025Mitchell Lineham Jess Kinghorn
P
rior to the PS4 era,
you might remember
playing dozens of
licensed Disney movie
games. Toy Story, A Bug’s
Life, Hercules, WALL-E,
Cars... the list goes on, even
covering more niche movies
such as Treasure Planet.
While worlds from recent
movies have been
incorporated into Kingdom
Hearts III, it’s fun to think
about what could’ve been.
Can you imagine a Big
Hero 6 game, where you play
as each of the characters and
tackle a plot expanded
beyond the movie? Or
Wreck-it Ralph, where Ralph
and Vanellope find themselves
in a brand-new world? Even a
game based on the recently
released Onward, or the
upcoming Mulan? How about
park simulators in PS VR?
I’ve been addicted to
Disney Getaway onmobile,
but the in-pocket experience
is nothing compared to
bigger-budget PlayStation
games. I miss the days of a
solid console tie-in. ‘Tie-in’
has a negative connotation, as
if they’re games made with
no soul, but that’s not true.
Many fan favourites went
above and beyond what the
movie offered – Toy Story 2included bosses and areas not
seen in the movie. You surely
remember the Slime Monster
in Level 6?DREAMS COME TRUE?
Disney’s licensed games
weren’t all tie-ins. We had
gems like Donald Duck: Quack
Attack, Stitch: Experiment
626, and Monsters Inc. Scare
Island, which provided
original stories based on
those IPs, and expanded on
their lore. Now those
additions are relegated to the
footnotes of JRPGs that come
out once every hundred years
(or so). Marvel and Star Wars
games seem back on track –
so where’s my Disney?
If any company has the IP
catalogue to take the gaming
world by storm, it’s Disney.
As a fan myself, I’m eager to
see what it’ll do going
forward. Maybe Disney+ can
take the Netflix route of
creating interactive TV
shows? The possibilities are
endless, and its foray into TV
streaming shows the company
could make a fresh run at
videogames. Regardless of
whether those are new games
or remasters of a stunning
back catalogue, I can’t wait to
see what Disney can cook up.
Bring on the magic!T
hinking of trying to
run me through? Hold
on! I love the original
release of Persona 5
for all the same reasons you
do: the characters, the battle
system, the stylish flair
permeating everything. But
often we are best equipped
to criticise that which we
love. After three years of
nibblingaway at100-plus
hours of JRPG action,
clearing my schedule for
hour-long boss fights and
racing past what feel like
three different perfectly
good end points, I’m faced
with the prospect that
actually all that wasn’t the
‘definitive’ experience.
It’s rad that Royal will give
you another shot at Goro
Akechi’s story. But, poor
choice of words aside, the
reason the ace detective has
such a fervent fanbase of
would-be defenders is because
his story originally ends like a
shot through the heart (sorry,
I’ll stop now). Injustice is the
whole point of his eventual
fate. Maybe Royal’s new
redemption arc will prove
more satisfying, and it’s likely
this rerelease will knock it out
of the park just like Golden
did before it, but I just can’t
find it in me to wake up, getup, get out there for yet
another heist.THE MASK SLIPS
It’s not just that I need space
before diving back into a
hundred more hours and then
some of Persona 5. I’ll head
back to Shujin Academy
eventually, but it won’t be
thanks to any save transfer
goodies in Royal – because
there aren’t any. The extent
of this rerelease’s changes and
additional content will justify
the price of re-entry for many,
especially in light of the
series’ proven track record
with Golden and Fes. What
I’m worried about is copycat
behaviour leading to a trend
of far less thoughtful,
incrementally iterative
rereleases. Well, a trend worse
than things are now with
multiple copies of Final
Fantasy IX to my name.
It’s not hard to see why
the opportunity to redress
pre-existing narrative beats is
so appealing, but I hope this
doesn’t give way to a future
of stories where impactful
consequences are patched out
over time. (You absolutelydo
notwant to get me started on
what one Detroit: Become
Human patch did with its
menu hostess, Chloe...)DISNEY+ IS TAKING THE
WORLD BY STORM, BUT
WHERE ARE ALL THE
VIDEOGAMES?AS PERSONA 5 TURNS
INTO ROYAL, I CAN’T GET
EXCITED ABOUT UNMASKING
IT ALL OVER 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 comingOPINION