Marvel Rivals: A Sneak Peek into Game Play Insights From 20K Player Reviews
Introduction:
In my previous post, I highlighted product-level metrics that set Marvel Rivals apart, and also discussed how Marvel Rivals benefits from player-friendly monetization such as all characters unlocked from the start.
I will talk about two of the gameplay related metrics that come up in player reviews, Strategic Play and Skill Progression. The player feedback is mixed for both of these topics.
Disclaimer: The following insights were extracted with Ludopsy from Steam reviews. Italicized text throughout this post reflects my personal takeaways or opinions based on the data.
1️⃣ Strategic Play
(Mentions: Over-indexing by 2X, Polarity: 40% Positive – 58% Negative)
Strategic Play emerges as a defining but polarizing topic in player reviews of Marvel Rivals. Player enjoy the unique playstyles the roster offers along with freedom to choose any role, while others are frustrated with DPS heavy team compositions and some overpowered characters.
Key Subthemes:
Diverse Character Roster and Playstyles:
- ✅Players emphasize the wide variety of characters, each with unique abilities and playstyles.
- ✅The celebrated team-up abilities encourage strategic thinking and collaboration, adding depth to gameplay.
Character Balance:
- ✅Players highlight the game’s “If Everyone is Overpowered, No One is Overpowered” philosophy, and appreciate its chaotic yet enjoyable gameplay.
Note: Players find the moment to moment gameplay fun (87% positive) with diverse and engaging hero abilities, fast-paced and chaotic battles, humor and lightheartedness frequently mentioned as contributing to fun of each moment.
- ⚠️However, many reviews also highlight severe balance issues, with certain characters like Iron Fist and Scarlet Witch being described as overpowered.
- ⚠️Overpowered ultimates (e.g., Jeff and Scarlet Witch) are criticized for leaving players feeling helpless with little room for counterplay.
Open Role Selection and Lack of Role Queue:
- ✅Many players enjoy the freedom to choose any role, appreciate being able to switch roles mid-game, adapting to changing situations or trying unconventional strategies.
- ⚠️Whereas others are frustrated by unbalanced team compositions because of open role selection. Players note that the game heavily incentivizes DPS roles, and some players feel forced into tank or support roles to balance the team, which reduces their sense of strategic choice.
2️⃣ Skill Progression
(Mentions: Over-indexing by 1.2X, Polarity: 48% Positive – 49% Negative)
Players do not perceive Marvel Rivals as a heavy skill-expressive game. For instance, Rocket League over-indexes on this topic by 3.5X, and Supervive over-indexes by 3X. Nevertheless, it is still one of the over-indexing metrics, albeit slightly.
Some of the subthemes of this topic are the usual suspects such as character mastery, and easy to learn- hard to master on the positive side, and matchmaking related complaints on the negative side.
More unique insights are: role switching adding another axis of skill expression for players, and lack of individual performance recognition coming up as a complaint.
Key Subthemes:
Easy to Learn, Hard to Master:
- ✅Players emphasize the game’s accessibility for beginners while offering depth for experienced players.
- ⚠️However, overwhelming visual clutter and poor readability along with fast-paced gameplay creates challenges for some new players
Character Mastery and Skill Expression
- ✅Players emphasize the satisfaction of mastering individual characters, each with unique abilities and playstyles.
- ✅Players appreciate the high skill ceiling for certain heroes, which allows for advanced strategies and rewarding gameplay as they improve
- ✅The game allows for individual skill expression, with players feeling accomplished when they perform well or carry their team
Open Role Selection and Lack of Role Queue:
- ✅Players point out the need to adapt to different roles and characters based on team needs, which encourages players to expand their skill set.
- ✅Players who can effectively switch roles and contribute to their team feel a greater sense of accomplishment and progression.
Team Synergy and Strategy
- ✅Many reviews discuss the importance of understanding and leveraging team composition and synergy, particularly the “team-up” abilities, as a key aspect of improving and succeeding in the game.
- ⚠️However, many players feel that their individual performance is overshadowed by poor team composition, with frequent complaints about teammates who do not understand roles or objectives.
Perceived Skill Gaps and Matchmaking Issues:
- ⚠️Players perceive that matchmaking frequently pairs players with vastly different skill levels, leading to unbalanced and frustrating matches.
- ⚠️The lack of a role queue exacerbates this issue, resulting in teams overloaded with DPS players and lacking tanks or supports.
Lack of Individual Performance Recognition in Ranked Play:
- ⚠️A recurring complaint is that ranked progression focuses solely on match outcomes, with no consideration for individual performance.
- ⚠️Players express frustration at losing rank points despite performing well, especially when teammates underperform or leave matches.
Closing Thoughts:
An interesting point is the open role selection and role switching mechanic. It provides players with the freedom to play the roles they enjoy and introduces another axis of skill expression. However, this flexibility also leads to unbalanced team compositions, resulting in frustration for many players.
How would you tackle this challenge? Would you prioritize player agency, or would you implement systems to ensure balanced team dynamics? Or do you think this works with Marvel Rivals’ fun over competitive balance approach?
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