Though Kiriko debuted alongside Overwatch 2 earlier this week, Blizzard debuted a nine-minute cinematic to properly introduce her today at the Twitch Con opening ceremonies.
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Overwatch animated shorts are unique experiences in their own right. The game’s cinematics team is exceptionally talented, knowing precisely which levers to pull and buttons to press for maximum emotional devastation.
I remember crying as I watched Bastion suffer from PTSD in his cinematic and cheering for Mei as she trudged through the snow in “Rise and Shine.”
Blizzard released a “Unleash Hope” video to celebrate the release of Overwatch 2, splicing hype Overwatch moments with clips of human achievement and art over a message of hope and love.
Exploiting emotion like that is extremely cynical for a video game designed to make a lot of money, especially given who is making this game, but damned if the imagery doesn’t make me weak in the knees.
Kiriko’s short achieves similar emotional manipulation (in a good way!). We see Kiriko and her mother arguing about her daughter’s newfound independence.
We also get a very sweet scene in which Kiriko interacts with a small deaf child and we learn the sign for Kiriko’s name — a nice nod to Danik Soudakoff, an Overwatch fan who went viral for creating ASL signs for the game’s heroes.
In the film’s climax, Kiriko unleashes her offensive and healing abilities on a gang of yakuza while her slick-as-hell theme song plays. Try it out on Spotify; it’s really cool.
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Blizzard is giving away Kiriko skins, weapons, and other cosmetics as Twitch Drops to further hype Overwatch 2. Learn how here.
Kiriko is a difficult healer to master, but her appearance and what her addition to the roster means for Overwatch’s lore are fantastic.
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