Overwatch expert reveals major balance issue that caused a hero “identity crisis”

A top Overwatch 2 streamer revealed what he believes to be the game’s biggest issue, a major balance flaw that has caused an identity crisis with hero design.

Flats, one of the largest Overwatch creators and a consistent top 500 player, shared his thoughts about the issues surrounding the game and why Marvel Rivals is winning the hero shooter war. While there are many smaller issues with Overwatch, one of the biggest revolves around a balance issue that has caused an “identity crisis” for the game.

Calling Overwatch a “solved game” and citing the move to 5v5, he stated the devs felt forced to make hero balance a top priority, but this has caused many of the characters to lose their individuality and cause them all to play the same.

Overwatch heroes don’t have gameplay variety anymore

As a tank player, Flats cited brawl tanks such as Reinhardt, Orisa, Ramattra, and Mauga as “copy-pastes of the same hero.”

“I was always known as the ‘Rein guy’ in [the first Overwatch],” Flats said. “Well guess what? Rein is boring as sh*t in Overwatch 2. You lost the hero fantasy, you lost everything with it. You used to be able to hit a big shatter and win an entire game…now you get shut down by a suzu, a lamp…”

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Flats elaborated and claimed that tanks began to feel like an iteration of shooting at targets from a close to medium range, or a super mobile tank like Wrecking Ball, Doomfist, or Winston with high disruption. He also said supports all feel the same as a hybrid of “doing damage and doing healing.”

“Balance has been flipped upside down, but now, every hero feels the same in some way,” Flats said. “The uniqueness of each hero that brought this game to life feels so neutered now.”

While Flats believes switching the game back to a 6v6 format would be better for the game, he said it “would not save the game” and that its identity crisis can only be solved by reinventing itself by making more major changes.

“The big elephants in the room will still exist,” he said. “6v6 in general will not save this game. 5v5 staying how it is with better balance will not save this game. This game is in an identity crisis…so I guess the question is, how does Overwatch reinvent itself?”

Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch has made some larger changes to the game in the past, such as the introduction to new game modes or systems like hero passives. However, a common sentiment in the community is that the dev team does not do enough of these radical changes, especially in the form of hero balance. He believes this stems from fear of retaliation from the community.

“They won’t take the risks to make new stuff or create new things,” Flats noted. “We cater to too many people and we try to make all these things work and it doesn’t…and that’s where our problem lies with the identity of the game.”

Flats is one of many Overwatch streamers who have made a transition to Marvel Rivals, praising Marvel Rivals for reinventing the wheel and introducing new features such as the team-up mechanic.