Disney's Epic Mickey

[Shino]

Lol, Mickey looks mental. I hope they make a better charachter model, it just looks too bland.

[Lens of Truth]

Lol, Mickey looks mental. I hope they make a better charachter model, it just looks too bland.

 

I think the character is supposed to come through in the animation (as in the gifs Dante posted). The whole look of the game is clearly in an early state, and with still a year to go in development there's plenty of time for spit and polish.

[Dante]

GameInformers Update - Audio Tour With Spector.

 

Videos screencaps:

 

 

From the person that was at the event:

 

So yeah, Epic Mickey.

 

Looks good! Definite tinge of Super Mario Galaxy, and a little Kingdom Hearts. The real time world changing stuff is really impressive, allowing you to destroy bits of the world and stuff.

 

Good / Evil dynamic sounds good, and fixes a lot of problems you have in games like inFamous and Fable - Mickey is always going to be a hero, so you don't have to worry about the dissonance of being the evilest guy in town but also saving the world.

 

You're simply deciding whether to be helpful and heroic, or selfish and impudent. The latter makes you stronger and gives you more tools to wreak havoc, but the former gives you more friends and allies.

 

It's very much a Spector game - which is a pretty big complement. Much like Deus Ex, you'll be given tonnes of different ways to solve puzzles. There's a spinning blade that Mickey needs to pass, and Big W says he can think of at least five different ones. Some are; stop watch to slow time, be helpful and a friend will stop it, find a secret entrance with destruction.

 

Everything is based on Disney concept art, Disneyland rides, scrapped concept art and whatnot. The game is super meta, self referential and breaks the fourth wall in a big way - the world is based on the fact that Disney is a pack-rat for unfinished cartoons and scrapped concept art, and Oswald is a resentful, bitter tike based on the Universal / Disney kerfuffel. (I don't know how to spell that - Firefox suggests Garfunkel)

 

Game is also far from finished - lighting is very early, so don't be too critical of the screens.

 

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.

[LostOverThere]

Man, the art style...sucks. I mean, the colour palette is just strange. But hey, they've got a year or so until it's release so I'm still hopeful.

Edited October 29, 2009 by LostOverThere

[Strange Cookie]

AS far as official Disney-iconigraphy goes, that's pretty dark and edgy. I like!

[flameboy]

1up preview is actually quite good gives plenty of insight;

 

Even though Warren Spector only shows off a brief gameplay clip, you can tell from the way he talks about Epic Mickey that he's extremely passionate -- not just about the game, but about Mickey Mouse as a character. He shows off a not-seen-by-the-public-until-now memo between Walt Disney and an executive. He introduces sequences where Epic Mickey is inserted into classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. And he notes, "I wrote my master's thesis on cartoons. This is a hidden part of my life until now."

Spector starts his session with a quick video that seems taken right from the beginning of the game. Mickey peacefully sleeps in his own bed when he's suddenly whisked away to the Forgotten Wasteland. I can't verify for certain, but the way the mysterious villain appears out of nowhere, and said villain's utter lack of a distinct shape or structure, suggests that Phantom Blot is the fellow who grabs Mickey. The Blot drops Mickey onto an operating table of sorts, and starts performing a twisted, animated autopsy; Mickey frees himself in the nick of time from being carved apart by a cartoon buzzsaw, and that's where the game proper seems to begin.

 

f anything, the basic structure of Epic Mickey seems reminiscent of Okami in that Mickey uses paint to restore a decrepit world. Spector describes The Cartoon Wasteland as the place where discarded characters, locations, and ideas reside; a limbo for the imperfect version of "It's a Small World" before the Imagineers settled on the final design that you can ride today. The Cartoon Wasteland has been rendered mostly inert, a dark, gloomy, and twisted version of itself. Restoring the Wasteland means converting it from "inert" to "painted" -- a transformation from doom and gloom into a "bright, marshmallow-y world," in Spector's words. He outlines the basic story arc as, "Act one: 'Where am I?' act two: 'Save the lands, save yourself,' and act three: The Phantom Blot unleashed."

When I first heard about Epic Mickey, I had assumed that the forgotten character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, would be the primary villain. He's one of the first cartoons that Walt Disney worked on, and when Disney himself left Universal, Oswald was then doomed to obscurity under the Universal (not Disney) banner. There's a lot of resentment on Oswald's part; Spector shows off an old memo from Walt Disney to Universal Studios bigwig Carl Laemmle, where Mickey looks fine and dandy while Oswald scowls in bitterness. It's easy to think that Oswald, the "older brother" to Mickey, would be the primary catalyst. But Warren actually describes Oswald as more of "the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland." Oswald is someone that Mickey can help redeem; the real bad dude is Phantom Blot and the motley crew he's assembled (so far, the only other villain shown is The Mad Doctor). Perhaps Oswald, with his "lackey for evil with a glint of redemption" motif, is the Darth Vader to Phantom Blot's Emperor.

 

But enough about the characters and the basic premise/plotline -- what about the game itself? Despite being, as Spector describes, a "platform meets RPG/adventure" (which differs from his previous titles, such as Deus Ex, System Shock, and Ultimate Underworld, which were all first-person, action-RPGs), Epic Mickey still maintains some core principles that Spector brings to his games. The game will still feature elements of player choice, and furthermore, be about what the player makes of Mickey within the story framework described earlier. "This is about making Mickey cool to you."

Spector focuses more on the reinvention of Mickey, the idea of making him a cool character as opposed to a stiff icon, than he does on gameplay mechanics. He notes that "painting" is about creation while "thinner" is about destruction, and how you use the two will affect Mickey and others around him. Being helpful, creating a lot, and embarking on sidequests to help others, will make you a Hero Mickey. You'll shine bright and have many friends; Spector shows a segment where, because the player has Mickey help a Gremlin find some lost friends, those lost friends create a path to another part of the area that would not be accessible otherwise. Heck, a Hero Mickey might even decide to help a boss character, thus completing a boss encounter without violence.

On the flipside, if you're more of a "gamer" as Spector jokes, a determined player who uses the gameplay mechanics as tools to improve yourself and progress through the game without having to deal with others (example: is there a bookshelf in the way? Just use Thinner to erase and be done with it), then you're likely to play a Scrapper. A more rough-and-tumble Mickey that doesn't have nearly as many friends in his corner, but is more powerful than his Hero version. There's also a Neutral option, but the core of it is that Spector, as in other projects he's worked on, wants to make sure you can progress through the game in the play-style that fits you.

 

It's extremely early, but from what Spector shows, I can see that Mickey moves and animates well. And yes, I do wish the visuals were a bit more HD-generation than what the Wii offers. Spector teases about other elements; he comments that "the game is a linear story" but doesn't offer more when asked about overall structure. When the Phantom Blot listens to Mickey's heart during the autopsy/examination, Spector slyly notes, "hearts are important, but I won't say why." The video demonstrates a sidequest where Mickey is asked to find more parts for Ro-Donald (my informal name for the Donald Duck doppelganger that Oswald has constructed to serve as his friend in the Cartoon Wasteland), but it doesn't show much beyond mission acceptance. Spector points out that Sketches are a secondary mechanic, such as using a TV sketch to distract enemies while a stopwatch slows time, but won't say more. He also notes that you collect tickets for economy, but won't say more about that either. He won't even explain what it means when something is "inert" as opposed to "painted."

The game is still a fair ways off, and it'll be a while before I actually see how paint, thinner, mission, enemies, and all that work together. But hearing how Spector talks about the game, and the sheer passion he has for both this title and Mickey himself, is enough for me to give it a closer look when Spector's ready to show more.

[Dante]

1UP = Warren Spector Addresses Disparity Between Epic Mickey Concept Art And Screenshots

 

Remember when some crazy looking concept art for Epic Mickey leaked? The kind of art that showed off tanks modeled after the Seven Dwarves in Snow White or a giant whale with Spaceship Earth on its back? Some of you might feel a bit disappointed that the official screenshots released to date don't quite reflect on that crazy steampunk aesthetic, and during an interview, I asked Warren Spector to discuss the disparity between the leaked art and the official art today.

 

He answers, "There are a couple aspects to that. I think I've mentioned before, that I'm a big believer in finding out where the line is by pushing past it. There are lines that are on every project; every project exists in a creative box. For most of my games, I create that box and the team has to sort of work within it. In this case, there's a creative box that I create, and there's the creative box that Disney overlays on that. I know where my lines are, but I don't know where Disney's are. I had a lot of stuff generated that was very specifically designed to be provocative and to cross that line. I know it's too far -- or is it? You tell me. So it forces a confrontation or a decision. Some of what you saw was beyond the line, and so I learned something from it. Some of it was early design ideas that are no longer relevant. Some of it is stuff that's still in the game, and I'm not saying what."

 

Personally, I'm hoping that some weird tank that looks like Sleepy Dwarf's head with mechanical arms and treads is still in the final game.

[Paj!]

I'll cry if they change all of the original designs.

 

I love Mickey's model though. A stunning version.

[Zechs Merquise]

I think this looks awfully bland and boring. You could take out Mikey Mouse and pop in Spyro or Crash and it'd be the same, just wouldn't be getting the attention.

[Ashley]

Yeah but the difference between Spyro/Crash and this is Epic Mickey will be a huge fanwank. The core mechanics or whatever may not be the same, but its like the SSBB of Mickey Mouse. Full of little references.

[Emerald Emblem]

Funny thing is, this game was going to be multiplatform but due to Warren worrying the Wii would be recieving an inferior port there was an agreement to make this a Wii exclusive.

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/28/epic-mickey-was-originally-an-epic-pc-ps3-and-xbox-360-game/

[Jonnas]

I actually like it. Maybe it's because I haven't played a good non-Mario platformer since forever, or maybe it's because I know I'll see plenty of classic Disney references, but I'm still pumped for the game.

 

Also, I saw the Aracuan bird being mentioned earlier. Seeing him would be awesome (although he needs that catchy music to accompany him)

[Shino]

 

At least the soundtrack is going to be amazing, which for me is half the game. Apparently that is the track1 of the game, so if it opens with that, its going to be memorable.

[chairdriver]

I hope they do make more changes, because at the moment it looks really bad...

[Retro_Link]

IGN: First Look

 

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/104/1040693p1.html

 

Although we only saw a relatively brief selection of in-game footage at Epic Mickey's official launch, it's already looking impressive from a visual perspective. Lighting effects are yet to be implemented, but Epic Mickey's twisted take on familiar Disney fare shines thanks to creative art direction and beautiful animation work. Junction Point might playing it coy when it comes to some of the game's grander innovations but, based on initial impressions, Epic Mickey's already shaping up to be a frankly fascinating endeavour. There's some big talk around the game's core concepts for sure but it looks like Mickey Mouse is in very good hands.

[Dante]

London presentation footage.

 

[LostOverThere]

Lighting effects are yet to be implemented

That explains a lot. I was wondering where they went. Good to hear that the look is far from final.

[Zechs Merquise]

Yeah but the difference between Spyro/Crash and this is Epic Mickey will be a huge fanwank. The core mechanics or whatever may not be the same, but its like the SSBB of Mickey Mouse. Full of little references.

 

SSBB was also a very good game. I just get the feeling this will be generic. Plus, I've never been a disney fan. However I do remember the 16 bit Mickey Mouse games, they were superb!

[Ashley]

I missed that it was posted before and have just found out (although it is mention on page 6...) that Jim Dooley is doing the soundtrack Such a perfect fit. Gotten me even more excited

 

Some music from the Pushing Daisies soundtrack

	Audio

	Audio

	Audio

 

I love the first one as it descends into madness and brings itself back together (which I'd imagine this game'll do). And the second is a nice smooth jazz piece.

[david.dakota]

Are these from Epic Mickey, Ashley?

[Ashley]

psss look just above the youtube music image thingy

[D_prOdigy]

Not a significant update, so don't get too excited, but APPARENTLY (though not sure how solid this is), this music will feature in the game.

 

 

Anyway, it's all gone a bit quiet with Epic Mickey in 2010. I'm guessing it will get a full unveil around about E3 time.

 

With Silent Hill and Red Steel 2 out the door, this seems to be the only high-profile western-developed 3rd party Wii title left on the cards for now, unless I'm missing something out...

[Shino]

That music is one of my fondest memories I have of when I went to EuroDisney when I was around 8 years old. So... good that's on the game.

[Ren of Heavens]

 

With Silent Hill and Red Steel 2 out the door, this seems to be the only high-profile western-developed 3rd party Wii title left on the cards for now, unless I'm missing something out...

I don't know about "high-profile", but:

 

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - May (multi)

Transformers: War for Cybertron - May (multi)

Trackmania Wii - May (port, console exclusive)

Tiger Woods 11 - June (multi)

NBA Jam - Autumn (exclusive)

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - Autumn (multi)

The Conduit 2 - Autumn (exclusive)

The Grinder - 2011 (semi-exclusive)

 

Still way to little for the leading console this generation...

Edited April 3, 2010 by Ren of Heavens

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

I don't know about "high-profile", but:

 

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - May (multi)

Transformers: War for Cybertron - May (multi)

Trackmania Wii - May (port, console exclusive)

Tiger Woods 11 - June (multi)

NBA Jam - Autumn (exclusive)

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - Autumn (multi)

The Conduit 2 - Autumn (exclusive)

The Grinder - 2011 (semi-exclusive)

 

Still way to little for the leading console this generation...

 

You can addBatman Brave and Lost In Shadow as they will no doubt be sleeper hits.

 

Still not a list as exciting as it should be though.