It’s been nearly two years since my last time playing Overwatch 2. When I quit, the new revised version of the game had just hit and none of it really sat too well with me, someone who had spent well over 500 hours playing the original game. Overwatch 2 turned what I once enjoyed playing casually over a long stretch of time anything but fun for me thanks to its revised progression that turned it all into a F2P nightmare.
That doesn’t mean I was in love with how the game worked before all of that – I went so far as to write an entire article about how the gold coin economy made it a nightmare for cosmetics collectors like myself because of the drop rate in loot boxes. Soon after that, Blizzard revised how boxes worked, making them substantially worse by taking away dupes, thus making acquiring gold coins even more difficult.
With Overwatch 2, everything revolves around money and the time you spent in the game. You either buy battle passes and unlock everything right away or are required to play an insane amount of yours to reach that same point in progression. And while none of it makes the game a “pay to win”, it’s as close to that as Blizzard has gotten because of the simple fact that new heroes are locked behind that system.
Since the time I stopped playing, the game has come a long way, at least in terms of seasons. It’s the ninth one apparently, and looking at the roster, there have been well over 4 new heroes introduced with another about to very soon. It’s still the game that eventually pushed me away from playing, and even with the addition of new content for PvE, I’m not 100% sold on what Overwatch 2 is going for and how it can bring people like me back, honestly.
It’s an alien game to me at this point, and knowing that I’ve spent so long playing it only to not enjoy its evolution to this stage is kind of sad, really. I never really got competitive or anything, but Overwatch was something I always kept on the backburner as an easy-to-get in and out of online experience. Now, having not played it in so long, it’s hard to imagine being in the same mindframe as I once was because of the progression. It feels like a big hamster wheel in game form, in a manner I find way worse than any of the versions of the original that I played years ago.
With that in mind, I found the idea of talking about some of the content you can buy an angle I could use to analyze what Overwatch 2 is all about these days. The DLC in question is a set of ‘Dia de los Muertos’ weapon skins, a concept that’s foreign to me as a former regular player since there was nothing like this back then. Now, players can almost fully customize their characters as long as their in-game coin purge or real-life wallet can afford, down to individually choosing specific weapon skins, a far cry from the sound byte and cosmetic visuals from yesteryear.
The set is admittedly eye-catching and it’s clear that Blizzard’s artists had a lot of fun and leeway in designing them, especially when it comes to how some of them change the way character vignettes look, something that’s always taboo when it comes to making them instantly readable from afar. Then again, we’re talking about weapon cosmetics here. And all things considered, while those changes do have an impact on how the overall shape can look from afar, it’s not that big overall.
And granted, none of these provide any manner of gameplay changes. They are just there to look neat and in that they absolutely fit the bill they were given. Visually, they are also fitted with unique lights and effects, changing the way light sources behave upon how the weapons look. Even in the shade, the colors definitely pop out. They are also equipped with new sound effects, so not only do they appear different and apart from other skins, but help throw off the opposition, at least for a few moments if they are unaware of what a specific character’s gun sounds like.
Each character cosmetics for Soldier 76 and Junkrat will set you back 1200 Overwatch Coins, or 1900 for the bundle that includes all. You can earn these coins by playing as you advance through the current battle pass. Weirdly enough, not all characters were treated the same in this event and some have bafflingly been left out of it, including those who are from countries who celebrate the holiday, like Sombra, Illari, and Reaper. These are head-scratching omissions to be sure, but it’s likely that they might be getting their own set somewhere down the line, knowing Blizzard.
Whether or not you’ll want to fork the fake or real cash for these skins will depend on how much you enjoy playing these characters. I have a few hours logged in with both and I can say with a good amount of certainty that I would in fact keep playing them to show off these holiday-themed guns. Soldier in fact is among my most played characters in the original game, when I rocked his first legendary Halloween skin that I earned during my second year playing Overwatch. Junkrat has always been more of a technical hurdle for me since his archetype absolutely requires team synergy, and playing with randos is always a toss up in regards to that.
Now, the second thing that comes into mind after these weapon cosmetics is actually trying to get back to online gaming and Overwatch 2. Is it a game I want to invest time in this day and age? I’m a different player now than I was back when I was religiously playing, certainly less competitive and focused on numbers. In fact, I’ve been having a much better and more fun gaming experience sticking to games I can finish and tie a bow on than endless service ones like this. Would I manage to find an angle with which to finally get back on the Blizzard wagon?
If these Day of the Dead skins are any indication, I might give it a try, regardless of how I feel about the current state of the game. Worst case, I can just drop it again. Since it’s F2P, it wouldn’t be that big of a commitment for me to feel bad about quitting, and on the other side, I could say the same about devoting time to it. If that will ever indeed happen, it’ll all depend on where my mind will be then and if I’ll feel the urge for it. As for now, I’ll be watching from the sidelines…
