I can't be the only one a little underwhelmed with NEW new Gangplank
When I first heard the dread pirate of Bilgewater was getting his VU/Gameplay Update, the news had me ecstatic. Gangplank was one of my early champ pickups, and while I enjoyed playing him a lot, there wasn't enough there to make me stick to him. His mechanics were simple and not cohesive, his builds were non viable and really just big jokes, and he was IMPOSSIBLE to take seriously. The entire champion was a big mess, so I sent him to the back of my champ pool and only played him in the occasional ARAM from then on.
So you can bet, once his rework went up, I hopped right on to try it. And you know what? I loved it. Everything about him. He retained some of his old elements, but he was FRESH. He was NEW. His new voice and new mechanics and new builds made me want to play him more and more, to really learn this new take on the Captain of Bilgewater and add him to my repertoire of champions. And then of course, the next time I log in, he's disabled.
I was a tad blindsided, but I knew Riot wouldn't go through the trouble of reworking him just to kill him off a week later. So I waited. And waited. And then BOOM. News.
"Gangplank is alive" Yes, I figured "He's missing a limb" Hmmm? "He's angry" HMMMMM? "This new Gangplank has a fiery rage burning in him" My intrigue skyrocketed.
Killing a champion (even if it was a ruse) was unprecedented, so the news that Gangplank would come back a changed individual was very very intriguing. Once again, I was excited. Unfortunately, I had to go somewhere a few days and was unable to view much about him, but having arrived home today, I decided to hop onto the client, load up a custom game (because then I won't be expected to grind in the sandbox), and see what this NEW new take on Gangplank would be like.
And I'm disappointed.
He's dull. Really dull.
He's shirtless for some reason, his hair turned gray for some reason, and he just comes across as whiney.
There's no fire here. He doesn't look angry, he just looks defeated. Like someone stole his shirt and he put on 20 years(and 20 pounds AYY) and he lost his arm in 'Nam. From the lore epilogue alone I was expected a broken, battered, but purposeful man bent on taking back his empire, one poor soul at a time. But I feel like that got lost in translation. He's goofy looking. Some of his lines are hard to swallow. I understand it's hard for him to be funny, but that doesn't mean he should be SUPER serious either. That was one of the things I loved about Captain Gangplank. He's fearful, but he's still charming. He's the kind of person you know would kill you slowly but not without a good reason for doing it. This new Gangplank is just angry. All the time. And I get it, the man lost his empire, his arm, and almost his life in the span of a night, and no one goes through all of that the same person. But he feels a little less Gangplank now. Runeterra is FULL of revenge stories, and I don't want Gangplanks to just fade in with the rest of him. You've done something completely new in League by letting us EXPERIENCE his downfall. So his new design should reflect not only what was lost, but also what's still there, and how much of it is the same. I think most of it can actually be represented from the Champion Select quote for both.
Captain Gangplank: "They can pay in gold...or blood."
New Gangplank: "Neither the flames nor the depths could claim me."
The first line IS Gangplank. Few other champions could say that line and have it work. The second is a generic revenge story kind of line. If you heard the second line come out of Sion's mouth, it would totally work. And that's bad. That's not champion identity.
Overall, I like what you've done with Gangplank, but his newest (and most permanent) iteration bugs me. At least I'll be able to go back to Captain Gangplank once the event is over, but what do you guys think?
