Convergence: A League of Legends Story Review

It’s been a while since I last played anything to do with Riot Games’ mammoth MOBA, League of Legends. The last I remember, League of Legends didn’t have anything remotely like lore, which highlights how long it’s been since I last played it (September 2014 is when they added a story, according to Wikipedia). Until finishing Convergence: A League of Legends Story (stylised as CONV/RGENCE), I’d also not played the other titles set in Runeterra, nor had I watched the series on Netflix. If anything, Convergence certainly piqued my interest enough to watch Arcane, so that’s a thing.

Let me get the core issue out of the way; if you don’t know the story behind League of Legends, there’ll be a lot to confuse you here. Playing through Convergence: A League of Legends Story, I was finding myself confused by who these characters were – of course, I knew they were all going to be understood from the core game – why I should care, and why in the hell they had names like “Poingdestre”, and who the werewolf is. Honestly, there’s even more, like what Hextech or Syntixi is, but the reality is that it doesn’t matter.

Note: Following my time with Convergence: A League of Legends Story, I’ve watched Arcane, read some stuff on Wiki, and now understand more about the lore. Granted, the lore here differs from the lore of Arcane, which differs from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but that’s alternate universes for you.

The reason it doesn’t matter is that it’s all just a means to progress the story. I don’t care why I’m fighting a werewolf called Warwick or that some mad cow named Jinx is throwing bombs at me. It’s irrelevant because I came into this game knowing that I don’t know about League of Legends, and while I expected it to explain some things (it doesn’t, at least not well), It was all about playing the game. Surely a game that’s spun off from one of the more successful games ever made, both financially and by sheer numbers alone, will also be well polished and good?

The good thing here is that is most certainly the case. But before I talk about the gameplay, let’s talk about aesthetics. Convergence: A League of Legends Story is a good-looking and sounding game. The beautiful comic-book-style design and the perfect animations make this a joy to watch as you play through, with Zaun – the setting – a great backdrop to the action. It’s a dismal and bleak setting, full of deadly gas, drops, and more. On the flip side, the residents have turned it into a neon wonderland. So even though I can’t say I cared about the setting, it’s certainly done an excellent job of making me want to care.

More important than where it’s set is how it plays. Taking on the role of Ekko, you’ve learned a few tricks from the Persian royal family. I can’t speak about how his abilities play in the MOBA, but I must admit I like them here. The core thing you can do is rewind time, a saving grace in both combat and the platforming, with there being a limit that’s increased through finding collectables or equipping specific gadgets and replenished through drops from the enemies you kill or crates you smash.

In addition to that fundamental ability, Ekko has several other options. His primary attack is a big glowing bat with which you hit people and things. Simple enough. Your secondary weapon is a magical boomerang called the Timewinder, which stops in place, damaging enemies before returning to you. Your final special attack, once charged, has you teleport back to a time-clone of yourself from a few seconds back, causing massive damage to any enemies caught in the blast.

Combine these attacks with multiple other moves throughout the game, and you have a fast and furious but altogether engaging combat system. Several boss battles further enhance this by offering a good challenge without feeling cheap, never forcing you to rely on the ability to rewind time. However, I found myself doing that a fair amount and rewarding you for mixing up your abilities. Granted, one power later which creates a sort of force blast around Ekko felt like a cheat mode against even the end boss.

The other moves I mention are also used to traverse the exceptionally terribly designed city of Zaun. Not as in by developers Double Stallion, but designed by whichever architects were around. Any town that requires you to have magnetic boots to run along walls, the ability to grind on rails, and the ability to phase through the air to get your breakfast is not an ideal place to live. However, it makes for an exciting place to host a Metroidvania, particularly as you need to track back with these new abilities to pick up the number of collectables within the game.

I came into Convergence: A League of Legends Story expecting very little; I came out of it wanting to watch Arcane – which I have now watched – and also wanting to play the other games set in the League of Legends universe, including Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, which we reviewed. It doesn’t make me want to play League of Legends again, it doesn’t have magical powers, but it’s done a lot of heavy lifting through some interesting character work and exceptional gameplay.

Would I recommend Convergence: A League of Legends Story? Yes, I would.

Convergence: A League of Legends Story

Convergence: A League of Legends Story

Convergence: A League of Legends Story is a genuinely great platformer, with tight combat and platforming, enhanced by various skills and abilities – including the ability to rewind time Prince of Persia style. While the story can be a little opaque for those – like me – who have no clue about League of Legends, it does manage to draw you in and even get you watching Arcane on Netflix (just me?) thanks to some compelling characters and, most of all, a very interesting setting in Zaun, a steampunk dystopia with the worst architectural design ever. Enhanced by excellent visuals and voice acting, Convergence is a game I recommend to everybody, even if you don’t know the LoLs.