The Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games has been beloved by fans since it released back in the '90s. Gaining popularity as a 3v3 fighter with Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, the series would run until 2017, with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. The latest entry went for the original game's 2v2 formula and Infinity Gems for power-ups, but it was anything but smooth sailing for the long-awaited game.

Right off the bat, the game lost fans by omitting the X-Men. The series started with them, and Capcom tried to explain, saying that characters were just functions. Unfortunately, players were already irate. Removing the X-Men characters from the game would be a decision that would come to haunt the game as time went on.

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The game's story mode certainly didn't help matters. The title features the series' first cinematic story and does away with arcade endings. This deals with the worlds of the two companies being combined and facing a threat from Ultron-Sigma, the combination of Marvel's Ultron and Capcom's Sigma. The story tries to craft a narrative around the heroes' struggle to save a merged Earth but feels very forced in execution and leaves players with more questions than answers.

The story starts with the worlds already merged but never explains how we got to that point. We see Capcom villain Jedah Dohma approach Death in the Marvel Universe, implying that the Infinity Gems are responsible, and we get some clues that Ultron also helped in the merge, but these are just hints. The game also makes sure to hit certain notes for characters that seem rather forced, such as Chris Redfield raiding a lab full of zombies, Spider-Man and friends facing a giant symbiote monster, or Black Panther refusing to cooperate with the other heroes. Things feel like they happen just to happen, and that's never a good thing.

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The story isn't the only thing dragging the game down, as the roster choice is abysmal. As more and more characters got announced, it became very clear that Marvel wanted to entice a certain audience by making the roster on their side heavily MCU based rather than drawing from the variety in the comics. Instead of characters like Dr. Doom, Sentinel, and M.O.D.O.K., Marvel opted to play it safe and put characters like Hawkeye, Gamora, and Captain Marvel, who are all very much based on their movie versions. It rejects the roots of the series, and many players felt put off by these choices.

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite Thanos

Similar to the roster, the music in the game also made players confused. While the music on the Capcom side is fine, incorporating well-known tracks for characters like Mega Man X or Nemesis, the Marvel side has completely changed. Gone are the familiar themes for characters like Captain America, only to be replaced with pieces that sound like they're riffs on MCU themes.  This game is going for the MCU feel, and it wants players to know that, much to its own harm.

The game ran into more roadblocks when the graphics weren't up to par. Aside from again striving for the MCU's look, the graphics looked very rough. The game barely looked better than the previous entry. Players were greeted by character designs that were lacking, like a Captain America that looked like Rob Liefeld's roided out drawing or a Chun-Li whose face model was so bad it was actually replaced via a patch. The game's visuals lack the pizazz and bombast of even the last game.

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This game series has always been one for skilled players, where crazy moves and combos were at the forefront.  This title opted to change that and became a more casual, beginner-friendly type of game, even featuring auto combos. The game spent more time teaching and touting single-player modes, and only a small competitive scene remains. The game was made easier to approach for new players, and it was a controversial move because long time fans saw it as a needless addition.

The issue of what went wrong in this game has been discussed before, but the game remains a case study of what not to do when bringing back a beloved franchise. The company tried to make an easier game, with Marvel counting on the MCU's popularity to draw in players. In the end, this only brought more criticism to a game that had been slapped together. They tried to innovate with a cinematic story, but the attempts only ended with Marvel and Capcom abandoning the game after the first DLC wave.

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