"A good Kiriko is almost impossible to kill": Overwatch 2 fans react to the latest hero, one month later

She's a ninja. She's a healer. She trained in with fan-favourite heroes, Genji and Hanzo. She's got a pet fox spirit. She's cute. She can cleanse you of most of the game's debuffs. What's not to love about Kiriko? Well, it depends who you ask. Because a month down the line, the jury is still very much out on Kiriko in Overwatch 2.

Kiriko was announced for the game back in September, where Blizzard revealed she'd be the first new character to come to the game. She is part of the first battle pass, or – if you own the original Overwatch – you can acquire her through your Founder’s Pack (as long as you redeem it by logging into the game before the end of Season Two).

As a new character – and sort-of the mascot of Overwatch 2 in these early days – Kiriko has a lot to prove. And some players reckon she might have been specifically designed to prop up the new mode that's come to the game with Overwatch 2: Push.

"She is specifically designed to work in push maps," says reddit user FragRackham. "I think Blizz looked at the push mode and felt [it was] lacking a hero who fit the chaos, map-size, and style of that game mode. Kiriko fits that mold pretty perfectly."

The user is right; Kiriko's teleport and utility when it comes to moving around is perfectly suited to the more labyrinthine set-up of the push maps. She can also heal at quite a distance, which makes up for how difficult it can be for her to do damage (and how much work you need to do in order to out her in a damage-dealing situation).

"A good [Kiriko] is almost impossible to kill," says WH1TEtiger777 in a thread discussing the character. "Huge annoyance on the enemy team as she can outright invalidate a few characters Ults." This is because of her 'cleanse' ability which can negate the likes of Sombra's hack, Zenyatta's Orb of Discord, Junker Queen's rampage, Mei's Blizzard, Reinhardt's earthshatter, and more besides.

"And if they can aim, they can destroy your squishy characters," adds NopeToPerfection. This is because of the frankly lethal headshot, making her an unsuspecting high-damage dealer in the hands of precise players that know their timing.

"Cleanse ability a bit too strong for my tastes," one user adds. "It can easily make certain Ults irrelevant with good timing, and it's on a short cooldown no less. Other than that, there are no real problems with anything else in her kit: strong heals, easy escape, repositioning. Good but not too good, just that cleanse that needs adjusting."

But not everyone is a fan. The post below outlines some concerns about the character that you'll see echoed in forums and on social media. Lots of people seem to struggle with the timing of her various moves, and I have experienced – first-hand – some of the inconsistencies with Swift Step and her wall-climb. It could be my imagination, but it feels like Blizzrd heroes didn't come out with these sorts of quirks back in the Overwatch 1 days.

There's critisism of Kiriko outside of the gameplay minutae, too. "Probably my favorite hero," says one user on reddit. "I just wish her voice acting was better. It's not bad, it just doesn't fit her character." The sentiment is echoed through the thread, where some users note she sounds 'more like an Apex Legends character' and that her voice lines are 'cringe af'. "Her dialogue was written by someone who permanently smirks as they talk," adds another user.

"Not a big fan of her look either," adds another. "But she's fun to play and a long needed new support so I'm still happy she was added."

So, the Kiriko TL;DR? She's not a beginner-friendly hero, but when deployed well, she can be a massive asset in push, and once you put the hours in to learn the intricacies of her playstyle, you can become a heal-flinging, cleansing demon on the battlefield. And really rile your enemies up. She's good for mind games, then – mull on that when you're thinking about which support you want to practice with next.