Cyberpunk 2077 has an odd connection to Marvel's Avengers. How are the two titles linked? An embarrassingly old-fashioned design philosophy that rears its ugly head from the very start of each adventure.
Even on the surface, Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel's Avengers have a lot in common. The two hotly anticipated games were marred by buggy launches (although Cyberpunk's many glitches were definitely more prevalent) and PR disasters. But Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel's Avengers are not only linked by their reception. They share a fundamental decision that is indicative of a wider, flawed design philosophy and dampens the rest of their respective gameplay experiences. What is this shared flaw? Each begins with a terrible tutorial.
Tutorials are rarely a standout moment in any video game. However, as it is necessary to familiarize players with controls and mechanics, certain conventions have evolved to explain these concepts as quickly and entertainingly as possible. Both Marvel's Avengers and Cyberpunk 2077 make use of a time-tested trope of tutorials: the simulated training session. This convention fell out of favor years ago and is today more associated with PS2 era titles and indie VR games. But both AAA titles attempt to make it work by grounding the simulation in their respective fictions and peppering it with amusing narration. This tactic is not new. In fact, the introductory simulated combat encounters of each of these 2020 titles bear an uncanny resemblance to the bizarre, iconic tutorial of a 2002 movie game: Spider-Man.
How The Tutorials Of Cyberpunk 2077 And Marvel's Avengers Fail
In Spider-Man, tutorials leaned into the ludicrousness of this "video gamey" convention with cameo narration by cult film icon Bruce Campbell. This knowing wink to how contrived the whole experience of yanking players out of a story to dump them into a training sequence helped convey the game's campy tone. This style of narrated tutorial was employed by dozens of subsequent titles, including Marvel's Avengers and Cyberpunk 2077, but it requires a suitable degree of self-awareness.
Sadly, Marvel's Avengers and Cyberpunk 2077 lack a sufficiently self-deprecating sense of humor about how outdated their tutorials are. Marvel's Avengers features tutorials hosted by Jarvis, Tony Stark's supercomputer/butler/substitute father. Jarvis's politely pompous personality is a natural fit for injecting wry wit into an otherwise dull tutorial, but his commentary rarely extends beyond calling players' successes "smashing." In Cyberpunk 2077, that tutorial is a simulated training course courtesy of arms manufacturer Militech. An ally knowingly jests before the tutorial begins: "Hope you're ready to bust ass through this fascist playground." But the referential humor basically ends here and what follows is a by-the-numbers tutorial in a self-serious game where the funniest moments are often just Cyberpunk 2o77's infamous bugs.
In fairness, it should be pointed out that Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel's Avengers prioritize diegetic storytelling in their tutorials. That is to say, they justify their tutorials' gameplay as an actual part of their canonical settings. Both take advantage of their science fiction setting to explain in-fiction why their tutorial takes place in a simulated environment. Unfortunately, this commitment to diegetic storytelling cannot make a lazy game design engaging.
Stubbornly diegetic tutorials can be immersive, even fun, when well-crafted. More creative options, like working explanations of controls and mechanics into missions, also would not have sacrificed immersion while being far more entertaining. In fact, despite the simulated set dressing, the tutorial in Cyberpunk 2077 makes little narrative sense since, while the player is still getting the hang of controls, Cyberpunk's player character V is already a proficient killer. This in fact breaks immersion and ruins the entire gimmick of an in-world tutorial. Cyberpunk 2077 pulls its players out of the story in the same jarring, old-fashioned way Marvel's Avengers did earlier this year, and without the genuinely entertaining narration of even older games.
Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel's Avengers share an unfortunately outdated design approach. While there is plenty to enjoy in each game, their uncreative tutorials help make sense of at least a little of their mixed critical receptions.