The cinematics and short films of Overwatch, the first of its name, have always been of very good quality to the point that the lore has become something important in Blizzard’s FPS for many fans. With the release of Overwatch 2 on October 4, 2022 in free to play, the creative team continued its momentum by offering a magnificent 9-minute short film for the new heroine Kiriko.
The Hashimoto clan, Kanezaka and the spirit of the Vixen
Kiriko is a young girl with two distinct facets: loving daughter and the protective deadly. Here is his official story:
Kiriko comes from a family that served and protected her hometown, Kanezaka, devoting himself to different spirits. While her mother had promised herself to the Way of the Blade, her grandmother, for her part, followed the ancestral methods of the spirit of the Vixen, which allowed her to know ancient healing techniques. Kiriko’s mother also taught her art to Hanzo and Genji, which explains some similarities between these three characters. In their childhood, the three rascals met many times to learn the ninja art of the Way of Blades.
Of the two boys, Kiriko was close to Genji, as they were both real rascals. Except that a few years later, when Kiriko was 7 years old, the clan Hashimoto led to the fall of the clan shimada in Hanamura. Kiriko lost her father there who was kidnapped to be forced to make blades for them. Despite a few visits, Kiriko was only able to receive one blade from her father and a hatred of the Hashimoto clan began to growl within her.
Thanks to the training of the two women in his life, Kiriko was able to learn sacred arts from each of them and made the decision to choose the path that suited him best. She therefore made the decision to combine these two paths into one: protect people who cannot defend themselves.
Ten years after the sad events of the Shimada clan, Kiriko met Sakura, Nobuto and Ryota; together, they formed the group called Yokai, an intervention team that tries more than ever to retaliate against the Hashimoto. Kiriko has sworn to lead this clan to its doom and free her father.
How to unlock Kiriko?
Did you like this very badass short film and would you like to play Kiriko for a few games? Here are the three ways to do it:
- If you are new f2p players : Kiriko must be unlocked at level 55 of the free Battle Pass,
- If you are former players from Overwatch: Kiriko is unlocked in your roster and you can select her*
- New player, you can pay the Observatory Pack or simply the Premium Battle Pass in order to have direct access to Kiriko and other rewards.
*A “blocked characters” bug currently prevents you from having access to all characters in the game, even if you had unlocked them all. This is temporary and being fixed: by restarting the game, it could also disappear. For Kiriko, even though a padlock is displayed on her character insert, you can still select her during games.
With its brand new free-to-play system, you will be able to get rewards for Overwatch 2 through the Battle Pass. But how about a free legendary Kiriko skin thanks to Twitch Drops? Campaign dates and giveaways: here’s everything you need to know.
Don’t forget that the Twitch Drops started on the streaming platform to win rewards related to Kiriko including a legendary skin!