By contrast, every other MOBA I’ve tried has ended up uninstalled in short order. Is it just Dota 2’s complexity that makes it special? It helps, I think – with expansiveness comes room to experiment, and heroes aren’t as forcibly pigeonholed into specific roles or meta item builds as you might figure. But there’s so much else that I couldn’t possibly articulate it all. Maybe it’s the length of the games; 40ish minutes on average is a big commitment, but leaves time for your own, memorable little narratives to develop across every match. Personalities, too, provided no-one says anything daft enough for a voice and chat muting. Or maybe it’s the humour, which is laid on thick in both intentional (every hero is a pun-spewing comedy psychopath, something that’s sorely missing from the dour Dota: Dragon’s Blood anime) and unintentional flavours. Yes, it sucks when your team gets splatted 4v5 and you pan down to see your most powerful ally absentmindedly punching goblins in a forest. But… it’s also kinda funny, no? All that said, I do recommend new players start off with some Easy-difficulty bot matches. Dota 2’s onboarding process is much improved since I started in 2015, but there’s nothing like learning by doing where Dotes is concerned. And even if you only learn how to play a couple of heroes, that can be enough to sustain the drama, laughs, and achingly satisfying sorcery for weeks.
