Comcept is at it again! RED ASH has been officially announced today, seemingly meant to take after the Mega Man Legends games, and the internet is already abuzz with talk about it... Or maybe I should say aflame?

If you've been anywhere near discussion of Mighty No. 9 over the past couple of years, you likely know where things are headed. As much as I'd like to joke that everyone is being calm, fair, and civil about things, that is not at all the case.



So why is that? What are people saying about this new Kickstarter project, in a time where, even just recently, huge and small projects alike have been going to Kickstarter and being met with generally positive feedback?



It's time, once again, to go through some of the things people are saying about this project and see if these claims and criticisms hold any weight to them. As a quick reminder, I already addressed some more popular issues that people have with Mighty No. 9 in a previous blog, so if the thing you, Angry Commenter #38284, is most angry about isn't present in this blog, check that one and see if I just decided not to go over something I already have before you make that Angry Comment.

MIGHTY NO. 9 ISN'T EVEN OUT YET!

You don't say! While my instinctive response to this is just to ask "And?" and then move on, since so many people are latching onto this, I suppose it's something we'll have to go over all the same.



While it does seem like this might be connected to Mighty No. 9 in some way, given the reuse of the names Beck and Call if nothing else, it clearly isn't intended to be sequel to it. If you look past Inafune's name, you'll notice that there's actually a very different team of individuals working on this compared to Mighty No. 9, to the point that only a few of the people listed to be working on it actually have Mighty No. 9 mentioned as something they've been credited for.



Just look at the list. You don't have to take my word for it. Alongside many apparent Mega Man Legends returnees, we have people returning from games such as Mega Man Battle Network as well. The ones that worked on Mighty No. 9 are listed as such, but it seems like a diverse enough group.



Is that still not enough?



Fine, how about this: So what? Do you really think you live in a magical world where developers don't start working on a new game until the previous one is done, released, and being sold? Do you really think you live in a world where companies aren't already planning their next iteration of hardware from the moment they release a new one?



I've got news for you if you think that. While there probably are quite a few developers who practice this, there are just as many who don't. What's more, I'd even be willing to bet the ones who don't seem like they do it probably do, they just aren't as public about it.



Yeah. That's it.



Before anyone gets mad, it's actually not it, it's just that the next point has a lot of overlap with this one.

COMCEPT HASN'T PROVED THEMSELVES WITH MIGHTY NO. 9! WHY SHOULD I BACK THIS?

Wait... Isn't this kind of the same thing..? Well, alright. This issue seems just as "And?" worthy to me as the last one, but just like the last one, I'll answer it anyway.



I've got a question for some of you asking or saying this. For those of you who backed Mighty No. 9, did you back Shantae Half-Genie Hero? Even though a developer involved with both titles, Inti-Creates, had yet to prove themselves with Mighty No. 9? Did you back either of these, then go on to back Bloodstained, which lists Inti-Creates as the lead developers? It doesn't seem like Inti-Creates has proven themselves once yet, but projects they're attached to are getting backed left and right, it seems.



More importantly, though, why do they need to prove themselves with just Mighty No. 9? Are people forgetting that almost all of the people involved have had careers in this business for longer than some of you have been alive?



As I mentioned above, developers don't always wait to release one game before moving on to the next, and in this situation, clearly the team involved is fairly different from Mighty No. 9's. Speaking of which, that game is basically done, at least as far as the staff moving on to this is concerned. Are people actually suggesting these people should just not work for a few months so a game many of the people involved with this have nothing to do with can come out and then be reacted to? That the people who did work on Mighty No. 9 but now aren't should just take the next few months off and not work because some people on the internet can't handle the real world?



If you can't tell, I'm not exactly thinking highly of this argument. Look, I'm sorry, but it just seems self-centered to me. Don't back if that's how you feel, by all means, but there's no real basis that I can see for mouthing off about it here.



Oh, and if anyone is going to bring up the whole "I can't trust them!" not-argument, as if Mighty No. 9 has already released and failed miserably or as if these people have never made or worked on another game before, go look at all the other games they've worked on and decide if you'll trust them based on that. Or look around, because despite the overwhelmingly popular opinion, quite a few people have commented on how the game has improved over development.



Considering Chroma Squad released missing a ton of promised features, turned the release into a glorified Early Access, misled backers and couldn't even deliver the backer content properly, but still is managing fairly positive reviews, Mighty No. 9 looks like a diamond to me.



Next!

WHY CAN'T THEY JUST USE ALL THE MIGHTY NO. 9 MONEY THEY'LL GET?

Are we on the same internet right now?



I don't know how successful it's going to be, but does anyone really think this game is going to be an amazing success? Does anyone think it will be able to even compare to something like Shovel Knight? People hate it for how it looks, people hate it for a likely-irrelevant-to-development forum moderator, people hate it for so many reasons. Even if it ends up being a great game, for some, just for being not what people wanted out of it, largely due to their own misconceptions rather than any fault of the game's, it will be hated. It's probably going to even be hated for RED ASH, a seemingly mostly unrelated game, being announced.



I'm not sure if it can even turn into the underdog story it would otherwise be because of people's warped perception of Inafune. People have been hating the guy for how he called out the Japanese video game industry, despite the fact that for all intents and purposes, he was, well, not exactly wrong. That's a whole other conversation, however.



Ultimately my point is that they might not end up getting a lot of money from it, and even if they were to, considering how many copies they're giving out for free, combined with the fact that whatever money they do get is going to have to get divided up now, would that be enough even so? And even then, even if it were, that still doesn't address the fact that they shouldn't have to wait for Mighty No. 9 to come out to start on a new project.



Keep in mind that it's not like Comcept is rolling in money or anything. People can say these are rich, successful people all they want, but Comcept is not a primary developer or anything. They create ideas, concepts, and team up with other developers to bring them to life. Nothing they've made, nor likely ever will make, will probably be developed solely by them. They've... basically got my dream job, actually! Too bad you need to make a name for yourself first before you can just be "the idea guy."



They're also out all the time and money they were putting into Kaio, which was cancelled for reasons unknown, though my money is more on Marvelous rather than Comcept as far as who pulled the plug, and I got into why when I talked Mighty No. 9 back in April, which I linked a little ways up if anyone is curious.



Point is, if I were even somewhat aware of the reputation Mighty No. 9 has and I were in Comcept's position, I wouldn't want to bank on it making profit at all right now, let alone enough to make a new game. I'm really hoping I get proven wrong on that, but when I see ten negative comments for every iffy one when it comes to this game, well...

BUT WE JUST BACKED SHENMUE, BLOODSTAINED, AND/OR YOOKA-LAYLEE!

This is less of an "And?" question for me, but I still think that answer would be just as valid here all the same.



Yes, there have been quite a few recent Kickstarters lately for very big projects, and there's surely a fair amount of crossover between them.



None of them were made by Comcept, though. Comcept's last Kickstarter was in 2013. Not to keep throwing them under the bus, but Inti-Creates has been involved with two other Kickstarters since them, and I still don't see any complaints them being in so many Kickstarters, so why is it Comcept can't release another one two years after their first, and only when that one is basically finished at that? To bring up another example, inXile Entertainment has gone through three Kickstarters in as many years, with one game delayed, one not out yet, and the other ongoing, and while I admit that I've never even heard of them prior until today, do you see them getting the same amount of hostility as this has gotten in about a day? Not to my knowledge.



This gets back to what I was saying a few moments ago. Why should they have to postpone their work due to outside or unrelated circumstances? That just seems unreasonable to me.



That said, there is a more reasonable argument to be had out of this, though. People have a finite amount of money, and many of the people who might have been willing to back this in a vacuum are likely less inclined to do so after however much they may have given to those other campaigns.



In fact, even I, the person sitting here defending Comcept and this Kickstarter, probably won't be backing it, or at least not going higher than the $5 tier. Between Bloodstained costing a pretty penny, Chroma Squad coming out and burning me to the whole idea very badly and in ways that Mighty No. 9 hasn't even approached doing, and the fact that I just don't have as much investment in Mega Man Legends as I do Mega Man proper, not to mention the fact that this is money for a game that won't be releasing for two years at the earliest, well... Not exactly a whole lot of reason to.



So with all of that in mind, do I think that Comcept should have delayed the announcement of this based on the timing of those other Kickstarters?



Absolutely not.



Money can be replenished. There will probably be some form of post-campaign backing, as basically every Kickstarter has now these days. They could add to the game later through updates if they don't meet all their goals now as well.



Time is another story. If the Kickstarter fails because people were tapped out, it fails and Comcept and the rest of their team will have to go back to the drawing board, but I can't agree with saying they should put it off for who knows how long so people can recharge their wallets. What if other companies do Kickstarters in the meantime? They have no more control of the other companies and hopeful developers than the opposite is true.

BUT LOOK AT HOW MUCH MONEY THEY WANT!

If you mean in terms of the budget, I think it looks pretty fair right now for the game. Games cost money to make. It's not like they're asking for millions to spend on a marketing budget here or anything, right? It looks pretty fair all around to me.



... Sort of. Things aren't all sunshine and daisies this time around, I'll admit that, so let's check them out. It still has a couple of absurdly expensive rewards people can pick, like Mighty No. 9 did, but the basic stuff seems to have gone up in how much it requires. The game costs more than Mighty No. 9, and really, a quick glance shows that all of the rewards seem to cost more than their equivalents in the other game. So what gives?



I think two things are at work here. Firstly, the game is aiming to be more than Mighty No. 9, if I'm understanding it correctly, so it obviously will cost more to buy and create. That much seems fair enough to me. For that kind of thing, I don't see as much of a problem, especially when they're still letting players put their name in the credits at the basic $5 reward. On the other hand, the price of a sketch signed by Inafune went up from $500 to $2,000.



That's certainly quite a jump, isn't it? I mean, it's not like the average person is going to be buying into that tier, but it's still very easy to notice the differecem.



To be honest, I don't blame Inafune or Comcept for it things. If anything, I think we need to look at some of the other recent Kickstarters, the ones that admit to have or clearly have taken inspiration from Mighty No. 9 and its success, to see why some things have changed between Mighty No. 9 and this.



Yooka-Laylee is mostly innocent, with issues only arising due to different currencies, though if we keep those in mind, they are asking for a bit more there for a few things. The one I really take issue with is Bloodstained's Kickstarter rewards, however.



For $5, you got into Mighty No. 9's forums, you got to participate in a few polls, and you got your name in the credits. To get in the credits and to get to vote on things, you had to go up to $60 for Shantae Half-Genie Hero, though you got other things too. For Bloodstained? You had to spend $100 to get in the credits, and while that netted you other stuff, that basic thing that many other Kickstarters, including RED ASH, offer at a lower price point is being held up on a pedestal.



Nearly 10,000 people went into that tier. And that's not even including the thousands this campaign raised on the tiers that were exclusively in the $1,000+ range. And Shenmue? That has multiple $10,000 tiers, and people are buying in.



Mighty No. 9 may have had some outlandish backer tiers, but compared to these other ones? And the precedent they're setting? I think they speak for themselves, personally.



Does that make it okay to do it now? I'm going to say yes and no on this one. Yes in that if people have the money and want to spend it, that's their call, but no because it's limited stuff that won't effect most of us anyway. At least we know where the money's going with this. Since most of these things don't effect me, and won't effect basically anyone complaining about it, I can't say I'm too invested in talking more about it.

YOU'RE LEAVING SOMETHING OUT!

What? I'm pretty sure I've addressed everything...



I said how I felt about the silly trust issues, I already talked about time's importance over money, and it's not like they're asking for any money for marketing or anything...



Oh, you meant this thing.



I honestly don't know what to make of this. A full animated series would make sense to me, since many family friendly and child-targeted IPs are seemingly unable to get greenlit or take off without there being plans for merchandise or an animated series to get people interested in it. People don't like it or don't recognize that it exists, but it's a thing and one that has proven itself a few times over now when it works.



Regardless, this... isn't that. If I were to speculate a little, it sounds like Comcept reached out to the animation studio to collaborate for a stretch goal for the game's Kickstarter, maybe only planning on a 10-15 minute short if the goal was met, but during talks they decided to make it a separate thing. I... can't say I completely think this was a good idea.



I think it's partially good because people won't be able to say they're using the money of one for the other, which was a big issue people with problems paying attention had with Mighty No. 9, but I can't see it going over well here considering people still have this "Inafune keeps asking for money" misconception in their heads (which was addressed in greater detail in the previous blog) and believe that the things they enjoy grow on trees. Now they've split their own potential base between two campaigns, rather than keeping it in one where it should have been, and done something that isn't going to help Inafune's reputation at all.



If it turns out well, then it does, but I just can't say I'm optimistic.



They did get Yuki Kaji on board to voice Beck, though, so that's pretty cool.

All in all, to me it seems like some aren't even bothering with giving this a chance like we did with Mighty No. 9, which isn't even out yet, as so many are quick to point out. Perhaps it's too soon to tell whether or not this will be a good game, but the amount of negativity this has already garnered, alongside Mighty No. 9, just seems unwarranted. Inafune is becoming an easy target for a lot of people, and far too few of them are thinking about it.



When the money is being asked of them instead of publishers for their favorite games, people seem to lose themselves, and in this case, they seem too quick to blame their favorite scapegoat for faults in something that hasn't even existed a whole week in the public's eyes yet. In regards to the question I posed in the title of this blog, I feel like Mighty No. 9 might be the only thing stopping us all from never hearing the end of this. They definitely need to add some other consoles to the stretch goals sooner rather than later, that's for sure.



But hey!



Maybe I'm completely wrong about all of this. These aren't all things I necessarily want to be right about.



Even if I am, I can still say one thing for sure.



I really hope Beck and Call ZX is next.



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