Any thoughts on the Wolverine handholding controversy? I understand that Sony

There is absolutely a place for player handholding as a development goal, but it varies significantly depending on the genre and target audience. When the game's target audience skews toward less experience with games (e.g. children, casual players), the amount of overt direction necessarily increases in order to direct the players to the fun parts and reduce friction and/or frustration. Players who have more experience with games don't need as much because they are familiar with games and their common behaviors. There's less need to direct them because experienced players are more self-directed by nature - they already like games, so they will go look for the fun themselves.

For example, if these design choices were implemented in a LEGO game, I believe complaints about them would be significantly reduced if not eliminated altogether because of the implicit understanding of the target audience. Overt and redundant UX markers to direct players on where to go next would not be offensive, they would exist because the gaming public generally understands that the children and non-gamer parents who are the target audience probably need the direction due to a lack of gameplay context earned through playing many other games.

The incongruency comes from the adult-targeted gory nature of the title. The game marketed itself on an adult-oriented story with adult themes. It's about a character in the comics with a troubled past and a willingness to kill. Everything about the game presents itself as a game meant for more experienced players who are looking for a dark and gritty story where their consciences will be challenged and the story will probably be both grim and bittersweet. The game wants to be like the 2017 film Logan, but the hand holding feels much more like a Saturday morning cartoon. In essence, these two design paradigms do not fit together, which causes severe internal dissonance.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

• Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter
• Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on BlueSky
• Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr
• Frequent Questions: The FAQ