Is 2XKO any good? Check out our first impressions of Riot’s fighting game

In recent years, Riot Games has invested in new ways to explore the universe of League of Legendswhich is one of the most popular games today. This is a strategy that has yielded the resounding success of Arcanea Netflix series that premiered in 2021, and also several smaller-scale games through Riot Forge — an initiative that was shut down by the company in January of this year, after a disastrous mass layoff that affected around 530 workers.

Now, MOBA fans have the opportunity to glimpse their favorite champions in a new style of play with 2XKO. Although the name has no relation to Runeterra (and may even seem strange), the title is a fighting game for two, in the best style Marvel Vs. Capcomwith several faces familiar to players, including: Ahri, Echo, Darius, Illaoi, Yasuobetween others.

O Voxel had the opportunity to participate in the Alpha Lab of 2XKOwhich allowed us to try out a version of the game that is still in development and should only be officially released in 2025. Below, you can check out our first impressions and what to expect from the launch. It is worth remembering that it is available for free on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Double action

The basic premise of 2XKO is to select a pair of champions, with the possibility of calling on the companion with assist attacks or even completely taking control of them during combat. This means that, if the user wants to play alone, it is necessary to master at least two characters to do well in matches.

But this is where the coolest part of the game comes in: It is possible to invite a friend and play cooperatively with him, with each one taking on their respective figure in the duo. This brings a new dynamic to the genre, as communication becomes the key to timing interactions and creating synergistic sequences.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily news when we think about games like MultiVersuswhich focuses on doubles matches. However, this is the first time that this element has been brought so effectively to a more traditional fighting game. In testing, the desire was to no longer play alone and just enjoy the matches with friends, resulting in very funny and entertaining moments.

2XKO takes inspiration from tag fighting games to deliver fast-paced action and expressivenessSource: Disclosure/Riot Games

My perception is that the doubles matches of 2XKO are a very clever way to break down a barrier to entry for the genre. It is very difficult for beginners to take the initiative to learn a fighting game on their own, given all its layers of complexity and fundamentals.

However, the ability to play cooperatively serves as an invitation to team up with a more experienced player and learn from their instruction. This brings a welcome lightness to a genre that is competitive by nature. Fortunately, netcodewhich is based on rollbackalso played an excellent role in making the games stable and enjoyable — at least in cases where all the players are from the same region.

The technology, which is already a new standard in fighting games, eliminates delays in commands in case of connection problems and provides a much more reliable online ecosystem. Since this is an Alpha, there were also matches in which the performance was not pleasant, with many jumps in frames and random crashes, but Riot Games is on the right track to deliver a quality service.

Simplicity that deceives

Another striking feature of 2XKO are its controls, which dispense with half-moon movements and rely on simple button combinations. For example, there are only three attack buttons (weak, average e forte) and two special buttons (S1 e S2). Additionally, there is an assist button, which also serves to switch characters if pressed.

Each character’s unique moves vary depending on the direction they press in conjunction with the button. This is a pattern that repeats itself across the cast and makes experimentation easy, so it’s very easy to pick up a new fighter and learn them from scratch. As a result, the game also breaks down another barrier to entry for fighting games: the difficulty of execution.

2XKO promises to bring back famous Arcane characters, including Ekko and JinxSource: Disclosure/Riot Games

But that doesn’t mean that 2XKO does not have its own complexity. Because it is inspired by games of the style tagas already mentioned Marvel Vs. Capcomthe player has to constantly deal with long and difficult sequences to defend. Fortunately, the game also features several defensive mechanics that alleviate various moments of pressure. Among them are a parrya push while defending, a technique to break combos and much more.

This is in line with the philosophy of the development team, which wants to deliver an easy game to learn but difficult to master. It works very well in practice and you can create muscle memory very quickly, in just a few hours of gameplay.

Performance and visuals can still be improved

Following the producer’s history, 2XKO tries its best to accommodate machines with weaker video cards and deliver stable performance. However, the Alpha presented some problems with crashes, especially in online lobbies where players can walk around with customizable avatars.

This was made worse in some ways by the character animations, which have no transition frames and give the impression that they are teleporting when they move. Therefore, it would be interesting if they did a little more to avoid this strangeness.

Despite this, the game gets its artistic direction right and delivers stylized graphics that draw attention with their vibrant colors. The same cannot be said of the menu interface, which is still very provisional and confusing. It is to be expected that Riot Games will make major changes in this aspect.

It’s worth keeping an eye on

Although it is still a very early development version, the Alpha Lab of 2XKO managed to prove that the game really is as fun as it seems. It’s still too early to get into the merits of balancing, but the few characters available are varied and interesting enough to sustain hours of fun.

Even though I’m a veteran of fighting games, I’m not particularly a fan of the combat system. tag. Even so, 2XKO managed to catch my attention with the cooperative mode and I believe this will be its biggest draw.

It felt like the game rewards players who are more invested in learning and applying its mechanics, yielding intimidating combos and sequences. Fortunately, the co-op mode serves as a way to reach out to beginners and make everyone progress together.

All in all, the impressions were quite positive. It’s clear that Riot Games did its homework and assembled a skilled team to deliver a fighting game competent and with room for expressiveness of the players. It is certainly worth keeping on the radar and following the news, which should be announced in the coming months.