StarFox Zero (Wii-U)

[Junko]

Treehouse Day 2 is up.

[-blank-]

Next to Yoshi's Woolly World, this is my most hyped game of 2015. It looks damn fun and rather impressive graphically. Very much looking forward to this one.

[JaidynReiman]

DKU Star Fox?

Star Fox games featuring Rare-created characters. Mostly Krystal. Tricky the Triceratops, for example, originally appeared in Diddy Kong Racing before becoming Tricky in Star Fox Adventures. Plus Star Fox Adventures was originally a different game called Dinosaur Planet..

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

 The game looks awesome to me, and I hope they bring back additional items from Star Fox 2 outside of the walker and the carrier, perhaps Miyu and Fay as well... and I wonder if they might bring in Panther, but not as a Star Wolf member, but rather in a role that he was before his membership(perhaps create a better backstory for Krystal as well)

 

Other big hopes for me is Wolfen 2s showing up, and playable Wolfens(as a bonus unlockable, with or without a walker mode)

 

Also as for the mentions of it not having difficulties, so far they've said from the start, if they do Star Fox tradition, it would be an unlockable bonus you get for ranking missions

[Tara]

Everything I've seen so far is pretty awesome!  I'm actually legit excited about it.  The only complaints i do have is the character designs, which are reminiscent of SNES Star Fox (which I never liked), and the voice acting on Peppy's part.

 

Still better than Assault's voice acting but still.

[Balding Spider]

So I don't know how or why it took me so long to realize this but this reboot means that the one new character I did like is gone. Small price to pay to get rid of the ghost of Andross, the giant Pigma space cube, all of Adventures BS, and Krystal.

[Conando]

Which character would that be? I though Panther and Andross' grandson weren't bad characters.

[Balding Spider]

Which character would that be? I though Panther and Andross' grandson weren't bad characters.

 

I forgot to post his name

 

Anyway I was talking about Panther, but I forgot Dash even existed. Panther and Dash were cool guy's, but like I said small price to pay.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I see a lot of people comparing the designs to the SNES Starfox game... Am I the only one who thinks they look more like their Command designs, albeit with more detail on the fur?

 

I was never too fond of Star Fox Command's designs, and I was a little disappointed to see that Nintendo to be sticking with it. Not at all a game ruiner, just a nitpick for me.

[Conando]

I forgot to post his name

 

Anyway I was talking about Panther, but I forgot Dash even existed. Panther and Dash were cool guy's, but like I said small price to pay.

Yeah, it's not like it won't be enjoyable for Star Wolf to be the original way it was. They were the type of rival team you'd expect to see in things like the Thunderbirds.

[shdowhunt60]

I swear I'm one of the few people that actually really likes the new designs.

[Agie]

Star Fox games featuring Rare-created characters. Mostly Krystal. Tricky the Triceratops, for example, originally appeared in Diddy Kong Racing before becoming Tricky in Star Fox Adventures. Plus Star Fox Adventures was originally a different game called Dinosaur Planet..

Pretty much this. Hanging around DK Vine seems to have affected my vocabulary.

 

Not that I'm complaining. I love that place.

[Gabz Girl]

I swear I'm one of the few people that actually really likes the new designs.

 

Naw man I like 'em too. They're quite reminiscent to the old puppet designs from Star Fox SNES, down to the robotic legs.

[Junko]

Treehouse Day 3.

[Blacklightning]

I didn't even watch the video but just seeing the thumbnail made me realize that scouter thing makes Slippy looks like he's shedding a tear from one eye and I just lost my shit at the thought

 

"AAAAAAH HELP ME D;"

[Dantemustdie00]

I didn't even noticed Slippy has a scouter too.

 

Are we sure that Star Fox isn't aligned with the Ginyu Force?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Also, I think there is still plenty to see, both regarding levels, characters, and artstyle. We've been shown 4 levels, and generally only parts of them, not even the complete ones in general. So far all we know is that the classic 4, General Pepper, Katt, Classic Star Wolf, and most likely Bill is back. Beyond that, anyone else is going to show up later in the game or in the Climax. With all they've taken from Star Fox 2, I wouldn't be surprised if they repurposed Miyu and Fay as well, not to mention the other 2 introduced main recurring characters that have a decent fanbase(Panther and Krystal), albeit repurposed into roles where they can be used well. Also a big part of this game is increasing replay via multiple vehicle options, why wouldn't they make unique character ships as hidden bonuses as well to add another level to gameplay(Wolfen is the obvious ones, but what if Miyu and Fay showed up in Arwing Interceptors and/or Defenders, or as Katt in her ship. Heck plenty of possibilities).

 

So far the main thing we've seen is the classic Conerian intro, a level that starts as a Homage to sector Z, but then turns into a drasticly different homage to the Star Fox 2 carrier, otherwise everything we've seen is different and new(other than being on familiar planets, which again is a series staple, new and old planets showing up). We haven't seen a ton, and the art is still in development, with this build easily being 2 months old(heck, apparently they showed off a level with Katt in it, and it used her SF643DS model as a placeholder).

[Tara]

The Treehouse segment actually brought up a good point in that the game really does blend cinematics and gameplay quite well.  The way the game handles gives it a cinematic feel, as opposed to using QTE's and other things that take control out of the players' hands, as opposed to using strategic movement and camera angels that look good without impeding upon the player's movement.

 

Also, the backgrounds and textures in this game are really beautiful.  I know that Nintendo is supposedly always behind on the graphics department, but you really wouldn't know it here.  At least, not in my opinion.  I really want to see this game in full now.

 

I didn't even watch the video but just seeing the thumbnail made me realize that scouter thing makes Slippy looks like he's shedding a tear from one eye and I just lost my shit at the thought

 

"AAAAAAH HELP ME D;"

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

We got a Gameinformer interview with a few interesting tidbits

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/06/16/a-star-fox-zero-conversation-with-shigeru-miyamoto-and-his-team.aspx

 

A Star Fox Zero Conversation With Shigeru Miyamoto And His Team

 

e3 2015

 

by  Mike Futter on June 16, 2015 at 01:05 PM

5,439 Views 

 

5

 

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to go hands-on with Star Fox Zero. The use of both the Gamepad screen and television for play introduces a more frantic experience, and one we delighted in as we gradually learned when to look at each.

After we had a chance to play and digest the different vehicles, flight modes, and enemy types, we were given the opportunity to chat with Star Fox creator and development elder statesman Shigeru Miyamoto, game director Yugo Hiyashi, and Yusuke Hashimoto of Platinum Games, which is co-developing the title.

We inquired about how this partnership came to be. Platinum is working on its own projects, but Nintendo's timing couldn't have been better.

"The way I tend to make games nowadays is to work with a smaller team internally to make the core of the game," Miyamoto explains. "Once that's done, I look inside and outside Nintendo what would be a good development team to work on this game. And right about that time, it was when Bayonetta 2 was finishing up. It occurred to me that Platinum would be a great company to work on Star Fox. Now we're working very closely. We're working the same way we would with an internal team. We have meetings every day. We're looking at the ROM every day."

When we played Star Fox earlier this week, our hands-on time focused exclusively on solo play. We were curious about whether multiplayer would be making a return in this installment.

"Multiplayer has always been something that we've focused on in the previous Star Fox games," Miyamoto tells us. "Obviously in Star Fox Assault, it was a big part of it. During the course of that, we started to feel that the single player wasn't getting enough attention or was being lost in the shuffle. This time, we're really focused on the single player experience and figureing out how we can use the two screens to create a really rich single player experience for Star Fox."

He isn't writing off this type of gameplay in an online environment down the road, though. Whether that emerges as an add-on or a separate game isn't clear, though.

"Once we get people used to the system, it's possible in the future as in Splatoon, set up some network feature and allow people to have one-on-one combat in that way," Miyamoto says. "It's something we'll see maybe in the future."

When Star Fox Zero launches this fall, players will be able to instead hone their skills by returning to completed planets with new vehicles. As we were playing the Corneria stage in an Arwing, we noticed a sealed gate off to one side. We inquired about its purpose.

"The Corneria map does have a branching path within it, but another big thing we're focused on this time is that once you clear a stage, you'll get a second mission on the same stage," Miyamoto explains. "You'll have a different set of goals."

Star Fox has also featured different paths through the galaxy. The upcoming title takes a more linear approach, using its variety of transformations as a hook to revisit completed areas.

"In terms of what you saw in Star Fox 64, with the actual map with the different planets and lots of different branches, this time it will be simpler, but more variety in terms of different missions on the same planet," Miyamoto says. "We want it to be that you can complete the course of the game in the same amount of time you would spend watching a movie, so it's a cinematic experience. While there are still some branching paths, the main thing we are focusing on is having second and third missions available for each planet."

This also impacts difficulty, as there won't be an option to take different paths through the galaxy. There also won't be an option to tweak the game's difficulty in either direction. What you see is what you get, so it might be a good idea to practice if you're having trouble. While Nintendo wants to keep things simple, there is also a focus on bringing this type of shooter back to its roots.

"As everything around the player is getting more extravagent, the core gameplay is getting simpler," Miyamoto says. "With Star Fox, what I wanted to achieve was having players actually aim at things themselves. It was very important to me, and I'm happy to see that even beginners are able to aim at things and shoot them. The biggest thing this time is that there are no bombs this time. You have to aim."

There will likely be a cooperative mode though, so younger players can use the gamepad cockpit view to shoot while someone else uses a Wii remote and nunchuck to steer the craft. The pilot will also have a laser, so you won't be completely defenseless if you're playing with a younger gamer.

Star Fox Zero includes a scoring mechanic that awards points for defeating enemies. The team believes that players will work to better their performance over time. While its inclusion isn't new for the series, there are more options for boosting it given the control scheme.

"I think one thing that's interesting about having the two screens is that it opens up a lot of strategies and ways to attack each course," Miyamoto says. "You might see someone else playing something a different way and that will change your experience and add to the replay value. In this game, we have a point system like we had in Star Fox 64. But in Star Fox 64, taking out every single enemy in a stage was kind of impossible. Now with these new controls and being able to look around, it's actually an achievable goal to shoot down every enemy."

While Star Fox is well into development, Miyamoto and his time are still working out some of the design issues. There were coins and medals scattered throughout the game.

We know that these won't be used to unlock different decorations for your Arwing, but that will be a feature with a different unlock scheme. They also won't be used to unlock other characters for your squad or upgrade your craft. "Being able to collect something and gradually beef up your weapons is something that's very common in these types of games," Miyamoto says. "While I do think it's fun, I want to focus on making a game that's fun without that kind of element. I want to keep it simple and pure."

And as for Amiibo, which seem to be popping up in every game lately? "It would definitely be great to get a Slippy Amiibo, but the Amiibo lineup is so full now," Miyamoto tells us. "Obviously, there's a certain amount of them getting sold out. So just filling the repeat orders is kind of a challenge right now. It might be difficult. Making more of those is way harder than filling new orders of games."

You'll likely still be able to make use of your existing Star Fox Amiibo figures, though. "One function we're thinking of is that there's already the Fox Amiibo and the Falco Amiibo will be out by the time Star Fox comes out," Miyamoto says. "Tapping those will give you a small bonus in the game."

Our first look at Star Fox Zero was a positive one, and the core of the game is solidly in place across six levels we played. The title is on track for release later this year, and you can read more about it in our hands-on impressions.

 

 

So not only are in-mission alternate paths confirmed, a certain level of galaxy navigation(not on the same level as SF64 though), and Multiple missions on each planet(additional replay)

[nintega137]

So I'm confused. Is this a remake or like another reboot like what 64 was to the snes version? 

Also is it just me or was the voice acting.............................................. off?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

So I'm confused. Is this a remake or like another reboot like what 64 was to the snes version? 

Also is it just me or was the voice acting.............................................. off?

Its not fully dubbed 

 

Also, I'm not even entirely sure that they are sure, they just want the freedom to use whatever locals, enemies, planets in the story. Most likely it'll end up being this generations 64 to SNES

 

Speaking of I hope we finally get a VC release of Star Fox Snes or heck as a bonus ingame

[nintega137]

What do you mean not fully dubbed?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

What do you mean not fully dubbed?

They game is being built in Japan, and is still far from complete, so they polished up what they could for E3 but some parts weren't even localized. The game is built in Japanese, then when they have finalized the base overall game setup, then they call in the voice actors. Some parts were done, others where temporary treehouse dubs 

[nintega137]

Ah. Well that's good to hear because I think the voices were fine but the acting just seemed awful in every line lol. Sort of how I felt about the 3ds remake of 64. 

[Tara]

I'm kind of hoping that it's not a complete reboot of the series, because I just want the StarFox story to go forward.  Though I'm all for forgetting that everything in Adventures, Assault, and Command ever happened.