2020-05-01_Official_PlayStation_Magazine_-_UK_Edition

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Mitchell Lineham Jess Kinghorn

P

riortothePS4era,

youmightremember

playingdozensof

licensedDisneymovie

games.ToyStory,A Bug’s

Life,Hercules,WALL-E,

Cars...thelistgoeson,even

coveringmorenichemovies

suchasTreasurePlanet.

Whileworldsfromrecent

movieshavebeen

incorporatedintoKingdom

HeartsIII,it’sfuntothink

aboutwhatcould’vebeen.

Canyouimaginea Big

Hero6 game,whereyouplay

aseachofthecharactersand

tacklea plotexpanded

beyondthemovie?Or

Wreck-itRalph,whereRalph

andVanellopefindthemselves

ina brand-newworld?Evena

gamebasedontherecently

releasedOnward,orthe

upcomingMulan?Howabout

parksimulatorsinPSVR?

I’vebeenaddictedto

DisneyGetawayonmobile,

butthein-pocketexperience

is nothingcomparedto

bigger-budgetPlayStation

games.I missthedaysofa

solidconsoletie-in.‘Tie-in’

hasa negativeconnotation,as

if they’regamesmadewith

nosoul,butthat’snottrue.

Manyfanfavouriteswent

aboveandbeyondwhatthe

movieoffered–ToyStory 2

includedbossesandareasnot

seeninthemovie.Yousurely

remembertheSlimeMonster

inLevel6?

DREAMSCOMETRUE?

Disney’slicensedgames

weren’talltie-ins.Wehad

gemslikeDonaldDuck:Quack

Attack,Stitch:Experiment

626,andMonstersInc.Scare

Island,whichprovided

originalstoriesbasedon

thoseIPs,andexpandedon

theirlore.Nowthose

additionsarerelegatedtothe

footnotesofJRPGsthatcome

outonceeveryhundredyears

(orso).MarvelandStarWars

gamesseembackontrack–

sowhere’smyDisney?

If anycompanyhastheIP

cataloguetotakethegaming

worldbystorm,it’sDisney.

Asa fanmyself,I’meagerto

seewhatit’lldogoing

forward.MaybeDisney+can

taketheNetflixrouteof

creatinginteractiveTV

shows?Thepossibilitiesare

endless,anditsforayintoTV

streamingshowsthecompany

couldmakea freshrunat

videogames.Regardlessof

whetherthosearenewgames

orremastersofa stunning

backcatalogue,I can’twaitto

seewhatDisneycancookup.

Bringonthemagic!

T

hinkingoftryingto

runmethrough?Hold

on!I lovetheoriginal

releaseofPersona 5

forallthesamereasonsyou

do:thecharacters,thebattle

system,thestylishflair

permeatingeverything.But

oftenwearebestequipped

tocriticisethatwhichwe

love.Afterthreeyearsof

nibblingawayat100-plus

hoursofJRPGaction,

clearingmyschedulefor

hour-longbossfightsand

racingpastwhatfeellike

threedifferentperfectly

goodendpoints,I’mfaced

withtheprospectthat

actuallyallthatwasn’tthe

‘definitive’experience.

It’sradthatRoyalwillgive

youanothershotatGoro

Akechi’sstory.But,poor

choiceofwordsaside,the

reasontheacedetectivehas

sucha ferventfanbaseof

would-bedefendersis because

hisstoryoriginallyendslikea

shotthroughtheheart(sorry,

I’llstopnow).Injusticeis the

wholepointofhiseventual

fate.MaybeRoyal’snew

redemptionarcwillprove

moresatisfying,andit’slikely

thisrereleasewillknockit out

oftheparkjustlikeGolden

didbeforeit,butI justcan’t

findit inmetowakeup,get

up,getoutthereforyet

anotherheist.

THEMASKSLIPS

It’snotjustthatI needspace

beforedivingbackintoa

hundredmorehoursandthen

someofPersona5. I’llhead

backtoShujinAcademy

eventually,butit won’tbe

thankstoanysavetransfer

goodiesinRoyal–because

therearen’tany.Theextent

ofthisrerelease’schangesand

additionalcontentwilljustify

thepriceofre-entryformany,

especiallyinlightofthe

series’proventrackrecord

withGoldenandFes.What

I’mworriedaboutis copycat

behaviourleadingtoa trend

offarlessthoughtful,

incrementallyiterative

rereleases.Well,a trendworse

thanthingsarenowwith

multiplecopiesofFinal

FantasyIXtomyname.

It’snothardtoseewhy

theopportunitytoredress

pre-existingnarrativebeatsis

soappealing,butI hopethis

doesn’tgivewaytoa future

ofstorieswhereimpactful

consequencesarepatchedout

overtime.(Youabsolutelydo

notwanttogetmestartedon

whatoneDetroit:Become

Humanpatchdidwithits

menuhostess,Chloe...)

DISNEY+ISTAKING THE

WORLDBY STORM, BUT

WHEREAREALL THE

VIDEOGAMES?

ASPERSONA 5 TURNS

INTOROYAL,I CAN’TGET

EXCITEDABOUT UNMASKING

IT ALLOVER AGAIN.

WRITER BIO

Mitchell Lineham thinks that no matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep

on believing, then your dream to see more Disney games come to PlayStation

will come true. But if it’s of the next Kingdom Hearts, you’ll be dreaming a while.

WRITER BIO

Jess Kinghorn likes being spoilt for choice as much as the next guy. However,

she appreciates being made to stick to her guns from time to time too... and

when 100 hours of her time are at stake, she’s going to stick, thank you.

Disney enraptures audiences across most

media. Can it work the same magic in games?

P5 Royal getting taken to task by our resident

Phantom Thief? You’ll never see it coming

OPINION