The community reception of Riven’s original artwork (still viewable here) was less than warm. In a move I certainly didn’t expect, Riot had an artist redo the splash, which is now at the top of this post, to look a little bit less awkward.

I’m a little surprised people think she looks so much better now. If I had any complaints about the original Riven splash, it would be the awkward pose and the fact that she’s just not very interesting. They fixed the awkward pose. Still not very interesting, though. She’s still just wearing a toga and carrying a weird looking sword.

All the same, it’s nice to see Riot make the change. Part of the appeal of my favorite champions is no doubt the splash art. I’m sure players looking forward to Riven will appreciate the new art.