2XKO Beta: Is Riot's Tag Fighter Casting a Spell or Just Making Us Wiggle Our Fingers?
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Riot's 2XKO closed beta is casting a compelling spell with its innovative active tag system, unique 'Fuses' for rule-bending play, and a brilliant co-op Duos mode, despite a curious simplified control scheme and a slim starting roster. Jeff is cautiously optimistic that this genuinely exciting tag fighter is shaping up to be a strong contender.
Bloody hell, mate, has any game lingered on the horizon quite like Riot's 2XKO? It feels like this 2v2 tag fighter, plucked straight from the wild, wonderful world of Runeterra, has been popping in and out of existence like a particularly shy digital ghost. We've had Evo demos, 'alpha lab' tests – a whole magical menagerie of sneak peeks – where we get a taste of throwing down with Ekko and Ahri, only for it to vanish until the next summoning. But now, with the recent closed beta, 2XKO is finally here to stick around (even if it's not quite ready for absolutely everyone yet). And after all this teasing, I reckon it's high time we dug into why this particular spellbook of a fighter has genuinely got me excited.
First up, let's talk about the control scheme, because this is where Riot's curious tinkering really shines – or, depending on your muscle memory, slightly fumbles. Unlike most fighting games that let you bust out special moves with the classic quarter-circle forward, dragon-punch inputs – you know, the stuff that's been etched into our thumbs since the arcade cabinet days – 2XKO simplifies things. Special and super moves are mapped to single or simultaneous two-button presses. Wanna throw a fireball? Just tap S1. Unleash a super? Attack + a special button. Your ultimate? Both special buttons at once. On the surface, it sounds like a brilliant move, right? Lowering the barrier for newcomers, making it easier for someone who's never quite managed to consistently pull off a Shoryuken to jump in and feel powerful. And for that, fair play, Riot.
But here's where my inner digital wizard starts to raise a gently skeptical eyebrow. While it streamlines things, it effectively turns what *should* be a four-button game (light, medium, heavy, tag) into a six-button minimum affair. And if you're like most seasoned players, you're probably mapping dash and parry macros too, pushing every single button on your controller into active duty. For me, someone who's spent thousands of hours training my thumbs for traditional inputs, it feels a bit like someone replaced my meticulously organized spellbook with a handful of random flashcards. My brain, bless its cotton socks, has spent millennia – or so it feels – mapping specific moves to specific attack buttons or directional inputs. Now I'm left wondering if that particular character's anti-air is tied to S1 or S2, and which direction I need to hold with it. It's a learning curve, for sure, and one I eventually overcame, but it did make me yearn for the elegance of a classic/modern control split, much like what Street Fighter 6 so cleverly pulls off. It's an interesting experiment, but one that asks existing players to unlearn a deeply ingrained language.
Now, just when I was starting to ponder if my muscle memory had been banished to the Shadow Realm, the active tag system swooped in like a perfectly timed air dash, reminding me why I'm so keen on this game. Think BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle or Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, but with a Riot flair. Every character packs two assist moves, and once they've delivered their digital beatdown, they linger for a moment, waiting for your signal. At any point while that assist character is on screen, *boom*, press tag, and you've swapped control. This opens up a veritable Pandora's Box of tricky mix-ups. You can sandwich an opponent, cover your main character's vulnerabilities, and set up some absolutely filthy left/right guesses. Characters like Vi and Ekko, for instance, have specials designed to cross up an opponent, which are usually punishable. But cover them with an assist, and suddenly it's not just safe, it's a guaranteed headache for your foe. Digging into the 'tech' of these characters and finding those absolutely dirty setups? That's the kind of joyous discovery that keeps a curious wizard like me coming back for more.
And speaking of breaking rules, let's chat about Fuses. Because who doesn't love a bit of delightful chaos woven into the fabric of reality? Much like the 'Grooves' in the old Capcom vs. SNK series, Fuses are these extra little bonuses that let you bend or outright snap one of the game's established rules. Take 'Double Down' – normally, your combo ends with a super. With Double Down, you can unleash your super, tag in your partner for *their* super, and keep the pain train rolling. Or 'Freestyle' – typically, you only get one active tag per assist call. But with Freestyle, you can call an assist, active tag to them, land a few hits, and then active tag back to your point character. These Fuses utterly transform how you approach your team, your meter management, and your overall game plan. Experimenting with them, finding the perfect magical concoction for my playstyle and team, has been an absolute blast. For those of us who, let's be honest, sometimes just wanna focus on mastering *one* spell instead of juggling an entire arcane library, there are even Fuses like 'Juggernaut' and 'Sidekick' that let you play with a single character, albeit with beefed-up stats and meter. You lose the active tags, which are a huge part of 2XKO's fun, but I love it when tag fighters give us options to focus on a singular mastery.
But the real gem, the truly unexpected flourish in Riot's digital potion, has to be the Duos mode. This is a fighting game that can be played cooperatively with a friend. One of you controls the active character, the other calls in assists, and then the active player can tag over. It's not just a novel idea; it works beautifully. It's a fantastic way to enjoy a fighting game with a similarly skilled mate without constantly having to batter each other, and it's an even better tool for introducing newcomers to the genre. Imagine being able to give real-time feedback to a friend as they learn the ropes, guiding their attacks and tags. It’s a brilliant, player-centric innovation that genuinely serves the community.
Now, every magnificent spell has its minor, slightly awkward side effect, and for 2XKO, right now, it's the roster size. We've got nine characters in the beta, and Riot's promised just one more for launch. Ten characters isn't a lot for a 1v1 fighter, let alone a tag fighter where you ideally need to find two characters that gel with your playstyle (unless, of course, you're rocking one of those single-character Fuses). It does lead to a bit of repetition, fighting the same faces and team compositions over and over again. However, and this is a big 'however,' mate, what they lack in quantity, they absolutely make up for in quality. Characters like Ekko with his mind-bending clones, Yasuo's wild, stance-cancelling combo routes, Vi's insane mobility and whiff-punish game, or Illaoi's tentacle setups – these are some of the most uniquely fun and engaging fighting game characters I've ever had the pleasure of tinkering with. And the beauty of it is that thanks to the flexibility of 2XKO’s combo and Fuse systems, rarely do I ever see any two players approach the same character in quite the same way. It's a small coven, but a bloody powerful one.
So, where do we land after all this digital tinkering and spell-slinging? It's still early days, for sure. We're yet to see the ranked mode, that final tenth character, and how the free-to-play progression feels once the shops are brimming with cosmetics. This isn't a final verdict, not by a long shot. But if these beta impressions are anything to go by, 2XKO isn't just waving its wand; it's conjuring something genuinely exciting in the fighting game arena, even in a time when that arena is already packed with brilliant contenders. This one's a keeper, I reckon.
*** *Original Source: IGN South Africa*
Tags: Fighting Games, 2XKO, Riot Games, Beta Impressions, Game Review
Original article: IGN South Africa