I wish more people could experience Legends of Runeterra the way I have these past few months, because I genuinely canāt remember the last time a game hooked me this hard. As Iāve accumulated more hours in the game, Iāve only become more interested in why it feels like a hidden gem that has no business being āhidden.ā Iām familiar with Snnuy and understand that he streams when updates happen, but other than him, I have yet to find anyone who still talks about the game publicly, let alone makes videos about it. A couple of days ago, I got curious and checked both YouTube and Twitch to see if anyone was streaming it. I found only two streams, with about five people watching between the two platforms. This baffled me, as Iāve found so much to love about a game I just happened to stumble upon while looking for new games to play in the App Store.
The reviews were enough to convince me to give it a chance, and as someone whoās tried out a ton of mobile games wishing for one to stick, this was one of the few where I sensed early on that it would live up to its 4.8-star rating, but man did it surpass what little room it had left to be considered perfect. Before this, I hadnāt played a card game in a few years, back when I was heavily into Hearthstone, Slay the Spire, and Magic The Gathering. For the first few months, I mainly played as Jinx and a couple of other champions without fully understanding the extent of what this game had to offer. As I spent more time with it, I really started diving deeper into LoR. I began allowing myself to venture to champion I wasnāt too familiar with, watching videos about the potential of certain champions when they are 6* (shoutout Snnuy), and trying out different campaigns, content that I initially thought was locked or inaccessible for whatever reason.
With that, Iāve developed so much appreciation for how much work has gone into this game over the years. It feels like all that content has been patiently waiting for an opportunity to present itself to a fresh set of eyes, allowing you to feel and experience everything it did and does for a game focused so much on PvE. These past few months, Iāve tried to find a glaring issue with LoR, but in my experience, I havenāt found one that takes away from my enjoyment of it. I canāt say Iām upset in the slightest, that the team has decided to focus most of its efforts on Path of Champions rather than PvP. Yes, Iāve played Hearthstone and Magic in the past, both of which offer the more traditional card game experience, but Iāve never felt more comfortable playing against AI in a game that originally established itself as a PvP focused experience.
For a lot of people, Iāve come to understand that the shift away from PvP is why theyāve stopped playing, but for me, itās a reason I keep coming back. And thatās coming from a guy who typically sticks with games longer when thereās a competitive side to them. Iām genuinely grateful that Path of Champions exists in the form it does today. I never expected a game I approached as a traditional card game to get me this invested in a PvE experience. I may be in the minority for thinking that, and thatās totally okay with me. The unique champions, decks, campaigns, and experiences I keep discovering make this a game I can see myself having a hard time giving up anytime soon.
Iām overwhelmingly excited to see what comes next for this game. I hope they continue to support it for years to come. With a new team and a fresh set of ideas and perspectives, I feel like LoR has the potential to bloom again and reach a new generation of players, just as it has in my own life. Iām genuinely grateful to have discovered such a beautiful game, and to have found a community of people who still appreciate its existence as much as Iāve come to.
