Project L's latest update showcases how the LoL fighting game's Tag and Assist systems work

Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends (LoL), has revealed some exciting updates and more gameplay footage for its newest fighting game, codenamed Project L in a Dev Diary video released on Tuesday (6 December).

The latest video update highlights the Tag and Assist systems as the game's main draws, showcasing the game's combat features.

This combat system will allow two champion teams to take down opponents together.

The tag system has been a popular mechanic in fighting games like Marvel vs Capcom, Tekken Tag Tournament, and more.

However, it’s also reminiscent of League’s team fights, where certain combinations, like a chain-cc and a heavy ult, can make or break the fight.

“We really felt like it gave us more space to create ‘hype’ moments where our champions could live up to their fantasies. And who doesn’t love a good team fight?” said Project L game director Shaun ‘Unconkable’ Rivera.

The tag was already revealed by Riot earlier this year, but we found out more about how the champions will interact with each other.

In the gameplay video, we saw some cool combinations, like Jinx bringing out her famous “Chompers”, with Ekko sweeping in to hit chompers toward their opponent Darius before dealing damage to the Hand of Noxus with a 4-hit combo.

Another had Jinx flying in the air after Darius hit her upwards with his Axe, before Ahri came in with a flying kick before dealing an 8-hit combo onto Jinx.

These exciting combat sequences showed us how the tag system works in Project L. The main interactions would include Assist Action, Handshake Tag, and Dynamic Save. These are working names however, and may be called something else entirely in the final build of the game.

The Assist Action would be the main one, with Rivera calling it your “bread and butter”. An Assist champion can perform up to two assists from off-screen or hold the input to get a Charged Assist.

Then there's the Handshake Tag, which allows you to instantly switch between your Point and Assist Champions, provided that both are visible on the screen.

It allows you to create some really intense pressure sequences when paired with Assist Actions, and when utilised well, can be used to extend your combos.

Finally, there’s Dynamic save, which will be the combo breaker, where summoning the Assist champion can save your point champion. You can use this action to get out of deadly combo lockups and sticky situations.

The devs warned that this can get old pretty fast, if you’re too predictable, and your opponent can still counter this move, if they foresaw the action coming.

There were also a couple of updates on Illaoi, and how she’d look llike on the arena.

The tentacle-wielding Kraken priestess showed off some sets of moves and combinations that were a bit similar to her moves in Riot Forge’s Ruined King, combined with a couple of unique ones.

For LoL players like myself, Project L is cause for much excitement. I get to see how some of my favourite champions execute their combinations up close.

Although the moves from Jinx, Ekko, Ahri, Illaoi, and Darius aren’t exactly like the original, some of them were adjusted so they fit the faster pace of fighting games.

And while the moves aren’t exactly the same as in League, characters combining their abilities is a great nod to the new fighting game's parent title.

Now that the devs have shown us the first few champions so far, I wonder: how will they implement the more difficult signature moves of Lux, Kennen, Yasuo, Irelia and others?

For now, some of the moves so far are iterations of moves from most games, but with a LoL twist to it.

I’m hoping the devs remember a couple of the champion’s signature moves so League fans can still relate.

The previews have also shown us two locations so far: somewhere in Zaun where the bridge of Piltover and Zaun could be seen in the background (fun fact: this location was also shown in Arcane when Silco met up with Jayce), and Ionia.

Hopefully this means that we’ll be playing the game in other regions of Runeterra as well.

Project L was announced to be a free-to-play fighting game last August. However, despite these updates, there was no release date announced yet.

The devs may still have a long way to go with this one, given the sparse number of playable champions.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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