Capcom: which licenses should be resurrected as a priority from the Japanese publisher? – News

Obviously, it is impossible to classify all of Capcom's dormant franchises in this article, since the Japanese publisher was extremely prolific between the 1990s and 2000s. Joys and wonders of a craftsman shared between the arcade and consoles. We will therefore avoid licenses which have benefited from a large project in the last five-six years, since this rest period is now natural with the progressive inflation of development times. Mega Man 11 and Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection, for example, very correctly defended the colors of their franchise in 2018 and 2021. We can also reject candidates like Mega Man Zero, since it is the type of franchise that has completed its story on a good narrative note.

Kicking open doors with dynamite is a common hobby among journalists and Gamekult is no exception to the rule. If Morrigan and Demitri have survived through the years thanks to multiple crossovers (Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in 2011) and reissues (Capcom Fighting Collection in 2022), the franchise Darkstalkers has not received a new canonical episode since the cult Darkstalkers 3 / Vampire Savior, in 1997. This high mass of B series monsters is now confined to cosmetic packs with its cousin Street Fighter.

Darkstalkersit is above all a great dissonance between the reputation of a cult franchise and the concrete sales over the years. Often, at Capcom, the creative pundits have suggested that a resurrection was possible, but the financial center is clearly cautious about the idea of ​​relaunching a saga which relies heavily on the generosity and absurdity of its animations, treasures of pixel art from a forgotten time when eccentric fighters like the mummy Anakaris, the red riding hood mercenary BB Hood or the apostle of hemoglobin Jedah enjoyed extremely detailed movements. Almost a lost art today. Above all, a considerable amount of time to invest in a franchise reserved for enthusiasts.

However, the ground seems fertile for a return with great fanfare of the franchise Darkstalkerson condition of measuring the overall investment and finding an artistic direction that satisfies the fans. Because if fighting games enjoy historic popularity today, so much so that several analysts (this is my case) consider that we are living in a true golden age, Darkstalkers will not be satisfied with a 3D smoothing à la Street Fighter, or worse, The King of Fighters 14. What we want is to see the golem Victor grab the opponent with his enormous buttocks to catapult him to the far, and juxtapose this cowardly image with the infernal flames of Pyron.

If niche fighting games like Melty Blood: Type Lumina can reach 500,000 sales, then Capcom must be able to play the card Darkstalkers with intelligence to finally resurrect this cursed franchise which deserves better than a small appearance every five years in the latest compilation available.

Dino Crisis: because it's not just Resident Evil

This is the other obvious choice of this informal non-classification. Shinji Mikami's historical classic, Dino Crisis had solid arguments for remaining in the spotlight, such as its carnivorous dinosaurs or its protagonist Regina and her iron will. But history – and sales charts – will ultimately have retained Resident Evil among Mikami's children, leaving Dino Crisis waste away on the side of the road. Even Shinji Mikami has become downright lukewarm in recent years, declaring in August that Monster Hunter's hegemony at Capcom was rendering the franchise obsolete, because after all, we had dinosaur substitutes elsewhere. A somewhat bizarre false equivalence which testifies to the creator's disinterest, in any case.

But if Shinji Mikami doesn't see the point in calling Regina back for a new mission, the fans knew how to send their message: barely arrived on PlayStation Plus Premium, the first Dino Crisis quickly became the fourth most played retro title in subscription history. So it's time to call someone, anyone, I don't know, Bloober Team if necessary, who wants to dive back into the saurian hell of Dino Crisis to deliver a remake or a sequel. Especially since the competition Deathground and Jurassic Park: Survival are preparing to wipe out the plaster.

Let's just hope that Capcom learned the right lessons from Exoprimal. If he failed, it's because it wasn't crazy, and certainly not because we didn't want to face dinosaurs with a machine gun and run to save our skin in a labyrinthine scientific complex.

There, we enter a somewhat taboo discipline: necromancy on already resurrected corpses. Indeed, alongside its friendly revival of Killer Instinct in 2013, the Double Helix studio had already offered a reinterpretation of the futuristic super-ninja Strider in 2014, with a surprisingly effective 2D title. Today it is time to reopen the coffin. Will Capcom let Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi revive their respective franchises without lifting a finger? Are we going to have to do without support drones for much longer? Is it reasonable to live in a world without Strider Hiryu and without a sword that shiiiing every time?

At least we know that Capcom still thinks about the franchise, in a small corner of its brain, since Street Fighter V revealed that the fighter Zeku was the founder of the Strider ninja order. But the fact remains that a new episode would make complete sense in the modern market with a graphic touch that catches the retina.

Breath of Fire: because the J-RPG is making a comeback

For a child of the 2000s, Breath of Fire sees itself relegated to the same rank as Suikoden: a distant J-RPG legend abandoned by its publisher after a period of glory. A strange feeling that wasn't helped by the 2010s, where the entire industry seemed to be trying hard to abandon turn-based games in favor of constant action, which would be more enticing for youth, according to prejudices; just look at the progression of Final Fantasy which now looks more like Devil May Cry than Dragon Quest, right up until these credits. A relatively understandable development, but not necessarily clairvoyant, since Persona 5, Metaphor ReFantazio, Chained Echoes or even Sea of ​​Stars (to cite the two leading beef and cheese creations) today show that turn-based games have their place in modern industry.

Capcom would therefore be well advised to go dig up the cold corpse of Breath of Fire to offer him a resurrection worthy of the name. This franchise of classic RPGs at first glance quickly experimented with several interesting mechanics that would still be relevant today: managing a village with exotic shamans in Breath of Fire II, learning skills from mentors in Breath of Fire III or elemental combo system in Breath of Fire IV. Moreover, the management of a small town – an omnipresent mechanism in the franchise – is perfectly in tune with the times.

Additionally, the protagonist Ryu can transform into a dragon. If that's not enough to convince newbies to join the adventure, we don't know what they need.

Completely abandoned since the disastrous episode Final Fight: Streetwise, this franchise beat ’em up well deserved his resurrection. Already because Sega is prances with Streets of Rage 4, and Capcom has no reason to fold in front of its old rival franchise. Then because Guy, Cody, Haggar and Lucia are now condemned to appear in Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom according to the desires of the publisher, a bit like the city of Metro City, which serves as the setting for Street Fighter 6 without its indigenous inhabitants participating in the fights. It's all well and good to lure the forty-year-olds, but the allusions to Final Fight will be less Proust madeleines than meaningless cameos.

It's time to return to busting criminals in Metro City.

Lost Planet: because there are big robots

After a while, we're going to stop finding commercial justifications: Lost Planet was an explosive adventure on a frozen planet with giant robots fighting each other with bazookas and nuclear potatoes. I'm not sure what more you need. But let's remember that Electronic Arts refuses to invest in the Western market with a third Titanfall, and that Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon has sold three million units worldwide. We can therefore reasonably say that large robots interest many players, and that putting a coin back into the machine, even if it is with a beast remakewould not be a lack of taste.

And what is your Capcom franchise to dig up?