In the original Mirror's Edge game, players automatically had access to most skills at the beginning of the game.
However, previews of Mirror's Edge Catalyst, which will serve as a reboot of the series, show that many of those skills, including rolling, 90-degree turns and swinging from poles aren't available until upgraded with XP earned during gameplay.
Some fans of the franchise are upset about this choice, particularly after noting that these were all skills that Faith, the game's protagonist, had upfront with the original game. These fans believe that these are basic moves that Faith should have early on without needing to grind through the game to earn XP to attain them. This also signals a major change from the first game to the new title.
In the first Mirror's Edge, many players ran through the tutorial several times just to get all the moves down so they could play the game. This time, though, it seems that EA DICE has dumbed down the system so that there's more hand-holding than the original in teaching players how to handle Faith's movements. Fans feel this takes away from one of the concepts that made the first game enjoyable.
Some players are also worried that this means the game relies less on parkour than its predecessor.
"The skill tree either means that basic parkour mechanics aren't needed to beat the game or that missions are gated based on what skills you have," writes one NeoGAF user. "I would be okay with the latter, but the former would be a huge bummer."
According to Eurogamer, though, it isn't hard to earn XP throughout the game: everything Faith does nabs her points, so that she can level up quickly and use XP to buy those upgrades.
"Pretty much every action you complete in the city, from side missions to gathering collectibles like Gridleaks, will grant you XP," writes Eurogamer. "Each time you level up, you gain an upgrade point, letting you chip away at another block in the upgrade tree."
Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a first-person action-adventure game that follows protagonist Faith as she runs, jumps and climbs her way through the futuristic city of Glass in an effort to overthrow an evil group of corporations that run the city.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst releases on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on May 24.
