K/DA Kai'sa Prestige Edition Full Review/Feedback. (Thanks Rioter TIggity)
TL;DR: It's extremely underwhelming for it's build up and rarity, and if you choose to get the skin, do so knowing that its rarity is the best aspect of it.
With an intense grind that hurt my soul, and with the help of some hard earned money i got the "K/DA Kai'sa Prestige Edition" skin a couple days ago. Excited for my first mythic skin since their release, i eagerly rushed to play Kai'sa as soon as i could only to realize the hard way that it's basically a glorified K/DA Kai'sa Chroma with added VFX. (We'll get back to the VFX later)
I sent a ticket to player support that basically questions ALL of the skin and while i couldn't get a proper reply based off of the nature of the ticket, i still got some quality support. (again, thanks Rioter "Tiggity (^._.^)ﾉ") I'm hoping the Rioters here will help with my troubles with this skin, and that people can understand a little more about the skin before getting it. So let's get started. The issues i addressed were as follows. The simplicity of the skin. The back animation. Audio lines/joke animation. Dance animation/"Lead Dancer" of the K/DA group. It's rarity as a "Mythic" skin, and it's build-up during worlds and the announcement of "Prestige Skins" Beyond these i'll also comment on the VFX of the overall champ. So first is the simplicity of the skin: Ever since the release of Kai'sa (One of my most favorite champs in terms of playability and lore) I've always been disappointed with how simple it's release has been and especially it's animations. I hoped the K/DA Kai'sa skin would address and change these, it didn't. I prayed the K/DA Kai'sa Prestige edition would change these, it didn't. So now i'm hoping i can reach out to a dev to change some of these problems she's been facing since her release and fix them in the form of her prestige edition skin.
Now second, the back animation. Oh boy. Okay for starters I love it because it's new, BUT I also hate it because it's basically the only new thing added apart from glittery gold shiny VFX. Now i don't have a lot to comment on about this subject without getting into problem No.4 but i'll try my best. Apart from the music and dance of the back animation it's still very simple, adding on to the already simple layout of Kai'sa. Compared with the regular K/DA skin i feel like the back animations music and dance could have had a little more OOMPH! OOMPH! meaning stage lights, or beams of lights flashing around Kai'sa or a rising podium or all of the above. I feel like this is one of the main points of me feeling like this skin is a glorified chroma.
Third, is the prime root of the simplicity of the skin. While i love her audio lines, especially the one where she gets distracted by the peaches she loves so much i was hoping for something new, related to K-Pop or at least to her group K/DA and again, nothing. I was especially hoping there would be a new joke/animation but i was greeted with the same old dying frog that made no one laugh, ever. Oh how much frogs i murdered to somehow magically get a better joke, may you not come back to haunt me in my dreams as i really never want to see you again.
Fourth. The role "Lead Dancer" in a K-pop group should almost always be one of the most important inside and outside of a video game. For Kai'sa it was neither important or focused on at any point during both the music video, and gameplay. If anything i feel like her back animation should be her dance animation, and her back animation should have been something different. (Although this could apply to ALL K/DA skins) Even looking from a distance anyone would think that "Lead Dancer" would have something to show as a dance animation other than... wait what does it reference? no one seems to know. This one probably disappointed me the most, because it gives us nothing to work with to believe in any way, shape, or form that Kai'sa can ever be called a "Lead Dancer" in any group.
Fifth. This is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) group skin releases ever, with the edition of a brand new skin line "Prestige edition" that was hyped up over the end of the Worlds Tournament. Personally i can't remember 5 skins released at the same time that's all apart of the same theme. The K/DA K-pop group that featured 4 champions that even had a live performance during Worlds. And at what i believe to be the center of attention, Kai'sa who received the honors of being the first "Prestige" skin to exist in the game. Now it was my own ignorance that led me to believe that this skin would be in it's own rarity as "Prestige" instead of Mythic. It was also my own ignorance to believe there was going to be a brand new skin rarity. But alas it is a Mythic skin, so it receives Mythic treatment in it's development, and its result is what we have now. The skin as it is now is a great skin, for an Epic skin. Maybe even a chroma. But as a Mythic it falls short in terms of design, and VFX. As for this skin specifically i have a question regarding it's life after this season ends. Mythic skins are loot exclusive, so does that mean it will appear with the other Mythic skins to be purchased for 10 Gemstones?
Which brings me to the VFX.
Mythic skins: To date, Loot Exclusive skins are comparable to Epic skins in quality. Currently, no Mythical skins can be purchased directly from the store and must be forged with Rare Gems or a Mythical Skin token (excluding NeoPAX Sivir ).
Epic skin: Drastic changes to the champion bring the fantasy to life. Includes a new model, new texture, new splash image, new animations, new visual effects, new sounds. Sometimes includes: voice processing.
As it stands K/DA Kai'sa Prestige Edition as a Mythic skin IS valid, but still, as a Mythic skin it's still disappointing in its VFX. K/DA Kai'sa and her abilities VFX compared with the Mythic "Prestige Edition" K/DA skin are two sides of the same coin, you can flip it but it's the same exact thing. The potential to add so much subtle hints to the fact that she is a lead dancer in her VFX is great, but sadly there isn't anything. An upgraded E could have shadow images along the path she runs, those shadow images could be difference dance poses. The same with her R, the dash already leaves shadow images but they're unchanged from her base skin ,and K/DA skin, added dance poses along the path of the dash alone could be enough to convince players she's a dancer.
Hopefully this sheds light on the skin, it's build-up, its rarity, it's animations, VFX, sounds, and overall feel of the skin/champion.
have a nice day.[slayer-jinx-catface]
