Page 9 of 9

Can Multiplayer Focused Games Have Sequels?

Sean Alexander

The reaction to Splatoon 2 not being “new enough” makes us wonder…can these multiplayer focused games really get sequels?

 

So this is a strange topic. Multiplayer focused games, be it MMOs, fighting games, MOBAs, so on and so forth, build communities around themselves competitively, primarily from the mechanics being engaging and enjoyable to play.

In some franchises, such as first person shooters like Call of Duty, the frequent sequels don’t impact the game much. But for genres that exist with single entries for years at a time, a sequel is a big shake up.  Something like Super Smash Bros. for instance, only gets a new entry every few years. But with it comes a well documented problem: Change.

So within fighting games especially, mechanical changes are hot topics. To this day, there are known showings of events where Smash 4 is played, only for the crowd to demand Melee immediately after due to “Superiority”. Brawl is almost reviled by the community for its mechanics. The change was seen as a bad thing – Too far from Melee, is a bad game for those communities.

So jump ahead to Splatoon. A game that absolutely lives on its mechanics. But the sequel released 2 years later, most likely to bolster the console it was on early in its life, was met with near universal complaints that it “Isn’t new enough”. But the thing is, how much could they change? Too much, it falls into the Brawl trap. Too little, and this complaint arises. With Splatoon, a game so focused on it’s mechanics to stand out, if too much is changed…is it even the same game?

overwatch-share-3d5a268515283007bdf3452e877adac466d579f4b44abbd05aa0a98aba582eeaebc4541f1154e57ec5a43693345bebda953381a7b75b58adbd29d3f3e

With other games like this, such as League of Legends, or Overwatch, try to consider a sequel. How much would they actually be able to evolve the gameplay, while keeping it the same game, before hitting the Brawl problem? These games, like Splatoon, live on expansions, some paid and some free.

But then we hit another issue – World of Warcraft is getting expansions-less servers! A basic experience is being touted as a good thing, in the face of how much the game has evolved and changed.

Screen-Shot-2017-11-03-at-12.30.23-PM

This is a delicate balance – Multiplayer focused games really can get sequels, but the balance between keeping it similar enough for the community while also doing enough to make it new…is difficult. Who knows, maybe Splatoon 3 will be a big hit and change a lot. Maybe an issue with Splatoon 2 was how quick it arrived in stores?

 

All I know is it will be very interesting to see how other game in the field evolve – if sequels ever come on new consoles like the PS5 or if the game just gets re-released.

 

Review: Super Mario Odyssey

Sean Alexander

Title: Super Mario Odyssey

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Copy Provided By: Bought it with my own money!

Super Mario Odyssey is a fantastic game, with few problems, and is simply a joy to play.

And frankly, isn’t that the best recommendation a game can have? The latest 3D Mario adventure returns to a more “sandbox” style with open areas to explore, challenges in each hidden away in separate little areas, with other objectives strewn about for good measure. That is also very clearly selling this adventure short.

To say it has returned to the sandbox 3D roots of Mario is true, but it took the idea and ran with it, introducing so many new ideas at every turn that amazingly don’t clash horribly and form a cohesive experience. Every kingdom you visit is its own quirky world, some big and some small, with its own unique denizens and culture, and of course, challenges.

The main objective: Power Moons to power your Hat Ship, The Odyssey, and rescue Princess Peach and new character Tiara, from Bowser, along with your new companion: Cappy. Cappy is a great addition, capturing enemies as a form of power-ups, giving you situational abilities to collect Moons and explore for other secrets, hidden areas and find Regional Purple Currency.

4

Purple Coins are plentiful, either 50 or 100 to a kingdom and they are…optional. Actually a lot of this game is. Purple Coins can only be spent in their respective kingdom for costumes and souvenirs. Regular coins can be spent anywhere on other costumes, Power Moons (Multiple ones post-game!) and extra hit points.

Power Moons however, are for progression. While a few are locked until you beat the final boss for when you return to the world later (And even then a load more are unlocked at that time too, so that checklist you see isn’t the whole story!), most Moons can be found right away. Go explore. Some areas are locked until you beat the main “Story Quest” for the world, and then things open up. This is great, as it shows you around the kingdom and the environment before fully opening up and letting you run wild, and even then, a lot of Moons are still available right away!

8

This game is constantly rewarding you, for looking, searching, even collecting coins.  From beating just simple objectives there are over 850 Moons to collect, and you only need 500 to unlock every kingdom, less to beat the game. A lot of this game is entirely optional, and for most players even the mission based objectives will be enough. But if it isn’t, you can max out your Moon counter for a final secret reward at 999 Moons, which you need to grind coins to buy multiple of.

3

Frankly that is tedious and the reward is in no way worth it, unless you are absolutely a completionist. But that’s okay. Say for instance there are some Power Moons that are just too tough for you to get, you can always just buy a Power Moon to cover for it. That’s entirely an option. The game is incredibly accessible and while the sheer volume of Moons may dilute the experience into mindless collecting, and difficulty and obscurity of some collectibles almost necessitate guides, the game still rewards you regardless of what you do, and even through tedium, or difficulty, the game is designed to push you onwards.

Amazingly, the game isn’t too difficult. It has moments, mostly after the final boss and a few select mini games, but the game is comfortable. The only part I admit I didn’t like, was the start, where the Sand Kingdom (Seen below) is very early in-game and does feel overwhelming, too sparse and open for so early in the game. Thankfully, missing Purple Coins can be found by scanning any Bowser amiibo, and every amiibo gives you little rewards. Plus, nothing is locked behind amiibo, so those extra costumes you want can just be picked up at a moments notice once unlocked and ready to buy with coins.

5

Looping back like a hat throw back to Cappy: What a joy this little guy is. He is such a great addition to the game for both aerial mobility and jumps, combat, exploration, everything, and such a welcome addition. The only downside is some moves via motion controls don’t work quite as well using regular controls or, for instance, in handheld mode, and a few straight up refuse to work using motion controls, but they are never mandatory. Everything can be done with a press of a button should you wish, save for the occasional shaking of a Joy-Con for a captured enemy.

Speaking of “Cap-turing”, this is such a great mechanic for both exploration and combat, with 52 different creatures and even objects to control and utilise in your quest of simply exploring. None of them feel out-of-place in their respective worlds, and each adds something different: Impressive for such a large roster.

1

And this would be a mistake to not mention Mario himself. What an absolute dream to control with fluid movement, acrobatics, momentum and more. Playing a game in a 3D space has never felt so fun and joyous just from the HD Rumble through the controls from landing from a jump, or the feedback from an attack or getting hit, or riding a motor scooter. The game makes it feel fun to play, either through immersive technology inherent to the console itself, or just the pure feeling of play.

Visually, what a beauty, both docked and undocked! Stunning sprawling vistas, snowstorm flooded caves, dense forgotten jungles, ominous stormy towers, and a whole range of art styles that may seem odd, but mix so well into a fully comprehensive look at Mario’s World, in a way that one kingdom feels out-of-place being just a fly away from Peach’s Castle. So many of these worlds are so far from “Standard Mario” that it defies belief that creativity can run rampant even 30+ years after his introduction.

2

Audio is also a stunning highlight, with a post game option to play whatever tune you want at any time, being a standout feature. Each world is captured perfectly by audio and the jazzy vocal tunes don’t feel out-of-place. Every kingdom has its own distinct style and while some areas (Particularly a large open desert) generally lack music, the ambient noise is still wonderful.

Even every little attention to detail is wonderfully crafted and a labour of love for what could just be a footnote from a promotional material for a past game, represented musically or visually here. It’s such a wondrous thing how all the other Mario games can seemingly connect so effortlessly together, like something on this scale was always planned, showering years of characters and themes into one big package to sugar coat something almost entirely new.

Super Mario Odyssey is pure bliss from start to finish, and while that start may be coarse and a little rough around easing you into the adventure, the rest of the story is just the tip of the iceberg for an unforgettable adventure around the globe. Any gripes I have are simply minor at best, as this is a title you definitely want to pick up for your Nintendo Switch – And we can only hope the next adventure is as grand as this.

EA Conferences typically put people to sleep.

EA and Nintendo: Is It Time To Give Up?

Sean Alexander

Let’s be honest: Nintendo and EA are two companies that don’t really sit together. There is a long myriad history stemming from Nintendo’s approach to their hardware, and EA’s approach (Oft noted for being less than flattering) approach to software. The two simply don’t mix.

 

With Nintendo Switch, back in January at the reveal in Japan, onto the stage trots EA executive Patrick Söderlund with Bill Trinen to translate to the Japanese crowd: A show of commitment that EA will support the new hybrid platform…with FIFA 18. He really doesn’t look happy to be there does he?

Baby steps then, and after the Wii U rightfully so, but as weeks turned to months and E3 finally rolled around…it became clear: A custom built version of FIFA 18 that runs very well for what it’s worth, missing key things that apparently can only be done in their custom Frostbite engine. Yet the hype maintained, the best portable FIFA ever (Which objectively is the case).

EA kept making the case for the game, saying “we want you to try it, we have faith in it”, but there was no demo. There were no review copies sent out until launch day (Other platforms got both of these a fortnight or so in advance!) and things felt off.

And for some reason, despite Sony having a marketing deal with EA for the game (And most multi-platform games as it happens), Nintendo somehow got away with advertising the game themselves (Frankly, more than EA did!) at their E3 Spotlight, in Nintendo Directs, and on TV in advertisements or social media:

fifa18-switchpage-switchontable-lg

Then it comes out. Some bugs aside, it was exactly as advertised. Except you couldn’t play with friends online, and where the blame rests for this is unclear. On one side, yes the Switch online infrastructure isn’t ready yet. On the other, plenty of other countless games on the system manage that feature. When asked by Eurogamer, EA gives a complete none answer, touting portable play and local multiplayer as a replacement:

FIFA 18 on Switch offers Local Seasons allowing friends to play against each other across two consoles in close proximity to one another, and we encourage those looking to compete online to take advantage of online modes on Switch including FIFA Ultimate Team, Online Seasons, and Online Tournaments.

So the result? Well critically…the game didn’t do so hot, scoring below the Vita version from years past. Fans generally liked the game though, niggles aside, and for what time the developers in Romania (Yes, really) had, it’s a very valiant effort.

Sales wise, the game sold through its allotment of physical copies in the UK and other countries with outlets like Amazon promising more stock. And concurrently the eShop showed FIFA 18 sitting high on the charts for a good few weeks too, riding the digital waves on the new platform.

 

Considering that and the sellout of physical shipments that EA themselves determined and shipped out…it must have met expectations right? Apparently not. EA, in a statement to Wall Street Journal, announced the following:

So, I only have educated guesses here – based on the history of EA – as to why this is. First is that they genuinely produced as many physical copies as they needed to meet expectations and that sold through, with digital filling a big hole in those figures. Or they produced a bare minimum (As again, EA dictates shipments) and threw it out due to obligation. Of course, this is the company that said Dead Space 3 had to sell 5 million units to secure a future, so for all we know their expectations could have been to match Xbox One sales on a smaller install base: They have a history of being unreasonable with expectations.

The other question is what are they waiting for? They put their game out with their assigned shipments. Was it not enough? Do they want to see how other third party titles sell? This is certainly a strange situation but they haven’t actually said what it is they are waiting for specifically, just waiting to see what the demand is for the system in general.

 

But a little history. Who remembers the “Unprecedented Partnership” for Wii U? Gamers got Mass Effect 3, the conclusion to a story focused trilogy, out of that deal. Except no one had a reason to buy it, given that ecosystem had missed the prior two instalments of the story. And there was an at the time newly launched and cheaper Trilogy release on other platforms and in the power of the internet age they knew that was a thing.

So that game didn’t sell: Cue Shock and horror. FIFA came and went, becoming (And not in a sarcastic way, a quite literal way) roster updates of existing games, no mechanical or visual adjustments whatsoever, and then EA walked.

eau

What did they do wrong? They supplied the wrong games to the wrong market. If it was the Trilogy release? Probably would have been fine. Not amazing, but fine. The same mistake was taken with Switch.

 

EA is well noted in the industry for being a “Minimal Effort, Maximum Profit” kind of business, like any business wants to be really, so this stance isn’t exactly new. Back in the days of the Dreamcast it is documented EA wanted SEGA to let them have the monopoly on sports titles on the system: This didn’t happen, EA walked. And with the expectations EA frequently has on it’s games? Man, who knows what they thought FIFA 18 would do.

 

This wait and see approach is, unfortunately, damaging. Looping back to the question of Should we just give up on EA?, at this point I want to say no.

Come a year or so of the Switch being on the market I want to see what EA has to say before bringing a decision on them. But I see three possibilities:

 

1 – EA just walks away. This wouldn’t be new, and frankly is most likely depending on if they are looking for profits equal to other platforms rather than something supplementary, and that can also potentially factor in the cost of tweaking games for the system: Does it make sense for them?

2 – EA brings some games, misreads the market again, and walks. This is also very likely, as again, EA and their noted expectations for games would make anyone on any platform nervous.

3 – EA brings games, does them right for the market, and sticks around. This really is the best case scenario: More games for a platform are good for everyone, especially with the heavy hitter franchises being locked squarely under EA. Those are names you won’t get from anyone else.

 

But the reason this question popped into my mind in the first place is that is this the straw that broke the camel’s back? Has EA finally just nailed the coffin shut? After some pretty lacklustre cash ins on DS and Wii, the Wii U and it’s hilariously bad marketing (From both Nintendo in hardware and EA for just throwing whatever and expecting it to sell) and now this.

After leaving the ecosystem behind; promising a single game; stating that single game will be used to judge future support; evading questions about said game and in some ways sliding some missing features under a rug; asking people to try it but mandating they buy in first; and then back peddling on using the game to test the market and instead waiting for “Something else” to judge demand instead, at what point do the consumers just say enough is enough?

 

But in the end, Koei Tecmo said it best:

“We bet big on the Switch as a game changer so we began making games before the Switch’s launch, but many software companies showed reluctance in releasing Switch games before they witnessed the current success.”

Something is going to give, and gamers aren’t ones to forget.