X-Men could be a fantastic rogue (in the right hands)

In the world of comics, X-Men has been a fashionable property in recent years. While the popularity of Marvel’s mutants has rarely been in jeopardy in the past two decades, the current story arc, launched with the House of X book in 2019, has injected new life into the characters and the stories. That same story has all the characteristics of an exciting video game that uses a very particular game structure: the roguelike. As if written to use that same presumption, an X-Men roguelike game could capture something intriguing and exciting about current fiction. And that vision would be at its best if it came from a small team given creative freedom to make the game their own.

For the uninitiated, the Dawn of X The story helped relaunch the X-Men comics a couple of years ago, reinventing some core aspects of the narrative to reinvigorate the mutant family of books. [Notable spoilers follow, in case you’re still hoping to discover it for yourself.] Without obsessing over the details of an especially complex setup (even by comic standards), the X-Men are in a very different place than they were before. Old feuds, like those between Xavier and Magneto, have been put aside. Most of the mutants now live together in a mutant nation on the living island of Krakoa. After decades of feeling helpless in the face of constant assault, the tone of the books has changed, depicting a largely united mutant world demanding a seat at the international (and even intergalactic) table. The key to this change of fortune is a great secret that the mutants now keep; Thanks to a confluence of powers from several key mutants in their ranks, any mutant can now be resurrected after death, returned to fight once more.

And die. The X-Men family of books has been filled with dramatic twists and turns in which some of our favorite heroes – like Jean Gray, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler – have found lurid endings, only to emerge once more on Krakoa to continue the fight. It has some fun scenes as the heroes can make the ultimate sacrifice and then show the next number again. Of course, the miraculous secret of the resurrection seems to be constantly at risk of being discovered or corrupted. “Oh no! If you die in this other world, you don’t come back well!” X-Men mythology, namely that a minority population often faces violence and even death from an indifferent world.In these latest stories, that painful reality is subverted, giving the heroes power and confidence.

Players hardly need to be sold on the fun potential inherent in heroes who die and then start the fight from scratch. The roguelike genre has risen to prominence in recent years, capturing something magical and exciting that few other games can achieve. Fight hard through a seemingly invincible sequence of battles and then die. Use the experience gained during that fight to go a little further next time. Acquire skill, knowledge, and mastery. “One more race!” it becomes the mantra.

I would love to see Marvel recognize the potential of current stories centered around the resurrection of the X-Men to translate into a roguelike game. And to do it justice, they should entrust that effort to the same type of team that has had the luckiest capturing the intensity and excitement of the roguelike formula – small, independent studios that have already traveled these roads with successful games.

Imagine Dead Mage translating his experience into a game like Children of Morta, and instead having a pixelated action / adventure with characters like Jean Gray and Storm. Or consider Motion Twin’s side-scrolling exploration as seen in Dead Cells, but with Wolverine slicing through a heavily guarded space station orbiting the sun. Mega Crit Games helped popularize the card-based deck-building roguelike; It’s not hard to imagine his version of Marvel’s mutants, unlocking new characters with each race and drawing new cards for your deck that reflect mutant powers.

Independent developers are usually independent for good reason; Many of those studios are filled with talented people who dropped out of the big studios to pursue their creative visions. They want the freedom to make their own mistakes and triumphs and take risks that a large development house simply won’t. Marvel (and other big licensees) should take note of that spirit and consider partnerships that capitalize on that penchant for risk-taking. Many smaller studios were formed specifically to pursue their own passions and projects, and can be justifiably reluctant to deviate from their own creative endeavors; after all, many went on their own to get away from sequels, corporate game development, and in some cases even the limited control inherent in some licensed work. However, I suspect that at least some smaller studios would seize the opportunity to create something with a large property like the X-Men, especially if the field was: “We loved the work you did on your last game. We have this story concept about the resurrection of mutants in the X-Men mythology, rising up to fight the same tough battle over and over again. We’d love to give you the freedom to take that and run with it in your own direction. “

I’ve been impressed by Marvel’s willingness to take risks in recent years, expanding opportunities to work on popular franchises like Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Midnight Sons (Suns), and The Avengers to a variety of top-notch development houses. level. . We even recently learned about a game dedicated to Wolverine from Insomniac. The next step is to open the door to smaller deals with lesser-known development studios, where great talent and proven success stories could allow for some great games.

I can think of few franchises as mature for a treatment as the X-Men. Varied superpowers from a variety of richly drawn characters, many memorable conflicts and villains, and a story setting that allows players to experience that live / die / repeat structure that makes roguelikes so much fun – it all adds up to one gameplay. that fans would love. experience. It’s okay for some licensed games to be smaller, feature pixel art, or take characters in unusual directions that you would never try on a larger, more expensive project. I’m ready to take Cyclops on that seemingly impossible mission to hunt down Nimrod, only to face his disappearance, and then be forced to try again, with the optical blasts at the ready. The concept is ready for gaming success, but only if the right partnership can transform the idea into reality.