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A Comparative Look at League of Legends and Wild Rift
193 View2024-08-08
"League of Legends" on PC is super intense and competitive. It pushes players to rise through the ranks or pay attention to watch top players battle it out in esports tournaments.
Players pick champions with different roles, and the two teams go head-to-head in a 5v5 match. The main goal is to destroy the enemy's base, the nexus. It's kind of like football, where different roles have different positions. For example, the jungle roams around to surprise and take out enemies. Mages usually control the mid-lane, and so on.
"Wild Rift" is basically the same game but made for mobile devices. That's the short version, but turning a game as detailed as this into something that works well on phones is no small feat. An aspect "Wild Rift" does well is simplify things by showing you what your champion can do, where they should go, and why, with helpful screen prompts and arrows.
You use your left thumb to move your champion, like a virtual joystick on the screen. With your right thumb, you launch abilities—like a powerful laser beam or a spray of bullets that slows down enemies. Your right thumb also handles regular attacks, and you can tweak them by tapping icons to, for example, prioritize a specific enemy or focus on minions.
The fundamental strategies are comparable between PC "League of Legends" and the mobile game "Wild Rift." But some habits from the PC version don't carry over. For instance, on PC, I frequently shift back and forth in my lane, much like adjusting my stance during a game of dodgeball. But in "Wild Rift," it's more like a smooth walk back and forth, moving my thumb instead of constantly clicking my mouse.
In PC League, I'm consistently clicking to manually select my targets, whereas "Wild Rift" is more about getting into position, activating auto-attack, and then deciding which targets to focus on. On PC, I'm used to constantly moving the camera around the map and away from my champion. In "Wild Rift," I stick with my champion and use the minimap to keep an eye on the rest of the game.
If I use specific abilities that are out of my view, a breakout camera will pop up, giving the game a fun, live-sports vibe in how it's presented.
"League of Legends" is the main entry point to several other smaller projects. Riot benefits from the onboarding process. There's the K-Pop group K/DA, the cyberpunk PROJECT universe, a fighting game, a magical girl anime series, loads of fantasy fiction, and much more.
Before "Wild Rift," I couldn't suggest any of these side-projects to a friend because they all needed some basic knowledge of "League of Legends." Due to significant ability and expectation distinctions between novice and expert players, the PC version can be a mess that could terminate friendships. But "Wild Rift" is a great way to get started with the entire League experience after one is familiar with the fundamentals.
One big issue might be the heroes themselves. Unfortunately, my collection of champions and skins from PC "League of Legends" doesn't transfer over. I can use the game's free rotation, which gives me access to a bunch of champions without paying, and it also unlocks some top starter champions early on, so I always have good options to choose from.
The platform fragmentation is a significant deterrent to my spending additional money on Riot. It's tough to justify buying something that only works on one platform, even in a free-to-play game where costumes and heroes are the big draws.
"Wild Rift" is friendly, easy to get into, and a high-quality option for anyone daunted by the PC version of League. Plus, it's a great game, and it's handy to have a mobile version of an old favorite for playing in bed, in the bath, or anywhere besides the PC.
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