https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RYzlaO
Before you comment down below in the topic what I don’t want to discussed in this page is,
- HOW SAN FENG’S DAMAGE IS INSANE
- ANYTHING YADA YADA YADA ABOUT HIS FORTIFIED HEALTH
- NOTHING ABOUT HIS ULTIMATE GAME PLAY WISE ASIDE FROM AN AESTHETIC STANDPOINT
- ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT HIM THAT WAS NOT COVERED ABOVE THAT PERTAINS TO HOW HE’S PLAYED INGAME. OTHER PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY WHACKED THAT DEAD HORSE INTO PATE AT THIS POINT.
FUN FACT: Hung Gar style of martial arts which is known for its strong stances is the inspiration behind the movements of Earth Benders in Avatar: The Last Airbender
watch this video to give you a general idea of what Hung Gar style Kung Fu is like and than compare it to San Feng in his Hero Spotlight.
Before we start this discussion I just want to bring attention to the description that Alex Chen who created the concept for San Feng included in his concept art:
"Some character development for Vainglory’s newest hero, San Feng. Always wanted to do a Kung Fu hero that embodied everything I love in a Grandmaster.
Mainly inspired by Shaolin lineage, I designed him to look like a Hung Gar master with a soft side. The flowing sleeve contrasts his brawn indicating a strategist master rather than a brawler befitting his play style as a calculating counter fighter.
That last page of research helped to convey the soft vs. hard technical feel I wanted to get across."
Now onto the problem with San Feng I personally from a design aspect WHICH IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH HOW HIS RATIOS AND PLAYSTYLE MAKE PEOPLE SCREAM THAT HE’S BROKEN.
For me personally my biggest beef is not how much damage San Feng deals, his fortified health or any of the other factors people online be it in the forums or on Discord or 4chan talk about. My issue is that San Feng PERSONALLY does not feel like a Martial Artist with his abilities designs IN MY OPINION.
WARNING “OPINIONS BEYOND THIS POINT” BEFORE THE FORUM TEARS ME A NEW ONE.
Most of the heroes Vainglory has come out with over the past few years, have for the most part struck the nail on what they envisioned the hero would be like immersion wise and gameplay wise.
Alpha for example plays very similarly to how she’s described in lore as a terrifying female terminator who relentlessly chases you down without fear of dying.
Inara feels like an agile forest creature who is swift and beautiful and very much at home in the jungle.
Skye gives you the feeling while playing her that she’s a fragile raged carry with superb mobility that compensates for the lack of any armor.
and Anka is exactly as how you would feel if you were an assassin waiting for the right oppurtunity to strike. you blink and delete an enemy hero and get out before they knew what happened.
But San Feng, for me he doesn’t feel like a martial artist at all according to Alex Chen’s description.
There is very little flow of movement, very little technique and nuance to his kit that briefly convinces like all the other heroes in Vainglory that YES, YES! YOU ARE A MARTIAL ARTIST COUNTERING ENEMY BLOWS AND REDIRECTING THAT ATTACK BACK AT THEM with swift counterstrikes and a flurry of blows.
No I don’t feel that immersion
Instead what I feel when playing San Feng is an awkard clunky mid range mage that deals standard AOE bursts of damage with a glorified mage ultimate pretending to be a “kung-fu warrior”
There is no flow there is no technique there is very little of that “redirection of enemy attacks” and using “the enemy’s momentum against them”.
Not from a gameplay perspective or a mechanics standpoint but from an IMMERSION PERSEPCTIVE…
San Feng feels like a SLAP IN THE FACE especially from someone like me who enjoys the immersion of lore and character fantasy that comes with playing Vainglory.
Why do I enjoy playing Baron so much?
Because Baron brings that feeling of being a heavy hitting mobile artillery that you would expect from a rocket soldier who can call down an orbital strike. But that’s another story for another day.
Okay Ed’s finished this supposed “intellectual” rant of his that most people will ignore and just skim through.
Go back to discussing how OP San Feng is.