A discussion and analysis of the Immortal Journey skins
I've been seeing a lot of negative feedback on the three new "Immortal Journey" skins, especially regarding the inclusion of Yi over Shen. When I was looking into it, though, I saw a lot in these skins, both promise and flaws. I dunno why, but a lot of the little details of why I felt these skins are and aren't good fascinated me. It's the kind of stuff that goes into every skin in hindsight, but really stood out to me here.....for better or worse. I ultimately have mixed feelings on these skins, and I'n going to try to explain why.
What is the Immortal Journey theme? Immortal Journey seems to focus on a few key elements:
- Traditional Eastern garbs (Kimonos, etc.), color schemes and swords
- Holographic copies of the sword in certain spells or other unorthodox use
- Sakura-leaf effects, as well as a certain calm "flow" to all effects (see Yi's AA edit vs. base)
Now, the first point isn't exactly unique. Certain champion's bases (ninjas and Yasuo) already resemble this, and the Order of the Lotus skins look strikingly similar. I'd say the last two points are what really define the skin line, and the second point is by far the most interesting IMO. With this in mind, let's look at each skin individually from the perspective of those three points:
Soaring Sword Fiora
- Point 1: Appropriate attire. Very striking sword with blue highlights, if a bit small due to her model. Small air trail behind her at all times.
- Point 2: Sword copies in recall and as projectiles in her W. The W animation in particular is incredible and quite frankly makes more thematic sense than her base "this shoots a laser shockwave because lol".
- Point 3: Smooth, calming effects on Q and Ult especially. Q is more of a blur and less of a rapid cut forward like in base / PROJECT. Passive marker smoother than base.
This is probably the best of the three skins. It nails all of the shared elements and really lives up to that 1350 price quality. Has a solid niche among Fiora skins, being one of only two that change her spell FX and going in the complete opposite direction of her other FX-changing skin, PROJECT.
Eternal Sword Yi
- Point 1: Appropriate attire, although given Yi's impressive lineup of swords over his skins, this one isn't that special. His robes flap behind him and leave an air trail, which is more noticeable than Fio's IMO. Hey, we actually see his face this time!
- Point 2: Sword copies in recall and W. Not nearly as striking as Fio outside of recall.
- Point 3: Smooth effects on Q. Double strike animation changed drastically to be less rapid, and it looks fantastic. Ult animation changed to a hover, which looks neat but can almost be mistaken for a homeguard animation instead of a combat one. No sakura effects, surprisingly (I expected them on ult or W).
You're getting this skin for the double-strike, realistically. There's just not that much new here that other Yi skins don't cover: ult animation is unique but IMO less striking than PROJECT / Cosmic Reaver (or even base), E is nothing special but due to the nature of the ability it never is, W isn't that much different, Q is almost too subdued IMO (that last part is very much opinion, though). I feel like this skin just shows off the limits of skinning Yi, and it's why I'll never understand why they give him so many skins. Much like Trynd, there just isn't that much you can do in terms of spell FX to make it really interesting.
Sacred Sword Janna
- Point 1: Appropriate attire. The sword replacing a staff is a brilliant idea, and her hair + headdress is done wonderfully. Instead of an air trail, there's air gusts surrounding her. The Koi pet fits well.
- Point 2: ....uh....there are no sword copies. Even in the recall. She does partially unsheathe her blade to ult, though, and has a unique animation for it.
- Point 3: Smooth effects, but that's Janna's norm. Outside of her ult, no animation changes to speak of.....and that's kinda a problem.
The lack of animations kills this skin. Janna with a sword instead of a staff is genius, and for a standard 1350 budget the artists did a good job, but.....this skin would be way better off as a legendary. Or maybe not a legendary, but something like Knockout Lee Sin that changes a vast number of animations. Her autos could be slashes that send wind blasts, and Q could be created by a slash ala Windwall. Right now, Janna's existing animations look really underwhelming and out-of-place when she's using a frickin' sword instead of a staff. Furthermore, calm effects is Janna's thing already, even on what would normally be a very bright and flashy skin like SG Janna. And where are the sword copies? They're the best part of this whole skin line. There's just so, so much wasted potential here that it hurts.
There's a lot of comments that Shen should've been in this skinline instead of Yi, given that Yi got a skin 3 months ago. Honestly, I'd rather Janna be subbed out, perhaps to be released later at a higher quality. But that said, I don't think Yi's skin is that great either, unless if you're a hardcore Swordsmaster fan in Fire Emblem. My takeaway from this is that Riot really needs to examine what champs are getting what themes for skins, because you can end up with meh or bad skins pretty easily if you pick a champ that either can't be changed much (Yi) or requires too much work to fit the skin line (Janna).
But that's just my opinion on the skins. What are you guys feeling about these three?
