Looks washed-out, soulless and uninspired. It gives me a generic iOS clone kind of feeling.
I hope it plays better than it looks.
I can't help but agree wit this. Good gameplay could save this still indeed, but going by looks and first impressions of the level design alone, I can't help but be amazed at how the mighty have fallen in terms of hype and enthusiasm (pun partly intended).
We started with such an incredibly hype(d) Kickstarter that promised us nothing less than a game that could rival the Mega Man games of old in gameplay, sound and looks. What it had going for it is that Inafune and quite a few other former Capcom (Mega Man) staff members were to be directly involved, that the music would be by several Japanese veterans, and that none other than the 8-4 and Mega64 crews were doing the promotion for it. On top of that, the Kickstarter brought in far more money than the budget required, leading to even more hype.
The end result so far? A game that - again going mostly by looks and first impressions alone - seems rushed, aimless and soulless. It almost seems like Inafune and his crew are simply making it by the numbers to please fans and not with the mindset that it actually is their dream project come true (which might explain why Inafune acts as such a distanced play tester / producer in most of the videos instead of him being hands-on as a designer, a role I feel he should have chosen in this case).
Of course there is always a risk of people (like me) expecting too much and being too hyped, but keep in mind that pretty much all of this hype was quite consciously manufactured by Inafune/Comcept, 8-4 and Mega 64 and their use of the pedigree card and high quality promotional videos, and their focus on the incredible fan community. The often mentioned mock-up art did its part as well, with its successful attempt to summon a classic colorful 2D Mega Man look and feeling.
Man, what has happened between that Kickstarter and now? How did we get to such a disheartening point in time in which most people here (including me) seem so down on it because of the game's graphics? Such a bummer!
If this game ends up being reviewed poorly and selling poorly, it not only effectively kills off this series in one shot (as well as the chance for Capcom - who is probably eyeing this quite closely - to ever make more Mega Man games I would think), but also any good will fans have left for Inafune and his company. He would have no-one else to blame for this but himself unfortunately. Even if he had needed to invest personal money into this if the budget was still too tight somehow, or invest more time hand-on as a designer, he should have done so to make sure that Mighty No. 9 blows everyone away.
I admit i might be overreacting here even though I kept silent on the his game's development so far, but I felt I needed to blow off steam at some point. And for those still defending the game based on the claim that the gameplay will be solid: I hope it will and if it does, I'll be the first to admit it and eat crow. Heck, even the graphics might grow on me if the gameplay turns out good, but my whole point is that all of the built up hype led me to believe that both would be great on a first impression basis as well.
Ps. By the way, is it just me or is it not a bit weird that 8-4 rarely talks about this game at all anymore? I know their official work for it has ended quite some time ago, but their current silence (as THE former champions of it) does not really help to convince me that Inafune and Comcept are giving Mighty No. 9 their all or that they themselves still believe in the game.
