CONVERGENCE was one of the first games announced during the Riot Games and League of Legends 10 year anniversary. In partnership with Double Stallion, Riot Forge got the chance to tell a story surrounding one of League’s most popular champions, Ekko. The time-winding adventure is one that sees Ekko and his future self fighting to save Zaun from some seedy dealings and a future where everyone loses. Here’s a review of what The Game Haus thought of CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story.
This is a Spoiler-Free Review
[Related: Everything in the CONVERGENCE Deluxe and Collectors Editions]
CONVERGENCE sees Ekko and his future self fighting to save Zaun. Considering Ekko is literally called, the Hero of Zaun, this is not a surprise. While this version of Ekko has some similarities to Arcane’s, it is important to remind everyone that this is a different universe and thus a different Ekko. Although, his time-traveling abilities could lead to dimension traveling which could then see him meet his Arcane version, and well then it would all get confusing.
Moving on.
The setup for the story is pretty basic, Future Ekko comes back to stop something bad from happening in the future and he needs current Ekko’s help to do it. Along the way plenty of background as to why Future Ekko has come back through conversations between both Ekko’s while running along walls or dodging deadly spikes. But most of the twists are pretty obvious while playing through the game. There is one character that does surprisingly shift allegiance but that is about it.
It is a shorter game, only about 10 hours in terms of completing the actual story. That being said, it is about the perfect amount of time needed for this story.
Fans will enjoy playing through the story as it is interesting enough to keep everyone’s attention. The only major issues are the other champions. Mainly one seemingly being forced in because of their popularity more than actually being overly relevant to the story.
Players can also watch this CONVERGENCE A League of Legends Story Review below.
CONVERGENCE – A League of Legends Story Review: “Every Second Matters”
There is no doubt that the Gameplay is where CONVERGENCE shines brightest. It is just enough to keep players wanting more additions to Ekko’s abilities but not enough to be overwhelming. Truthfully, even for someone who admittedly does not play a lot of action platformers, this game felt like a perfect balance skill and fun.
The fact that Ekko only has three or more or less health, depending on what the player decides at the start of the game, may scare players. But the rewinding of time adds such an enjoyable layer to health that players will likely be more worried about losing their rewinds than their health during certain fights.
Speaking of fights, most of the boss fights while on the middle difficulty were not too tough. The first one felt like one of the more difficult fights due to needing to learn the mechanics of the game. After that, learning the combos were not terribly hard.
There is no doubt that solving the small puzzles and warping, running and jumping through Zaun was enjoyable and easily the best part of the game.
Most of the music revolves around Ekko’s theme, the Boy Who Shattered Time. It is prevalent throughout nearly the entire game. What is interesting is how the musical director took it and twisted it to fit so many scenarios. It has a more heroic tener after Ekko has done something, well heroic. Then it is softer at times to fit with the mood of the scene.
While there were other songs that were less related to Ekko, hearing his theme again after so many years was quite a delight. The way it was weaved throughout to fit different moments in the story really showed the breadth that the song has.
Another standout part of this game was the graphics. This game perfectly fit the 2D/3D sidescrolling platformer mold and showed a beautiful side to a city not necessarily known for that word. The depth of Zaun was explored so well even in a smaller space than say some open-world RPG may be able to give. There were people in the background constantly with interesting looks to the point where it stood out throughout the game.
The fighting style matched with the artwork perfectly as well. Ekko truly flowed with all of his different abilities. Even with the flashes of color and neon lights, the explosions and everything rarely felt overwhelming. When it did though, it did in a significant way. It is a good thing they put the epilepsy warning at the beginning of the games.
The graphics fit the style of the game and Ekko perfectly. Even the few cutscenes the game had were fun comic book renditions of everything which was quite the treat.
Here is one of the areas that the game does struggle a bit. Ekko and Future Ekko are fleshed out extremely well in this game. Especially for it only being a 10-hour game. The problem comes in with the majority of the side characters.
It was hard to care about them when they were basically there as shops. Everything that was collected or found in the game could be taken back to them for upgrades or the game’s currency, cogs.
The story does a decent job of helping players get to know a lot of the new characters basically from the start. Lem was one of the more interesting ones mainly because of his love for animals which helped to give players a break from all of the fighting and lore that many of the other characters gave in great detail. Another one that League of Legends fans will find interesting if they talk to him enough, is Corin Reveck. He is connected to another League of Legends champion who does not make an appearance but who is mentioned plenty.
What was worse than Ekko’s friends were the villains. The Poingdester’s were pretty forgettable and as stated before many of the champions from League of Legends felt like throw-ins at best. Cammile was interesting though.
While it makes sense that Ekko and Future Ekko are so fleshed out considering they are the main characters, they are also the only saving grace when it comes to the characters in CONVERGENCE.
CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story is a very fun game with great music, beautiful graphics and unforgettable combat. While the story itself is interesting, it is one of the few games where the main characters are so good that one can overlook the lack of interesting bad guys and generally fogettable side characters. There is no doubt that fans of League of Legends and sidescrolling action platformers should check this game out.
Final Rating: 8.5/10
After reading this CONVERGENCE A League of Legends Story Review, players can buy the game below.
Buy here: https://convrgencegame.com/en-us/
You can find more pieces like, “CONVERGENCE A League of Legends Story Review” and you can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Robert!
“From Our Haus to Yours”
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
