The New Zarya Skin Is An Atrocity Again And Again

Developer Blizzard released the special Overwatch League Skin that commemorates the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Sinatraa, then of the San Fransisco Shock team. Previously, the Overwatch pro who has since left to play Valorant had gotten into trouble for leaking some details around the Zarya skin. Now that the skin is out, however, just some loose lips aren't the only thing people are clowning on. It's a bad skin; the MVP skin is not a good skin. There have been countless jokes on social media, but perhaps the following tweet explains it best:

 

i feel like the lesbian genius who made zarya left blizzard a long time ago and blizzard devs have no idea how to appeal to people who like zarya from an artistic standpoint so they just make garbage like this while falling down the stairs pic.twitter.com/VxNxz70Qfj

— ??????????????? Josie blm Joestar ??????????????? (@Nyacromancer_) June 16, 2020

 

A popular hero, both in aesthetic and play style, Zarya is a tank who is often praised for being a person whose femininity in Overwatch isn't made synonymous with being petite or slender. For reference, even the new feminine robot hero, Echo, is built slim and unblemished. However, the character presenting in a masc appearance is leaving the developers confused on how to build a pleasing outfit around them, time and again. Whether it's a monochrome cybergoth or a dumpy Arctic ensemble, Blizzard has no idea how to balance a strong tank appearance with style or personality. With little exception, almost every Zarya skin reduces the hero to a boring rectangle, while similar heroes like D.VA get elaborate changes, such as a Lolita catgirl or a hardy scrapyard junker.

 

The latest alien skin for Zarya puts the tank in a suit, like the Men in Black movies, with ever-so-blocky boots. The drab, linear outfit goes from grey to black back to grey.  Luckily, Sinatraa is unphased about the reveal. These MVP skins are made with the collaboration of the players, but that's not an excuse for this Homer car of a design. Previously, New York player, JJonak, had a Zenyatta skin crafted that creatively incorporated a squid appearance, also seen in an occult skin. There is no lack of creativity in the Overwatch art team. Even Brigitte, the burly support character, gets to have "some" nuance in their outfits, posing in an hourglass figure. Zarya deserves better. There are more than enough "plus size" folks who work magic around outfits, whether in masc or femme variants. Fashion is far greater than just flower dresses for pixie girls or slick suits for sick dudes. Even starting with some ripped jeans would add texture to the slabs of monochrome outfits. Throw on a half jacket to accentuate your waist curves. Scroll through Instagram for a minute. Do something; it's not that hard. It's alright for Zarya to identify with a more brutalist look, but that doesn't have to mean they throw on the first thing in the closet. Outfits like the 80s skin show that better things are possible.

Please, all people want is just a little variation that doesn't make Zarya look like the line piece in Tetris, even if that is a Soviet flair. Not every vanity item will be a winner, but it's damn sad that a hamster inside a metal ball currently has more variety than a hero that's been on the roster from the start. The Overwatch team and women just do not seem to click on any level. Even Heroes of the Storm, who also made a great rendition of Zarya, is doing much better on that front. I guess what I'm saying is that you should play Heroes of the Storm.

 

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed
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