by Jasae Bushae » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:42 am
I joined just so I can say that...Im actually one of the people not backing it. ^^;
I was never a big fan of Megaman Legends (though Misadventures of Tron Bonne was a game I greatly enjoyed) And there really was nothing shown to give me incentive or interest in backing it. Maybe if Call was playable from the start I would jump in, but helping to invest nearly four million in Mighty to get robocall for one stage...I doubt she is going to pop up. Theres nothing shown to make me believe this game will be better than the Legends games, and since I wasn't a big fan of those....
I will say though, a probable factor in why this is having more trouble than the original might simply be because it isn't as recognizable. Alot of people picked up Mighty No 9 because just looking at the image, you can tell right off the bat that it is based on a Megaman game and uses platforming. Megaman despite the quality of recent games, is still recognized as one of the greatest videogame characters of all time, and just being associated with that brand recognition is enough for most people to back it simply because their fans of Megaman.
Megaman Legends...Doesn't have quite that same recognition, and the games premise is not one that people know as universally as Megaman himself. And Red Ash is completely different in many ways. The character wears red instead of blues which while offering a much more original and interesting look to the character, also takes away any resemblance to Megaman and even the Beck of mighty no 9.
Even the promotional video is very different. In the Mighty No 9 pitch, they used the entire thing to make Megaman references and boast 'we are bringing back Megaman!' and people who are fans of the hero jumped in for the sake of making this dream a reality. I know a number of people who backed it simply because they know Megaman, though they had never played a megaman game in their lives.
With Red Ash, they don't make any connections to Megaman legends except once as a throwaway about attempting a similar game but it 'didn't receive the recognition or resolution it deserved' Instead, they focus on it being a game inspired by anime, with their main promotion being storyboard footage and voice acting. They emphasize the character design and artwork, but never show us any gameplay. Their kickstarter page boasts that it is different from any other action RPG
"myriad of elements to set this game apart from your typical RPG--specifically, bargaining between partners, interaction with NPCs, an almost mischievous sense of freedom, and dungeons built with elements of horror."
Except...All of those elements have been a part of action RPGs in the past. I know they want to make this an anime as well, but their really doing nothing to sell this game for people who would be looking at this game as wholly original (which their pitching as its own thing) and nothing shown really sells its premise as being especially exciting.
I can understand why they did this though. Inafune is probably nearly done with Mighty and wanted to jump right into another project without having to let anyone go. The art side of things is probably already done so he could utilize them to work on this title, but the programming and development side are doubtless still at work on Mighty. That said...The one thing that would best promote Red Ash would be Mighty, and since it is not out yet, trying to sell yourself on brand recognition is difficult to do without the use of shoutouts to either Mighty or Mega.
I mean, there are some here and there. Like Tyger is obviously based on Teisel Bonne, but...
Im sure this game will reach its goal in the end, and I might even pitch some money in if it looks like it will fail otherwise, but im just not as excited about it as I am at the prospect of a megaman-esque sidescroller for the sake of Megaman.
