The beast of the blizzard company has released ‘The Invitation’, a new tale for Overwatch 2, which features the mighty gorilla scientist Winston as the main character. This is a text-based narrative instead of a video and is being narrated through the PlayOverwatch official Twitter account. The announcement has brought the community of players mixed feelings instantly with many voicing their criticism over the lack of traditional animated shorts.
Blizzard is once again generous with this story feature and in fact through Overwatch 2, right?. And it concerns the far future and somehow a gorilla’s invitation to new heroes. Fabulous, isn’t it? But if you click on the link you will see the first thing is a short story. Just like, written words on a page. And the gamers’ reaction? It is not quite a standing ovation.
Let’s just get into it, for sure, it is a mess. The top response from mrvampzi makes it very clear: “MAKE A CINEMATIC NOT A SLIDE SHOW PLEASE.” And the cry is very similar from all sides. Nostalgic User Muu__Too: “Dude, can you remember the good old days when Overwatch used to get cinematics?” Ouch! That sure hits hard, huh? It’s almost like they are inviting people to reminisce about those splendid animated short films like ‘Dragons’ or ‘The Last Bastion.’ Great times already passed when everyone was talking about those beautiful animations. Now we only get a page. Quite a change of atmosphere indeed.
And yet, the main thing is not the format. Some players see it as an opportunity to express ALL their complaints. User I0nao was so strong and shared his feelings about how the whole thing smells like “copium” and that he is not convinced there were any plans for the story arc back in 2019. He even mentioned all the layoffs and how the story feels abandoned. This is a pretty serious charge, but the frustration is indeed palpable. They wanted the big, grand, and epic PvE story mode, and what they see coming is almost…stagnated. User J_ROOST just frankly said, “Can you imagine if they kept the story mode?” Absolutely! Just imagine that!
On the other hand, there are sideline discussions happening. User pkpanicc said they are “sick of your propaganda” and want to “join talon with doomfist,” which is really funny and also somewhat reasonable? Like, the bad guys are the coolest! But this is an indication that players are taking some part in the world even if that means doing it in a sarcastic way. There are some others who are simply begging for cosmetics. “Give us more skins for Winston please!!!!” cries out uhohitsdanny. And Lichtschutz is here trying to negotiate, “Just give me a winston mythic weapon or a skin please, or at least a winton weapon charm.” This is all about priorities, dude!
It is pure chaos in some of the replies. BorgeousCat popped up with, “LMAO This shit is sooo ASS> MARVEL RIVALS COOKED YOU.” The competition is getting in! That is a totally different level of throwing shade. And then, there are users like ProtsmanPanther and rustyxlol, who are basically crying over the loss of what Overwatch could have been had the former director Jeff Kaplan not left. “Truth nuke game was better under kaplan,” one of them states. The other one ironically praises new features such as “pronouns on your profile!!” It is a mess, but it is a passionate mess.
However, the not mad at all category is not empty! A few players are just glad that there has been more lore. Marcel posted, “LOOOOORE, I LOVE U WINSTON.” And godiira claimed that Winston’s voice of hope has always been their heart’s comforter. So, the situation isn’t that negative, after all. But there is still an overarching sentiment that this short story, although nice, is a disappointment compared to the cinematic legacy built by Blizzard. It seems like a downgrade, a cost-cutting measure, or just a different direction that not everyone is inclined to follow.
Still, you have to give a little sympathy to the developers, right? They are bringing forth story content, trying to keep the narrative moving on after the whole PvE overhaul. But players have been trained to expect nothing less than those blockbuster shorts. A text story, however well-written, shall not ever be equal to a cinematic. It’s akin to receiving a text message when you were expecting a face-to-face heart-to-heart. The info is there, but the magic is not.
This whole thing is a very clear signal that Overwatch 2 is in a tricky situation, with some players enjoying content on their PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
