliminating unnecessary features and focusing on what's essential. That's what made Apple so great. After Steve left, we saw Apple expand into a multitude of models, which can be confusing and overwhelming for consumers. Not only that, but it also becomes more challenging to maintain each product at the highest level when you have to spread resources across so many, rather than focusing on just a few. League of Legends seems to be following a similar path: instead of maintaining a more refined and streamlined selection of champions, it keeps adding more and more, which can dilute the overall gameplay experience.

I don't know about you, but I miss the early days from 15 years ago when there were only 17 champions. Today, there are 168. I'm not sure how much more they can innovate before quantity overwhelms quality. Perhaps, instead of continuously adding more, it would be better to focus on refining and balancing what we already have. Ultimately, only time will tell if this strategy of continually adding new champions will continue to benefit the game or if it will end up overwhelming it. I suppose it's the way of the world: quantity over quality. Maybe I'm getting old, but sometimes I long for simpler times.