Those still playing Marvel’s Avengers and the wider gaming community didn’t respond well to last week’s news that developer Crystal Dynamics will improve the game’s progress once the PlayStation 5 version comes out on March 18, 2021. The studio has confirmed that the amount of XP it will take to increase your rank as you work your way through the back half of the progression system, with many fans believing this will add to the grind required to experience end game content. Rather than reversing the decision based on negative feedback, the team has now doubled down on its commitment to proceed with the controversial update.
In an official Reddit post from the developer, Crystal Dynamics tries to clarify his decision. The developer begins by setting up the scenario where you level up, or “ding” as Crystal Dynamics puts it, two to three times per mission. “So what’s the problem? This is great, you could say. The problem we saw and heard was that you would immediately get more skill points than you had time to assess, apply, and get used to before you did. on your next mission and passing your next few levels. Hopefully you can see the problem here. “
The studio goes on to explain that while it absolutely wants players to take all of their superheroes to the next level, again it doesn’t want the process to be overwhelming because you are inundated with skill points ready to be assigned.
So we smoothed out the higher level curves to make sure that you are less likely to “ding” the higher end more than once or twice per mission. There is so much variation in how quickly you can get XP (level types, mission selection, etc…), but the end result of our tuning was to add about 3-5 hours to reach the maximum level in total. This means leveling in a more stable place around every 2-4 missions at the top. We see this as a way to achieve clearer ‘thing’ thresholds, and more time to engage and enjoy each skill purchase.
Crystal Dynamics went on to state that the upcoming patch will actually make getting through the first levels easier and that taking out more powerful enemies will bring bonus XP. However, we would say that a level advancement system feels more overwhelming at first, rather than halfway through. Once you master the skill tree and what it has to offer, that feeling can disappear pretty quickly.
RPG progression systems have always worked as set up once the PS5 version of Marvel’s Avengers rolls around, but Crystal Dynamics’ reasoning is wrong. We don’t know about you, but a level up always feels more overwhelming at first (which will happen even faster now) than halfway through. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.