nkarafo
Member
Not going to say the "easiest" because designing a good Metroid game still means you need to nail the level design and aesthetics. But other than that, there shouldn't be any other aspect that needs too much time and money.
Because other than good level design and aesthetics, Metroid fans don't need anything else. So a "big budget" Metroid game like, say, Metroid Prime 4 would still not need:
- A rich story to write and direct, with plenty of characters. It's just Samus herself alone. At best there would be a background story to uncover. Even Mario games need more characters but not Metroid.
- Voice actors. No other characters means nobody talks and there's nobody to talk to. The best Metroid games are the ones where you are isolated. No need for monologues or flashbacks either. No need to spend money on recording studios and more people.
- Orchestral music. I think Metroid sounds best when there is electronic/midi music involved. It needs to have a catchy/atmospheric/alien-ish soundtrack, not an expensive orchestra. Just one guy and his synthesizer.
- Cutscenes/cinematics. This goes hand to hand with the story. Metroid only needs a few cutscenes here and there using the game engine and that's it. No fancy CGI stuff that lasts for minutes.
- Less stuff to test. Samus only has a handfull of moves/abilities and that's it. It's a pretty simple game if you think about it. There aren't many things to balance (like weapons and armor in Dark Souls) and not as many variables and things that can happen as in an open world game. Even something like Bloodstained needs a ton of items to test and balance, but not Metroid.
So most of the budget would go to graphics and art. And designing the game obviously, but plenty of indie developers have nailed the Metroidvania design. So that leaves us with the graphics. That's the only expensive part of Metroid. I feel that it can be even cheaper to produce than something like Dark Souls, only because there can be no other characters and voice actors and less variables. So i don't think Metroid can ever be a financial/business risk for Nintendo. Making a good Metroid game as fans want it to be should be a much easier (business wise) endeavor than making something like OtherM where they tried to make it more story driven.
Thoughts?
Because other than good level design and aesthetics, Metroid fans don't need anything else. So a "big budget" Metroid game like, say, Metroid Prime 4 would still not need:
- A rich story to write and direct, with plenty of characters. It's just Samus herself alone. At best there would be a background story to uncover. Even Mario games need more characters but not Metroid.
- Voice actors. No other characters means nobody talks and there's nobody to talk to. The best Metroid games are the ones where you are isolated. No need for monologues or flashbacks either. No need to spend money on recording studios and more people.
- Orchestral music. I think Metroid sounds best when there is electronic/midi music involved. It needs to have a catchy/atmospheric/alien-ish soundtrack, not an expensive orchestra. Just one guy and his synthesizer.
- Cutscenes/cinematics. This goes hand to hand with the story. Metroid only needs a few cutscenes here and there using the game engine and that's it. No fancy CGI stuff that lasts for minutes.
- Less stuff to test. Samus only has a handfull of moves/abilities and that's it. It's a pretty simple game if you think about it. There aren't many things to balance (like weapons and armor in Dark Souls) and not as many variables and things that can happen as in an open world game. Even something like Bloodstained needs a ton of items to test and balance, but not Metroid.
So most of the budget would go to graphics and art. And designing the game obviously, but plenty of indie developers have nailed the Metroidvania design. So that leaves us with the graphics. That's the only expensive part of Metroid. I feel that it can be even cheaper to produce than something like Dark Souls, only because there can be no other characters and voice actors and less variables. So i don't think Metroid can ever be a financial/business risk for Nintendo. Making a good Metroid game as fans want it to be should be a much easier (business wise) endeavor than making something like OtherM where they tried to make it more story driven.
Thoughts?
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