Okay so first off, this is my opinion written in the form of a review of Venture. Feel free to disagree as anyone has the right to do so by definition of an opinion. Anyway, onto my review.
First off, let’s start with the pros. It’s nice to see that Blizzard is starting to release a more wide range of heroes. There aren’t many non-binary heroes on the list if any at all (maybe except Lifeweaver? Feel free to point out if I’m wrong as this would help my understanding more clearly).
The mechanics are well thought out. When I saw the teaser video, I feared a hero with poor design and absolutely broken mechanics, this simply isn’t the case, however. I feel more approved by these mechanics however, I have more to say about the cons surrounding the mechanics. More about that later on in the cons.
The mix of the hero’s ethnicity is also a more welcoming sight. I don’t think many heroes have this type of verity.
The fact that this hero will be free and not locked behind a paywall is good as P2W is no longer a possible non debatable argument. Hopefully this change doesn’t come with a major set of drawbacks. Switching out poor monetization with other methods don’t always have positive drawbacks. Let’s wait until heroes are fully released before we jump to conclusions.
Now onto the cons.
First off I want to start with the art. It’s absolutely repulsive. It looks like an 8 year old did some poor art work and slapped it onto a, “AAA” game. Sadly typical with how Blizzard is in the present so I expect no less. Lifeweaver was most likely made like this by design for higher monetization. Release heroes with ugly vanilla skins and purchasable legendary skins that are even uglier for legacy credits. Release a skin in the shop later on that actually looks good for a predatory profit flip. Enough about the art and let’s talk about things mentioned above.
Now, the kit. Venture’s kit has potential but is totally under tuned. The damage is rather poor. The boop mechanics can require players being forced to commit suicide to achieve environmental kills.
Not being able to perform headshots might be okay if the weapon damage wasn’t so under valued.
Venture’s ult is about as useless as Mercy’s current state in the game. Niche at best but mostly useless and about as powerful as Venture’s weapon on it’s own with limited shots minus being able to throw people into the air.
Overall everything needs improvement when it comes to balancing. The art needed to be thought out more better. I myself am non-binary but never in my life would I transition to exchange myself to look like the ugliest goblin possible with Caucasian skin.
Any thoughts on the matter?