@Riot: What is your current opinion on Garen?
So, we all know and love our spin-to-win champion, but now, let's shove all sentimentalism aside for a moment and get real on this: From a gameplay perspective he is somewhat... dated. Not that he is in an unhealthy spot, nah, that's not the problem right now. He ain't causing problems to balance, but he's not really contributing to the game either. Neither playing as nor fighting against a Garen is in any way something I would consider interesting or challenging...
Not that his theme would be bad. I mean, big soldier guy with a giant weapon? Well, sounds generic, as long as the theme execution is actually well done, "generic" doesn't have to mean "bad". And having the one or other more "normal fighter guy" in the champion roster isn't a bad thing in my eyes.
Usually most of my complaints about champion kits are about a theme - gameplay dissonance, but that's not what irks me about Garen. It's that his kit is simply... kind of clunky and not living up to the potential it could be. Also there is some kind of irritation whenever I look at his abilities, because he neither really feels like a tank or a melee brawler/fighter. And not like an awesome mix of both either (that he is supposed to be), more the awkward spot in-between.
But it's not like Riot has no vision on what Garen is supposed to be. I mean, just look at the Twist of Fate cinematic trailer:
https://youtu.be/tEnsqpThaFg?t=1m57s
I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT!
And now compare this to the current gameplay in the rift. Ingame Garen looks more like a silly beyblade compared to these heavy cyclic strikes. Even his Q looks better in the video where it fits perfectly into his attack pattern. Video Garen is kinda what he is supposed to be - ingame Garen looks more like a joke based on that. And not even a funny one.
Now, I don't want Riot to go full "THIS CHAMP NEEDS A ZILLION PASSIVES! AND SUPER-MOBILITY!" - because that would be kind of "meh", but some slight improvements? I would be happy about that ^^
So, my question Riot: What do you think about Garen's gameplay or do you have plans of touching it up a little? I mean, his visuals are pretty much fine since that VU and I highly doubt that a melee soldier would need much particle and vfx work if you changed some abilities (compared to some more... work intensive champs.)
