Capcom's Future Gems

While Capcom confirmed around the time of this year's dire Tokyo Game Show that Super Street Fighter IV is coming, that, of course, wasn't all they had to show. Capcom is sadly the only Japanese company that has a sense of reality when it comes to approaching the home console market this generation, and this year was no exception. To be honest, Japan is approaching portable gaming quite a bit better than their big brothers, but that's not to say Capcom doesn't have something on that front too. They had a bunch of potentially great games to show this year.

And this probably isn't one of them! But it could turn out pretty good. The Mega Man Battle Network franchise, including its variant Mega Man: Star Force, has been in the doldrums for a few years in terms of quality. But the good thing about this installment, known in Japan as Rockman EXE OSS, is that it's a complete return to form: it's a remake of the first Battle Network game, originally released back in 2001. You know, back when people liked the franchise. It hasn't been confirmed for release outside of Japan yet, but knowing Capcom it'll find its way over eventually. It releases in Japan in mid-November.

Here we have Ghost Trick for Nintendo DS, a game that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned on this blog earlier (or maybe I missed it?). This is an adventure/puzzle game about a deceased ghost named Sissel, who has made it his itinerary to find out how he died and who did this to him. When it was announced a few months ago, the most ostensibly intriguing aspect about Ghost Trick was that it was being handled by Shu Takumi, well known for creating the Phoenix Wright franchise. Unlike the last game, this one's already confirmed for a worldwide release in 2010, though it will release in different territories at different times of the year if they past is anything to go by. Capcom shouldn't release this early in the year in American and European territories, since we've yet to dabble in Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations.

Capcom also had Okamiden to show off, a portable sequel to a console game. The internet was surprised - and, in some cases, disappointed - to see that the next Okami game wasn't going to grace a console. It's actually not surprising at all, though, seeing as how the console iterations both bombed. Unfortunate? Yes, but it was either this or killing the franchise outright. Moving from a console to a portable means taking a few liberties, but one glance at it in motion is enough to show that it's not as much of a downgrade as you'd expect. In a way, the DS feels like a perfect console for the game due to its touch screen being a more intuitive way to use the paintbrush. Here's hoping less of the game is superfluous this time around. Okamiden releases in Japan in 2010, and they'll probably bring it to other parts of the world. To be honest, I'm surprised they confirmed Ghost Trick before this.

When you see the name Last Ranker, the first thing you think of probably isn't an RPG. But it's the name of a new Image Epoch (of Luminous Arc and Arc Rise Fantasia, though it resembles the latter graphically) title being published by Capcom. For inspiration, Last Ranker director Kazuya Ninou (Etrian Odyssey, 7th Dragon) looked to popular shounen manga for his inspiration. Certainly a bizarre choice for ideas, but I think someone like Ninou's capable of making a worthwhile game out of it. Also, the game features character designs from Tatsuya Yoshikawa of the Breath of Fire series, and features music from the venerable Yoko Shimomura. Those names alone make it a game worth watching. It seems like it's a ways off though.

Super Street Fighter IV wasn't the only update to an existing game discussed at the show, as they also officially confirmed Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition. Here's a game whose subtitle lives up to its name: it's basically Resident Evil 5 with the addition of motion controls and a new side-quest involving the original game's protagonists. It was only shown for Playstation 3, but Capcom did say that it would be coming to 360 in some form. It comes out next spring; the same time SSFIV releases.

Throughout this generation, I've been thoroughly impressed with what Capcom has been bringing to the table. And the above isn't even covering all of their games. They also have Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on the horizon, and I've already talked about Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom at length. And I wish that some other developers could be this proficient.

And by "other developers," I mean Square Enix.