I'm a noob, let's start with that. Avatar Legends, with its freedom of movement, speed and, loose, creative combo system, has been the most pleasant surprise this year. It does something I've always wished from a fighting game, and never really found before: it gives you the fundation blocks of its fighting system, short moves, easy to perform singularly, and you're supposed to combine them with good timing and with smart movement (of which the game gives you plenty) to create your own combos. This can lead to crazy long, spectacular and unpredictable chain of attacks, parries, dodges, all choreographed in a fight that's equally as mesmerizing to watch as it is to play. All of this without creating any visual mess, you'll always be able to tell what's going on, even if you're a noob like me. Great feedback, sense of impact (I noticed the screen shakes a little when hitting or getting hit), sound design, everything is smooth and satisfying and it'll make you feel like you're a character in a crazy kung-fu movie or, well, in an episode of Avatar, if you're familiar with the show. They nailed the combat system so much, I'm probably repeating myself, but again, I love that you can feel like a superhuman with crazy reflexes even at low levels, and the game actually has layers, for an experienced player would come up with combos and strategies I couldn't even fathom. Every character plays differently, like, for real. You can tell the different influences from other fighting games, it's like every character has some different fighting game's dna infused in them. I consider this my favorite fighting game, and, despite being far from an expert, here's a list of the fighting games I've played just to give you context:
Tekken 3, 4, 5, 7, 8
Samurai showdown 2021
Marvel Tokon
Dragonball FighterZ
Soulcalibur 4
Virtua fighter 5
Street fighter 6
Mortal kombat x
probably some other I forgot
Now, I've been told there are other games out there with similar freedom of combos and movement, like Under Night In-Birth II, which I've never tried, so you'll get me when I say I've never tried a game like this before, and it blew my mind.
Now, it's unfinished, most of all lacking a ranked mode, but if you're in for the juice, this game has GALLONS of it. Damn, I don't even tilt when someone kicks the sh*t out of me, I just keep asking for rematches, it's just genuine, addictive fun. APPROVED!
