TL:DR: Riot has given a visual update to Miss Fortune.
I don’t play her much as I used to, because I play a ton of ARAM, and MF isn’t really that effective in the current Summoner’s Rift meta, but ultimately, Miss Fortune has always been one of my favorite champions, since I started playing League.
Seriously, MF was the first champion that I really grew to love playing, and during the grind to level 30, I played Miss Fortune practically 75% of all those games. She was the first champion that I purchased with RP instead of IP, because I was determined to have her once her free week was over, and then she was also the first champion that I ever bought a skin for.
All that considered, I never really felt like she needed a visual update so much as she needed somewhat of a re-work to make her slightly more viable in the current competitive environment of the game. But Riot being Rito, goes on to update the superficial and aesthetic, over substance and ability to compete.
A part of my reluctance is simply the fact that I’m of the mindset that is often times resistant to change in general, but I think when the day is over, I’m a little disappointed in the Jim Lee-like remodeling of the character as a whole, lending a little bit of lean towards objectification and (further) sexing up a character that was already developed to be a little on the over-sexy side of the spectrum.
To clarify the Jim Lee remark, the new MF styles (see above) have adopted what Jim Lee was notorious for doing to female characters: tiny feet, tinier waists and huge boobs. I never had any problem with the proportions of the original MF in-game sprites, and I always thought there was a harmony and balance between physical/clothing proportions, to the exaggerated size of her always-dual guns, whatever style they were based on skin choice.
Now I’m a pretty red-blooded guy that likes boobs as much as the next man does, but frankly the updated MF artwork has gone a little overboard with just how bodacious her new boobs are. MF’s always been a character high on sex appeal, but I just feel like Rito has tipped the scales a little bit over the top, and gone from tasteful to a little bit tacky. I’m not sure whether it’s because the general waists have been synched in, the boobs have been blown up, or a combination of both, but I can’t help but look at the new models and sympathize for the virtual character’s likely future propensity for massive back problems, and no, that is not a joke about how she’s going to become a super-carry, just because her “new” W procs her movement speed passive instantaneously.
Additionally, I have a good bit of objection to the changes they made to Secret Agent Miss Fortune (third from left). This particular variant was the aforementioned first-ever skin that I ever purchased, using my own money to acquire. I loved how it was a pretty obvious comp to Resident Evil 4’s Ada Wong style, and frankly, I loved the femme-fatale look of the high-slit dress, and the two trench-barreled golden guns.
I actually really dislike the changes they made to this particular skin. Barely visible is the sleek butterfly patterns on the dress itself, and her high-strapped heels appear to be missing. Additionally gone is the knife holster that existed on her thigh, discreetly hidden by the hem of the dress. The ribbon that acted like a choker necklace is gone and replaced with a tacky, Marge Simpson pearl necklace. The guns are completely changed, and no longer look like trench-barreled derringers, but instead just look like exaggerated magnums or something.
Basically, they stripped her of everything that made her look like a femme fatale, and turned her into Jessica Rabbit. With two gold guns and a purple dress instead of sequined hot pink. I hate the gloves, and I think the stockings were added because someone at Rito has a stocking fetish.
I can’t say that I hate everything, however. I do like the direction they went with Road Warrior MF, and I’m very glad that the purple boots on Mafia MF are gone and replaced with black; the purple ones made her look like a bad cross between a gogo-dancer and a professional wrestler. However, I think they cranked the tacky-sexy dial a little too far on Waterloo, and Candy Cane MFs.
The bottom line is that I always felt that Riot did a pretty good job with their portrayal of female characters; sure, champs like Ahri and Sona are always notorious for their ridiculous boob sizes, but at the same time, they’re often well-developed characters that compete well in spite of the ever-changing environment of the game. If they’re still capable of hanging in the game at a high level, who cares what they look like? They’re not just eye-candy, but viable and fun champions to play.
The visual update of Miss Fortune, to me, feels like an unfortunate, over-objectification of a character that was already successful at portraying a strong, yet sexy female without being too blatant. Why they did it, who really knows, but all I know is that I’m less than enthused by it, and am going to feel even older, when the subject of MF in the future is always going to always result in “old MF” from me.
GG Rito.
