NGHHH...CAPCOM...!!!

[croik]

Fuck. Saw the new GK2 updates and all I can say is fuck, I'm so....ugh. I can't stand it. Do Not Want, in caps. I'm sure everyone's excited but I can't even look, because it's just such a bad sign for the franchise, I mean seriously. If I talk to anyone who's excited about it now I'm gonna lose my nachos. I'm just so irritated I'm mostly

Comments

[croik]

It's not just the fact that they're filling the game to the brim with cameos (as far as I'm concerned GK1 did not "pull it off well" so I have little confidence they'll be able to in GK2), it's that they're treating Edgeworth as a defense attorney. I'm sure by the end Edgeworth's going to reject Shigaraki's notion that he switch sides, but they've already shown that in Case 2 you go up against Ichiyanagi, another prosecutor who already has a suspect in custody. And then in Case 3 you're going to play AS a defense attorney. They're showing that with this new gameplay style it doesn't matter which side of the law your protagonist is on, the experience is still the same.

In GK1 Edgeworth was already behaving just like Phoenix would, minus the court phase. In GK2 they're going a step further. With the improvements they've made to the gameplay and graphics there's no reason for them to go back to the GS formula. If anything, they might as well do Gyakuten Bengoshi and use the GK engine with a defense attorney main character--just slap court back in and it'd be the same thing.

If they do GS5 at all they're going to need to streamline the entire formula and redo a bunch of the sprites in order to meet GK's standards, in which case, they might as well start fresh on 3DS. And if they do that, they might as well reboot. And if they do THAT, there's no way they're going to stick with Apollo. When Capcom fails with their secondary protagonists they never stick around to fix, they just move on (i.e. Onimusha, DMC). I really doubt we're going to see Apollo again in any capacity other than cameo, and it's very frustrating.

[croik]

Ah, you meant in terms of gameplay/defense attorneyness. I agree, that is a problem, and I've been wondering how they would pull off a return to GS-style investigations after GK; if they just port over the GK system, then GK loses what made it unique, but if they don't then that's a pretty big step back.

While I agree that they're going to need to move onto the 3DS (especially with PLvsAA on the way), I think the whole "then they'll need to reboot then they'll need to drop Apollo" is a slippery slope. True, they jumped to Apollo after the series moved to DS, but that was after Phoenix's trilogy was done and wrapped up. Apollo's isn't, and I don't necessarily think they'll just drop him. It's definitely a possibility, especially considering that Takumi said something about the GS series being done after GS4, but I think it's a little early to declare the death of Herr Forehead.

However, one thing I don't know that you might: how did the Japanese fanbase react to GS4? I know GK largely happened because Edgeworth was so popular already.

[croik]

Apollo's isn't, but like I said, that hasn't stopped Capcom from jumping ship on what they consider to be an uncertain investment. Nero never got closure either, and his game sold 2.7 million copies.

I would love if they did GS5 in kenji-ish style with the courts back in and Apollo picking up the lead. But to go from GS4 traditional style to GS5 in a new gameplay, with the story carrying over? It doesn't seem like a good business strategy when you consider Capcom's desperation to appeal to new gamers. Especially with a new 3DS title, it's much sounder from a marketing angle to do something fresh that people who aren't series fans can jump right into. So unless Takumi really pushes to continue Apollo's story (and it doesn't look like he's interested) I just don't see it happening.

GS4 in Japan is a strange thing. It sold something like 250,000 copies in the first month, more than all the GS games before it combined. Compare that to GK which, I think, was more like 120,000 or so (iirc). GS4 is still the series' best seller. But fan reaction in Japan was, as far as I've heard, just as severe against Apollo as it was here. They tried releasing the Odoroki Gyakuten art pieces through some magazine as they did with the earlier games, but sales were bad enough that they pulled the plug and started doing the Edgeworth-themed Gyakuten Snapshopts instead. Plus they've ported all the Phoenix games to phones and Wiiware but not Apollo. He just doesn't sell well anywhere, I guess.

GK2 is a perfect place to cameo young Apollo and Klavier...but I don't think enough of the fandom is behind them for it to happen.