Should StarFox Get Darker?

[Shmibli7]

As the StarFox series gets older, so does it's fanbase. With very few new players getting in on the franchise, it seems that most who enjoy StarFox are, at the youngest, older teenagers. As the fans grow up and become more accustomed to dark, deep, or thought provoking stories provided by more mature video games, the feelings of happiness they found from playing the campy space shooter can diminish, which raises a question: should the franchise mature with it's audience?

StarFox already has a few dark plot points (The deaths of Fox's parents, ruin of entire planets, galaxy-wide wars started by an evil genius,) so, why not capitalize on the dark and make a more mature gaming experience.

Now, let me back up for a second and say that I am not suggesting that StarFox becomes an ultra-edgy, profanity riddled, gory tale of humanity but rather a game that sincerely earns its Teen rating.

To put it simply, I would like to see more in-depth cutscenes, a more realistic third-person experience in land combat, and an extreme increase in character depth; an increase that will lead me to believe I'm watching an animated movie rather than playing a Nintendo game.

Would anyone else like to see a more grown-up installment in the StarFox franchise or do you all think that I'm a bloody idiot? 

[ArwingFan]

If that means more of Farewell Beloved Falco or the fanmade cartoon A Fox in Space, then sure sign me up.

[The VGM Lover]

Just now, ArwingFan said:

If that means more of Farewell Beloved Falco or the fanmade cartoon A Fox in Space, then sure sign me up.

I was just about to mention A Fox In Space. If all that good stuff's anything to go by, then I'd be on board, that's for true.

[unoservix]

6 hours ago, Shmibli7 said:

As the StarFox series gets older, so does it's fanbase. With very few new players getting in on the franchise, it seems that most who enjoy StarFox are, at the youngest, older teenagers. As the fans grow up and become more accustomed to dark, deep, or thought provoking stories provided by more mature video games, the feelings of happiness they found from playing the campy space shooter can diminish, which raises a question: should the franchise mature with it's audience?

we're talking about the same people currently out breaking into churches and stumbling upon dead bodies as they play Pokemon GO, right?

6 hours ago, Shmibli7 said:

To put it simply, I would like to see more in-depth cutscenes, a more realistic third-person experience in land combat, and an extreme increase in character depth; an increase that will lead me to believe I'm watching an animated movie rather than playing a Nintendo game.

but what if you wanted to play a game >>

[Shmibli7]

2 minutes ago, unoservix said:

we're talking about the same people currently out breaking into churches and stumbling upon dead bodies as they play Pokemon GO, right?

but what if you wanted to play a game >>

You know what I'm getting at...

Anyway, I understand and I'm glad to get another perspective.

[The VGM Lover]

You can still have a darker, and more realistic story while keeping the original gameplay. I think that's what Namco tried to do when they made Star Fox Assault, while throwing in some nice lighthearted moments here and there.

[ArwingFan]

Some people might be wary because of the "interactive movie" craze as of late.  Although Assault and Command tried to be more story driven with iffy execution, however it could be great in the right hands.

The things I would do for A Fox In Space, the game.

[SF Redd]

I don't necessarily want darker, although I wouldn't be opposed to it.

What I want is more of an engaging story. The story of the franchise is excellent, but as much as it is, Miyamoto has said he wants to be able to focus on making games without worrying to much about the story. That's a big problem to me.

I want a game that is at least 30 hours long, with expansive lore, great story, and excellent gameplay. On foot, in the Arwing or Landmaster, in a Wolfen or the Blue Marine, it doesn't matter, I just want a really memorable story with gameplay that can stack up.

[That Ain't Falco]

The series is already pretty dark. I mean, look at Assault. Heck, look at Command!

Honestly, I feel the series does best hanging onto a T rating, because when it has the opportunity to, it loves to go into heavier subjects, like sexism, trauma, grieving, and how fucked up war is. Zero was clearly an experimental game for Nintendo. It almost felt restrained, in the story it was trying to tell. We need more T rates Star Fox games.

[Ellipzocore]

Yes. Hell yes. This is my jam.

1) Focus on the war and fighting aspects.

2) Add a story similar in pace and style of World War Z/Oral History of World War II wherein the story is a conglomeration of accounts of different people throughout the war. Mixing up the story and giving multiple perspectives would be interesting (I.E. controlling a submarine as a submarine commander on Aquas, then the next mission would be a major ground war on Katina from the perspective of a lieutenant in the marine corps).

3) Add a strategy game-like quality where you can choose where your battles will be and AI will attack you back, kind of like XCOM. I am not saying make it entirely like a strategy game, but it could be quite interesting.

4) First person perspective is more immersive, similar to Halo. Yes, third person is an option as well like in Battlefront.

5) Add elements alluding to the horrors of war, even up to genocide if it makes a good story.

6) LOTS OF DESTRUCTION! Imagine Starfox with DICE's Frostbite 3 engine. War is destructive, after all.

[Shmibli7]

57 minutes ago, riccofox96 said:

Yes. Hell yes. This is my jam.

1) Focus on the war and fighting aspects.

2) Add a story similar in pace and style of World War Z/Oral History of World War II wherein the story is a conglomeration of accounts of different people throughout the war. Mixing up the story and giving multiple perspectives would be interesting (I.E. controlling a submarine as a submarine commander on Aquas, then the next mission would be a major ground war on Katina from the perspective of a lieutenant in the marine corps).

3) Add a strategy game-like quality where you can choose where your battles will be and AI will attack you back, kind of like XCOM. I am not saying make it entirely like a strategy game, but it could be quite interesting.

4) First person perspective is more immersive, similar to Halo. Yes, third person is an option as well like in Battlefront.

5) Add elements alluding to the horrors of war, even up to genocide if it makes a good story.

6) LOTS OF DESTRUCTION!

I like this. I like this a lot. 

[The VGM Lover]

Everything, I agree with except accounts. I don't necessarily wanna be taken out of the moment to be brought to perspective in a Star Fox game... unless it involved the Cornerian Army, actually, but if it stars the team, I just wanna see those characters interacting from whatever point they're at in the story. It's more dramatic, more involving, and best of all, it's exciting, and you gotta have excitement in a Star Fox game.

[unoservix]

it never fails to amuse me that seemingly the first solution to the franchise's malaise everyone thinks of is "what if it was darker and edgier?" and not "what if it stopped making bad games?"

[The VGM Lover]

12 minutes ago, unoservix said:

it never fails to amuse me that seemingly the first solution to the franchise's malaise everyone thinks of is "what if it was darker and edgier?" and not "what if it stopped making bad games?"

XDDDDDDDDDDDDD Good one. 

[Ellipzocore]

2 hours ago, amcintyr9998 said:

Everything, I agree with except accounts. I don't necessarily wanna be taken out of the moment to be brought to perspective in a Star Fox game... unless it involved the Cornerian Army, actually, but if it stars the team, I just wanna see those characters interacting from whatever point they're at in the story. It's more dramatic, more involving, and best of all, it's exciting, and you gotta have excitement in a Star Fox game.

Well, I do know that the Starfox team has encounters with space pirates every so often. A four- or five-man crew seems more likely to be an elite special-forces team, so hell, even space terrorists would fit into the games, as I think there are already some in the games. Even rivalries with other special forces teams could prove interesting.

I was considering a Starfox game where a war is huge and impersonal purely as a way to shake things up and be a catalyst for discussion. And it wouldn't have to outright abandon elements from the previous games either. Squads of fighters can be close and consider each other as family, just like in the original games.

[Shmibli7]

7 hours ago, unoservix said:

it never inails to amuse me that seemingly the first solution to the franchise's ma laise everyone thinks of is "what if it was darker and edgier?" and not "what if it stopped making bad games?"

Did you not read what I said In my In my Introduction?

 

On Monday, July 18, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Shmibli7 said:

Now, let me back up for a second and say that I am not suggesting that StarFox becomes an ultra-edgy, profanity riddled, gory tale of humanity but rather a game that sincerely earns its Teen rating.

Seriously, never once has there been an SF game worthy of the teen rating not jsut by my standards but gaming standards In general.

[unoservix]

2 hours ago, Shmibli7 said:

Did you not read what I said In my In my Introduction?

when someone suggested exactly those things you said you weren't talking about, you were all "yeah, i like that!" so the better question is, did you not read what you said in your introduction?

[Shmibli7]

7 hours ago, unoservix said:

when someone suggested exactly those things you said you weren't talking about, you were all "yeah, i like that!" so the better question is, did you not read what you said in your introduction?

It never said anything about a super-edgy, gore filled, profanity riddled game. Yes, he referenced genocide but don't people alresdy think of massive death when they think of Cerninia?

[Ellipzocore]

EDIT: My bad, I didn't realize what I said was already done. Keeping the post for reference.

To unoservix:

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION INBOUND

 

I think a good solution for the franchise's malaise would be to, albeit controversially, license it out to other gaming companies to allow for more innovation and ideas to come to the franchise rather than letting it stagnate and die a miserable death. Nintendo can focus on their 999th Zelda and Mario game, and let more minds work with the source material to allow great things to happen. And hell, if a Starfox game is released by some company and it sucks, Nintendo doesn't have to get all the flak.

Back to the topic at hand, action and shooting are core elements of Starfox regardless of how you slice it. Harnessing it and playing around with gameplay mechanics (like the strategy game qualities) could do the franchise some much-needed justice.

[unoservix]

23 minutes ago, riccofox96 said:

I think a good solution for the franchise's malaise would be to, albeit controversially, license it out to other gaming companies to allow for more innovation and ideas to come to the franchise rather than letting it stagnate and die a miserable death. Nintendo can focus on their 999th Zelda and Mario game, and let more minds work with the source material to allow great things to happen. And hell, if a Starfox game is released by some company and it sucks, Nintendo doesn't have to get all the flak.

isn't that what they've been doing this whole time?

[Ellipzocore]

2 hours ago, unoservix said:

isn't that what they've been doing this whole time?

I am fucking retarded. I completely forgot Assault was made by Namco and Rare made Adventures. My bad.

However, I think my point still stands that Starfox needs some changes in gameplay mechanics and possibly some genre shifts. On-rails shooters have far surpassed their heyday and current generation technology allows for some truly awesome games with large maps and long hours of gameplay. Starfox seems to be stuck in the past, and not being able to let it go can be a big drawback to subsequent installations.

[Robert Monroe]

I find the arguement that a genre is outdated to be laughable. People said the same about traditional turn based RPGs, about immersive sims, and much more, and look what happened now. Homogenizing Starfox into a generic action game full of grimdark an edgelording is not a smart move.

 

What Starfox needs is to expand its horizons. It needs to think vertically - more depth, not more "features" or gimmicks. Its space opera, its about good vs evil on an interstellar scale. Level designs need to be more difficult, more engaging. Designs need to be improved upon and galvanized. 

 

Also why is everyone saying SF is stuck in the past? Zero was the first back to basics game since SF64, and it wasn't even THAT back to basics. Command, Assault, and Adventures all tried a lot of new things - and hell, so did Zero.

[The VGM Lover]

10 hours ago, Robert Monroe said:

I find the arguement that a genre is outdated to be laughable. People said the same about traditional turn based RPGs, about immersive sims, and much more, and look what happened now. Homogenizing Starfox into a generic action game full of grimdark an edgelording is not a smart move.

 

What Starfox needs is to expand its horizons. It needs to think vertically - more depth, not more "features" or gimmicks. Its space opera, its about good vs evil on an interstellar scale. Level designs need to be more difficult, more engaging. Designs need to be improved upon and galvanized. 

 

Also why is everyone saying SF is stuck in the past? Zero was the first back to basics game since SF64, and it wasn't even THAT back to basics. Command, Assault, and Adventures all tried a lot of new things - and hell, so did Zero.

And Guard!

[Patch93]

Quote

Homogenizing Starfox into a generic action game full of grimdark an edgelording is not a smart move.

I absolutely second this. Also it's important to keep in mind that this is a franchise about animal muppet aliens that fly starfighters. I'm not saying it should be unbearably light-hearted and campy, but it shouldn't try too hard to take itself seriously either. Star Fox is a series that should be able to appeal to everyone regardless of demographic, much like Nintendo's other franchises.

[delete-this-pls?]

I don't think it needs to be darker, but I do want more story. For example, I'm getting desperate to find out more about Wolf, Panther, Leon and Pigma.