It's got it where it counts.
Game director Hideki Kamiya previously tweeted about video game length which led some to believe that he must have meant Platinum Games' upcoming Wii U title The Wonderful 101 would be short. While both Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba clarified that a game's length shouldn't determine how good a game is, in a recent interview, they did give us a general idea of what to expect.
"In regards to the action games I've been involved with, I'm more concerned about making a game you can enjoy your whole life, rather than a game you only play through once," Kamiya reiterated his stance in an interview with Weekly Famitsu.
"I have action games that I still play to this day," he continued. "It's not about seeing the ending, but having fun playing the game. That's the sort of game I'm interested in making, so I'm not into really talking about how long it will take to reach the ending, but…," Kamiya trailed off for a moment. Then he said with a laugh, "In terms of volume, [The Wonderful 101] actually has more than Bayonetta."
Producer Inaba followed suit adding that "With normal action games, it isn't impossible to clear a lot of them the very day you buy them. But with this game, that won't be possible."
While game length is an issue for many players—after all, playing a video game is an investment of time—both Kamiya and Inaba continually emphasized that The Wonderful 101 will be more about having fun than the amount of time spent playing.
According to the two men in charge of the game's development, folks will be able to play The Wonderful 101 in different ways and explore the ways in which they play. "I'd like it if people could make discoveries and go, 'Hey, I didn't realize I could do this' in the game and get hooked on it," Kamiya said. "You could say that the first time through the game is something like the tutorial, and the second time around is the actual game."
Despite the complex simplicity of the game's system, it will still be playable on the Wii U GamePad alone. "We didn't want to kill the sales point that games can be played on just the Wii U GamePad." Inaba explained. "We've included the option of being able to play according to your play style."
The game will also have collection elements and other hidden features. So much so that completing the game has been quite an ordeal for the development team. "We've had more people and spent more time on development than ever before, and to have this volume, I've never had a homestretch be so hard," said Kamiya. Considering all the effort that has gone into it, and the ideals behind it, hopefully the game will pay off in spades for both Platinum Games and the gamers who play it—for a long, long time, that is.
The Wonderful 101 is scheduled for release shortly: in Europe on August 23rd, Japan on August 24th, and the US on September 15th.
ファミ通.com [ファミ通.com]
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