This week I wanted to take some time off from all the Hearthstone stuff I've been doing. Spoilers for Whispers of the Old Gods are trickling out and I think it would be better to wait until I've got a decent number to talk about rather than discuss them as they come out regardless of how interesting they may be. Instead I want to toss out a couple ideas of where I think they might be going with some of the Overwatch story.
First I want to talk about Soldier 76. He very strongly resembles Captain America. Not only is he an enhanced super soldier with the original task of wiping out the world greatest threats, but his story is also looking a lot like the Winter Soldier movie plot. Everything is great when you are saving the world, but when things quiet down and someone needs to be held accountable for the damage, it's the hero who takes the blame because he's different. But who is the Hydra of the Overwatch universe? We know someone got Overwatch shut down and turned the public against them and this is what caused Jack Morrison to go into hiding. My theory is that The Vishkar corporation may have had something to do with it. According to Symmetra's character page, Vishkar helped restore the world following the Omnic crisis by building new homes and communities for those made homeless by the conflict. It also says that they sent Symmetra abroad on "clandestine missions around the world to uphold it's corporate interests." If that doesn't sound a little sketchy I don't know what does. What if after the Omnic crisis was over the people in charge of the Vishkar corporation were worried that their role of post robot war FEMA didn't have the longevity they were looking for. What if they decided to remove Overwatch from the picture and leave themselves as the people's only option to turn to for the comfort of safety and peace. They could have used their corporate influence to twist the media and public perception of Overwatch in the same way Hydra turned SHIELD against Captain America. Then this theory could get even deeper. What if Reaper, then known as Gabriel Reyes, was in league with Vishkar. If he resented 76 for being chosen over him to lead Overwatch perhaps he sought out someone with the means to bring down the organization he no longer felt a part of. And then in order to prevent their involvement from ever becoming known to the public, Vishkar made sure Reaper was among the casualties of the Overwatch base's destruction. To bring it all back to 76, now he needs to find Reyes and confirm what he already suspects to be true. And in doing so Overwatch is reformed and tasked with taking down the corrupt Vishkar corporation and in the process redeeming Reaper. Because we all know that Blizzard is a sucker for a redemption story. (cough: Kerrigan, Grommash :cough)
The other character I want to look at is Genji. He was greatly anticipated since the original Overwatch poster was shown at Blizzcon 2014 and he remains a fan favorite since his official announcement in November. I love all the story beats Blizzard is laying down for this cybernetic ninja. He started as a spoiled son of a powerful crime family and was nearly killed by his own brother. THEN he was rescued by Overwatch had to make him into a cyborg in order to save his life. The reasoning is slightly different but this reminds me a lot of how Wolverine got his adamantium skeleton in the whole Weapon X story line. But the cool stuff doesn't stop there. While working with Overwatch on the ultimate revenge plot to take down his own family's crime syndicate he resents himself for his robotic half and goes into hiding. This is where the tin-foil hat stuff comes in. We know he eventually met up our favorite robot monk Zenyatta with whom he eventually comes to accept his new body and the gift it can be. However, what I am interested in is how we get there. The fact that he goes into self-imposed exile feels a lot like the Batman Begins story. Rich guy experiences loss and resents the life he once had. While he is gone he meets up with someone or something who teaches him to turn his past into a strength and put it to use. I want to see what happens in that process. What happens in his time with Zenyatta? Is his training in Tibet more based around focusing his mind? They could go with the expected route where he seeks out Hanzo, the brother who nearly killed him. Or does the Omnic monk teach himthat the fault doesn't lay with Hanzo but with the corrupt family who raised them heartlessly? And how does Genji fit into the plans Overwatch has to reform. Genji is front and center in the "We Are Overwatch" trailer so it would seem that Blizzard is moving forward under the assumption Genji is still a member. Harmony could mean balancing out the injustice done to Genji, but it could mean reconciliation. And I for one welcome a Double Dragon reboot featuring Genji and Hanzo!
I can't wait to see what Blizzard has to offer as they continue to build this world. These two are two of the more prominent characters but there is plenty more to get excited about. Characters who seem secondary for now like Zarya and Mei could have to wait until the second round of cinematic shorts and comics but I'm excited for their stories grow and mesh with the overall lore.
This week may not be up to par with what I normally write up but I find myself thinking more and more about Overwatch as we get closer to release. Thanks as always for taking the time to check it out anyway!
I'm back as promised to discuss the newly announced Whispers of the Old Gods Hearthstone Expansion! Blizzard had a nice little presentation prior to the start of the Americas Winter Championship today, but unfortunately they were forced to show up late to their own party. Earlier this week a bunch of Hearthstone content creators and professional players were flown to California for a sneak preview of the announcement. The information was put under embargo, but that didn't stop a Spanish website from posting basically all of the information we got today. This kind of thing happens a lot more than it should in the gaming industry and it really sucks when an announcement like this gets a lot of wind taken out of it's sails on the eve of the event. Sure, they got a ton of traffic to their site in the last 24 hours, but they have basically assured that they won't be invited to a similar event in the future. The worst-case scenario is Blizzard just decides not have similar things take place going forward, and that sucks for everyone. We get less content from our favorite community members and we get it later than we would with these kinds of invitations going out. But enough about the shitty actions of a few jerks. Let's get to the good stuff!
Whispers of the Old Gods is a 134 card expansion based around the idea of the awakened Old Gods messing with things all over Azeroth including our beloved Inn, and it is set to release in late April/early May. This is a little later than a lot of people expected, but I can't say I'm surprised. In addition to a new set of cards we are also getting a new format and with it Blizzard has to review quite a few base set cards and rebalance them according to the current state of the game. Most players agree that things like Big Game Hunter, Knife Juggler, and Force of Nature/Savage Roar are the primary offenders but I'm sure they want to make sure that they hit everything they need to in this pass. They need to ensure these cards are where they want them when the formats hit initially or they risk turning off a portion of the player base if things are too far out of whack and require a second set of changes.
If I'm being honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the announcement as a whole. We only got 6 cards previewed along with the pre-order card back (which the picture above does no justice. the animations are awesome). No game board, no talk of mechanics outside of the Old Gods themselves, and the presentation itself was a lot shorter than I expected. I thought we'd get something more along the lines of the Grand Tournament event. Show off the mechanics and have a few show matches to showcase them. It's not like they didn't have dozens of community members and pro players on site for the event anyway. I don't know maybe I'm just spoiled at this point. But anyway, let's take a look at the cards we did see today.
The first two cards were described as corrupted versions of cards we have seen before. In this case Loot Hoarder and Antique Healbot. Polluted Hoarder seems underwhelming on the surface but we also have to remember we will be in a post Piloted Shredder world. Depending on what other 4 drops we see in Whispers this guy could find a place despite an underwhelming 2 health. Corrupted Healbot is basically a mid-game version of Zombie Chow which seems a bit odd. Chow was at it's best while picking off early game minions and ignoring the drawback of giving your opponent health. Corrupted Healbot is certainly going to be bigger than most things on the board before turn 5 but chances are the opponent has taken more damage by then and the drawback becomes more relevant. It may not matter and controlling the board is the primary goal the deck this is in, but I'll have to see it when the time comes. I do love the idea of playing an Auchenai Soulpriest then trading off my own Corrupted Healbot for the equivalent of a Ragnaros hit to the face.
The other 3 cards I want to talk about are the most interesting by far. (Validated Doomsayer is not a good card and I am spiteful that it was one of the cards previewed.) The Old Gods are the face of the expansion so they need to either be really impressive, or create new and interesting ways to play the game ala Reno Jackson or even Sir Finley. C'Thun and his cohorts clearly are aiming to do the latter. The example Blizzard gave of a late game 14/14 C'Thun wiping out an entire opposing board may be hyperbolic but the possibility is certainly there. What I really like about the two God buffing cards we have here is that the stat distribution is right where you want it to be. A 2/3 for 2 and 3/4 for 4 has become the standard for a playable minion. Because of that these minions are capable of holding their own despite the fact that the game may not reach the point of casting the Old God or you may just not draw it at all. It is a small sample size but I like what we have so far with these 3 cards. There is a lot of potential design-wise if the other 3 Old Gods and their followers are made in this vein. Perhaps we will see a minion that reduces the cost of the God or maybe a minion that gives the Yogg-Saron a Battlecry that spawns a tentacle minion. There are a lot of possibilities and with the limited information about what is in the set this is what has me the most intrigued. As more cards get previewed I'll be sure to review them as best I can. It would be cool to nail down some predictions.
That's it for Hearthstone talk this week but speaking of predictions, I have been doing some thinking about the inevitable Overwatch story content and want to do a probably short post sometime soon with some fun tin foil hat theories I've been cooking up. So chew on that!
Thanks as always for reading team! Until next time,
