League of both Having and Eating the Cake

In my last post, I talked about how there are many different versions of the fantasy genre. One potential result of that is that we have to exclude some interpretations if we want others. There are many examples of media that tries to combine fantasy subgenres and fails, but I want to talk about one that I think is excellent!

I’ll admit that I’m a much bigger fan of the worldbuilding in League of Legends than I am of the game itself. The game design rewards very strategic play where the use of abilities is well calculated in advance. I love to design that sort of thing, but I’m terrible at playing it. But the lore! Oh, the lore! By using its worldbuilding in a clever way, Riot Games have managed to create regions of the world that speak to different types of fantasy while still working harmoniously together. The twin cities of Piltover and Zhaun form the idealistic and dystopian forms of steampunk fantasy respectively, Noxus is the home of dark fantasy, while Damacia is home to your knights in shining armour. Just to mention a few examples. In-world attitudes between these areas act to reinforce their identity, but also to provide reasons for why the cultures don’t blend more.

Riot, if any of you read this, I’d love to write a series of travel guides as a member of each society visits the others and give their perspective. Even better if they’re better if they’re not written by one of the champions but rather presented from the perspective of regular people.