idiot who plays all these fucking games, I don't mind having a change of pace right now. The Legends series is unfortunately, as Inafune put it "the clumsy child." Mega Man Legends, known as DASH in Japan, is probably the worst series title for title, and don't get the impression that I hate these games. I love them, but I'm stating simple fact.Mega Man Legends did not sell well, it did not play well. The controls were awful, and the overall design was a bit lack luster, and it cost a crap ton of money to develop. That said, it did a lot of things right too. Capcom is afraid to make another entry in this series for a number of reasons.
1. It's going to cost more money to develop than a standard Mega Man game. Legends, by design, needs to be a Triple A title to deal with full 3D graphics and new game play mechanics, and Inafune even knows it's going to cost several million.
2. It's going to take some real work to design this game to get over the pitfalls of the previous Legends games. You've got some real head scratchers in making the game feel like a Mega Man game in 3D, and every try they've made to push Mega Man into that direction has failed. We'll get to X7 to demonstrate later.
3. This is a departure from the standard Mega Man formula, so while the hardcore fans like myself will buy anything Capcom shits out with Mega Man's face on it, these games are not the wide appeal a game like this needs to be profitable. To sell this game, they'll need advertising, great reviews, and talented workers. Capcom is capable of all these things, but they are also shrewd businessmen, and Inafune's as much a company man as any of them are. The time just isn't right for Legends 3 right now.
But let's talk about the strengths of the series. It has a delightful cast of characters, pretty good voice acting, and a fun sense of exploration you don't get in other Mega Man games. The game design isn't as good as it could be, but the series was developing well and the jump in quality from Legends 1 to Legends 2 was pretty significant. I think Capcom knows enough about the technologies they are working with now to do really well with a Legends 3 should they risk making it.
In the Mega Man universe, this series takes place at the end of the time line, several thousands of years after X, Zero and even ZX. At one point it might have been considered it's own canon, but in Mega Man Zero Complete Works, the designers state that they had kept Legends in mind, and tried to lay the ground work in their series that could lead to the events of Legends, so it is definitely part of the whole story.
This is Inafune's favorite series of the Mega Man games, and he is regretful that it is on hiatus right now. He has stated in several interviews that Legends 3 will be made one day, even if he has to fund it with his own money, so it will come out. Just not right now. However, it should be of note that these games are starting to find an audience, and the characters keep showing up in the other games here and there. Capcom may find that fan support for this series may resurrect it one day, and perhaps sooner than we think. Mega Man Volnutt appeared in a recent game, Capcom vs Tatsunoko, as well. To say they are definitely making it soon would be a hasty conclusion, but it's definitely on their minds.
My own predictions of this series are like this. I think Capcom will test the waters first for a Legends potential. We might see a bundle pack, or an online download of some sort just to see if there is a market there. There is no way they're going to sell enough ports of these games to give a number close to what they need for a final product, but Mega Man's overall popularity is back on the rise, and the right advertising campaign might make them feel easier about it.
We might even see an enhanced port, a few new features to get old owners to pick up the new version. After that, I could honestly see them going for a remake instead of continuing with a third game. Redefining how the game works and applying a more successful formula to it. I could just as easily see Legends 3 directly continuing instead though, but remember, it's been 9 years since we stranded Trigger on the moon. There's no telling how the story will be affected by that.
Legends is a unique experience, but far from your typical Mega Man fare. Don't expect the 8 robot masters, stage select and variable weapons you're used to. The games in this series include:
There are some cell phone games in the mix, but those aren't going for the main stream Mega Man audience, so I've not addressed them here. My next review of Mega Man Legends should be up some time tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment