Overwatch (2016)

First Impressions / Background

Overwatch was one of those games that completely defined a period of gaming for me.

I first discovered it through a friend from school. He was already playing on PlayStation, and I remember trying it for the first time at his place. Later, we bought the Legendary Edition on PC together, and from the first moment I understood why people loved this game.

The first thing that stood out was how responsive everything felt. The shooting was smooth, the movement felt great, and the characters immediately felt iconic. Even back then, as a younger player, I could tell this was something special.

I started playing around Season 9 and followed the game all the way until the end of Overwatch 1.

Gameplay / Heroes

The biggest strength of Overwatch has always been the heroes.

Every single character feels unique. This wasn't just a shooter where everyone had different weapons — every hero had their own identity, abilities, personality, and playstyle.

I was always flexible between roles. I played DPS, Tank, and Support, but Tank was probably my strongest role. Even though I never really had a single main in most games, some heroes became special to me:

Genji McCree (now Cassidy) Winston Ana

Honestly, almost every Overwatch 1 hero was memorable. Even characters I didn't personally play much still had a huge presence.

The ultimate abilities were one of the reasons the game was so exciting. Every fight could completely change depending on how ultimates were used. A perfectly timed combo or clutch play could decide an entire match.

Competitive / Ranked

Overwatch 1 was the first competitive game I truly committed to.

Ranked felt completely different back then. Even in lower ranks, people actually communicated. Gold and Platinum games sometimes felt like everyone was trying their best.

Nowadays, communication feels much rarer, and I think the free-to-play transition probably played a role in that.

The old SR system was also iconic. Seeing those +30 SR after a win was genuinely satisfying. At the same time, climbing felt much harder because every role shared the same rank.

My peak was around high Diamond, and reaching that level felt like an actual achievement. (Nowadays still in every role Diamond, could be higher probably, but we don't play it that much nowadays)

I followed seasons, watched competitive Overwatch, and was completely invested in the scene.

Watching players like xQc on Twitch, following teams like Seoul Dynasty, and watching international matches was peak Overwatch for me.

The Golden Era

Overwatch 1 felt like a premium product.

The loot box system, despite being controversial today, actually made playing feel rewarding. You could level up, get a loot box, and maybe unlock a skin you wanted.

The cosmetics felt like something you earned rather than something constantly pushed into the shop.

The game had a huge community, constant discussions, competitive events, and a world that felt like it was building toward something bigger.

The lore especially had insane potential.

The animated shorts, character stories, and world-building felt almost like a Disney-level production. I genuinely thought Overwatch could become one of the biggest gaming universes.

And that is probably the most disappointing part:

Why did Blizzard never fully use that potential?

Meta / Balance

Of course, Overwatch 1 wasn't perfect. Some metas were incredibly frustrating.

GOATS with Brigitte, Lucio, and triple tank was probably one of the worst competitive periods in my opinion. Double Shield was also not exactly exciting.

But some eras were amazing. Dive meta was peak Overwatch.

Coordinating a dive composition, having Winston jump in, Genji follow up, Zen applying Discord Orb, and everyone collapsing together felt incredible. That kind of teamwork is something very few games achieved.

Maps / World Design

The maps were another huge part of Overwatch's identity.

I still don't understand why some classic maps were removed. Hanamura and Volskaya Industries are maps I genuinely miss. They had problems, but they were part of Overwatch's history. Replacing some of these iconic locations with newer maps that don't have the same personality was disappointing.

The Overwatch world felt alive. Every location had a story behind it.

The Decline

For me, Overwatch started losing its magic around the time Jeff Kaplan left and Overwatch 2 was announced. The game slowly felt like it was losing direction The biggest tragedy is that Overwatch had everything: iconic characters amazing gameplay competitive potential a huge universe incredible fan interest

But so much of that potential was never fully realized.

The game could have become something much bigger.

Conclusion / Personal Take

Overwatch 1 was not just a game for me. It was an era.

It was the first competitive game I truly invested myself into, the game I played with friends for years, and a game that created countless memories.

Yes, it had balance issues. Yes, some metas were terrible. But the overall experience, the community, the characters, and the atmosphere made it something special.

It was a peak period for hero shooters.

And the saddest part is not that Overwatch ended, it is that Blizzard had something incredible in their hands and never fully used it, but i still believe in Blizzard please....

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Not because it was perfect, but because the experience, the memories, and the era itself were unforgettable.

It was pretty fun to dip into every now and then and play with friends. I would get burnt out after a couple hours of playing so I could never do it more intensively, but I enjoyed it casually. It sucks that it's no longer playable and I frankly can't comprehend the decision to do the 'sequel' this way at all, but so it goes I guess. Lucio was great, graphics were sleek, the diversity in character ethnicities etc. was refreshing, and I liked the medal system post-game.

Was getting sick of the fact that most of the Overwatch women had the same fuckin' face by the end of it though. How the same company that can come up with both Roadhog and Torbjorn can't break out of their copy-pasted skinny hourglass girls I have no clue.

It's not a proper shooter, with the fact some characters have lock-on weapons defeating the purpose of hit boxes at all. It doesn't feel like a proper hero/class-shooter either with lackluster skills you may never need despite only having the one. While others are so basic, they're boring.

It's the worst of both worlds not properly defining itself except for being another pretty game one can waste money on. They actually sell cosmetics despite you only able to play in first-person.

I’m not a huge FPS fan but playing OW has changed that.

Pros: The characters and backstories are really well done. There is a good range of heroes to choose from for all skill levels. The free maps and event updates, new character releases, and new skins make this game worthy of playing. I do get burned out between events, but always come back for more. LFG options, endorsement system, group chat, and avoid list are helpful. Custom games are a nice change of pace (Ana paintball being my fav). Overwatch League brings the game into the esports world and is entertaining.

My cons: Stale arcade games, comp matches that are unbalanced, too few tank heroes. Playing this game solo is agonizingly frustrating so it’s always best to play with friends. You can use the LFG feature, or join online communities to find friends.

Overall, this game is one I’ll continue to play as long as new content is added.

A lot of people look at it as perfect while I still have some gripes with it and don't think it's saved from a few flaws. I think for the most part I'll compare this game to TF2 and how much it's seen as a spiritual sequel of sorts which sought to make the experience more casualized and accessible.

It's hard to put into words, in fact I don't even believe the fact that I'm writing something for Overwatch it's more or less something I mumble to myself like it's more of a personal gripe that comes into tuition every time I personally play the game like "Oh loot boxes are bad", "due to making characters like a rigid skill set of moba slots it makes gameplay more stiff and based on special buttons you press rather than universal things" "oh man I miss when FPS games were more mod-friendly and had community content"

Unlike TF2 there isn't much of a synchronicity and basic to all characters, in TF2 there's like fundamentals that are universal throughout all of the characters and it keeps all characters feeling great, for example, TF2 characters don't have just their main weapon and have a few side weapons that are the basic stuff everyone else can get (like a shotgun for example), this keeps every character good to play and it's not quite like Overwatch where you get too divided on what character you should play as, because some characters are too slow or too fast rather than kept balanced throughout with primary stuff, like if you play as one character you honestly do not wanna play as the other character due to how slow they are.

It tries to have the personality of a fighting game, but for the most part it falls flat because it's trying to be this generic super hero story and it doesn't help due to it's retconning and obvious bland characteristic of being a game written by modern day Blizzard. Does this stop the game from being addicting to some extent and fun? Not really, it's just some minor stuff and every time I play it I cannot ignore how silly that entire aspect is. I'm just glad I got the game for free because a friend of mine literally said they hated it and gave me their copy, cuz I wouldn't have bought it honestly I don't feel that strong enough to do that.

Overwatch isn't something I'm all for or will defend to the end of days because it feels kind of sterile, it's like playing it too safe. It's literally like a Disney movie of video games, it's alright sure enjoyable but sometimes it just isn't that special and lacks the complexity of a much more exciting game, all characters sorta work in patterns where if you play this character you gotta do this to that, there's little room for openness in that overly tourney-designed overly-simplified game.

Things keep getting reworked to appease to everyone, like if they needed so many changes just make a new character...! Again, a lot of small gripes and it's alright I guess. It's like the Diet Coke of FPS team based class games, and everyone is drinking it. For a FPS purist this pattened style basically ruined the whole market for them, for the most part I treat it as Super Monkey Ball.

7/10 - So close to brilliance

Pros:

Probably the most fun, fluid, polished and unique team shooter I've ever played, and is immensely satisfying to play with friends when you can win hard-fought and fair victory

A wealth of hidden lore and story with the comics and shorts, with new characters, skins and maps being frequently released for free

Cons:

The game gets less and less fun the more it is updated - The matchmaking is atrocious (Lvl <100s are commonly matched with lvl >600s), good DPS heroes are unstoppable if pocketed, most supports can easily escape (or in some cases beat) tanks who target them, and the meta gets more and more annoying as time goes on

Some glaring balancing issues (Hanzo, Pharah, Brigitte) that Blizzard refuse to acknowledge because they don't affect the pro leagues, as well as a quite toxic community.

Let us pour our drinks out in memoriam sweet young Overwatch. Barely half a year old and has already reached the endgame of the Team Fortress 2 Lifecycle where the fanbase and their spastic SNS flailings far overshadow the actual game. Alas, it might not have ended up like this had Blizzard opted to listen to people offering critiques and suggestions regarding the balance and the competitive longevity instead of digging in their heels saying "it's fiiiine" and insisting that the game would be the next eSport classic because they said so.

If there is one thing that Overwatch has for it, it's that it embarrassed the everloving shit out of Gearbox by way of the sharp contrast in first month sales between it and Battleborn. And that alone justifies Overwatch's brief, simplistic life.

Summary
Polish: 5/5
Gameplay: 2/5 (only two map modes, PRES BUTAN 2 WIN, 1/3 of the cast dead weight, tracking all stats EXCEPT those that are actually meaningful)
Waifu Factor: 999999999999999999999999.../5 (though the fucking stratosphere)
Husbando Factor: 5/5 (McCree is a fine piece of man, and Soldier 76 is good for those who like the ossans, EVERYONE likes Lucio...much limited compared to waifus, but I gotta give credit for a Western company realizing that you need at least a little husbando factor)
Overall: 3/5