One of the most bizarre things I’ve witnessed is that that somehow, competitive games can be couples activities. When 2XKO first announced it would have a doubles mode, letting you have each player control one member of your team, there were lots of jokes about the game being perfect for discord couples, just like League of Legends.
As someone who’s never played League of Legends in my life I have no idea what that experience is like. I’ve seen enough people do couples queuing that I can only assume it works because of League’s biggest team size. If your partner sucks you simply look lovingly into their eyes and say “It’s not you, its Taconator64 who was too needy in wanting support, we should report them for feeding”.
Having played multiple duos games of 2XKO at EVO Japan, I’m really optimistic about the idea of doubles in that game. I’m the annoying fighting game guy in most groups so the idea of playing with anyone as a way to get them into the soul-corrupting joy of mashing Light>Medium>Heavy fills me with joy. That being said, maybe you shouldn’t take Riot’s fighting game as the latest vehicle to flex your romantic chops.
Stop Staring Into Each Others Eyes Lovingly And Start Staring Into This Mix, Dammit
So the main thing I noticed with 2XKO is that even if you’re not currently the point character, you need to be tuned in. As the off-character you’re the one holding the keys to the burst and assists. Meaning it’s up to you to intuit when’s the best time for Ahri to come jumping in so that she brings you victory, instead of suddenly giving your opponent the biggest happy birthday yet.
I know what you’re thinking. “Me and my partner are so in-sync we can totally do this!” Can you? Can you really? I struggle to look at Marvel 3 when I’m even playing the game. Even in games like Blazblue Cross Tag Battle I’m only saved by anything I’d labbed prior- I know where characters are going to be simply because I spent time out of the game memorizing it.
If you’re playing with a stranger, duos suddenly becomes a trust fall off a 10-storey building. Does he know how to burst? Is this guy going to come in with the assist? A lot of frustration is quelled simply because I’m playing with a stranger. In that kind of environment, why would you expect someone to be the perfect support?
That’s just not true if you’re playing with your romantic partner. Games are tense, and someone’s not going to like someone’s tone of voice. “Baby you had burst!” is less a helpful piece of advice and more a volunteer to sleep in the doghouse tonight. It comes down to the fundamental difference between MOBAs and fighting games- since the genre is traditionally 1v1, the pool of reasons you lost are way more limited.
Like I said earlier- if you’re playing in a full team you can watch your girlfriend do the stupidest play in the world and still blame it on the jungler. Is it fair to the jungler? No. But better that than break up over a terrible K/D/A. In 2XKO, let’s face it- it’s someone’s fault. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from being around gamers for more than a decade, it’s definitely not a skill issue. Why accept that there’s something you could work on together to get better at when your partner could simply just not be supporting you well enough?
Ok But For Real Though
Jokes aside, I actually think 2XKO’s idea to implement doubles is an endearing one. The game’s clearly designed to be a nice ramp where other fighting games offer the kind of stairs you’d associate with a mountaintop monastery. It’s a fun, novel experience playing with other people on the same team, and I think the fighting game community could always use more novelty.
It helps that the game itself controls really well. Even two sessions wasn’t nearly enough to fully get characters like Ahri or Illaoi, yet even stripped down to just being a big bruiser character, the former plays really well. And to think, this is without the tentacle setups.
That being said, I doubt duos will ever be competitively viable. I mean, unless you put your opponent into a loneliness spiral, making them space out and eat a full combo. It’s tragic, but it would be pretty funny to see.
Meanwhile, as a single person I’ll at least have the satisfaction of knowing any duos I beat are probably going to get into a fight over it if I play well enough. See? Everyone has fun with new modes.
