Gaming Articles – Page 3 – Windy Hill Media

Hogwarts Hotel

For Harry Potter’s birthday, we here at WHM wanted to do something different. While all the other articles in Gaming Convo are about video games (as the name suggests), this topic is not. Simply put, I want to discuss and pitch what the title indicates: a Hogwarts Hotel.

WHY NOW?

The idea for a Hogwarts Hotel has been floating around in my head for a long time, perhaps too long. However, two recent events have made me believe it is time for such an establishment to exist. The first of these events is the impending opening (at time of writing) of Star Wars Land in Disneyworld. According to what Disney has pitched us about their vision for the park, Star Wars Land could be the most immersive, themed amusement park to date. There, guests will be encouraged to take part in their own Star Wars story, which will be enhanced by your stay at the yet to be built Star Wars themed hotel. The goal of the park and hotel is to fully immerse guests in the galaxy far, far away.

The second event was the recent opening of the Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure rollercoaster at Universal. It proved that the Potter fandom is still very strong in the world. With people willing to wait up to 10 hours for a few minutes on a ride, those in charge of the Potter IP should be looking for more immersive Potter material to supply to the fans.

If fans are willing to pay admission to a theme park with numerous other quality rides but choose instead to wait ten hours for a single ride based around the Harry Potter IP, what’s stopping those in charge from making fully immersive Wizarding World experience far beyond what they’ve done so far? I was shocked when I searched “Hogwarts Hotel” online and found that the closest thing to it was a couple of Potter themed rooms in one hotel in the UK. How has this not been taken advantage of?

SO WHAT IS IT?

If you’re going to make a Harry Potter themed hotel, you have to go all in. What is the one place every fan of JK Rowling’s world wishes they could go to? Hogwarts. And what would you do at such a place? Well, let’s get into some specifics.

Firstly, the rooms would essentially be standard hotel rooms with Hogwarts House themed décor. They would not be as portrayed in the books and movies because a circular room with six or seven beds would just be a little awkward. As a guest, you would have the option to choose which house you belong to. The room options would naturally be Slytherin, the dungeons, Hufflepuff, near the kitchen, or Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, both of which are in towers (rooms with views). Now Slytherin might be the cheapest option as, well, you’re underground, but certain perks could be available to Slytherins that aren’t available to other houses in order to keep the prices the same. The reason there would even be rooms in a dungeon to begin with is to go for as accurate a Hogwarts representation as possible to give the guests the fullest immersion possible.

Another way to add to the immersive experience when it comes to the rooms would be the inclusion of the sorting hat. Guests could pay a flat fee, get sorted, and then get reimbursed if they are sorted into one of the “cheaper” houses. Now if all the rooms are set at similar prices, then the sorting hat could be incorporated into a more traditional wizarding manner. Or, if guests wanted to, they could simply bypass the hat all together if they wanted a more traditional hotel stay, however that would probably be very unlikely for people staying at Hogwarts.

From a business model perspective, the hotel should take the all-inclusive approach. When most people think of all-inclusives, they think beaches and booze. There are other all-inclusives in other locations, however, and those would be more the style Hogwarts would fall into. In fact, not many US based all-inclusives include alcohol to begin with in their all-inclusive prices. Secondly, an all-inclusive experience would add to the immersion. You wouldn’t be going to a Hogwarts Hotel to simply stay there and have your fun elsewhere. This is an argument to have it not affiliated with the theme park and instead make it its own unique experience. The idea of a Hogwarts Hotel is to get guests to go there so that they can do everything at the hotel and on the surrounding property, like at an all-inclusive.

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

The basics of room and board would be essential, obviously, but the main draw would be the experiences found inside the walls and on the grounds of the wizarding school. You would be able to explore the castle to your heart’s content. You could attend classes, get points for your house, or try to discover some of the school’s famous secrets. Maybe you want to take potions class in the dungeons, or perhaps you’d like to find the Philosopher’s Stone, or maybe you’d like to get to the Room of Requirement and see what treasures are gathering dust there. Your accomplishments can earn your house points and “breaking the rules” will lose your house points. A reward system can be implemented for the winning house, and the guests staying there, after a set amount of time. There might even be special events such as Quidditch matches assembled from the guests staying in each house, or perhaps even a Tri-Wizard tournament every now and then. Perhaps even Hogsmeade is close by and is available for exploration and shopping (whether it’s near the Universal theme park or not). You would also only be able to get to and from the hotel via Hogwarts Express, though admittedly that might be a bit too much of a budgetary stretch. The goal would be to have such a diverse number of activities and places to explore that no two stays would be remotely the same, unless guests would want it to be the same. Oh, and of course things would change with the seasons.

DOWNSIDES

To maximize the types of experiences that this sort of establishment would ideally provide, there might be a minimal number of days guests would have to commit to before booking their stay (perhaps a week). It would also require a lot of staff and technology to achieve the proper level of immersion for guests. However, I believe both of these things are doable and I also believe that the Potter fandom is so strong that these small downsides could be overcome. The market for such a thing is there and, if Star Wars Land is as successful as they are predicting, an all-inclusive type Hogwarts Hotel could be the next major IP themed vacation destination.

IN CONCLUSION

I have too much time on my hands. So this was a nice change of pace from video games. Are there any more ideas of things that could be done at a Hogwarts Hotel? Is it not as practical as my naïve brain thinks? Share all your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

The Witcher Games: A New Mutation in Adaptations

Gaming Articles

CD Project Red’s Witcher video game franchise is renowned for its quality and has set new industry standards in gaming. The pinnacle of this was achieved in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games ever made in recent years. I recently revisited this game and still found it amazing. However, I did have a new perspective on the game during this particular play through. The change was brought about because this writer had spent a good deal of time as a reader of Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series, which the Witcher games are adapted from. With the knowledge from the books, I found my time in the Witcher world far more rewarding.

I had a new understanding of the world, places, and characters, particularly in their histories and backstories. I found this really enhanced my enjoyment of the game in particular situations, mainly in Toussaint for the Blood and Wine expansion. Sure, there are obvious instances where knowledge from the books would enhance the game, particularly when it comes to characters like Yennifer, Triss, Dandellion, Zoltan, Regis, and Ciri, but it goes further than that. Crache an Craite, Hjalmar, Dijkstra, Philippa Eilhart, Emperor Emhyr, Radovid, and even Duchess Henrietta, among others, are enhanced as well. The quest in particular that felt most rewarding as a book reader was when Geralt competes in the Toussaint tournament. Choosing between the two names and coat of arms means so much more when you know the stories behind each of them and it shows that CD Project Red really took the time to honor what came before it while also creating their own unique tale. So what is the purpose of all my gushing? Well, frankly, it stems around a particular question: why haven’t there been more book to video game adaptations?

Many of us have seen at least one movie or television show based off of a book. Hell, even the Witcher series got the treatment in the early 2000s with a TV series in Poland, where the stories and author are native too. There are also many books that are tie-ins to video games, with examples such as World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, and Assassin’s Creed. However, there are few video games that are just outright based on a book series. Sure, there have been games with strong influences, with examples such as Bioshock inspired by Atlas Shrugged and Bloodborne inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, but nothing has been as direct as the Witcher. In most cases, a video game is made on a book property once it is first translated successfully to film or television. While the Witcher series was a TV show prior to the games, it wasn’t a popular show as it ran only one thirteen-episode season. It didn’t grab the world’s attention like Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. While there is a new Witcher show coming to Netflix, it is no doubt due to the success of the video games and not solely because of the books.

All of this is just a roundabout way of asking the following: why can’t more sci-fi and fantasy book series get a direct video game adaptation instead of having to become a movie or television show first? If the worlds in the books are rich with lore, characters, and settings, then video games would undoubtedly be a better medium. Furthermore, the books themselves wouldn’t need to be adapted directly, but rather serve as the games’ foundations. This is what the Witcher games managed to do so beautifully. They built their own epic adventure with unique stories while staying true to what made the books so great to begin with.

The Witcher games are a new type of adaptation that has not been explored nearly enough. With great characters and deep histories already established by authors, game developers can devise gameplay systems and stories that fit with what is already there while making it their own. The resources are there and the opportunities are boundless, but the matter of taking advantage of these opportunities is still left largely up in the air. The Witcher games, particularly The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, have set a high standard for this type of adaptation and, as of writing, really remain the only ones of their kind.

Isn’t it time that our literature is not only watchable, but playable? Are there any book series out there that you think deserve their own game or gaming franchise? Do you disagree with this entirely? Feel free share your thoughts in the comments.

Super Hero Games: DC Edition

Gaming Articles

Despite comic book characters dominating the box office and having a strong presence on television, they are lacking in the video game world. Sure, there are great successes like the Batman: Arkham franchise, Spider-Man for the PS4, and the Injustice Franchise, but they aren’t as dominate as The Avengers does in theaters.

In this writer’s humble opinion, there have really been only two superheroes that have gotten gaming justice: Batman and Spider-Man. In those games, you really feel like the caped crusader or the witty web slinger. While the Injustice games are quality and successful, they are more fighting games than true superhero games.

There are hundreds of other heroes out there that deserve to be realized in video games. Here, we will discuss DC characters only. We have already done the Marvel Cinematic Universe article and it may be worth checking out if you’re reading this. The goal is to talk about characters and types of games and mechanics that can work with a character’s powers and history. All right, let’s get to it.

GREEN ARROW

Green Arrow is very similar to Batman. He has no powers, relies on gadgets, and primarily fights hand to hand. He would be the easiest hero to adapt in game form that hasn’t been done yet. The combat would have to be adjusted to fit Green Arrow’s character, particularly when it comes to using the bow, but the changes wouldn’t be very drastic from Arkham or Spider-Man. Upgrades could work by researching different arrow types and learning new martial arts skills in combat. And, of course, it would be free roam through Star City. As for story ideas, one could make a game based around the scrapped supermax prison movie (look it up if you haven’t heard about it). That idea might play very similarly to Arkham Asylum and may not be ideal if you wanted to roam Star City. Some key villains could be Killer Frost, Prometheus, or Deathstroke.

BIRDS OF PREY

Wonder Woman might be the knee jerk choice to be the first female led superhero game, but we believe that the Birds of Prey would be a better and somewhat different choice. For one, it’s about a group instead of just one hero. Models for this sort of gameplay include Dragon Age: Inquisition or the multihero combat in Arkham Knight. As for characters, the game would rely on the less powerful members of the Birds of Prey like Harley Quinn, Batgirl, Huntress, Black Canary, and Lady Shiva. More powerful characters, like Big Barda, could cause balancing issues and plot holes that could hinder the game’s quality and reception. Whether or not the game is open world or not would entirely depend on how the game developers decide to tell their narrative, but we at WHM are sandbox fans, so that gets our vote.

SUICIDE SQUAD

This game was hinted at in the post credits scene of Arkham Origins so it was in development in some form. However development has stalled since then and it now looks unlikely that it will ever become a reality. Luckily, we have a pitch for what might have been or still could be.

Firstly, there should be two distinct modes in the game. The first would have you in the role of Amanda Waller. You’d work behind the scenes, striking deals and intimidating politicians, prison wardens, and other government officials, to have them hand over super criminals that have been put in prison by heroes. There would also be a mechanic where villains not on your team have the potential to break out of prison. As Amanda Waller, you will have limited amounts of time to acquire certain villains to for your task force before the villain decides prison isn’t really for them. Granted, those villains will end up back in jail at some point because prison is a revolving door in comics, but for how long is up to them.

Once your task force is assembled, you move into the other half of the game: the missions. The one constant you will always have on your missions is the squad leader. That would be Rick Flag or, for a heavier RPG approach, a player created character. The game would then take a Bioware turn, focusing on exploration and combat. Your party will consist of the squad members you recruited prior to the mission. Here, they will be able to demonstrate their own specific abilities and, like in Bioware games, can be played as.

The missions would take place in a variety of open worlds (like in Dragon Age: Inquisition) with the primary quests being secret government missions. However, there would be other side missions in these areas that task you with going after other supervillains (for recruitment or because Amanda says so) and even against some heroes that the Wall has issues with. The mission objectives will be straight forward enough, but the means of accomplishing them will depend entirely on your party’s skills and how they get along with one another. It will sort of be like Hitman in that regard where you have an objective but can go about it in multiple, and sometimes ridiculous, ways.

The party system in a Suicide Squad game could be set up in a much more intricate way than any other party system to date. As the squad leader, you will have the responsibility of keeping the crew in line, happy, and alive. Like Bioware games, you will have dialogue options with them that will affect your relationships in good, bad, and romantic ways. However, you must remember Amanda Waller’s golden rule and cannot let any members of the squad escape or be captured. You may be forced to kill members of your party by detonating their implanted bombs. Doing so will wipe out that character from the rest of the game and will have a ripple effect through the rest of the squad.

The important thing is to balance your relationship with the squad against your relationship with Amanda Waller. More often than not, the goals of these two sides will be at odds and the decisions you make about how to proceed in missions and dialogue options can cause the story to go in drastically different directions. Not only does this support replayability, but it can also have an impact on what your squad gets in terms of gear and abilities.

GREEN LANTERN

This property has the potential to be a few different games, but we’ll stick to just one for this pitch. Some of the gameplay options may be limiting of Green Lanterns’ since they are based around willpower and imagination, but no gaming system on earth could ever truly demonstrate that. This could be remedied partially by creating a wide range of abilities that are shaped through an upgrade system. Though the amount of abilities would be finite, this would provide enough diversity to meet some of the imagination aspect of Green Lantern.

In terms of what you’d be doing in the game, that’s simple: space cop. That’s essentially what a Green Lantern is. There would, however, be a main story that would have to do with other lantern colors or some other galactic menace, but that would be incorporated into the open world aspect of this game.

The main character of a Green Lantern game would greatly change the plot depending on who it is. A Hal Jordan game would be very different from a Jon Stewart game, which would be different from a Guy Gardner game, which would be different from a create-your-own Lantern game. If you based the game off of a create-your-own lantern, then the title of Green Lantern might be misleading. For a create-your-own lantern, it might be fun to explore the other lantern corps as playable options with distinct abilities for each color. It could add a layer of choice to the game and diverse replayability options.

TEEN TITANS

This would be more in the vain of the Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad pitches earlier with a dash of Arkham in there as well. For Teen Titans, despite having an open world (which essentially all of these game pitches have), it would be a set storyline like the traditional Arkham games. This writer grew up in the 2000s, so the Teen Titans would be Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. However, having other members involved might be a nice change of pace and could even be used in a recruiting mechanic (especially since Cyborg is now a member of the Justice League in the comics). This game could also have a variety of options for a main antagonist, from Trigon to Slade to the Brotherhood of Evil, to some other villain (Control Freak?). A mixed combat system featuring elements of Dragon Age, Arkham Knight, and Lord of the Rings: War in the North would be ideal, combing the free flowing style of Arkham with the group aspects of those games mentioned.

WONDER WOMAN

A Wonder Woman game already exists, sort of, and it’s called God of War. While the protagonist differs greatly and it wouldn’t be exactly like any of the God of War games, it would be very close in terms of aesthetic. In the game, Diana Prince would have to go up against supernatural foes from Greek mythology. This would be essential to pose as a realistic challenge to both Diana and the player. Wonder Woman fighting in WWI, while a great movie, would not make for an interesting game. She would be far too overpowered fighting common soldiers.

This game would also be singularly focused on Wonder Woman in the way Arkham Asylum was focused on just Batman. Ares, Hades, Zeus, and other could be potential antagonists or even an evil Amazon (but that last might not supply the minions to fight as well as the others would). The combat might be something like Dark Souls mixed with Arkham or even the most recent God of War.

SUPERMAN

Now we come to the big one. There has been much debate whether the Man of Steel could ever get a quality video game and, frankly, this writer believes it’s possible, though the task would be extremely difficult to find the right balance. Obviously, Superman is the most OP hero of all heroes. Yet there are story elements that could be employed to nerf his abilities in a believable way to make the game plausible but fun.

The most obvious way to nerf Superman would be to have Kryptonite in some way. While this is the easiest option, it’s also the most forced option. Prove us wrong, developers! Another way to tackle this OP conundrum is to take Superman off earth and have him fight aliens. Obviously, the Man of Steel would have to fight someone like Braniac, Darkseid, Mongul, or Doomsday, with Braniac and Darkseid being the best options to supply cannon fodder enemies. This could technically be done on or off Earth, but setting it off earth can put Superman in an atmosphere that canonically does not give him the power he gets while on earth under a yellow star.

Another intriguing idea to “nerf” Superman believably is to have a changing sun mechanic. How exactly one might go about this, we aren’t sure, but if you start with a red sun and somehow steadily transition to a blue sun as the game progresses, that could be a way for Supes to develop his skills in a believable way.

Lastly, the simple choice could be made to make it a Superman origin game. By this, we don’t mean the destruction of Krypton, but rather him getting accustomed to his powers like in the Man of Steel movie. This would provide a way for Clark Kent to learn his powers as he goes along with him unable to use certain abilities early on out of fear that he can’t quite control them yet.

PROPERTIES TOO DIFFICULT

There are a few properties that might seem obvious, but on closer inspection could be a little too hard to adapt to a quality game. Here’s who should NOT have their own game, based on lore and abilities.

FLASH: The tricky part about the Flash would be his speed. It would be difficult to get the player to feel like they are moving incredibly fast while also maintaining a good amount of control. While this has been successful with vehicles in racing games, using it on a person has yet to be done in a satisfying way. No, Sonic does not count. We are going for a superhero game with the Flash, not a racing game collecting rings.

THERE MAY BE MORE...

I have no doubt that there are plenty of other heroes, and even some villains, that might deserve their own game. Hawkgirl comes to mind, but this writer knows less about her than the characters mentioned above. There are sure to be many more, however.

So those are the ideas. Thoughts? Have any ideas of your own? Share them and let’s see what we can come up with!

“Game” of Thrones

Gaming Articles

With eight seasons, many hearts broken, and one entertaining ride, HBO’s Game of Thrones has reached its end. However, that by no means is the last we’ll see of George R. R. Martin’s world. For one thing, he hasn’t finished the Song of Ice and Fire books at the time of writing. For another, HBO has announced a prequel series set in the universe. Despite these, however, one thing not mentioned (or mentioned very little) is a video game set in the SOIAF universe. That is where we come in. Here, we’re going to pitch an idea for a “Game” of Thrones (sorry, couldn’t resist…).

BUILDING BLOCKS

There are already a few Game of Thrones games out there with Telltale’s being the most well known. However, none of them have really blown people away in comparison to similar genre titles. These titles, however, have the foundations a quality Game of Thrones game could be built from. Some titles that come to mind include Witcher, Dragon Age, Dark Souls, and The Elder Scrolls. Taking the appropriate elements from these and other, less obvious titles, an exciting and addicting Game of Thrones video game could be forged.

STAY TRUE TO CHARACTER

The great draw of Game of Thrones is not the epic scale, dragons, or sex. It’s the characters. Well-crafted, complex characters are what bring the audiences back from week to week because they want to see what all of these questionable, powerful personalities are going to do. That would need to be at the forefront of any Game of Thrones game and, at the center of it, would be your character.

If you’ve read other articles we’ve done, you know that we at WHM are big Open World RPG fans with the central focus being players building their own story. So, naturally, we think it would be most rewarding to a player if they were given their own character to create from the ground up in a world that was fairly open world, maybe in the vain of Witcher 3 or Dragon Age: Inquisition.

As stated earlier, Thrones is well liked because of its existing characters. They, in turn, would have to then be transferred into the game. And therefore the timeframe would be when the show & books are set. While this may seem like this would ruin plot details and, in some cases, limit what can be done, the benefits to such an approach outweigh the negatives. Jon Snow, Danny, Ned, Cersi, and more would all be around at the start and the major events with those characters would not change. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything for your main character.

CHARACTER CREATION

The character creation would start by choosing one of two roots: brains or brawn. In the world of Thrones, there don’t seem to be many characters, if any, who can do both very well. They are either very clever or very good with a weapon. That would be how your character would start out as well, or rather as a novice specializing in one of those two areas. In the other area, they would have little to no skill at all at the start. That decision does not lock you in to the rest of the game, however, because you could always choose to nurture the skills of the opposite skill tree instead of what you picked at the start. Maybe you can be the first political scheming warrior in Westeros… if you work hard enough.

From there, you pick your allegiance, which will be limited to the following: Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, or Greyjoy. Why those four? Because they were all represented in the first episode of the show at Winterfell. That, naturally, would be where the game begins as well as it is the largest early meeting of main characters early in the story. It is at this massive meeting of important characters that your character’s journey begins.

WHAT HAPPENS

At that initial gathering in Winterfell, you’ll start your character’s journey based off of your interactions with the characters from the show present as well as other characters not from the show that will play key roles in your story. You can choose to follow Jon to the wall, be a servant for the Lannisters, be an agent for Littlefinger, be a loyal lord, or something else entirely. Depending on where your allegiance lies and what your starting skills are, certain options may or may not be open to you of what paths you can take from Winterfell.

So what’s the point of the game? Simple: survive the show. Well, it’s more complicated than that. It’s more like a deadly version of Monopoly, or it can be any way. You’re encouraged to increase your status in Westeros through politics, schemeing, and war. Granted, you’ll never get the Iron Throne, but you could get pretty close if you so desire. Or you could simply say, “Fuck this!” and try to stay out of the game all together. You can try to live the peaceful life of a farmer or tradesman, but it’s Westeros. Being peaceful never works there.

There would also be different modes of gameplay difficulty that wouldn’t be in the traditional manner. There could be one that lets you reload to your most recent save (typical video game style) and a second mode that is just one and done. Think of it as the “I am the Night” mode from Batman: Arkham Origins (if you aren’t familiar, look it up). This second mode would play much more realistically in combat as well. Overall, the name of the game is to survive.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

This was just a rough pitch for a Game of Thrones game and many more ideas could be added on to it. You might also have ideas of your own completely different from those above. What say you? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Super Hero Games: Marvel Edition

Gaming Articles

There are hundreds of other heroes out there that deserve to be realized in video games. Here, we will discuss Marvel characters only, specifically those depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). DC will get its own time to shine. The goal is to talk about characters and types of games and mechanics that can work with a character’s powers and history. All right, let’s get to it.

IRON MAN

Iron Man is tailor made for a video game. The suit lends itself perfectly to upgrades, customizations, and many other RPG elements. Couple that with the fact that Tony Stark is a normal human being (meaning he’s not OP and can be killed by normal means) and you have a recipe for challenging gameplay without nerfing the character.

The idea would be to have an open world like Batman or Spider-Man so that you could free roam fly as Iron Man, but the flying might have its limits. Flight might make an open world seem too small. The developers would nee to find a balance that makes the player want to be on the ground as much as in the air. Airborne enemies could be a method in creating that balance.

Speaking of enemies, the main villain would need to have access to cannon fodder minions for Tony to obliterate, yet also be a challenge. Just going off of the movies, none of those villains as depicted really shine in that aspect. However, the Mandarin, if done like in the comics, could be a good option, or even Ultron if they used his MCU origins.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap has options, mainly with the setting. You could go modern day, World War II, or anywhere in between. For this, however, let’s focus on World War II. You got Nazis for enemies (always good bad guys – see Indiana Jones for confirmation), some of which have futuristic weapons, and all you have is your fists and a shield. Though Captain America has used guns before, it would serve the gameplay better if those were cut from his usage or limited. A mechanic of using the firearms of beaten enemies could be a possibility.

The combat would lean heavily to the shield with an upgrade tree for special abilities. There could be small RPG elements with the costume, armor, and shield design like the Spider-Man unlockable suits in the Spider-Man game.

It’s up for debate if the game would benefit more as an open world or on a linear level based path. This writer’s first choice is an open world because of the freedom, but open world might be difficult to pull off in a World War II setting. However, it might be possible if there are a few, very large maps, like Witcher III, or even something like Dragon Age: Inquisition.

NICK FURY / BLACK WIDOW / HAWKEYE / SHIELD

We’re cheating here by massing all of these names together for a potential game or games. No matter whom it would be from the names listed above, or even if it were a create-your-own SHIELD agent, the game would be based around spy and espionage. Yes, that means there would be a lot of stealth, but if the Arkham games have proven anything, forced stealth can be fun if done correctly.

Where the games would differ is in the combat, and that would depend mostly on the game’s cast and if it’s a single hero game or a group hero game. Hawkeye and Black Widow would obviously play very differently from one another if it were a single hero game. If it was a group hero game, the whole gameplay could be something completely new, or at least based off of something like Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The choice of a character like Fury, Widow, or Hawkeye would likely be in the style of the Arkham games or the suggested Iron Man game above. A group of the agents or a created SHIELD agent character might steer the game in a direction of focusing on choice, like Dragon Age: Inquisition. The villains would most likely be terrorists, Hydra, or some other shady organization from the MCU or comics.

THOR

This one is also a no brainer provided the game sticks to Norse mythology or a galactic aesthetic. A comparable franchise might be God of War (this writer has yet to play the God of War games and is going just off the little he knows, don’t crucify me). Just from the movies, the Dark Elves or Ice Giants would be good cannon fodder enemies for Thor to fight. However, better villains would be needed as overall antagonists because the antagonists in those films (excluding Loki) would not be ideal.

The combat would be a beefed up version of Spider-Man with an upgrade system that would focus on lightning, storm, and hammer abilities or something like God of War. RPG elements in a Thor game might be hard to come by, but some customization might be applicable based on a stat and aesthetic basis. Multiple open worlds could be achieved by going to the nine realms or different planets, depending on the aesthetic.

BLACK PANTHER

Once again, this would take a lot of cues from Spider-Man. Using Wakanda and the surrounding African landscape; we could be introduced to a very new type of game world. That alone would be a strong selling point for the game, especially if it is fully realized in the contrast of the tribal, real world cultures mixed in with the futuristic elements of Wakanda.

Besides this, Black Panther is a very accessible character for the video game treatment because he is not OP, but he is powerful enough to make him superior to the common man, just like Spider-Man and Captain America. On top of that, Black Panther’s combat style could be given the Arkham/Spider-Man treatment but with a Black Panther spin. His agility and up close fighting style mixed with Wakanda tech could make for an entertaining and smooth combat system. The suit could be upgraded as well with both abilities and aesthetics.

As for the story, it could follow a Black Panther comic story that isn’t the movie or an entirely new story. The threat posed should be to Wakanda itself, T’Challa, or T’Challa’s family, something that gets Black Panther on the prowl. Killmonger would be ideal, but if the game were to go away from the movies, a different option would be necessary.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Though there is a Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy game, this one would have nothing to do with that. For one thing, it should be in the prime Bioware camp, with influences like Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Inquisition (full disclosure, this writer has never played a Mass Effect game and is just going off of what he’s seen – once again, no crucifying please).

It should have some heavy Bioware influences because recruiting would be a main staple of the game. Potential guardians can be scattered across the galaxy on various planets and may need to be recruited through quests specific to them. This would also mean that the characters from the movies, if all included, would by no means be the only ones eligible to join your team.

Combat would also be in line with prime Bioware games, but more like Dragon Age: Inquisition (I keep talking up that game a lot, wow, did not expect that). There would also be a space/flight part of the game, allowing you to fly your ship around in an open world setting (as well as in space and in orbit). A boarding mechanic might make space combat a little more interesting (pirates in space). As for main villains, the Kree or the Sovereign could be good cannon fodder enemies from the MCU.

ANT-MAN

Hello again forced stealth. For Ant-Man, there would be a lot of that, but forced stealth can be done well (again, see Arkham games). The other major draw of this game is the three playable worlds: the human sized one, the ant sized one, and the tiny one for when you’re giant. This particular property might require not an open world to get the size-changing mechanic to work properly.

The difficult part of an Ant-Man game would be the three world sizes combined with the ability to switch between them at will. If done correctly, it would make for some interesting combat possibilities. This is where this writer would be willing to give up the precious open world in exchange for well-done combat. For the villain, Yellow Jacket and Ghost are interesting choices while regular enemies could just be normal henchmen. This doesn’t have to be an epic scale game.

PROPERTIES THAT MIGHT BE TOO DIFFICULT

HULK: One of the most powerful and recognizable Marvel heroes, Hulk’s shortcomings for a game are summarized by his OP abilities. What separates him from say Superman, though, is the fact that he gets stronger with the more damage he takes. That goes against all video game logic. Hulk might be fun to play in a fighting game, but that’s not a Hulk game. Also, Hulk doesn’t really lend himself to other aspects of gaming like exploration. He kinda only does one thing: Smash.

THERE COULD BE MORE…

I have no doubt that there are plenty of other heroes, and even some villains, that might deserve their own game. Falcon and Winter Soldier come to mind from the MCU, but this writer knows less about them than the characters mentioned above. This writer does have thoughts on Marvel characters outside the MCU and that will be addressed another time.

So those are the ideas. Thoughts? Have any ideas of your own? Share them and let’s see what we can come up with!

Wish List: Star Wars Open World(s) RPG

Gaming Articles

Star Wars has had some quality RPGs over the years with shining examples Knights of the Old Republic and The Old Republic, among others. However, they have never really had a true open world game in the style of say Skyrim, Dark Souls, or Witcher III (that this writer has played at any rate – feel free to correct my ignorance in the comments). For this gaming wish, let’s explore what a true Star Wars Open World(s) RPG might consist of.

WHAT WE'RE KEEPING

There are a lot of Star Wars games out there doing a lot of different things. In terms of RPG elements, however, the best and most well known are the two mentioned above. Having a singular narrative that takes you many different planets is the adventure aspect that really draws one in to the galaxy far, far away. This is a major part of the Old Republic games and should be kept for this hypothetical creation.

Another thing to keep from the Old Republic games is the companions/party mechanics (somewhat – more so from KOTOR than SWTOR). Having them all on your ship and selecting the few to come exploring with you ads a personal dynamic that makes each player’s experience unique. Of course the characters would have conflicting codes, morals, and backgrounds would provide the heart of the game (more on this later).

And… that’s about it. The strengths of KOTOR and SWTOR are the stories, characters, and timeframe, not so much the gameplay (the Old Republic is the best era of Star Wars!) For the rest of this article, we’ll explore other ideas from successful games that could be merged together to form the hypothetical, super Star Wars Open World RPG.

STORY

I am not here to tell the professionally trained writers who spend hours crafting these games and get paid a lot of money to do it how to do their jobs, but do we have to be a Jedi? Again? We’re always Jedi (or almost always at least). Can’t we have the OPTION to be a Jedi instead of being forced to be one (pun intended?)?

Dark Souls has a set story. No matter what you play as, a knight, a mage, or Giant Dad, you will have to go through the same events to get to the end of the game. Why couldn’t Star Wars do something similar? You could play through it as a Jedi, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Pilot, Sith, Stormtrooper, etc. However, playing as different classes might unlock different ways to complete the game, providing much desired replayability.

Unlike Dark Souls, picking a certain class at the start in this theoretical game would lock you into that class throughout the rest of the game, limiting what you can and cannot. This would mainly be to set up the type of experience you will be playing through. Certain shops may be closed to you if you’re a Jedi but open if you’re a Bounty Hunter. Approaches to situations will vary as well. This will be based off of class and ability sets. Separate starts for the different classes could add an interesting and little explored dynamic. However, the story would still be streamlined.

Here’s a preliminary idea for character creation:

First, you will be presented with this choice: force user or non-force user.
Second, you will be given sub classes to pick from based off of the first that you picked with some overlap (force sensitive bounty hunters!)
Third, you pick your race

THEN YOU’RE GOOD TO GO!

All of these things are important as they will set up not only how you can interact with the explorable galaxy, but how the explorable galaxy interacts with you.

GAME SIZE

Four or five planets, like in KOTOR, with descent sized open worlds and bountiful quests would be plenty to keep a player entertained for 60+ hours at minimum. There should also be a free flying space option over each planet, making a grand total of eight to ten areas. The only downside would be that the whole thing might not be true open world as these area may have to be broken up with loading screens to accommodate the sheer size of the game (think Dragon Age: Inquisition or Witcher III). Now if the game could somehow allow you to fly in a planets atmosphere and then transition into space seamlessly, that would be impressive. That could open the door for planetary air battles like on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back or on Scarif in Rogue One. Basically, the size would have to support rich open worlds foot exploration and wide-open skies to fly around, with some potentially creative obstacles. Seems reasonable, right?

COMBAT

The combat would need to be more free-flowing. While KOTOR’s and SWTOR’s combat is enjoyable in those respective games, it can get dull and repetitive at times. A suggested substitute might be something that would be a combination of the following: Battlefront 2 (the old one, not the micro transaction one), Witcher III, Dark Souls, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Anyone who has played those four games is probably thinking, “WTF? None of those games play anything like one another?” True, but there is a method to this madness. The goal is to pull aspects from all those games to create a new combat system (or a combat system that does exist but this writer is terribly unaware of) and, hopefully, a new type of gaming experience.

Battlefront 2 has an easy to master combat system and could be used as the basis for the fighting in this theoretical RPG. With that as the foundation, adding some of the intricacies of the Witcher III’s combat would give it variety. For non-force users, energy shields or using grenades could be abilities for these secondary combat options. For force users, well, that’s obvious.

The Dark Souls influence is not so much the beat based system that is its combat (unless that could somehow get implemented into the other two influences), but rather the combat variety as a result of the weapon variety. The idea would be that lightsabers, blaster rifles, blaster pistols, chain guns, or whatever else you have that buzzes or goes ‘pew-pew’ should all feel distinctly different. Weapons should also not be defined by the class picked at the beginning of the game either. You could have blaster wielding force users or a crazed forceless bounty hunter who uses a lightsaber that he claimed off of a killed Jedi (just a random backstory).

The Dragon Age: Inquisition influence would come from the party combat. Each party member can be upgraded in their predetermined way (less freedom here because those characters are their own people) and can therefore fight using their own distinct style and abilities. The standard group RPG roles of melee damage, range damage, tank, and support would all be there as well for these characters.

Seems like a good time to transition too…

PARTY CHARACTERS

As mentioned above, another thing to keep from KOTOR is the party system. Party members would function as they do in some of the more well-known Bioware games, with their relationships and stats developing by your interactions with them and how you address their particular goals and story arcs. But that is all that would be kept from the KOTOR model.

The major difference would be the number of potential available companions. There would be many scattered across the galaxy with the idea that you cannot get all of them in a single play through. Certain characters would only become available as companions if certain requirements are met. This could start as early as the character creation, where some characters immediately get struck from the list of potential companions because you chose a certain character class, subclass, or race. Beyond that, one could only acquire new companions based on their in game decisions, which includes other companions you surround yourself with. This is meant to add layers to the game, encouraging multiple playthroughs and play styles.

LEVELING

The leveling system would draw from multiple sources with the idea being an immersive leveling experience as well as a fair one. The base system used would be from KOTOR but expanded upon with two outside influences: Dark Souls and Skyrim.

The Dark Souls influence would be that certain weapons, armor, or items cannot be used by the player until the prerequisite stats to use them are met. This goes for party characters as well as they will be leveled up in a similar manner to the player character.

The Skyrim influence would be that characters become better at skills the more they use them. They can then unlock sub perks in these skill categories to improve upon the base skills. Perhaps you want to be very good at using a lightsaber or you’re more of a force person or you prefer a blaster to those hokey religions. No matter the choice, if you practice it, you’ll become good at it. But don’t forget to get the prerequisite stats to use your weapon of choice first.

IN CONCLUSION...

I have too much time on my hands. Story was purposely left out as this was meant to focus more on mechanics. The professionals who get paid the big bucks can come up with that part. This was just a bare bones piece to get a conversation going. So…, that’s the gaming wish. What are your thoughts and ideas?