When I look at the opinions on the Wii catalog, I am struck by the consensus that has been reached, which indicates that there is a vast majority of shit games, outright casual exploitation, and a handful of colossal masterpieces. If this were the case (and in another post I will try to find examples to conclude that it does not), I would have problems fitting ‘Epic Mickey’ and also its sequel, ‘ Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two’ .
‘Epic Mickey 2’: the genetics of virtues and defects
The first ‘Epic Mickey’ was far from perfect , from being a video game masterpiece, but at least he wasn’t afraid to show ambition for it. Warren Spector and his epic raised a platform full of novelties and that, even dark and with a certain tragic touch, fit very well in the canonical Disney setting and in the supposed majority target of Wii (the kids; you know, another of the topics ).
It was a different and very remarkable experience that, no matter how many critics said at the time, it was not ruined by an almost disastrous camera or a mission approach lacking in imagination (which was still curious, considering the deployment of resources that ‘Epic Mickey’ showed in other facets).
The original ‘Epic Mickey’ remained a remarkable and fun title … but it seems that these divisions have been banished to be more and more categorical: either wonder of times or death. If we measured the past today with the same yardstick as the Warren Spector title , the first ‘Resident Evil’ would not have had any chance of surviving in this jungle (and we would have saved something, some will think in line with how the matter has gone wild. Capcom, but that’s another story).
All this comes to mind, it is not just a reckoning on my part. ‘Epic Mickey 2’, which makes the leap (ahem) to the multiplatform, inherits much of the defects and virtues of its predecessor , nullifying any type of theory of evolution in which the race improves with the passage of time. generations. Spector and Junction Point do not make the son more attractive than the father and, nevertheless, ‘The Power of Two’ is, as the first was already, like those second-glance people: people who are not attractive at first but who have something.
Mickey and Oswald, an unbalanced power of two
Why do I say that ‘The Power of Two’ is not more attractive than the original? Because almost nothing that has been tried to solve the problems that existed in ‘Epic Mickey’ manages to differentiate the experience, improve it .
Oswald, for example, ends up being more of a hindrance than progress . Supposedly, having a second character on screen should make the obstacles more difficult, but also more fun. If we play in cooperative mode, still, but in individual mode the AI of our companion is difficult to predict, uncomfortable and, despite not being designed as such, an obstacle in almost every situation that arises to solve halfway.
Yes, we may agree that at Junction Point they have believed that ‘Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two’ should be played doubles , it MUST be done that way. But then it would almost be better not to propose an individual mode if the companion’s brain is half cooked and we cannot propose a decent online (although this is still more the fault of Wii as a console and Nintendo’s online approach than the game itself).
Be that as it may, if you have to think of ‘Epic Mickey 2’ as a game to start and finish it alone, you will have to go through that hoop . If you are not willing to deal with an idiot companion, frustration is assured (and many of the criticisms of the title prove it).
Drawings, camera and action
In Junction Point they knew that one of the most criticized points of the first title was that of the camera . Now they have made a remarkable effort to improve it. It continues without being entirely satisfied and sometimes it complicates the simple things (jumping from one platform to another), but this time the drawbacks that can be put on it are a trifle: it never becomes a central obstacle to enjoying the game.
If you improve on some negative point of the past, in essence ‘Epic Mickey 2’ does not change the best of its predecessor. He continues to trust the attractiveness of his playable approach and the option of having paint and solvent to be able to solve the different paths that arise. To be a game with a very closed structure, it once again leaves us free as players to choose what we want to do: whether to create the world or destroy it, and whether painting or dissolving has an impact on who we meet.
Graphically, it still maintains its condition of breath of fresh air : it is not the typical Disney, but that world with an unhealthy point. Now that ‘Epic Mickey’ is multiplatform, it must be said that it is still on Wii where its visual aspect best fits. In both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions there will be those who can blame him for being a point below the graphic quality standard that we have already reached.
Not on Wii; on Wii it is once again a visually very remarkable game, perhaps more familiar, colorful and optimistic than its predecessor, whose atypical darkness added extra points. ‘Epic Mickey 2’ is more “normal” or perhaps we have become used to what Warren Spector has done with the Disney universe.
Maybe it’s because of that tone but in ‘Epic Mickey 2’ you always want to solve your dilemmas by painting the world rather than ending it. It is a title that pushes you to be kind as players (and also in your critical analysis), and also to look at it without disdain. Of course, many of the musical numbers, the alleged great novelty of the game, make you want to root them out and border on the stupid. Too bad, because there was the other great differential point of the title with respect to almost the entire catalog, not only for Wii, but for current consoles.
Tiredness from accumulation?
As you can see, everything indicates that we have more of the same, corrected in part, increased in others. Lots of side missions, a larger world, more gameplay, and a more intricate story. Not always more is better and sometimes it seems that ‘The Power of Two’ was a horror vacui of the first: accumulating and accumulating the same concepts in search of making it better.
It is a dangerous tactic: it does not always work and sometimes it is tiring , but it is still a unique game, thought in a different way, and lived as such. Sometimes we are dragged into their own back room, with missions that put us almost in a making-of of the game, in search of lost designs, sketches and ideas of the characters themselves. Others, the puzzles and, above all, the possibility of solving them continue to impact as in the first title.
‘Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two’ is once again a cube full of creativity and based on its spontaneity. Therefore, many times it seems to be raised with strokes, with sparks of genius. It is almost a creative brainstorming turned into a video game and, as such, it alternates brilliant moments with other desperate ones and some ridiculous ones. But you don’t lose, at any time, that feeling of trying something radically different from the rest of the industry every minute that passes.
It will not be a masterpiece, but it is not satisfied with being another-game-more. So, for me, it is desirable that there is ‘Epic Mickey 3’, even though the cold reception that is being dispensed can possibly close the saga here.
Epic Mickey 2 | Wii
- Platforms : Wii, PS3, Xbox 260
- Developer : Junction Point
- Distributor : Disney Interactive Studios
- Launch : Now available (November 23, 2012)
- Price : 49.95 euros
Epic Mickey 2 takes up Warren Spector’s ambitious project without being outstanding but again displaying a much-needed (and remarkable) creative ambition.
