Jubenhimer
Member
There's been a recent interview with Paper Mario Producer Kensuke Tanabe on Paper Mario & The Origami King. While the game so far has been mostly well received, there were a few choice quotes that annoyed old-school Paper Mario fans. Namely how the team prefers to do new ideas with the series than just retreading old ground. Which sounds disappointing to those who wanted something that's like The Thousand Year Door instead of Sticker Star.
This brings me to an interesting point. Developers (or creators in general) making the game they want, VS. bowing to fan pressure and sacrificing your creative vision. This is one of those conflicts that's more complicated than it looks. As a creator, you want to make the game exactly the way you envisioned it. Yet, you also have rent to pay, and a line of fickle consumers wanting to give you money.
Normally you'd want a good balance. You can make your own game with your own ideas, but also hope that those ideas resonate well with fans. Going back to Paper Mario, the problem with the last two games wasn't that they weren't like the original and TTYD. The problem was that even on their own, they weren't really that great of games. The story was non existent, there were no actual characters to get attached to, and the battle system based on one time consumables with no benefit from them was just baffling.
The Origami King looks to fix most of the issues with Sticker Star and Color Splash. It gets rid of the world map and chapters and goes for an semi-open world structure, brings back partners with unique personalities, and introduces a battle system that if nothing else, at least looks more fun than the last two games. But there are still some unanswered questions and potential shortcomings regarding the game. Do battles actually amount to anything, or will they again, be of little consequence? Are the NPCs going to be nothing but Toads again, or will there be some variety? Changing up a series substantially isn't bad so long as the changes are well executed, which they weren't in the case of the last two Paper Mario games.
Developers should also keep in mind that whatever game they make, may not resonate with everyone unanimously. Death Stranding is one of the most polarizing experiences that ever released this generation. You got people who enjoyed it for its story and Kojima-style weirdness, and you also have people disliking it for its boring "gameplay" and confusing structure. Most importantly, even if players don't like the game, developers should NOT, under any circumstance, attack fans for it, who are at their core, paying customers giving you and your bosses money to keep the lights on. Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog doesn't seem to get this, as he's been attacking anybody who dares criticize his super amazing masterpiece, The Last of Us Part II, as Bigots or Haters, even coursing the powers that be at Sony to take down any video that even mentions the game's pre-release leaks using YouTube's broken copyright system for him, all because he can't accept that he made a flawed game. At least Kojima knows that Death Stranding isn't for everyone.
While I can understand the want for developers to listen to fans and not make things different from what worked before, I also think people should also have a bit more sympathy for the creative side. Some people aren't really satisfied with doing something that's already been done before, and want to do things they think are cool and interesting. And so long as those new ideas are well implemented and fun, that shouldn't be a problem. But if you're just replacing the stuff that worked with things that don't, making things that people don't really get, or attacking fans for not feeding your ego, then don't be surprised if there's an angry mob at your door.
This brings me to an interesting point. Developers (or creators in general) making the game they want, VS. bowing to fan pressure and sacrificing your creative vision. This is one of those conflicts that's more complicated than it looks. As a creator, you want to make the game exactly the way you envisioned it. Yet, you also have rent to pay, and a line of fickle consumers wanting to give you money.
Normally you'd want a good balance. You can make your own game with your own ideas, but also hope that those ideas resonate well with fans. Going back to Paper Mario, the problem with the last two games wasn't that they weren't like the original and TTYD. The problem was that even on their own, they weren't really that great of games. The story was non existent, there were no actual characters to get attached to, and the battle system based on one time consumables with no benefit from them was just baffling.
The Origami King looks to fix most of the issues with Sticker Star and Color Splash. It gets rid of the world map and chapters and goes for an semi-open world structure, brings back partners with unique personalities, and introduces a battle system that if nothing else, at least looks more fun than the last two games. But there are still some unanswered questions and potential shortcomings regarding the game. Do battles actually amount to anything, or will they again, be of little consequence? Are the NPCs going to be nothing but Toads again, or will there be some variety? Changing up a series substantially isn't bad so long as the changes are well executed, which they weren't in the case of the last two Paper Mario games.
Developers should also keep in mind that whatever game they make, may not resonate with everyone unanimously. Death Stranding is one of the most polarizing experiences that ever released this generation. You got people who enjoyed it for its story and Kojima-style weirdness, and you also have people disliking it for its boring "gameplay" and confusing structure. Most importantly, even if players don't like the game, developers should NOT, under any circumstance, attack fans for it, who are at their core, paying customers giving you and your bosses money to keep the lights on. Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog doesn't seem to get this, as he's been attacking anybody who dares criticize his super amazing masterpiece, The Last of Us Part II, as Bigots or Haters, even coursing the powers that be at Sony to take down any video that even mentions the game's pre-release leaks using YouTube's broken copyright system for him, all because he can't accept that he made a flawed game. At least Kojima knows that Death Stranding isn't for everyone.
While I can understand the want for developers to listen to fans and not make things different from what worked before, I also think people should also have a bit more sympathy for the creative side. Some people aren't really satisfied with doing something that's already been done before, and want to do things they think are cool and interesting. And so long as those new ideas are well implemented and fun, that shouldn't be a problem. But if you're just replacing the stuff that worked with things that don't, making things that people don't really get, or attacking fans for not feeding your ego, then don't be surprised if there's an angry mob at your door.