Hope for the Future or Corporate PR? Capcom Boss & PB Discuss Mega Man's Future

[Hypershell]

While? Sega got people's interest back with Unleashed,(for better or for worse, at least the fanbase was in agreement over the daytime segments) got their love with Colors, and generations simply sealed the deal that Sega knows what they are doing again, and won their hearts back over.

And before that there was Rush and Secret Rings.  Sonic, even among the editorial audience (which received him considerably worse than his fanbase most of the time; the Adventures got shafted after Sonic lost his "console mascot" status), has been more hit-and-miss than he was the complete disaster that the populace tried to pass him off as.  The editors dismissed it as a "handhelds rule, consoles suck, except when it's the one Wii game that doesn't look like a GCN game" trend.

As a side note, I still maintain that Black Knight is sorely underrated, but I don't expect to change anyone's mind this late in the game.  You just can't sell Sonic with a sword to some people.  The genie thing probably only worked because it wasn't evident on the game's cover.



Sonic was more of a bumpy roller coaster; I don't think anyone in their right mind didn't notice something off after Shadow, the second post-Dreamcast game.  Mega Man has been a slow decent into mediocrity, with quality levels that "satisfy" the fans but were insufficient for the masses.  We were at least four (sidescrolling) games into it before we even started to notice.  Then Mega Man 9 happened and we thought all was well again.  No such luck.

[Protoman Blues]

The difference between Sonic & MegaMan, or more to the point Sega & Capcom, is that as far as I know, Sega has never announced a sequel to a Sonic game fans have been waiting forever for, got the Sonic fans hopes up really high as well as getting them involved in the process, and then cancel the game. Mega Man 9 was never, or rather should never have been a sign that Capcom was on the right track because Mega Man 9 should only really be viewed as a cheap game meant to fill the classic 8-bit nostalgia void. It and MM10 were exactly what they needed to be and I'd wholeheartedly love if they continued along that route for classic series MM games. The problem lies with the other series.

Sonic Generations was an attempt by Sega to capture the nostalgic feel of the old games, something they've been trying to do for some time now but have mostly failed at. However, what Sega did was continue to attempt new styles of gameplay and like Shell said they've mostly been hit or miss. Generations seems like a good balance between old and new, but how long Sega continues to go that route is anyone's guess. With MegaMan, lately all Capcom has been doing in terms of new MM games is relying solely on nostalgia. The last, truly new experiment gameplay wise that went into MM was the EXE series. This is why so many fans were looking forward to Legends 3, because it was a chance to explore and possibly improve upon a gameplay style that hasn't really been attempted for 10 years. Capcom can do nostalgic MM games fine. What they need to do is make something new. By all accounts, Legends 3 should have been exactly that or at least a step in the right direction, but we all know what happened there. Sonic may have been a bumpy roller coaster, but as of now the MM one has the power completely off on the majority of the theme park.

[Hypershell]

I'll be the first to tell you that I, personally, have plenty of criticisms with 9.  But it was a nice change of pace as far as critical response goes, mainly because it was riding a nostalgia wave.

I don't really doubt that the established formula still works, although yeah, people are going to be reluctant to pay 50 bucks for it in this day and age (ESPECIALLY as long as Capcom is fixated on 8 bosses).  The problem, as it went prior to 9, is that their attempts at it either failed to match up to their predecessors (Powered Up and its radically claustrophobic play style) or were completely bogged down with needless sidequests that barely gave you any worthwhile rewards anyway (ZX Advent is a serious offender here; near all of the chips are only available post-game and they don't do anything THAT special).

With 9, the NES style at least mandated that it was impossible for them to screw up the character-to-screen-size ratio, something that somebody really should have looked at more carefully with Powered Up.  I'll never tell you that 9's level design was up to par with the actual NES games, though, because it wasn't.  There's a difference between challenging and just blind-siding the player.  And the over-reliance on the shop diminished the feel of legitimately growing stronger.  And the nerve to charge for difficulty levels was Capcom's cheapness in full and obvious force.  10 was definitely an improvement, although the fact that it's the only game where I wish for a weapon to deliberately fire down a pit isn't necessarily a good thing, but other than that things were looking up at least quality-wise.  Unfortunately, the audience didn't follow.  Can't say I blame them, there were still a few kinks to work out.  We as fans have a bit more patience, but if in two games of the same style you can't perfectly nail it, the general populace is going to very quickly lose their desire to see further sequels.

[Yllisos Zanon]

To be honest, as far as Legends 3 goes.  I'd rather have the creators of God of War series, make L3.

Also, on the TV series, I agree of the Avatar notion. 

[Bolt Crank]

To be honest, as far as Legends 3 goes.  I'd rather have the creators of God of War series, make L3.

What? On what grounds?

[Yllisos Zanon]

Game controls from the God of Wars, I really like the straight forward free roaming play.  Also, the quick weapon switching, would work good with the Legends 3 arsenal.

The puzzle and enemy fights, I can see that same kind of thing, for any ruins and/or the moon.

But, most important, the graphics.  Primary reason why I want the G.O.W creators, to make the game.

[Kieran]

The graphics are never the most important part of anything.  A shitty game with pretty graphics is still a shitty game.

[Mirby]

The graphics are never the most important part of anything.  A shitty game with pretty graphics is still a shitty game.

I completely agree with this.

Also, good music is important too.

[Bolt Crank]

Game controls from the God of Wars, I really like the straight forward free roaming play.  Also, the quick weapon switching, would work good with the Legends 3 arsenal.

The puzzle and enemy fights, I can see that same kind of thing, for any ruins and/or the moon.

I'm pretty sure GoW isnt the only franchise to have those elements.

But, most important, the graphics.  Primary reason why I want the G.O.W creators, to make the game.

They also are not the only people to make nice graphics. Graphics come from the budget. If the game has a big budget, it is more likely to look prettier.

Also, really? The MAIN reason is because they made nice graphics on GoW?

[Reaperoid]

I'm pretty sure GoW isnt the only franchise to have those elements.

In fact, Capcom already has their own God of War... it's Asura's Wrath.

[Hypershell]

And, that brings us back to CyberConnect2.  (not a bad idea, I'd say)

Graphics help, but they don't make or break a game.  In fact, I'd argue that very few 3D PS1 games could touch Legends 2's visuals.

[Phi]

In fact, Capcom already has their own God of War... it's Asura's Wrath.

Except their quality is nothing alike at all. AW has one of the worst combat mechanics I've played in any video game. God of War is far and above, superior in every way. Play the demo of AW, and you'll see how sloppy the combat is. The constant QTE sections are a little annoying, however I can't deny that it's satisfying.

Game controls from the God of Wars, I really like the straight forward free roaming play.  Also, the quick weapon switching, would work good with the Legends 3 arsenal.

The puzzle and enemy fights, I can see that same kind of thing, for any ruins and/or the moon.

But, most important, the graphics.  Primary reason why I want the G.O.W creators, to make the game.

I agree on the free roaming aspect, although I'd want L3 to be more environmentally interactive than GoW ever was (destructable buildings or objects) and scaling the walls like they've shown with the Prototype. Quick weapon switching is definitely a good idea, but the fighting in the Legends franchise should always stay ranged, not close combat (unless on occasion with Barrett's melee attacks).

Graphics are far from the "most important". Gameplay always comes first, control second, with graphics simply finishing up the presentation.

[The Great Gonzo]

I don't know how relevant this is, and it's a bit old, but Capcom basically doesn't yet have plans for MM's 25th anniversary...on the year on that anniversary.

This "ten year plan" thing isn't too reassuring either; knowing Capcom, we wouldn't get a new MM game until the end of those ten years.

(I know it'd be hard to bounce back from two cancellations in a row, but shouldn't planning for something like this start a lot sooner? Hell, they don't even know what their plans should be yet)