2XKO Looks To Bring Tag-Based Fighting Games Into A New Era
As more information about 2XKO comes to light, most of the attention is focused on how established characters from League Of Legends are being adapted into a fighting game. And that makes sense–seeing characters from a well-known franchise enter a new realm is always interesting. That “fish out of water” feeling brings a huge appeal to crossover characters like Negan in Tekken 7 and Banjo-Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, to name a few.
However, after playing a few rounds of 2XKO at Evo 2024, I realized that solely focusing on how the game reimagines classic LoL characters is a disservice to the rest of the game, which makes major shifts to the 2v2 fighting format, from modified mechanics to a philosophical shift in how we’re expected to play a fighting game. 2XKO has already gained a reputation for reinventing one wheel, but in truth, it might be revamping the whole dang vehicle right under our noses.
As mentioned before, 2XKO is a two-on-two tag-based fighting game–think X-Men Vs. Street Fighter and its ilk–with a cast of characters populated by champions from Riot’s ultra-popular MOBA, League Of Legends. Our demo featured six playable champions: Ahri, Braum, Darius, Ekko, Illaoi, and Yasuo.