A 2D Fighter With Characters From the Avatar Legends Franchise

Set within the storied anime franchise Avatar Legends, where nations are characterised by a certain element – fire, earth, water, air – this upcoming 1v1 2D fighter is hand-drawn, styled to mirror the expressive animation of the series. Set specifically between shows’ The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game mixes classic mechanics with fluid movement and modern control schemes in an experience the devs say is designed for both newcomers, Avatar fans, and fighting game veterans alike.

Combat Revolves Around a Flow Mechanic

At the core of Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game’s combat is the Flow Mechanic, a system designed to showcase your character’s agility through a suite of evasive and defensive counters. So, alongside inputs for light, medium, and heavy, the dedicated Flow button brings a wide range of movement options: from auto guards and auto parries, to extended dashes across the ground and through the air. Character-specific manoeuvres can be chained together with basic inputs, encouraging you to master each fighter’s individual moveset.

Manage Chi to Maximise Flow

So, as you’ll probably have guessed: Flow isn’t an infinite resource – you’ll need to spend Chi to execute its varied manoeuvres, defensive capabilities, and combo extensions. But, unlike other fighting games, Chi doesn’t charge when you deal or take damage. In fact, you’ll begin every round with your Chi meter fully charged, with it regenerating passively throughout each bout. With guarding and evading integral to Flow, the idea with Chi, it seems, is to always make sure you have some in reserve. You don’t want to get caught Chi-less, else you’ll enter an “unbalanced” state whereby you’ll be locked out of Flow Mechanics.

Auto-Combos Welcome Beginners

Flow’s universal auto-parry isn’t the only automatic mechanic available to you, but auto-combos are built into the default four-button control scheme enabling beginners to get to grips with stringing multiple attacks together easily. Fighting game veterans will want to chain combos together manually, as auto-combo damage output is scaled significantly, meaning they deal far less damage than traditional combo chaining. Still, baseline damage is respectable, making auto-combos a worthwhile learning tool.

Twelve Characters in Launch Roster

Yes, on launch, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game features twelve playable characters, each bringing unique bending abilities, personalities, stances, variations, and playstyles – ensuring they feel distinct not just in visuals but in how they control. The devs have poured their knowledge of the franchise into each character’s moveset, basing much of their fighting prowess on their in-show background. Whether you pick your favourite character from the franchise as your main, or you opt to experiment, you’re sure to find a style that suits you.

Certain Characters Bring Multiple Fight Modes

Some fighters add an extra layer of depth through stance or mode switching during bouts. Azula, for instance, can transition between a precise, calculated Focused Mode and a more aggressive Firelord Mode, while Zuko can swap between his specialised firebending and a dual broadsword style. One on hand, these shifts are emblematic of character backgrounds, but in-game they can dramatically change your options for movement, delivering pressure, and strategy.

Primary Fighters Bring a Support Character

Alongside your chosen fighter, you’ll also choose a support character from a pool of three who’ll influence your main’s fighting style whilst also granting distinct special moves. Aang’s support character Gyatso, for instance, offers better Air Scooter speed control, while Korra’s support Raava grants longer Avatar States. These allies, effectively, let you customise your playstyle beyond your chosen character, adding a layer of team synergy without turning the game into a tag fighter.

Benders and Non-Benders Alike Are Balanced

To keep the roster balanced, the dev team imbues non-bending characters with unique skills. Instead of spiritual, elemental abilities, they’re outfitted with weapons, traps, and other tools, as well as specialised “Chakra Arts” that’ll give them distinct advantages over their bending counterparts. Faster Chi recovery is another boon for non-benders, allowing them access the benefits of Flow State more readily, to continue adding pressure while offsetting the power of elemental bending.

Story and Arcade Modes Available

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game ships with a solid range of modes. A narrative-driven Story Mode sits alongside the more traditional Arcade ladder. Elsewhere, a versus option covers both online and offline play. Training and spectator modes round out your options, ensuring there’s something here whether you’re learning the ropes or just watching high-level matches play out.

Online Supported By Rollback Netcode

It’s a given with modern fighting game standards that online functionality is supported by rollback netcode, and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is no different. Rollback netcode will keep matches responsive, even across long distances. Meanwhile, full cross-play means you can play against anyone, regardless of platform. Finally, both ranked and casual matches are available, catering to competitive grinders as much as those after a more laid-back brawling session.

Robust Training Mode Included

For both newcomers and those looking to dig deeper, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game ships with a robust training mode which offers a comprehensive suite of practice tools, including visible hitboxes, detailed frame data, and the ability to save set states. Precise practice sessions and experimentation are catered for alike, making it easier to learn and perfect character dynamics, optimise combos, and understand the game’s finer mechanics beyond surface level ease.

An Art Gallery is Also Included

Signalling a deep affiliation with the source material, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game also includes an Art Gallery, celebrating the legacy of the Avatar universe. Featuring original artwork from the show, it offers a more relaxed way for series novices and fandom alike to engage with the world and its characters.

Release Date, Platforms, and Price

After a string of delays and reschedules, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is set to release on July 23rd, with PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC the official launch platforms. Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 are incoming at a later date. The game’s Standard Edition is priced at $29.99, with a Deluxe Edition retailing at $49.99.

Deluxe Edition and Pre-Order Bonuses Overview

Expanding on the Standard experience, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game’s Deluxe Edition includes a full digital artbook, a digital copy of the soundtrack, and the Year 1 Pass which adds an additional five playable characters at a later date. If you pre-order the game, you’ll receive an exclusive Samurai Appa character skin, exclusive colour variants for a handful of characters, and the offer to vote on which DLC character you’d like to see appear in Year 1.

PC Requirements

To play Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game to a suitable level on your PC, you’ll need the following hardware: an Intel Core i5-7500 or AMD Ryzen 2600 CPU, and an Nvidia GTX 970 or Radeon RX 570 GPU.

It could be a good idea if you’re looking to dive deep into this one anyway, as you get access to seven of the roster’s twelve playable launch characters, namely Korra, Aang, Zuko, Katara, Azula, Sokka, and Toph. It’s also a good opportunity to test out the support character mechanic, and see how different combinations change things up for your main character. If that wasn’t enough, all participants get to vote for the fifth DLC character from a pool of very familiar faces for Avatar fans.

As for the game, which is out on July 23rd after suffering a delay, we’ve been sold on its hand-drawn art ever since we saw that first glimpse of it, and can’t wait to see how its elemental-heavy combat system holds us in an intense battle. For now, the closed beta is one way to hit the ground running ahead of launch.

https://x.com/avatar_fighters/status/2072681854998593954

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is being developed for release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. A few details about the title have been revealed through its Steam listing, which confirms that, at launch, it will have 12 playable characters. More characters are also planned to be added to the game through a seasonal content model. The developers have also noted that it will feature “best in class net code” as well as cross-platform multiplayer.

“Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a fighter rooted in the spirit of elemental mastery,” describes the studio in the game’s Steam page. “Designed for both newcomers and veterans, it channels the energy of classic fighting games while breaking new ground in movement, style, and combat expression. Built with a focus on fluidity, responsiveness, and online integrity, the game invites players to discover what it truly means to fight with purpose. Hand-drawn in 2D, it is crafted to preserve the style and expressive animation of the original series.”

As for the core gameplay, the 2D fighting game will feature hand-drawn art, and will offer players the ability to also pick support characters that can change up your own fighting style, as well as open up new special moves. The fighting has been described as making use of a “flow system”, along with movement-centric gameplay.

To get better at its mechanics, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game will also feature a Combo Trials mode where players can learn and master all the different combos available to them depending on their characters. Along with this, there will also be a single-player campaign mode, complete with an original story that doesn’t simply adapt the original animated series or its sequel.

The trailer, which comes in at almost a minute long, confirms some of the playable characters of the game, including Aang, Korra, Zuko, Toph, Katara and Azula. While we do get to see some of the special abilities of various characters, including Aang’s seeming capability of going into full Avatar mode, we don’t really get more details from it when it comes to other aspects of its gameplay, like how support characters will work.

The Steam page for Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game also lists the minimum system requirements to run the title. To play it, PC players will need either an Intel Core i5-7500 or an AMD Ryzen 2600 CPU, and either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU, along with 3.5 GB of storage, and Windows 7 64-bit. No details have been provided about the amount of RAM required, or what hardware players will need to run it at higher graphical settings.