2015: The Year of the Impossible Games

2015 is nearly over, and for me it ended with the return of one of my favourite franchises. No, not Star Wars, that was always going to happen eventually. I’m talking about a certain game with a female AI antagonist, a sequel to which was long since thought to be impossible. Then I realised: 2015 was the year the Impossible became Possible.

Do you know how many titles announced or released in 2015 were long since considered Vapourware? Titles that even the communities dedicated to those games had long since given up on seeing? Quite a few as it happens, so let’s go through them and see why 2015 is The Year of Impossible Games! Oh, and yeah, you’ll be seeing Kickstarter a lot…

SYSTEM SHOCK 3

Developer: OtherSide Entertainment

What is it?: A sequel to the series that inspired Bioshock, featuring gaming best antagonist: SHODAN, the sentient AI who believes herself to be a goddess and views humanity as mere insects to be squashed. System Shock 1 was set on a space station where SHODAN watched your every move and had converted the residents into robotic monsters, and System Shock 2 was set on long-range exploratory vessel the Von Braun and saw you team up with SHODAN to destroy biological intelligence The Many. The third game will probably deal with the cliffhanger ending of SS2 where SHODAN took control of a human host.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: For starters, despite being universally acclaimed titles neither System Shock sold too well. Then the rights quagmire opened up and swallowed the series so quickly System Shock 2 didn’t even get a budget re-release. Since around 2000 no one had been really sure who owned the license or the games. Irrational Games made Bioshock in its image, supposed sequel rights holder Electronic Arts turned their own System Shock 3 into original IP Dead Space, and Looking Glass died shortly after releasing Thief II: The Metal Age. Then… silence.

How is it happening then?: Fortunately in the last couple of years Night Dive Studios have cleaned up the red tape and acquired the System Shock license. First it was to re-release the first two games, then they announced a much-needed remake of the first game, and now we’re getting a sequel from their partnership with OtherSide Entertainment, the current developers of Underworld Ascendant (another sequel to a popular Looking Glass game) who are mostly veterans from Looking Glass and Irrational Games. It’s in good hands.

SHENMUE 3

Developer: Ys Net/Yu Suzuki

What is it?: The third title in the cult classic and previously console-exclusive series that tells the epic tale of young martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he seeks to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the sinister Lan Di. Shenmue is an open-world RPG series, albeit a bit more confined than we’re used to these days. The games use a mixture of open-world exploration over small but detailed areas, Virtua Fighter-style combat, minigames, and QTEs. Each area features a lot of detail, including day/night circles, NPCs with their own movement patterns, lots of mini-quests, and even playable SEGA arcade games. Shenmue III will continue Ryo’s search in 1980s Bailu Village, China and even have him face off against new antagonist Niao Sun.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Despite being a huge, expensive development ($47-70 million at estimate) neither Shenmue game made their money back. With SEGA’s ailing fortunes making them more and more risk-averse, it seemed likely that Ryo’s tale would never get completed. Plus the Yakuza series has basically replaced it.

How is it happening then?: The first of many games on this list where the explanation is “Kickstarter, baby”. Well, partly. SEGA officially gave up on Shenmue entirely and sold the rights to series overseer and veteran games designer Yu Suzuki, and the first thing he did was take it to Sony. They agreed to partly fund Shenmue III and stick it in their epic E3 2015 showing, provided Suzuki reached the absurd sum of $2 million on Kickstarter to prove that fans really wanted the game. It blew through that 9 hours after launching, finally ending with a total of $6.3 million and a new Kickstarter videogame record. Hopefully we’ll get the first two games on PC too…

FINAL FANTASY VII: REMAKE

Developer: Square Enix

What is it?: As the title suggests, a full remake of the most famous Final Fantasy of them all. All new graphics, voice acting, and a combat system based on the upcoming Final Fantasy XV.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Rumours of a remake of the popular Final Fantasy VII had been drifting around since early 2000. In 2003 the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie was released alongside a compilation of the games, so surely that was the right time with the launch of the PS3 offering a new generation of graphics capability? Nope. Square Enix continued to deny a remake was in existence, despite releasing FF7 tie-in games Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus. Shortly after releasing Final Fantasy XIII they said that recreating FF7 with the same level of detail would take 3 or 4 times longer than the (already expensive and protracted) XIII. With such a prohibitive level of cost, things seemed hopeless.

How is it happening then?: Kingdom Hearts 3 director Tetsuya Nomura gave two reasons: that the original staff of Final Fantasy VII were getting older and wanted a remake as a “last hurrah”, and to bolster the flagging sales of the PS4 in Japan. Undoubtedly the facts that the fans desperately wanted it, VII remains the most popular in the series, the Final Fantasy brand in general is stagnating, XV is taking ages, and money money money money money probably had something to do with it too.

THE LAST GUARDIAN

Developer: GenDesign/SCE Japan

What is it?: I won’t spend too much time on this one because it undoubtedly will not come to PC unless Sony goes broke like SEGA did, but it has to be on this list. The stylistic next game from Fumito Ueda, creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian is the tale of one boy and his cute dog-griffin-monster. It looks wonderful, even if one of them will be dead by the end of it. What? It’s all but guaranteed! Oh, stop crying.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: The game was announced in 2009 and was planned for a PS3 release in 2011. That came and went, as did several years’ worth of E3s and other trade shows with no mention of The Last Guardian. The PS3 died and the PS4 was launched, and still nothing was heard of the game. Then the seemingly-fatal blow that was the departure of director Fumito Ueda, as well as several other key team members, which surely meant The Last Guardian could not continue despite Sony’s assurances.

How is it happening then?: Ueda is still on the project as an outside consultant, and development was fully moved over to the PS4. The Last Guardian made a triumphant reappearance at Sony’s E3 2015 show alongside the previous two games on this list. Of course it might still never show up, but let’s be optimistic.

PSYCHONAUTS 2

Developer: Double Fine Productions

What is it?: The sequel to Double Fine’s much-loved first game, the psychic platformer featuring cadet Razputin where you jump into people’s minds to fix their mental issues. Psychonauts 2 will pick up with Raz and “girlfriend” Lili becoming full-blown Psychonauts and going on their first missions.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Psychonauts, despite huge acclaim and a cult following, did not do so well. Mostly because when it finally came out the public had grown tired of 3D platformers, and Majesco’s appalling mishandling of the game’s release (the European release came a full year after the US one, which was still several months after all the marketing advertised it as coming out) led to only about 100,000 copies being sold in its first few months. Minecraft creator Notch offered to help fund Psychonauts 2 for several million, but Double Fine told him it’d cost a lot more than that. It seemed like Double Fine would be stuck making fun but “small” games forever.

How is it happening then?: Firstly it should be noted that after Double Fine regained the rights to Psychonauts they made it available digitally, where it consistently sells well. Nevertheless a sequel still seemed unlikely, but just this month Double Fine launched a surprise crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2 on their new platform Fig. It’s not funded yet, but at 86% with 22 days left it’s looking likely, and with the funds from that, DF’s sales, and their “external partner” dropping in a large wad of cash Psychonauts 2 is certain to become a reality. And good thing too. Now I can dream about other games instead.

BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT

Developer: Inti Creates

What is it?: A spiritual successor to the classic “Metroidvania”-style 2D Castlevania games, made by members of the ex-Konami series team including series director Koji Igarashi.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: The last proper 2D Castlevania, Order of Ecclesia on Nintendo DS, was released in 2008. Met with diminishing returns Konami experimented, launching co-op games, iOS puzzle games, and the more action-focused Lords of Shadow “trilogy”. Only the first Lords of Shadow was any good and sold reasonably, and after two mediocre games (one 2D, one 3D) that both didn’t sell very well Konami gave up on the series and Koji Igarashi left the company in 2014. After that Konami gave up on videogames entirely, cancelling the amazing-looking Silent Hills, rushing Metal Gear Solid V out the door as best they could, and treating all their employees like dirt (including their star developer, Hideo Kojima).

How is it happening then?: Koji Igareshi and his new company Inti Creates saw how well Keiji Inafune’s MegaMan-successor Mighty No. 9 had done on Kickstarter and saw an opportunity to do something similar with Castlevania. The Kickstarter for new Castlevania-successor Bloodstained launched earlier this year and secured funding of $5.5 million. Not bad at all. Hopefully it won’t end up stretching development like Mighty No 9 has.

YOOKA-LAYLEE

Developer: Playtonic Games

What is it?: Another Kickstarter-funded spiritual successor, this time to the classic 3D platformers of Rare, most notably Banjo-Kazooie.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Classic gaming studio Rare’s last 3D platformer was Banjo-Tooie on the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Since they were bought by Microsoft in 2003 Rare’s output has been going downhill consistently since, with “vehicle construction” title Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts ‘N’ Bolts making it clear that 3D platformers weren’t the company’s goal anymore. Since that game the only titles Rare have released have been Kinect games and a pretty cool compilation of their older games. While pirate MMO Sea of Thieves looks interesting the idea that Rare would make another amusing Nintendo-but-British 3D platformer is laughable.

How is it happening then?: Enter Playtonic Games, a studio comprised of ex-Rare employees. They teased and finally launched a Kickstarter for Yooka-Laylee, a brand new Rare-style 3D platformer featuring a chameleon and a bat. They raised just over £2 million, got a lot of interest from all quarters, and embarrassed the hell out of Microsoft.

STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT

Developer: DICE

What is it?: The only game on this list that actually came out this year rather than got announced, Star Wars Battlefront is the third game in the series of online Star Wars shooters and the first major PC/console Star Wars game released since the license was sold to Disney.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Since Battlefront II released in 2005 a third proper Battlefront has been in development at multiple companies such as Free Radical, Slant Six, and LucasArts’ internal development team, all of them with one thing in common: they all got screwed by LucasArts management. In the final years of LucasArts the company’s management grew more and more insecure and insane, with crazy ideas like “releasing a sequel to our most popular Star Wars game”, “releasing classic games digitally”, and “just release a goddamned game period” all getting shot down. With LucasArts moving on to bounty hunter title 1313 and MMO The Old Republic, then getting shut down entirely with the sale to videogame-averse Disney, it looked doubtful we’d see another Battlefront.

How is it happening then?: Fortunately (?) Disney licensed Star Wars to EA, who put Battlefield developer DICE on to a new Battlefront game. It was released in November to glowing praise and absolutely everyone was happy. Right?

TOEJAM AND EARL: BACK IN THE GROOVE

Developer: HumaNature Studios

What is it?: The fourth game in the ToeJam & Earl series of… games. Honestly, every one of them’s been a different genre so it’s hard to decide what to call them. They’re a pair of aliens from the planet Funkotron, apparently.

So why was it an Impossible Game?: Two questions: have you heard of ToeJam and Earl, and if so have you played all their games? Then you know why another game featuring them was unlikely. ToeJam and Earl III on the Xbox was released in 2002 and performed critically and commercially poorly. Since then SEGA’s fortunes have been slipping, so the last thing they wanted to fund was a likely flop. Besides which, after the Kickstarters for new James Pond and Dizzy games failed to get funded a pair of decidedly-90s aliens shouldn’t really have had a chance.

How is it happening then?: Firstly, SEGA doesn’t own the IP: creator Greg Johnson does. While this is part of the reason we’ve never seen a decent digital re-release of the games this did allow Johnson with his new studio HumaNature to take to Kickstarter and seek funding for a fourth ToeJam and Earl game. Slightly unbelievably, they reached the $400,000 goal and got $100,000 more. Wow.

So that’s all the Impossible Games in 2015! What a year! Now roll on 2016, which I’m sure will bring these wonderful beauties with it:

IMPOSSIBLE GAMES WE WANT TO SEE IN 2016

Half-Life 3 - because Valve HAVE to. No excuses.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 - look, someone’s got to be making it!

Star Wars 1313 - likely the new game from Visceral. I will also accept Imperial Commando.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings - the proper Uncharted-like version. Or just any damn Indiana Jones adventure, please.

Tales of Monkey Island: Season Two - c’mon Telltale, you’ve got a cliffhanger to follow up on. Don’t leave us hanging.

The Last Guardian (on PC) - about as likely as it coming out on PS4 in 2016.

Duke Nukem Forever - we haven’t had this yet, right?

Anything else you’d like to see in 2016 that’s impossible folks?