Game Spotlight: Gigantic

When it comes to video games, very few stand out for having unique concepts. In fact, a lot of successful games right now owe their success to mechanics that they share with other successful titles. DOTA 2 and League of Legends have similar mechanics that make them appealing to certain gamers (the more competitive ones). Witcher III and Skyrim have garnered “Game of the Year” awards because their (similar) mechanics were a hit with fans as well.

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Gigantic is one of those games where you immediately feel a sense of familiarity. It’s a third-person shooter game similar to Star Wars: Battlefront and The Division. It also requires you to capture and control special points in the game, similar to objective-based games like League of Legends. On top of that, you can mess around with how your hero is “built” because you can pick and choose the specific augmentations each hero gets for his or her predetermined set of skills, like how Paladins does it. Rounding out the mechanics is that Gigantic is a team-based game. Your five members go against a team of five and try to control the map and take out your opponents.

Gigantic has one additional mechanic that separates it from other games: a big kaiju-like fight between your huge monster ally versus the enemies’ ally. Completing objectives and killing opponents grant your ally power, and when it is powered up, dives into the enemy ally. Your team rallies behind your ally in hopes of wounding the enemy ally—three wounds and the match is over.

The game is a mishmash of familiar mechanics, so players hoping to pick it up can make an easy transition. Even the artwork for the game feels familiar. If you’ve ever played Bastion or Transistor, then the visuals for Gigantic evoke the same colorful and energetic vibe. You have a one-armed master swordsman with a pet ferret/cat, a machine-gun-toting robot, a little girl with a spirit warrior dad, and a huge and fluffy yeti creature that throws snowballs, to start. And yes, there’s a frog that is also a martial arts master.

The tutorial segment of the game pretty much covers the basics and shouldn’t be skipped. For new players, the fortune cards can be read and activated prior to starting a match: they are like quests you need to do in the game, from dealing X amount of damage or they can be hero-specific (gain X experience with Y hero). The most challenging game mechanic would probably be the skill builds, as these happen in real time while the match is going on. Gaining experience allows you to access augmentation trees tied to each hero’s specific skills, which you pick and upgrade on the fly.

While there are still roles that Gigantic characters fall into (tank, support, or damage), not everyone neatly fulfills said roles. There are heroes that can absorb damage like a tank, but also has support abilities. Xenobia, for example, is more of a disruption character thanks to her skills, a sort of reverse-support hero in that she helps out her team by debuffing and weakening her opponents. Mozu is a mage type who slings magic bolts against opponents but can also teleport behind enemy lines to assassinate weak targets.

Gigantic has just stepped into Open Beta phase and is free to download off of Steam. Being a free game, however, has a price: you will need to grind for in-game currency to unlock heroes but the game rotates free-to-use heroes weekly after patch day. You will also need to grind if you want to unlock skins for your heroes, all of which look really good! There is also a currency you can buy with real money, which is one way the game makes money or as I like to think about it, support the game.

If you’re looking for something less serious than Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Overwatch, go over a colorful, diverse, and lore-filled cast of characters, and have a really good time, Gigantic from Motiga is a must-have.