Square Enix has confirmed that despite negative fan reaction to the designs of the characters in its recent game trailer for Marvel's Avengers A-Day, they will not be making any significant changes.
IGN recently had the opportunity to chat with Crystal Dynamic lead creative director, Shaun Escayg, who made it quite clear that no changes would be forthcoming, stating, “We are always listening to, and welcome feedback from our community. There are currently no plans to change our character designs”.
Escayg went on to explain that as the game was still in the earliest stages of its development, characters will certainly be receiving more polish before the official launch of the title. “The trailer is showing pre-alpha gameplay footage, which means the level of detail and overall polish of the character models will absolutely continue to improve as we get closer to launch,” Escayg stated.
The reaction to the characters by fans seems to largely split between two lines of thought. Some have criticized the look of the character's faces as overly-bulky, in many ways too similar to each other, as though they were all taken from a generic model and only slightly modified. This is something that is likely to be corrected as the game nears launch, similar to, but not nearly as bad as the Chun-Li fiasco of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
The other complaints have been made against the costume design of certain characters. Captain America's armor is considered too bulky for some, as though it were riot gear, while others took issue with the discs on the front of Thor's armor.
These design choices are what will not be changed, and in all honesty, they should not be. It is quite difficult to justify such criticisms against the costume design of characters that have been around for over five decades, who in that time have undergone countless changes in their outfits. Even within the short time that Chris Evan's has played the role of Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is there any one outfit that is better than the rest?
The answer is entirely subjective. A fan may demand to see him dressed as the First Avenger from his debut film, while some may say the Endgame outfit is best because it was the last one worn, and some may advocate for the Winter Soldier version, because why not?
By seeing the various designs from the 1960s until now, coupled with the fact that the Marvel universe is split into an infinite series of timelines, there is no justifiable way to say that one design is "wrong." It is only different.
Far more important is the gameplay. If Square Enix does this right, most of us won't mind how a costume looks, to say nothing of the fact that we know so little of the game right now that there might even be skins to unlock or purchase that would make the entire issue a moot point.
Now, if the characters still suffer from the generic same-face at launch, then perhaps it would be time to complain.
Avengers A-Day will launch on May 15, 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and the Google Stadia.