Marvelous!

I am by no means the biggest Marvel fan nor a fan of most FPS types of games, but Marvel Rivals is different for me. Why? There is a diverse selection of characters that all play differently and add something new with their game play. That really is it for me. A lot of these characters are also simple to use and only require you pressing a couple of buttons and not performing some kind of crazy combo to be successful.

I am a casual player and only this season have I started to play ranked and it is a pain in the ass. This is my biggest beef with these types of games. Players for whatever reason decide to throw games, make smurf accounts and be complete jerks and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. The only way to rank up is to find your own group of friends to play with, but I struggle with even finding one person to play with so ya. Ranking up is something I will try to put on the back burner.

What does ranking up do for me. To be honest nothing much. If you reach Gold you get a free skin and typically I am all about free skins, but this season's featured characters are Blade and Phoenix and the free Phoenix skin despite it being really nice, her play style is not for me. I have tried to get to like her through Conquest and the Practice Range, but I just can not go all out for her. I will most likely play ranked this season casually and see how far I can get, but it causes me too much stress and anger to play it regularly as some of the hardcore players do.

Image via Rival Skins

I am into my third season playing the game and so far I have Lorded Punisher, Emma Frost and Cloak and Dagger. To Lord someone means to reach the maximize a character and with that comes cosmetic awards which are pretty sweet. No skin though unfortunately. At least not yet. Punisher was very easy to Lord since his game play is probably the easiest in the game and I got there by almost solely playing Conquest. Emma Frost took a little bit more time since she is not really a damage dealer. Her character is my most favorite since she is a bad ass and a lot of her cosmetics are free. She is my most decked out character and I use her when I need to complete a challenge or I just feel like using her. Cloak and Dagger was also pretty easy to Lord since they have dual abilities. I am currently slowly working on getting Scarlet Witch and Luna Snow to Lord and I am not sure who will be next. One thing is for sure there are plenty of characters in this game and new ones coming every couple of months that will keep me playing for the distant future.

Other characters I like to use are Magik, Wolverine, Black Widow, Psylocke and pretty much anyone to be honest. Like I said earlier I am a casual player that simple enjoys trying new things and getting as many kills, assists and heals as I can. Most of these characters I use periodically since I focus on the characters I try to Lord, but they are all enjoyable regardless.

Marvel Rivals also has a large presence on Twitch and I have followed a couple of streamers and one of them plays with her community regularly. I used to be addicted to watching Twitch streams and I do not expect to ever get back to that level. The demographic of streamers is filled with people that I would rather not deal with and let us leave it at that. I got lucky and found a couple that seem chill and respect their community so that is all that matters!

Marvel Rivals on the surface may seem very similar to other FPS games like Overwatch 2 and Valorant but there is one major difference. Rivals is based on something that is real and out there in society. The M.C.U, love it or hate it might be the most popular thing in cinema in today's world and this game takes full advantage of all the great things that are Marvel. Ponder this though. If Valorant is such a great game why has not there been anything else about the game in terms of shows or movies? League of Legends has the successful Arcane series and Valorant has not gotten a sniff. Things that make you go hmmm?