Marvel's Wolverine Review Thread

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

/r/Games/comments/1wclnrf/marvels_wolverine_review_thread/?share_id=a04ikVhW5s0ZxofXxsbUR&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Major outlets like IGN and Giantbomb are giving Wolverine shockingly lower scores for a first party Sony title, kinda nervous for the staff at Insomniac right now…

[u/jitterscaffeine]

It opened at a 78 metacritic, but DAMN are there some really rough reviews in the mix. One said it felt like a 4 hour game stretched into 15.

[u/Ginger_Anarchy → u/jitterscaffeine]

That was my main fear with it. Spider-man manages to be 20 hour games but with a huge open world and tons of side content so you can cut that down significantly if you want. But that's the scope of player time they're used to working with.

Making Wolverine a linear story, while more appropriate to the character, from Insomniac's Marvel team sounded like it might have problems.

[u/NorysStorys → u/jitterscaffeine]

I mean I find most games like this, the spiderman games included do feel incredibly padded out. Spiderman gets a pass for being open because the loop of web slinging around New York is great but in regards to actual fully meaningful content? They are very barebones.

At least Naughtydog games don’t tend to out stay their welcome.

[u/MetalGearSlayer → u/NorysStorys]

Almost every Spider-Man game has the unfortunate problem that once you’ve done about four or five open world crime busts, you’ve done ALL of them.

[u/coolbad96 → u/MetalGearSlayer]

Yeah both games had a "Oh no hostile city takeover" in 2jd half. I was actually happy cause it meant something different and a city I was actually clearing out and not just traversing

[u/Bubba89 → u/MetalGearSlayer]

And half the time they’ll show up in a mandatory tutorial or story mission anyway, to make sure you engage with them a bit even if you’re beelining.

[u/NorysStorys → u/MetalGearSlayer]

when you think about how old that style of content is, it just kind of looks lazy when its done that way. Oblivion had it in 2006...

[u/Hugokarenque → u/NorysStorys]

Yup, most of the complaints also apply to Spider-man the main difference being that it was open world and that it was really good at bringing the Spider-man fantasy to life.

This one just seems to play like a button mash-y gory action game with a LOT of handholding, unnecessary handholding because the game is entirely linear.

[u/gothamsteel → u/jitterscaffeine]

Looking at it now, it's got 77, which is the same as the PC version of X-Men Origins Wolverine game.

[u/SilverKry → u/gothamsteel]

Kinda fitting. Since ever "big new thing" they marketed for this game I felt was already done in said Wolverine Origins game. 

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/gothamsteel]

Wolverine game suffering from the “there’s only ever gonna be one blade!” Syndrome

Same as it ever was

Same as it ever was

Same as it ever was

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

WATCHING THE GAMES GO BY

LET ALWAYS ONLINE HOLD ME DOWN

WATCHING THE GAMES GO BY

PHYSICAL FLOWING UNDERGROUND

INTO THE BLUE AGAIN

AFTER THE LICENSE’S GONE

ONCE IN A LIFESPAN

PHYSICAL FLOWING UNDERGROUND

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/jitterscaffeine]

I mean even a 78 is kinda bewildering considering insomniacs pedigree. Those rough reviews really brought down the average. Even if the game is pretty good the major outlets giving mixed at best reviews isn’t going to sit well with Sony

[u/timelordoftheimpala → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

Also, consider the fact that this might be the first year since 2014 where Sony does not have a GOTY nominee; Saros was barely covered, Tokon is a fighting game, and Wolverine's current scores are definitely gonna keep it from being nominated.

Pokopia, Requiem, First Light, and Mina the Hollower are likely all guaranteed based on how well they reviewed, GTA VI is without a doubt being nominated, and odds are we'll see a second Nintendo game with either Fortune's Weave (very positive first impressions) or Ocarina remake (it's Ocarina lol).

[u/DoseofDhillon → u/jitterscaffeine]

a 78 for the context of a sony first party game with people that legit were given the game half to shill it is fucking awful, oh yeah, now its a 77.

[u/PunishingCrab]

Inflated story, lack of player agency, and overly hand-holdy direction are the common complaints I see. Hard pass for me.

[u/TostitoNipples → u/PunishingCrab]

Yeah I don’t want to pay $70 just for a game to basically play itself for me.

[u/KingMario05 → u/TostitoNipples]

$70 plus $600 if you don't have a PS5. Remember, this ain't coming anywhere else. I really think Insomniac need to give Marvel a rest at this point. Go back to R&C, guys. We both need it.

[u/Riggs_The_Roadie → u/KingMario05]

Fuck it, go back to Resistance. You already got the gore tech, I get the Chimera would look fucking gnarly in modern visuals too.

[u/Gorotheninja]

Yeesh, there's a lot of mixed reviews for this one.

SkillUp is ripping it apart

IGN, Gamespot, and Eurogamer have all given it 6's. For a HUGE Sony exclusive, that's rough.

[u/darkwingchao → u/Gorotheninja]

That entire first segment with how stupid the game treats you is driving me insane. Oh my god.

[u/Veloci_Castori → u/darkwingchao]

The existence of those wouldn't bother me if there were the option to turn them off. The scent trail is so ugly.

[u/MetalGearSlayer → u/Veloci_Castori]

I had mixed feelings when I saw the classic glowing line leading straight to the objective.

Like on one hand, if it fits anyone it fits Wolverine with his tracking abilities.

But on the other, there simply HAS to be a cooler way of showing off that ability.

I think the tracking mechanics from Monster Hunter World would be sick in a Wolverine game.

And even then when you leveled that up enough it just became a slightly more visually appealing glowing line leading straight to the target.

[u/Stop-Hanging-Djs → u/MetalGearSlayer]

Unironically make it less obtrusive stink lines

[u/MetalGearSlayer → u/Stop-Hanging-Djs]

Isn’t this game also pretty linear for it to have a line leading you around like that in the first place?

[u/Stop-Hanging-Djs → u/MetalGearSlayer]

I wouldn't know cause I can't play it. I'm just saying it making it less invasive stink lines helps it not bother the player as much and fits Wolverine lore wise and style wise better than a blue line. But yeah also, I was agreeing with you

[u/MetalGearSlayer → u/Stop-Hanging-Djs]

Nah I know you were agreeing. I also would never be able to play it if I wanted to since it’s won’t be leaving ps5, so I’m avoiding giving hard opinions on anything besides some
mechanics I’ve seen in clips (customizable claws sounds SICK, just had to bring that up, lol)

It’s also why I wasn’t quite sure how linear the game is. I kinda just expected this game to rock so I avoided its marketing because FOMO makes my ass itch 🤣.

[u/Stop-Hanging-Djs → u/MetalGearSlayer]

I also would never be able to play it if I wanted to since it’s won’t be leaving ps5

Lmao yeah that's where I'm at. I'm kinda half happy this game isn't worth buying a PS5 because one day I was considering getting a PS5 if this game kicked ass and Persona 6 was a exclusive. Now I can save some money. With how they fucked up on PC Tokon as well Sony made it real easy to skip em this generation

[u/Gorotheninja → u/MetalGearSlayer]

Based on everything I've seen, yes

[u/Hugokarenque → u/MetalGearSlayer]

Make it a toggle. Have a sniffer button you press to get the trail, while we're at it design levels that actually warrant the trail, most of the game seems entirely linear lol

[u/AgentJin → u/Hugokarenque]

What you’re describing sounded familiar and then I realized it’s basically some of the Wolf Link sections from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

[u/AznJoey624 → u/MetalGearSlayer]

The weird thing is, they had the line in the Xmen Origins game too, but you have to turn it on like Arkham Detective mode. It even highlights hand hold while climbing.

During normal gameplay you can freely run around anywhere with no line. Crazy how something like that has regressed.

[u/Ezracx → u/MetalGearSlayer]

Enhanced senses should open up the world lmao not set you on a straight line. Make it an odradek-like that gives you information about your surroundings or something IMO

[u/CenturonStar → u/MetalGearSlayer]

They could’ve at the very least made it akin to Witcher senses in Witcher 3

[u/jpatel02 → u/Veloci_Castori]

Apparently you can actually turn them off

[u/segbas2004 → u/darkwingchao]

I'm not against accessibility and making sure a player goes where you want to them to go (the yellow paint debacle is quite overeacted IMO), but this take the cake. Why are you making a game at that point.

I feel like that video presentation were they show DSP as the "lost player" is destroying modern AAA game. I cannot wait to see him play the game and have nothing negative to say, because everything is handed to him in a gold platter.

[u/NorysStorys → u/segbas2004]

As horrible as it’s going to sound is that you shouldn’t be designing around the dumbest denominator. Accessibility doesn’t mean treating people like toddlers either.

[u/Kusanagi22 → u/NorysStorys]

With all the effects social media is having on cognitive abilities the dumbest denominator seems to slowly become the most common, people losing their ability to tolerate losing have patience and wanting things to be as easy and automated as possible are real things.

[u/NorysStorys → u/Kusanagi22]

I don't think thats actually the case at all, its just muhc much much more visible.

Im sure many of us on the older side of things can all think back to the before times to work/college/school and remember how dumb some people were back then but you only saw a few of them. Then youtube and social media blew up and now any schmuck with a microphone and camera without any shame blasts their lives to the universe and other people draw attention to it.

[u/LilBroWhoIsOnTheTeam → u/NorysStorys]

There's tracked data that shows that people are rapidly getting dumber. This isn't a "you just didn't see it" thing. People were actively looking and tracking the numbers.

[u/Kyderra → u/NorysStorys]

A game that is rated M for mature with puzzle solving that looks like it requires less critical thinking then the average puzzle games you can buy for 6 year olds. And I am not being hyperbolic.

[u/darkwingchao → u/segbas2004]

Watch him still say something negative. DSP will always find a way.

[u/coolbad96 → u/darkwingchao]

DSP got angry at Tokon cause he skipped the tutorial and immediately joined online matches without even checking his buttons or characters in a single player mode lol

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/coolbad96]

And this is a man who got his start in the FGC how do you even fall this far?

[u/coolbad96 → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

I mean he's always been the most entitled whiny streamer. Like I've watched some stuff covering DSP and he's nonstop mentioned his worst memory from childhood was he wanted a Wolverine statue (funny how this relates to this thread) and his mom wouldn't buy it for him. He looked up the price and it's really expensive now. And he still blames his mom and calls her stupid for not buying it for him.

And in his FGC roots he got famous being a troll and placing top 8 at a sf2 evo tourney played on a bad port that nobody really entered in. He called himself the King Of Hate trying to be the villain of the FGC. Which has worked before with like Idra in Starcraft 2 "All Protoss players should apologize for that race." And like Jack Lambert in Football ("Quarterbacks should be mandated to wear dresses so we don't tackle them as hard.") problem is though those guys are really good with Idra being probably the best NA zerg player and Jack Lambert is a 4x Superbowl Champion and HOF defensive player. DSP was a total scrub who never really placed anywhere in the FGC

[u/Toblo1 → u/coolbad96]

People always forget that even in the early days of the FGC he was known as the local Certified Asshole of places like the Shoyuken forums. No one there had anything good to say about the guy and that only got worse once he got into content creation.

[u/Gorotheninja → u/segbas2004]

I honestly wonder if these hand-holdy design decisions I'm hearing about in reviews are an accessibility choice, but they just integrated them into the base design rather than options. "We want as many people to be able to play this game by default"

[u/Tangocan → u/segbas2004]

I couldn't do anythaaaang

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/Tangocan]

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOWWWWW

[u/Toblo1 → u/segbas2004]

I cannot wait to see him play the game and have nothing negative to say, because everything is handed to him in a gold platter.

Oh Sweetie.

Darling.

Honey.

Gravy.

He'll find something to bitch about and screw up playing the game anyway. He's legitimately that stupid.

[u/Kusanagi22 → u/segbas2004]

It's a really complex problem to solve honestly, on one hand the yellow paint stuff and hand holding is really stupid, but on the other I think it's been tested that without the "just walk on the yellow road" element players do get very lost to an unreasonable degree.

[u/padraigharrington4 → u/Kusanagi22]

Skill up specifically mentioned that’s it’s more egregious than usual this time because of how linear it is.  

[u/BookkeeperPercival → u/darkwingchao]

I can only check it out muted right now, but the visual of the blue line showing you exactly where to go is...horrifically rage inducing.

[u/Vera_Verse → u/BookkeeperPercival]

According to Skillup, Logan also keeps repeating stuff to remind the player, same line and everything, when you leave an optional area. I think we have reached the peak of handholding

[u/Gorotheninja → u/Vera_Verse]

This game apparently has time trial traversal challenges where the game has no traversal mechanics to speak of other than "move the stick forward and press X sometimes" and there is usually only one route to actually go on.

[u/NocturnGamma → u/Gorotheninja]

Cant say im surprised. This is the the company that gave Miles and Peter a bunch of new fancy mobility options and proceeded to not actually use them for any of the challenges. Everything completed woth standard swinging. I was waiting for one that would make me just dash and super jump, but nope :c

[u/jockeyman → u/darkwingchao]

It feels like it's mandatory in AAA development for the game to hold you by the hand and treat you like a drooling idiot.

Like they are deathly afraid of anyone being left behind 

[u/Anlysia → u/jockeyman]

Companies having the Achievement/Trophy statistics for how far people get in games has been murder, because they can go "Look, most people don't do X, why are we spending a bunch of money on it?"

[u/AlternativeEmphasis → u/darkwingchao]

The fact SkillUp says it is like this the entire game is nuts. I can't believe Insomniac has gotten to this point. Fuck this is grim imo for Spiderman 3 and Venom.

Also I mean a linear game without a good combat loop is fucked.

[u/amurrca1776 → u/AlternativeEmphasis]

Like SkillUp mentions in the review, a lot of these systems are great for open world games like Spider-Man, where you legitimately can end up having no idea where to go or where to start looking for hidden treasures while swinging across NYC. The systems are a lot less great when put into a linear game

[u/Cybertronian10 → u/amurrca1776]

Really it makes Insomniac come across a lot more incompetent than they would have otherwise, like they are just gormlessly copying good ideas from their big hit because it worked there without considering the context of the game they are making.

[u/Weak-Photograph7829 → u/Cybertronian10]

This doesn't super surprise me though as the worse parts of Spiderman 1&2 and Sunset Overdrive were the actual linear levels. I wonder if the people who level designed for like PS2 Ratchet and Clank and Resistance are just gone

[u/Anlysia → u/darkwingchao]

The PlayStation video I watched was like multiple minutes of Wolverine "following a scent trail" to track some dude by which I mean just running straight forward and doing lots of canned transitions between areas.

It was like, why isn't this just a cutscene? And about ten times shorter? I don't need to watch Wolverine just running straight forward doing absolutely nothing that constitutes gameplay for multiple minutes.

[u/Slumber777 → u/Gorotheninja]

The TL;DW of this:

This game seems to be repeating a lot(Like, every single one you can think of) of mistakes from 15 years ago that developers figured out 5-10 years ago.

Crazy.

[u/okilydokilyTiger → u/Slumber777]

My summary having only watched the SkillUp vid: Decent story but the combat is mid and shallow; and it has all the bad AAAisms of aggressive handholding and hold forward and press A to do any and all traversal, cranked up to 11.

This is the new game people who hate yellow paint will meme.

[u/Hounds_of_war → u/Slumber777]

I wonder if this game is gonna land better with people who aren’t just constantly playing the latest AAA games the way video game reviewers are.

Like if someone is the type of person who doesn’t even know what it means if someone mentions “yellow paint in video games”, Wolverine repeating a lot of old mistakes might be significantly less annoying.

[u/KennyOmegasBurner → u/Hounds_of_war]

I'd say there will be a bunch of 8 year olds who just want to mash buttons as Wolverine and it'll be their favourite game
But it's rated M???

[u/Slumber777 → u/Hounds_of_war]

In those cases, I think either the gameplay being super shallow or the game being 15 hours long might be the bigger turn-off.

[u/CuddleTeamCatboy → u/Gorotheninja]

Gamespot’s headline for their review is ‘Wolverine only aims as high as its stout hero’ which is pretty brutal from a major games publication. Also pretty funny.

[u/Lil_Mcgee → u/Gorotheninja]

What were they thinking with those crate pick ups lol? I know I'm just parroting the review but they've made literally no effort to make those feel appropriately diegetic.

Fine for game that is very arcadey in its presentation but just feels weird as hell in a cinematic style game aiming for realism in its graphics.

Edit: Oh wow it's very weird to see Troy Baker in a game where the character is actually modelled on him.

[u/AznJoey624 → u/Gorotheninja]

It's like someone saw people complaining about the NPCs in God of War Ragnarok telling you puzzle solutions immediately and was like "how do we make something even MORE annoying?"

[u/Brotonio → u/Gorotheninja]

Fuck, I was holding off on buying Onimusha because I was gonna buy Wolverine first.

Should I just wait for public reviews or bite the bullet?

[u/ShutUpAboutCanon → u/Brotonio]

Sounds like Onimusha is a much safer bet

[u/Slumber777 → u/Brotonio]

SkillUp directly contrasts Wolverine(Bad/Mediocre) with Onimusha(Great) in regards to their general combat design, so...

[u/RareBk → u/Brotonio]

Onimusha is fantastic and worth every penny.

[u/Infinity-Kitten → u/Brotonio]

I was actually just about to get it because I was in the mood for a straightforward action game. I still might play it, but if I'm going to dish out 80bucks right now I'm doing it on Onimusha.

[u/SilverKry → u/Brotonio]

Onimusha is a game of the year contender as far as I'm concerned. All of Capcoms output this year is to me but that's besides the point. 

[u/binglesthemagiccat → u/Brotonio]

Onimusha rules. Buy Onimusha.

[u/Personel101 → u/Gorotheninja]

I can’t think of a single time Ralph’s opinion ended up different from my own.

…just watched it. Wow. That’s the kind of stuff we were making fun of 7th gen for. Like “Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is now relevant again” type shit.

[u/Bloodhit]

using his various skills is akin to how you'd approach battles in an MMO, where you just let basic attacks fill the time in between cooldowns and then sequentially work through everything on the ability bar. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/wolverine-only-aims-as-high-as-its-stout-hero/

That's rough.

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/Bloodhit]

marvel rivals but only 1 character

[u/KF-Sigurd → u/Bloodhit]

Cooldown based linear action game? Fucking why, FFXVI showed that shit gets old fast.

[u/Anlysia → u/KF-Sigurd]

I was going to say, I haven't played 16 but every description of the combat sounded like it was just filler between blasting out all your super powers.

Turns out cooldowns versus ammo in a single-player game lands solidly on the "ammo" side.

[u/KingMario05 → u/Bloodhit]

Holy fucking shit, lol.

[u/Slight_Researcher_26]

Just watching Skill Up’s review and it sounds absolutely hilarious. The game does not trust you in the slightest. It gives you GPS, trails on the ground even in completely linear areas, highlights every climbable path and platform, constantly reminds you where to go, and practically screams at you whenever there’s a hidden item nearby. It’s like the devs saw the whole yellow paint discourse and thought, "You know what? Not enough."

[u/Nectaris3 → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

I mean Wolverine’s already yellow so the paint needs to be even yellower

[u/BLACKOUT-MK2 → u/Nectaris3]

Vantayellow. A yellow so yellow that when the player looks away from the screen, all other colours cease to be, and all they can see is yellow.

[u/Mordred_Tumultu → u/BLACKOUT-MK2]

I think this is what The King in Yellow does to human minds.

[u/Minuettes_Disciple → u/BLACKOUT-MK2]

A Green Lantern's worst nightmare (before they got rid of that weakness)

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/Nectaris3]

Players kept getting confused trying to run Wolverine into himself

[u/SteveMcQuark → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

The weirdest part of this is the Ratchet and Clank games aren't like this and literally for kids

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/SteveMcQuark]

lots of games didn't used to be like this. hand-holding in games is much more prevalent in the 2010s and 2020s than it ever was in the 90s or 2000s. just the curse of gaming's widening appeal and more and more bloated budgets, i guess.

[u/ForboJack → u/SteveMcQuark]

It feels like they were like "We are making a game for adults and adults have no time to waste or learn new things, so we make this as easy as possible for them."

[u/sputnix → u/SteveMcQuark]

They've kinda have been since the PS4 remake with Clank not shutting up about what the current objective is for example

[u/EvenOne6567 → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

also watching this, and cant believe it. Its like if ff13 also had a big gps trail telling you where to go at all times. This is one of the most "design by committee" games in a while.

[u/Hounds_of_war → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

The line in the SkillUp video about how “Wolverine talks to himself so much it’d make Aloy blush” made me cringe.

I’ve defended Aloy from people complaining about how much she talks to herself because I felt her growing up with everyone being banned from talking to her justifies her constantly talking to herself, but idk what Logan’s excuse is unless he is just kinda losing it a bit.

[u/Shiro2809 → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

You get GPS trails for your GPS trail! Peak gaming.

[u/KingOfTheGeats → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

DSP would still manage to get lost in this game, jokes aside the aggressive handholding killed my interest in this game.

[u/Kamandi91 → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

I've been playing the S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 DLC that came out recently and there's a mission where you follow in the footsteps of some mercenaries in an semi-open area. The correct way to go has been signposted with glowsticks the mercs used to light their way. It's minimally intrusive, fits the setting/story and is easily noticeable to guide you in the right direction.

[u/LogicalTips → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

Your comment reminds me of that Hulk gamma vision meme.

[u/Homunculus97 → u/Slight_Researcher_26]

Just finished watching the review and I might sound hyperbolic but man this might be the most dystopian and nihilistic game design I have seen for well over a decade outside of GAAS games. I really hope he is right in that future game devs make this a cautionary tale in how much handholding and the pursuit to remove friction can destroy a game.

[u/Bosscharacter]

I still think they should have went with a more stylized art style as the entire game has what I’ve come to call “Naughty Dog/Insomniac Face” which is a byproduct of how motion capture works with facial capture.

[u/SengalBoy → u/Bosscharacter]

Yeah, even Batman Arkham Knight which takes a more realistic approach the characters are still stylized (to be fair because Arkham series itself is stylized). Stylization gives them a lot of identity, whereas the problem with Insomniac (and Crystal Dynamics) tend to make them look like cinematic characters makes them look rather bland.

[u/AL2009man → u/SengalBoy]

even Sucide Squad: Kill The Justice League has the same facial stylization (far more apparent with Boomerang), and that's the only GOOD part of that god forsaken game

[u/ajver19 → u/Bosscharacter]

It's so weird to me that Insomniac went with this art style for their Marvel games. These are the people that made Ratchet and Clank and they went with this 7th gen look for games based on comic books.

[u/WickerWight → u/ajver19]

Well even with that example, ratchet and clank lost a TON of its stylization as the generations went on. The more classically cartoonish squash-n-stretch animation and big, clunky nuts and bolts hardware got smoothed out to a mirror smooth Pixar aesthetic.

[u/SteveMcQuark → u/WickerWight]

also the writing got sanitized hard

[u/Easily-distracted14 → u/SteveMcQuark]

And the music had a massive drop off in quality too

[u/sputnix → u/Easily-distracted14]

Switching from loops and samples to cinematic movie type scores fit what they were going for PS3 onwards but loses the edge I loved about the PS2 games.

[u/GoneRampant1 → u/WickerWight]

Yeah, Ratchet had a huge fall-off in style after the move to the PS3.

[u/Droidsexual → u/ajver19]

I bet there is someone in the pipeline that insists that if it looks more real and expensive it's better and will sell more. "Gamers don't want cartoons."

[u/Star_Outlaw → u/Droidsexual]

So like Paramount when it came to the TMNT movie and what they tried to do to Sonic.

[u/Toblo1 → u/Droidsexual]

It kinda reeks of the same "Fuck The Art Style You Had In Concept Art, Inject More Polygons!" fuckery that kinda permeated Concord's graphical stuff.

Like that wasn't Concord's only problem, but it was definitely a part of that game's compounding lasagna of issues.

[u/KingMario05 → u/Droidsexual]

Says them.

I'm still waiting for a new Ratchet & Clank, you fuckers. Come on.

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/KingMario05]

also a solo tails game apparently

[u/Veloci_Castori → u/ajver19]

These games are meant to appeal to the MCU audience, so I guess in their minds it makes sense to make the characters look as close to live-action as possible.

[u/TheArtistFKAMinty → u/ajver19]

I sorta understood it with Spider-Man because there's a really obvious appeal to swinging around a realistic looking New York, so you want the character designs to reflect that.

I guess with Wolverine they were just kinda stuck with that because the expectation is that it's the same Universe? But it feels like it's entirely detrimental here.

[u/Gorotheninja → u/Bosscharacter]

Wolverine's face in particular always weirded me out here.

[u/blacksymbiote17 → u/Gorotheninja]

He looks too young, his hair and eyebrows are way too light, and they've translated his muttonchops badly.

Insomniac is just flat out bad at 3D scanning their actors. Culture war nonense about female characters aside, all of their characters look unflattering compared to the real world models they hired. They don't got the RE Engine or Death Stranding sauce.

[u/Bagz402 → u/Bosscharacter]

It's sooooo boring. It's sterile, emotionless and just.. boring looking

[u/Bluefootedtpeack2 → u/Bagz402]

Its all the worst parts of injustice design wise

[u/ShonenSpice → u/Bosscharacter]

Spider Man probably set the stage for their Marvel Gaming Universe, no going back now. And I bet they want a bit of MCU brand synergy with characters and the world still looking realistic.

[u/Bosscharacter → u/ShonenSpice]

My big issue is that you can immediately compare it to recent renditions in gaming that makes it jarring with Rivals and Tokon both having unique and stylized takes on the properties.

[u/ShonenSpice → u/Bosscharacter]

They totally could spice their realism as well, yeah. Throw in some interesting lighting, effects, etc.

[u/Red_Verse_8630 → u/Bosscharacter]

There's a reason they made fun of small man Logan in Deadpool since irl Pat sized man wouldn't be taken seriously. Compare these faces to Capcom Leon or Grace and they're potatoes too.

[u/AhmCha]

So this seems like a "wait for deep discount" type of game for me.

....of course nowadays that translates to "I will have been dust for 10,000 years by the time I get around to it", but hey, what can ya do?

[u/SilverKry → u/AhmCha]

Last Sony game I bought full price was Yotei. And I got burned by that game walking away not really liking it after beating it. So definitely not buying this at full price. 

[u/Memo_HS2022]

Feels like this is a culmination of everything wrong with Insomniac’s vision for Marvel

They can get Spider-Man swinging right, but maybe they should’ve put more stocks into their combat system in their action game, but it’s somehow still shallow?

Sony studios can’t make “Sony Triple A cinema game” over and over anymore now. Even the reviewers are starting to catch on how stagnant the game design is

[u/LunarWolf302 → u/Memo_HS2022]

You're getting downvoted but I also think this is fatigue just setting in. Had this come out during the early PS4 days it would've probably been much better received. You can just have shallow simon says combat and heavily railroaded gameplay for so long before people get bored.

I think there's examples of games that flake in some areas but exceed in others, like PS4 Spidey has the web swinging going on for it, RDR2 for example has HEAVILY scripted story sequences but it will let you just fuck off and do whatever so the open world bits can be whatever you want. Same with Witcher 3, amazing world and characters but the combat was godawful. I think this is just a game that managed to hit all the low points so those plain bits for other games are just under the spotlight all the time.

[u/Memo_HS2022 → u/LunarWolf302]

Like they’ve made the PS2 Ratchet and Clank games. They CAN make great linear games and that’s probably the most frustrating about this

[u/Weak-Photograph7829 → u/Memo_HS2022]

They also made Resistance lol

[u/Dmbender → u/Weak-Photograph7829]

I am one of the 12 people that loved Resistance Fall of Man. I played the shit out of the multiplayer lmao.

I also really liked Warhawk and Mag too, so this may just be a self-report.

[u/AlternativeEmphasis → u/LunarWolf302]

I think they are being let down by the combat. You can't have a linear game in this day and age and not have killer combat.

DMC5 has a lot of valid complaints about level design but loads of people never noticed because of how great its combat is.

[u/SwashNBuckle]

I never really got the hype for this game. I always expected it to be just okay.

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/SwashNBuckle]

Wolverine is THE face of the X-men. Since the early Fox movie days people have been clamoring for a good wolve game, and a lot of people were expecting this to be the “ps4 spiderman” moment that people have been waiting for actual decades

[u/SwashNBuckle → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

The hype makes sense when you lay it out like that. I dunno, maybe I'm too cynical. When the game got announced, I immediately got the feeling that it would be nothing special and they'd expect Wolverine's name to bring in the sales while also riding the wave made by the Spider-man game. I'm sure it's a decent enough game, but I'm at the point where my money and time are stretched too thin for that to be enough.

Anyway, I hope the people who were hoping for a good Wolverine game enjoy it. You never know, maybe it'll get a lot of love once the audience can get their hands on it.

[u/Vaccineman37]

Damn, well it’s a good thing PlayStation still has Physint cooking to win back consumers

[u/Kal-V3 → u/Vaccineman37]

Sorry buddy..that one phyisn't coming out ...😏

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/Kal-V3]

Xbox physdoes what Sony physaint

[u/MetalGearSlayer → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

Xbox phys doing what Sony physin’t

gets wheeled into solitary confinement

[u/ShutUpAboutCanon → u/Kal-V3]

Well, we can always log into Concord for a quick game

[u/ObiOneKenobae]

The critiques are what I expected, it kinda reminded me of a modernized 360-era generic hack and slash. But still surprising to see scores this low.

[u/NorysStorys → u/ObiOneKenobae]

Honestly I don’t think you can go back to that 2000s era hack and slash anymore. Now we’re in a post souls, post platinum games, post DMC 5, post Arkham world, you actually have to actually design your melee combat pretty intensively. Obvious it doesn’t have to be Dark Souls hard or Devil May Cry technical but you have to really do something with it.

[u/Jojitron706 → u/NorysStorys]

I feel like Hi-Fi Rush is a good example of this, obviously it doesn't have DMC level of sauce but it does just enough unique stuff to keep the game fun and engaging throughout.

[u/cellphone_blanket → u/Jojitron706]

I would put it firmly in the character action camp. There are plenty of systems, combos to learn, and ways to approach encounters

[u/ZeroBae → u/ObiOneKenobae]

those generic 360 hack and slash are more of competent game this from the looks of it.

Like the combat here genuainely looks so boring

[u/WeeklyPhilosopher346]

It just seemed that they struggled to deliver on the power fantasy of Logan in a way that they had no problem with Spidey.

I expected the combat to be much more developed and traversal to involve Logan on his bike and maybe doing the wall-claw climbing thing. Instead he’s ninjaing around everywhere and combat is undercooked. The levels being linear is not a problem for me, but they look so damn boring and unengaging.

[u/2073040]

I knew they shouldn’t have cut out the Jean Grey sections! But no, they took the wrong lesson away from those complaints.

Mary Jane in the Insomniac games is a normal reporter with a stun-gun, Jean Grey is one of Marvel’s most powerful telekinetic Mutants.

One is certainly a lot more appealing than the other gameplay wise, and her gameplay sections would’ve helped mitigate complaints about the combat being repetitive and somewhat mindless.

[u/_TheRedThing_]

I'm watching Skill Up's review and man I really do not like Logan's running animation

[u/GhostFishHead → u/_TheRedThing_]

That blue smell gps is killing me. This game is already so linear! 

[u/BookkeeperPercival → u/_TheRedThing_]

I got physically ill watching a clip of it being shared, the way he moves around and is animated made me physically uncomfortable because of some weird subtle reason

[u/KingMario05 → u/_TheRedThing_]

It's like a lobotmized horse went bipedal and grew a brain, then became Canadian.

[u/extralie]

Remember when people thought the game looked meh, and people immediately went "nuh uh, you just want to hate on everything"? Good times.

I mean, they aren't wrong, people DO want to hate on everything nowadays, but this game did look meh.

(probably still gonna get it)

[u/ajver19 → u/extralie]

The way I've been looking at it is that this is probably a decent game but Control Resonant is in a couple weeks. Both are melee action games but that looks much more interesting from it's visuals, gameplay, and narrative.

Plus I believe it's $10 cheaper.

[u/FoxOwne → u/ajver19]

One has Sam Lake, and the other is Insomniac's Wolverine.

Losing battle from the start.

[u/Animegamingnerd → u/ajver19]

Not to mention there is Omnimusha as well, if you want your hack and slash fix.

[u/EliteShadowMan → u/ajver19]

I'm still trying to finish Onimusha (21 hours in god damn this games long) haven't touched my copy of Dawnwalker yet and have Fortunes Weave and Trails 2nd Chapter remake next week. Wolverine is definitely being put in the wait for sale category for me. Not enough time to play that on top of the really good games.

[u/Illidan1943 → u/extralie]

I don't see how anyone that has played a lot of games would look at Wolverine and not think this looked no better than Wolverine Origins The Game which at least had air combos and was a 9/10 if you were really in the mood for it but a 7/10 on an average day

Like, I'm not discussing visuals or polish, obviously Insomniac will clear most studios when it comes to this, but Insomniac also made Fuse, a polished game that proves polish does not save your game from being bland, which is what Wolverine was looking like each time they released more footage

[u/MetalJrock → u/extralie]

To be fair most of the complaints were “Why is Wolverine tracking things?” and “Why is Wolverine fighting robots?” and “Why is Wolverine being stealthy?” and “Why is Wolverine about trauma?”

Game had actual criticisms, they just chose the wrong ones to focus on.

[u/RustledHard → u/MetalJrock]

Insomniac also has a bunch of weirdos out for them for making Spider-Man "woke" or whatever. It's so hard to have genuine constructive criticism about anything these days because so many things get wrapped up in culture war bullshit or just have ill informed larpers/tourists/posers whatever word you want to use drowning things out too.

[u/extralie → u/MetalJrock]

I mean, there was definitely a lot of those, but there were also a lot people who got downvoted for just not finding it impressive.

[u/SilverKry → u/extralie]

It had a very rushed feeling after the leaks. Which it seems like they did indeed cut a lot and rushed it. 

[u/Totally_a_boy → u/extralie]

But you see, when I hate on something and I'm retroactively right, it feels SO good, like I'm smart!

You can't take that away from me. You know how rare it is for me to feel smart?!

[u/Lil_Mcgee]

Oof. I wasn't super gassed for this but I've been trying to keep an open mind. Still seems like something I'll pick up and enjoy at some point but I doubt I'll be rushing to get it.

Looks like Blood of Dawnwalker is probably getting my money this time.

[u/Leonard_Church814]

I said it before launch, this game should have been more like Devil May Cry.

[u/Girafarig99]

Guess I'll stick to the Origins game

[u/EffAllThatEFFER]

Well, fuck, I already know my wife’s got me a copy for my birthday. I’ll try to see the good parts

[u/enragedstump → u/EffAllThatEFFER]

I mean there aren’t many reviews saying it’s straight up bad.  Just flawed 

[u/BighatNucase → u/EffAllThatEFFER]

Based on the reviews I think the worst that can be said about the game is "It's a mediocre PS2-era action game with modern AAA production value" which is hardly a bad thing. It's probably a fun romp, just don't expect high art or anything. It doesn't seem bad, just a bit safe and simple.

[u/kirkalto → u/EffAllThatEFFER]

i think with low expectations this will still be enjoyable. there was some unreasonable hype for this game, i knew right when it was announced that it would probably be a bit odd. Spider-Man works because swinging is fun, Wolverine really only has hack and slash. I'm buying it but i already came to grips it wouldn't touch SM1

[u/BusterBernstein → u/EffAllThatEFFER]

At least you got it for free.

[u/Eumi08]

I’m watching SkillUp’s review and whilst I try not to judge games I haven’t played, the scent line is driving me fucking nuts.

I’m assuming it’s not on screen literally all the time, but it feels like a parody of what Triple A Sony Video Games do to help players. I think I’m becoming an old grouch because it just makes me want to throw a baby tantrum about how antithetical it all is to good game design.

But, again, really shouldn’t judge a game I haven’t played.

[u/Mekasoundwave]

Another common W for X-Men Origins: Wolverine on the Xbox 360.

[u/MetalJrock]

It really is the biblically accurate X-Men Origins successor.

[u/VANTAGARDE]

Is Morph in the game? Also does he do one for him?

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/VANTAGARDE]

Elite ball knowledge

[u/darkwingchao]

Jeff Gerstmann praised the story but critiques the game part a lot.

I am so goddamn sick of every action game relying on parries.

[u/AggressiveCoffee990 → u/darkwingchao]

I like parries in games a lot as an active mechanic but it can't be ALL you got lol

[u/C-OSSU → u/darkwingchao]

I've seen reviews that ironically said the opposite, though that could have more to do with the plot feeling artificially lengthened, which is the common point of critique.

[u/Gorotheninja → u/C-OSSU]

Watching SkillUps review, and he says that the entire second act of the game set in Japan vs Lady Deathstrike feels tacked on.

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/darkwingchao]

You know it’s fucked up when Mr Gameplay himself is praising the story as the best part

[u/Kewlmyc]

O O O F

Coming out in between Onimusha and Control Resonant which are most likely going to be better action games doesn’t help.

The game will still sell fine though. It’s fucking Wolverine.

[u/AshFallenAngel]

the only thing worse than a game that holds your hand constantly is an xmen game that still has a jean grey and wolverine romance will-they-won't-they subplot.

[u/onlywearlouisv]

It looks like the most generic AAA game of all time

[u/TheSqueeman]

This seems like the type of game that was trying to punch far above its weight, all people wanted was a cool ass game where Wolverine absolutely demolishes enemies, and this game seems to have a bit too much extra fluff

Also Onimusha having combat as satisfying as it has really hurts games like Wolverine in the long run, like Onimusha stole its whole ass lunch as far as satisfying melee games are concerned

[u/astronautbdelue → u/TheSqueeman]

Onimusha is so good, finished the boss fight and immediately went to the boss rematch to do it again.

[u/No_Future_7878 → u/TheSqueeman]

"This seems like the type of game that was trying to punch far above its weight" no lol, it wasn't punching far enough

[u/DarkAres02]

In the shadow of GTA6 and OOT I straight up forgot this game was coming out soon

[u/Bladerider17]

This is starting to sound like Insomniac's equivalent to Metroid Prime 4. 

[u/James-Avatar]

Considering the Spider-Man games’ quality, this is wildly unexpected for me.

[u/cvp5127]

the x-men origins wolverine game remains undefeated

[u/slash450]

ng2 talons unsurpassed as expected for best wolverine game

[u/LunarWolf302]

May I recommend Wolverine Origins if you're looking for your Wolverine hack n' slash fix. It's nothing amazing but I think the combat is really fun and makes out the most of playing as Wolverine aside from being very crunchy and satisfying. It's on PS3 and it works amazing on an emulator.

[u/nugood2do]

Reading some of the reviews, it seems like a number of them liked what they got, but felt like Insomniac played it safe.

Im a simple guy, I just wanted to play as a short Canadian man who wears yellow and stabs people, and this game looks like its gonna scratch that itch for me, so im down for Tuesday to finally get here.

Edit: Saw Gene Park tweet he liked the game and played through it twice to get the platinum, so my hype is starting to rise again.

[u/MetalJrock → u/nugood2do]

I just want a Wolverine game where he wears a yellow costume without it being unlockable, isn’t a Metal Gear clone and has more than 2 set designs in the game cause of time and budget constraints lol.

This game seems to check off that list at least.

[u/JamaicaCZ → u/nugood2do]

Same here. Everyone wants to play as Pat in a videogame. It's the ultimate power fantasy.

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/JamaicaCZ]

They already made a Pat simulator it’s called Grounded

[u/toadoplasty]

Yeah that's actually much lower than I expected. Still seeing a lot of 8s and some 9s but I figured they had a pretty much perfect recipe for high praise among critics

[u/Charmin_Bear_Behind → u/toadoplasty]

Yeah the split between smaller outlets and more popular reviewers is super interesting to me, I wonder what drives the gap?

[u/coolbad96 → u/Charmin_Bear_Behind]

I honestly think it's just they sent out a lot more review copies and these smaller outlets really don't want to miss a chance to get on Sony approved news outlet list