Alright, so here’s the thing. I’ve been noodling around with Marvel Rivals ‘cause you know, Phoenix got tossed into the mix, and I gotta confess, it got me thinking about giving Overwatch 2 a little break. Not that Phoenix and I go way back or whatever. Honestly, all I know about her, I picked up from a late-night Wikipedia dive and her trailer. But man, she moves like a real person — a real mutant, I guess. Anyway, that’s not something you see much in Rivals.
People have been griping on Reddit since Rivals hit the scene back in December 2024. They talk about how characters seem to drag their feet. Like, are we in slow motion here? Some folks think it’s a camera trick — Overwatch feels faster because of the first-person view. I’m more in the slow-motion camp, slowly drifting away as every hero’s sluggish dance started to drive me bonkers.
So, Overwatch 2 went ahead with a third-person mode, a “Stadium” kind of deal, and after getting a look at Phoenix dashing around, I thought, alright, maybe I was right about Rivals being molasses-slow. Spoiler: Sort of nailed it.
Both games have this spot in practice arenas where you can measure stuff — damage drop-off, yadda yadda. Naturally, I played around with a bunch of characters. Found out the Rivals crew takes, like, half a step more to cover five meters than in Overwatch 2. Seems bad, right? But wait, Rivals measures stuff differently, kinda. Five meters there is nearly 11.5 inches, while in Overwatch, that’s about 10 inches.
“Why does this even matter?” you might wonder. Well, what’s happening is Rivals’ heroes may actually zoom along as fast as Overwatch’s, or maybe even quicker, since they’re technically covering a smidge more ground with their steps. It’s not about speed. It’s the… style? Yeah, the style.
It’s like the cast is doing some slo-mo Baywatch run. Cloak and Dagger, Namor, Spider-Man — they all take these grand, sweeping strides. Attack combos pause like they’re debating if they really want to hit harder. Iron Fist being the exception, of course. Super fights somehow turned into ballet. Even the sound effects got the volume at a quiet ten… or more like a five. Winter Soldier’s gun? Might as well be a toy popgun. Scarlet Witch’s life drain? Lacks any vibes. Elegant, yes — super? Not so much.
Enter Phoenix. Her attacks come with this fiery whoosh and small kabooms after landing a triple hit. Her big move? Another kaboom. And she’s zipping around in a literal firebird getup. And — oh joy — she’s got a second move without a billion-second cooldown. When she switches it up or dodges? Quick on her feet, unlike she’s on a lazy day, giving some serious urgency vibes.
Basically, what NetEase did was finally say goodbye to the yawn fest. Phoenix is that mix of style and action we’re all craving. Legit, it makes you feel like you’re not having a sticky-toffee operation going on. She still follows the same basic hero recipe, but it feels electric, and that’s the kicker for me.
