Riot why...
Was the Star Guardian Event a Flop?
The Star Guardian event was the big summer event this year that Riot was putting on. They created an immersive and incredible world with this universe and it's one of the most expansive ones outside of canon with a multitude of skins, but it seems that the event in 2022 just didn't land the way it was supposed to.
Now the cinematics and the music has been incredible in this event. We don't want to bash it without reason, but this event has just felt like a literal grind with the 'smaller' version of the event in Wild Rift seeming like the much better event than the one we got in League of Legends PC.
Why Is the Star Guardian Event so Tedious?
This event has a lot of narrative elements and while the stories are incredible and well-written with insanely good pieces of work being published, the overall event just feels so tedious and long. Most people I talked to didn't even bother reading the narrative story in the League of Legends client.
Riot Tried to Re-Create Spirit Blossom Magic
One of the things most noticed is how Riot has been trying to re-create the narrative adventure and story of the Spirit Blossom event from 2020, which also had its own in-client visual novel. The difference? Spirit Blossom was a first and felt unique in that aspect. Players loved the characters and felt they fit into the story as a whole.
This time around, a lot of players feel that the champion choice for the Star Guardians was almost random. That they did not fit into the world or that they were forced and boxed into this world that didn't suit them. Oh, and let's not get started on the backlash of making that Seraphine skin Wild Rift exclusive... the shit storm on Twitter was one to behold.
No Exclusive Game Mode... AGAIN
A lot of players were also disappointed to realize that yet again Riot would not be bringing back an older game mode. During Phase 2 of the Star Guardian skins, Riot released a huge Star Guardian event with a unique PvE game mode in which you played as a Star Guardian fighting against Vel'Koz. This was a fun and unique game mode and players have been asking for PvE game modes to make a comeback for years now.
This snub has made the community feel like they aren't being listened to at all. With the amount of Star Guardian skins already available by this point, a PvE game mode would be very fun, with so many options for players to pick a champion to play. But what did Riot do instead...? Release Ultimate Spellbook with Star Guardian-themed minions... kind of sad if you ask me. They didn't even bother to change the map for this event...
Star Guardian Battle Pass
Many fans have also stated that this new battle pass system feels more like a grind than anything else. While at the beginning of 2022 players were promised a better and healthier event pass system, it feels like it's become more of a grind than anything else. For one month players need to grind the game to try and get everything in the Star Guardian pass and that just doesn't seem right.
All New Star Guardian Skins
Better Events in Other Riot IPs
As already touched upon before, it feels like other Riot IPs got the better end of the deal when it comes to the Star Guardian event. Seriously, Wild Rift has the much better and more interesting event. At least there, you feel rewarded by receiving Blue Essence, as well as little tokens to feed your familiars with. Oh, and those battles between stages of the web novel? It ain't much but at least it's more than what League of Legends PC got.
So, while the narrative is great as usual and the cinematics with their music on-point, it just doesn't feel like the higher ups at Riot have truly understood what the community wants from their big summer event. Star Guardians and Sentinels of Light just weren't it.