Overwatch Fans Point Out A Problem With Newest Japanese Hero

Kiriko is the newest hero to be introduced in the world of Overwatch 2 - a support hero with kunai to deal damage to oncoming threats and a fox spirit that speeds up movement, attacks and cooldowns of friendly players. However, it looks like a portion of fans aren't that hot on her design, describing it to be uninspired.

Kiriko grew up with Hanzo and Genji, becoming a shrine maiden as an adult to look after her family's ancestral shrine that honors a fox spirit. She honed her abilities to defend her home after the Shimadas fell and has now joined up with her childhood friends in the story of Overwatch 2.

Here's the trailer for Overwatch 2, releasing on 4 October for PC, Switch, PlayStation and Xbox:

There's been a lot of love for Kiriko, however, there has also been justifiable criticism for her biography and her design. "Why does a Japanese character have to fight with Japanese styles of combat? Are all American characters in Overwatch cowboys? I mean 2 of them are but you know," said one player. "As interesting as Kiriko looks to be, 'Japanese = ninja' is about as uninspired as you can get," added another.

Others have mentioned how the women in Overwatch often aren't as varied - physically speaking - as the men. "She doesn't really scream 'Overwatch hero' to me, and I am not really impressed with cute fox ninja girl + magical powers #6046," said artist lilakeyLK on Twitter. "I wish Overwatch women looked different instead of doing the [League of Legends] thing of 'sexy woman with same face'," complained rartedjele on Twitter.

Blizzard Entertainment did originally receive praise for the cultural diversity of its heroes compared to other games in the same genre, but it seems though people are starting to get slightly tired of the art style.