Avatar Legends Is the Fighting Game I’ve Been Waiting For (Preview)

An Avatar: The Last Airbender fighting game, using every major character from the Avatar universe, sounds too good to be true, and perhaps a bit ridiculous considering their various abilities. Seriously, how can Katara, who’s a terrific waterbender, compete against three Avatars? And how can her brother, Sokka, who has no powers at all, compete against any of them? Thankfully, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game has found a way to make it all work.

PM Studios brought Avatar Legends to Summer Game Fest this year and I had a chance to play 1v1 against my colleague for about 30 minutes – and it was a great time. We tested out all eight base characters (though more are expected down the line) – Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Azula, Kyoshi, and Korra – and every one of them balanced against each other quite well. While some could be controlled better than others and had far more advanced abilities, mostly they were evenly matched if you knew how to use them.

My favorite was Korra. While Aang prioritized his airbending, Korra, like the character in the TV series, relied on all four elements with her attacks. I preferred that extent of variety. Kyoshi was similar in many ways. Surprisingly, Sokka could hold his own as more of a tank-y/power character. My colleague liked Toph. Undoubtedly, if you can become a master at playing Toph, you may become unbeatable. I’m talking about a MenaRD/Blanka type of mastery.

But you don’t have to be an FGC member to enjoy this game. It’s designed to be for traditional fighting game fans as well as newcomers to the genre. There are three attack buttons – A, B, C, for light, medium, and heavy, respectively – along with a button for the Flow State. This is what makes Avatar Legends different from other fighting games. The Flow State can be used in many ways: dashing forward or backward, throwing, or in many cases, escaping your opponent’s never-ending brutal combo. It’s both a core part of combos as well as an escape.

Beyond the core gameplay, which is quite smooth (we saw no input issues at all), the game looks like he came straight out of the anime. The 2D animation is in keeping with both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra series, and every character’s design is painstakingly accurate to the source material. Moreover, something I truly appreciate, because it’s been a true annoyance in Fortnite in particular…it’s nice to see characters appropriately sized. Toph isn’t as tall as everyone else, and Kyoshi absolutely towers over them all. It’s a nice touch. I’m looking forward to seeing how Avatar Legends turns out at launch next month.