I've been into collecting NERF guns for the past year or two, and while I've been getting super into it, I just can't get into Rival, for the same reasons why I couldn't get into Vortex:
Aesthetics.
Sure, the balls/discs may fly farther, faster, are heavier, can ricochet off walls, and glow in the dark or whatever, but it doesn't change the primary draw to NERF today: Feeling like you're holding a gun that fires bullets.
Vortex all looked like toys. Taking much inspiration from soft-science fiction fantasy, they all looked like "alien" guns and "laser blasters" and such. The discs just reminded me of those battery-operated disc-launcher guns of yesteryear that you'd find in dollar stores and cheap toy stores.
Furthermore, while the NERF discs could fly much farther than micro darts at the time, it was also because they were very floaty, and traveled slower. It didn't feel like they made the same impact on a hit.
I'm kind of getting similar vibes from Rival, but in the opposite direction. While NERF guns have an extra level of entertainment in that it really feels like you're loading cartridge-shaped rounds into chambers and magazines of guns that look, feel, and function like the real-world guns we see in movies and video games all the time, complete with realistic attachments for customization, it seems that the Rival line was designed strictly with function/performance in mind.
For example,
>>5827064. It doesn't really look like a gun at all. It looks more like a hair dryer. But that's the point. In design, they weren't trying to make it look and feel like a cool gun, they were trying to make something that would fire a soft projectile as far and fast as safely possible. This seems to be the focus of the entire Rival line.
cont...
