#NotMyReaper2k2X

[bluespiritfire]

Mood: eternally repulsed by OW2 Reaper

Been out of the OW loop for a while so now I get to complain about how they’re planning to change my boy in Cashgrab2- I mean Overwatch 2

Guns are livable, too needlessly pointy for my liking. Coat length increase and flare is good. Shoulders and gauntlets are ok. But the rest? The rest I loathe.

They stole his GLORIOUS THIGHS and gave him POTATO SACKS for pants. Hideous. This is a robbery in progress and I am infuriated. Crotch detail is needlessly complicated and draws your eyes as you struggle to figure out wtf exactly is going on down here. 

The belt is ugly and boring and too small. Return the Kingdom Hearts level of madness with his belts, and how dare you remove his little belt keychain.

The chestpiece, though not pictured, is a hot fucking mess of black metal and makes me think he has a tiny Transformer stuck on his chest. The back detailing is dull and robs us of the wonderful silver metal ‘bones’ he has in OG version. The Claws are that same boring carbon black as everything else and do nothing to add, only detract.

The mask is completely robbed of aesthetic, made into a metal sheen like everything else with no panache. Completely meaningless change from the bone colour and texture. Invokes no fear and makes him look like a cutout. A completely needless downgrade.

And the boots. The boots. Vile. Clunky. Horrific! Formless godless lumps of steel that look like they’re made of foam. Disgusting. Why are they rounded on the toe. Return the upward curve you heathens. I am overwhelmed with rage. OG boots are eternally superior and a joy to examine.

In Conclusion: From Day 1, everyone has made fun of Reaper for being ‘Edgy’. No. No, OW2 version is the one you make fun of for being Edgy. OW2 is the Gamer who has the black and red Gamer Everything Setup. He’s going to the Razor/Alienware convention and brought his best cosplay. 

OG Reaper is a character whose design tells a story. The cuts in his body armour, the fact that his melee arm has the spikes, the little accessory that emulates the shape of his mask and the Blackwatch logo. The way his footsteps in game sound like he’s stepping on an inch of rubber. The fact that the canisters on his hip are a remnant of a time when he was going to have a grenade launcher. The wear and tear on his shoulder pads.

Why is everything so shiny and chrome? You’re not supposed to see him coming, glinting in the fricking sunlight from a mile away. He’s a dead man, not a cyborg. He’s organic. He doesn’t need to be encased in steel. Entirely too much metal for a spectre of death and mortality. He’s not an omnic. He looks like a Talon grunt when he’s a mercenary, working for Talon. (I will never believe that he’s a through-and-through Talon agent when he has a personal vendetta that’s been a core part of his character from the jump. If they got in his way, he would tear Talon down from the inside.) 

I’m giving the devs too much leeway with this, but if this is part of a grander scheme for the story mode they’re implementing where he has to be brought more into line with the rest of Talon, I might buy it. For a moment, before I riot and demand my Reaper comes back. But don’t you dare tell me the guy who sewed his own f*cking Halloween costume - who is so committed to his Vibe that his mask is an owl skull from the top-down view -  would wear this travesty without being blackmailed into it. This is Doomfist and Maximillien telling him he has to Look The Part or they’re docking his cut next paycheck.

In short: OW2 Reaper is a formless grey/black blob that has somehow simultaneously been stripped of his character and yet given a needlessly complicated new design. This opinion stands for McCree as well.