Mayhem, chaos and some sense of humour are nice in a measured dose but when they become the life and breath of a person’s existence one can wonder if there’s something else behind such lunacy. In Jinx’s case, what lays behind is a huge cannon and a minigun so it’s probably wise not to insist. Better to consider what the Loose Cannon offers to the League of Legends.
Concept
As far as concepts go we can divide her between looks and personality. Firstly, her appearance evokes a degree of post-apocalyptic insanity, much like Tank Girl, with a subtle but clear layer of Harley Quinn all over. Besides that, there’s an interesting but careful chaotic vein through the use of asymmetries: her clothes, tattoos, equipment, hair style and also multiple weapons with funny decorative motifs. In fact, the contrast between her small frame and large cannon and minigun suggest a cartoon-like facet with a lot of determination; to chaos, but determination nonetheless.
Jinx’s personality seems to draw from fewer sources and to be simpler. In general, she seems another take on the Joker or Harley Quinn. This not only treads on Shaco’s ground but it also can hardly be considered original. Regardless, when well executed it can be appealing as such characters’ disregard for norms allow them to get away with things others couldn’t. For instance, all of the aforementioned are murderers yet they can excuse their behaviour thanks to their lunacy.
Execution
As an embodiment of chaos Jinx’s disparate abilities give a sense of unpredictability and mayhem: her passive gives movement speed, each weapon has a different buff and she can also lay down explosive clones and electrocute people. In spite of how unfocused her abilities seem, at a glance, they all work together to make her a menace from a distance.
She also has an expressive and comical personality that permeates her every activity. From her idle animations to the way her weapons are switched humour compensates for her homicidal tendencies. Still, such hyperactive devotion to explosions with a layer of humour brings back memories of Ziggs and Tristana; which implement similar concepts.
Conclusion
All in all, Jinx seems like a champion that one can have a lot of fun with but that has trouble forging a unique identity far from the source material. She’s crazy, likes weapons and destroys everything in her path. However, both in and outside the League of Legends it’s a concept that has been visited many times. Jinx needs something that makes her stand out from so many trigger-happy lunatics. Aspects like her switching weapons and long range versatility make a difference but her identity struggles a bit to be truly distinct.
What do you think of this Loose Cannon?
2 Responses to “League of Legends: Jinx, the Loose Cannon Preview”
Leave a Reply to Zero Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Her E was not meant to be clones, they changed it now! Good review overall, I think you should mention the obvious “neon steampunk” style she has. I think in that she draws a lot from the borderlands franchise – while trying her out I couldn’t help but feel a strong nostalgia for the game. The combination of the “neon steampunk” and “insane psycho” archetypes has already been used in borderlands, so your point on lack of originality still stands.
Indeed, the following day they changed the particles to actual grenades. As a preview we probably didn’t hit the mark in many things. However, we agree that in general her theme struggles to stand out. It’s not that it’s bad, on the contrary, but it’s a bit difficult for Jinx to find a unique place among so many similar characters that fit into the same archetype.
By ‘neon steampunk’ do you refer to a more modern style of steampunk? Because that might as well be called classic sci-fi. After all, steampunk is a retro style of the traditional sci-fi. That’s a good point: it seems like League of Legends is letting a clear dose of modern technology into its fantasy realm lately. Maybe it’s trying to be too many things at the same time because it gives the feeling that the fantasy setting is losing focus and directly treading into science fiction.