I know a lot of rabid fans of both the original Blue Bomber, Mega Man and the offshoot of the character from the mind of Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9, are pretty upset on how the upcoming title is being handled. Well, I suppose that upset is perhaps not the best word to describe all the frustration that’s being generated among the fans of title that was supposed to be the re-birth if you may, of his original character. One that Capcom has been sitting on for some time now.
However due to the way Mighty No. 9 has been handled and due to the lack of communication from Comcept INC, especially towards those, like myself, who helped the project thanks to raising 4 million dollars on the Kickstarter project.
It’s a mess all around, there’s no mistaking it and I totally blame Comcept and Inafune on that. I’m sure by now they see how upset we as a whole is and I should hope they are busting their butts trying to get Mighty No. 9 out the door and hopefully ready for that 2016 released. Especially since it’s been pushed back 3 times, missing its original 2015 release date. A friendly word to the wise Comcept INC. If this fails to release on the next promised date, the fans will not forget it and your chances of getting another kickstarted campaign off the ground will likely be even worse than your most recent attempt, Red Ash.
Innovation is what drives progression, progression is what makes games or anything else better, or at least that’s the overall hope in the end. With that, I’ll lead into what is bothering me about the comments and debates about Mighty N0. 9 and no I am not commenting on anything other than the design choice. Alright? No bickering about delays or asking for money as I completely agree with you on that. But the change to 2.5D, I feel was the right call and this title isn’t the first time someone has taken the 2D and moved it to 2.5D or 3D. And despite what I think and feel, after watching the video I made recently, that was originally about the “Special Demo” being released earlier, just about every comment in the video was along the same lines; Why is this in 2.5D/3D, what couldn’t it be 2D?
Though I’d wager that the fans aren’t really upset of the game’s 2.5D nature and in fact are frustrated by how the game looks, but via pictures/still shots and in motion. Granted the current state of the game looks nothing like the concept artwork that was originally shown, I’m sure Comcept can see this is part of the issue. Not all of the art is bad mind you but combined with the fact the game has been delayed multiple times, you would have assumed that time would be used to add some much-needed spit and shine. However, the release of the “Special Demo”, it’s a clear indication that wasn’t the case.
The game looks similar to what we saw in the later stages of the beta and some have argued that it looks on par with that, some say it looks worse. I’ve seen comments regarding this that have gone as far as to state that they’ve seen better graphics on the original Xbox and PlayStation, of course that’s a bit of an exaggeration but the point is made. And that point is that the fans are a little more than disappointed in the “supposed” hero that was supposed to usher in a new era, a passing of torches between the old blue robot who could do it all, to the next guy in line. Only problem is that no one wants this new guy in line to do much of anything. Well other than shutting up. Seriously Beck, your voice is quite annoying!
Inafune and team, as it stands, Mighty No. 9 looks to be a graphical letdown and we’re pretty frustrated with how this looks. We were expecting better from you, especially in a day and age where games with less of a budget look as good as this game and some even better. The game doesn’t come out until Q1/Q2 2016, so here’s to hope that you take that time and work on the graphics a bit more and if the game has to be delayed again to do, then do it. Sure the fans will be frustrated about another delay. But as it stands, they’re already quite frustrated. But I’m willing to bet that they’ll be furious if after all this time the game hasn’t improved.
On the flipside, it would also send a signal to Capcom and the world that you, Inafune, may have lost your touch. It could very well be your last chance and that’s a shame as this title has some much potential.