Review: Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a new videogame based on the multimedia series that started with Avatar: The Last Airbender. With the promise of letting players enjoy elemental bending in unique combats, the game brings some of the franchise’s recognizable characters in a fast-paced 2D fighter.

Dynamic Impact

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a 2D game in which players can use a variety of characters from the series, including some who appeared in Avatar: The Last Airbender and others from The Legend of Korra. The list includes protagonists Aang and Korra, but also Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Azula and Ozai from The Last Airbender, Zaheer from Korra and avatar Kyoshi whose story was more developed in specific novels.

As is expected of the genre, there are multiple modes to enjoy, including a Story Mode, Versus battles locally and online, Arcade Mode, Training, and a Gallery with content. Out of these, Training is a particularly detailed feature, offering not only one that lets players try out things freely, but also some dedicated Tutorials and Trials for players to have some guidance on specific techniques.

Not only do Trials show what buttons the player has to use, but it also has Demo and Breakdown features that are helpful in mastering the necessary skills. The former shows exactly how a specific technique is pulled off, while the latter stops time for each button execution so that the player can understand the timing.

There is also a detailed Command List feature, explaining every move option for the current character as well as those that are more general. No matter the character used, some basic movement and techniques are part of the package, which includes a basic Auto Combo that can be pulled off by simply hitting the “A” button multiple times.

Energy and Flow

Generally speaking, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a fast-paced fighting game with two special gauges to keep in mind. The first of them is Flow, which can be used to dodge attacks and counteract enemies with a variety of Flow moves as well as an automatic dodge by holding the button to activate a special stance.

While using this system can make a difference, Flow is a risk and reward feature. Depleting the gauge puts the player in an Unbalanced condition, which makes them more vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. With some techniques coming at the cost of locking the gauge regeneration for a time, Flow is a difficult aspect to master.

Meanwhile, the other gauge is Energy, which is increased through a variety of actions, such as throwing enemies or using Flow Moves well. With energy, it’s possible to perform various special techniques, including the powerful Super and a Final Technique that can instantly turn the tables on enemies but is only available after losing one round, as the gauge will then expand.

While there’s a universal base for the characters and the gameplay, each individual feels unique in their moveset. For instance, Katara has a great range with her water whip, while Kyoshi has a tendency to be a juggernaut who doesn’t stagger. Though there are only 12 fighter options in the base game (with more to come as DLC), players will be able to find one that they are better at using based on the different play styles they have.

With each character, there are also three Support options, which adjust some elements of gameplay. These choices improve specific moves, which may be helpful depending on how the player tends to use them. They may also specifically play into a special transformation of that character, for instance, making Azula get more aggressive from the get-go.

The Edges that Are Still Left

To make a Story Mode that can have all these characters in their most recognizable form, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game opts for an original narrative. As Korra takes place many years in the future and Kyoshi would be dead by the start of The Last Airbender, the game bends logic with a mysterious event.

In this alternate reality of sorts, these individuals are not quite their usual selves in personality and connections. As such, Story Mode is all about learning the truth, with many detours on the way to keep the thing going. Honestly speaking, the plot generally feels like an excuse and never develops well enough to be anything more.

This mode is divided into multiple chapters, each of which may have fights or be strictly story-related. Sometimes battles take only one round, and at others they may have two, and the player can try again multiple times. Winning leads to the gain of experience points that will level characters up like in an RPG and money that can be spent on Momo’s Bazaar as well as to unlock Gallery illustrations.

While money has an obvious value, it wasn’t so clear what levels do for the characters in the game’s review build. This was only one factor among others that just didn’t feel like they were clear enough to understand and appreciate. While the review build was not supposed to be final and some details like text updates are supposed to happen for release, the tone of the interface felt very subdued to the point that relevant feedback doesn’t stand out well enough.

Another aspect that felt poor was balancing in the full modes. All characters are very aggressive from the get-go in the Story and Arcade modes and there was no way to pick different difficulties for their AI. Sometimes, the first match was much harder than any of the latter ones, with no clear difficulty curve at all.

On the other hand, online combat was really breezy, using rollback netcode and allowing crossplay between systems. Only casual matches were available before launch, but there were absolutely no issues and the transition from training to getting a new challenger was smooth. It also had specific settings, like turning off crossplay and adjusting the range of matchmaking to improve the experience further.

Closing Comments:

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a fascinating new way to explore the franchise, seeing the classic characters face each other in battle. The fast-paced 2D action is enjoyably dynamic, and the developers managed to make each character feel unique while also having enough universal gameplay elements so that the learning curve isn’t too hard for any of them. The only things that keep it from greatness are some kinks here and there that can hopefully be fixed in the future.