8 Reasons Why You Should Try League of Legends Again

I am notoriously bad at playing videogames for long, and this has been a problem I've had for many years now. Except there's one game that I have kept coming back to for a whopping 11 years now — League of Legends! And now that Riot Games has added some much-needed freshness by bringing in new mechanics, I don't see how I'll stop for another decade more. That being said, here are the eight reasons why you might want to check the game out again!

#8 — Eternals

One of the main reasons my wife and I don't play games that aren't on Steam is that we're big fans of keeping stats and seeing our progress throughout the years. This is now possible thanks to the Eternals, which are a set of challenges made for every champion focused on both their individual abilities and generalised goals. As an example, you can track how many enemies you've rooted with Morgana's Q and how many takedowns you've racked up! Did I mention the achievements have hilarious names?

#7 — Masteries

In a similar vein to the Eternal series, now you can also farm up your Mastery level on your favourite champions to really show off how much you love them! Or, if you're feeling adventurous, you can try your hand at getting all the champions to a high level, like my wife has challenged herself to do. This isn't just good as a tool to tilt your enemies when you've outplayed them (or so I've heard; I'm not good enough for that), as it also gives you something to aim for!

#6 — Varied Game Modes

I think the feature that most obviously brought freshness to League is the new game modes available. Twisted Treeline may be a thing of the past and URF a bit of a wild card, but the permanent ones — such as All Random All Mid (my favourite) and Teamfight Tactics — offer a nice variety that keeps the same ol' Summoner's Rift from making the game stale. In fact, I have only played ARAM for the last few years. There's something to do for everyone, and we can only hope the upcoming mode, Soul Fighter, gives us all something new to flock to.

#5 — Hextech Chests and Champion Capsules

Who would have thought that a game could actually do good for its community by adding loot boxes? Certainly not me. As a hater of any randomised, scammy practice, I was very anxious when they were first introduced to League. It turns out, however, that they have been an enormous blessing! Riot has found a way to make a usually abhorred system quite giving, as I've gotten numerous fantastic skins, including some legacy ones that are no longer available for purchase. Did I mention you get the chests and capsules for free? All you have to do is play! I could go on and on and on about how much I love these, but we have to keep the list going!

#4 — Orange Essence

Directly correlated to the fantastic loot boxes is the Orange Essence, AKA the way you can unlock free skins, including Legacy ones! And I know how this sounds; believe me. When I first saw it, I also thought it was going to be an absolute scam (I became cynical of anything free since my first time dabbling in mobile games). It turns out, though, it's a very generous addition that Riot has given us, as you can pick and choose (or even hoard if you want) skins to disenchant into more Orange Essence, unlock as permanent, or even re-roll for a chance to get a better one! This has helped me build up my skin collection enormously without having to put myself in debt or have to pull my hair out deciding which ones to use my money on. Plus, who doesn't love being rewarded for having fun?

#3 — Battle Pass

We’ve arrived at one of my absolute favourite new features in League: the Battle Pass. As I've mentioned already, Riot has a bit of a knack for making usually unfair and sometimes downright evil gameplay features, like loot boxes, actually something good for the community, and the Battle Pass has been no different; it was one of the first new things added that really helped me enjoy the game to the fullest. Whether it comes with a gimmick (such as a visual-novel-style event) or not, one thing is for sure: you’ll spend hours having fun and unlock a ton of amazing skins that'll have you coming back for more.

#2 — Challenges

One of the best additions has undoubtedly been the Challenges, which offer tons of tasks you can aim to complete in order to get Tokens (which you can display) or even titles, like “Untouchable”. The best part about these numerous goals is that they cover basically every playstyle: whether you're a killing machine or immortal on the battlefield, you'll have something to work towards. Did I mention there’s the upside of getting to intimidate your enemies by showing them off?

#1 — Less Toxicity

Don't worry — this is how my wife and I show love to each other; this is normal for us

As I said before, I’ve been enjoying the game for over a decade now, and considering my wife and I began playing way back when, we’ve had to deal with some of the ugliest sides of the community… me included as an angsty and overly competitive teen. And although the truth is that League has remained mostly toxic throughout these years, it seems Riot is making some much-needed changes, such as the ability to report mid-round and the offender being muted for you as soon as you do. Although it’s a few years down the line, I’m still very grateful for the obvious efforts being made!

That's it for the newest additions you might've missed in League of Legends because of a long, long hiatus! The collection of all of these has made the game a pretty much must for me, so I hope you'll find the same joy.