2XKO, the first fighting game from League of Legends publisher Riot Games, recently entered early access. This 2v2 tag fighter incorporates many fan-favorites from Riot’s multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) in a game that’s got very simple inputs but an incredible depth of features. Character expression is the name of the game, with the more complex characters (like Yasuo, Ahri, and Ekko) having a diverse range of combo options that make playing them so much fun.
For those who don’t play ball, a “tag fighter” refers to a game where each player selects multiple characters to form a tag team, a la professional wrestling. Some famous examples include Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and The King of Fighters. In 2XKO, you play as two characters (like Ekko and Yasuo or Braum and Illaui), with one character doing most of the fighting (i.e., the Point) and the other performing simple attacks (i.e., the Assist). The Assist character can “tag” in to become the Point character when needed.
Despite its addictive formula and engaging flow, 2XKO wouldn’t be a fighting game without its detractors. From Teemo’s release being “clearly overtuned” to Yasuo being “extremely hard to defend against,” 2XKO didn’t exactly sneak into early access without folks on social media having something to say about it.
“I Don’t Like Unskippable Cutscenes”
As usual, when a tag fighter comes out, a key concern is defense and how dangerous offense can be. Just like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 before it, 2XKO has some people who think it’s a combo-fest. The “unskippable cutscene,” as these longer combos are sometimes known as, is a standard part of multi-character tag fighters. It’s common for you to start your combo, use your background character’s assist or call them in, then continue your combo into a super move (sometimes with a built-in cutscene). In many cases, it’s common to wait for 20-30 seconds for your chance to play against specific teams, with Ahri being perhaps the biggest culprit.
2XKO has a feature to prevent long combos, called Break Bonus, which increases the victim Break Gauge (which breaks combos) if a combo lasts for too long. Even without this mechanic, the length of 2XKO combos is a far cry from games like Dragon Ball FighterZ or even single-character anime games like DNF Duel, whose combos can easily eclipse 45 seconds to a minute when optimized correctly.
But 2XKO has another anti-combo mechanic that is so interesting to me that I want to take a closer look.
Introducing the Sidekick Fuse
2XKO has five modes you can select when playing solo (and four you can choose when playing on a team with a friend). One mode that’s shared between solo and co-operative play is called “Sidekick.” In this mode, the lead character plays normally (they can hit and take damage) while the other character (or player) sits in the background, throwing out occasional attacks.
You might think that “Sidekick” mode is a strict downside. After all, you only get one health bar and you can’t play as the other character. How does Sidekick compensate? Well, the main character gets some extra health. The background character is also turbocharged, able to use their bar-spending Super Move at the back end of a combo. They can also use an empowered assist at any point mid-match (called a Super Assist), and their Assist attack is stronger.
However, a unique mechanic that 2XKO brings into the limelight is on defense. Outside of two mechanics (Push Block and Break), the partner has no real defensive responsibilities. The developers at Riot figured that’d be a bit boring, so they gave the Assist a unique responsibility: They can reduce incoming hits with timed button presses. This functions as a partial heal right after you take the damage, and is denoted by blue sparks flying off of your lead character.
I… kind of love this.
If your friend is just getting into fighting games, or you want to hang out with your significant other and chat while playing a tag game, Sidekick provides an accessible entry point while ensuring they’re invested in defense. And, if you’re solo, you have a way to extend your lifespan for a bit. It’s actually a pretty neat system.
Theory: Is the “Recovering Health” Part of Sidekick the Answer to Long Combos?
Let’s say we take this mechanic out of Sidekick mode and apply it to the rest of 2XKO. Could this be the solution to the crowd that complains that “combos take too long?” Let’s weigh in.
Pros
- You’re invested in your opponent’s combo. Even for characters you don’t necessarily play, you’ll want to pay attention to what they’re doing and predict their attacks. Knowledge of the roster comes into play more, as you might be more familiar with the length of Braum’s Poro Toss or know what the optimal Ekko route looks like.
- Your opponent may be incentivized to switch their combo. 2XKO has a lot of moments when the player will always opt for the combo that deals the most damage. Despite characters having a lot of valid combo routes both midscreen and in the corner, there’s no reason to go for them (at a high level) over a higher damaging combo you’ve perfected. If the Sidekick Fuse mechanic were included, the “best” combo for a character may be less optimal than a freestyle one that’s less predictable.
Cons
- Games already take a while. Partially because of the (as of writing) strength of Teemo (a character who can use projectiles to keep foes far away), games can occasionally or frequently reach the 120-second timer. A mechanic that reduces damage taken could exacerbate the issue.
- It punishes newer players. While matchmaking will hopefully pit two players in the same skill bracket against one another, there will be times when an experienced player takes less damage than a newcomer just because they know more about the game.
- Accidental inputs. As it stands right now, the Sidekick Fuse mechanic requires you to press an attack button as you take the damage. If your opponent messes up the combo by a frame, you might get counterhit when you could have just blocked. This is ameliorated slightly if you make sure to prioritize teching (i.e., exiting a combo with a roll or air-dodge) over the accidental attack.
Would Sidekick Fuse Break the Game?
I think the cons would outweigh the pros in a hypothetical universe where everyone just got the Sidekick bonus without an issue. But are there ways to potentially reduce the extremes of the mechanic while maintaining the idea that “if I hit a button when they hit me, I get a benefit?” I think so!
- Change the benefit from reduced damage to faster Break Bonus. Rather than create a mechanic that just reduces damage with little actual feedback, reward the player for paying attention to a long combo by giving them Break Bonus faster. That way, the player doing the combo has a risk-reward choice (cut their combo short or risk giving the opponent a combo-ending special), and they also get more information about the defense’s tools.
- Reward offense for creativity by turning off the mechanic. This could be represented on the side like “Missed Defense!” This way, if you change up your combo in a way that messes with the timing of the defense, you won’t have to worry as much about being punished.
- Change the input for the defense to pressing “Away” at the right time. This would let you block if you’re not in a combo. That reduces the chance that you’ll accidentally press a Light button and get counterhit if the combo falls off. This is less of a problem if a combo ends with a guaranteed tech and punishes people with control sticks more than leverless players, so this would probably be too much of a band-aid solution.
Final Thoughts
Even with the above adjustments, I’m not sure how much of a fix this would be. 2XKO doesn’t have a huge combo issue outside of a select few characters. And some characters (like Warwick) already give Break Bonus quickly, so this could make them even more tedious to use. But I do think that this concept, as a thought experiment, is fun. In a game where the only thing between you and death is a slowly filling meter, having just a bit extra to do while you’re getting walloped is a super neat defensive option. I applaud the team’s creativity!
Now we just need to figure out Double Down…
What are your thoughts on 2XKO’s Sidekick Fuse mechanics? Let us know in the comments!
Jason graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in English and Game Design. For him, video games are not just an art form, but one of the greatest mediums to tell a story.
When not perpetuating the game journalist stereotype of being awful at a game and blaming the game for it, Jason likes writing short fiction novels that never get past chapter two, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.
