River City Girls 2 Developers Talk Xbox Game Pass Plans, DLC, and more

on December 15, River City Girls 2 It will be released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S and PC. In honor of the game’s release, director Bannon Rhodes and writer Adam Tierney spoke to ComicBook.com about the highly anticipated sequel, revealing when River City Girls 2 It was initially planned, whether we could see a third game, and more. the original River City Girls A surprising critical and commercial success, fans may want to know if they can expect to see more from the series!

the original River City Girls It was released in 2019. The sequel promises to offer the same gameplay that made the first game a success, but with several additions, including more playable characters, new enemies, and a larger world than its predecessor. The original game has also been available on Xbox Game Pass for some time, and Tierney addressed whether the sequel might receive similar treatment at some point down the line. Not only did Tierney seem open to the idea, but he also brought up the possibility River City Girls Zero Appear in service!

Keep reading to see our interview with WayForward’s Bannon Rhodes and Adam Tierney!

Kunio-kun connection

Comic Book: The First River City Girls It seems to have found a loyal following where other Kunio-kun games outside of Japan have struggled. Why do you think so?

Adam Tierney: I can’t personally speak to the success of the previous River City games here, as we only know the sales and fandom of our own games. But I can say that when we started planning on the first River City Girls One of our goals was to make it stand out from all of the previous Kunio-kun titles, so that there would be no confusion among players whether or not they actually played this title, whether it was a remake of a previous game, etc. With over 50 Kunio-kun games released so far, there’s a lot to build from, but it’s also hard to make any new entry feel completely new. That’s why we didn’t use traditional NES-style sprites, and gave the game its own identity.

the previousnext one

Supplementary planning

Was the plan always to do a sequel?

Tierney: Yes and no. We got close to the first River City Girls We don’t assume there will be a sequel, and we put as much effort into the first game as we can. However, we decided to keep some of the main characters from the brand (such as Sabu, Ken, Ryuji, and Ryuichi) for a potential sequel, so if we do end up creating RCG2, we won’t feel like we’re busy with just minor characters. And one of the biggest appeals about playing River City games in general is that we can reuse (and expand on) this massive city with every game.

Bannon Rhodes: Sequels are never part of a final plan, but they always float in the back of your head when designing. Upon seeing the audience’s reaction to the first game, those little creepy ideas for a sequel begin to blossom into something tangible and achievable.

the previousnext one

win-m-ups

(photo: WayForward)

Given some of the limitations of the beat-em-up genre, was it difficult to come up with ideas that differentiate RCG2 from the first game?

Rhodes: I don’t see the limits of this type of game, only those that developers of the past thought they should stick to. This genre was originally intended for arcades and was intended to drain your premises with limited lives and stacked odds against the player. We don’t owe it to you anymore. The sequel really pushes in a direction that I don’t think many smash hits have gone before. I hope it inspires other developers to do the same with this genre.

the previousnext one

cameos

Are there any major cameos that players can expect to see in this game?

Rhodes: There already. I’m a big, unspoiled guy, so I’m not saying anything. This game should feel like a love letter to the technos developers of the past. Literally without them, this game wouldn’t exist.

the previousnext one

Delight fans and newcomers

River-city-girls-2.jpg
(photo: WayForward)

the first River City Girls It felt respectful to Kunio-kun’s roots, but also felt welcoming to those less familiar with the series. Is it difficult to achieve this balance?

Tierney: Not really, because at the end of the day, it’s more important to have a great stand-alone game than one that’s basically in sync with previous games. As we reimagined classic Kunio-kun characters in our games, we tried to keep the spirit of each character, but we didn’t try to keep them 100% intact. In Japan, the RCG is considered a “gaiden” series, almost like the alternate universe version of Kunio-kun, and this gives us a lot of flexibility to define our own style and identity with these games.

the previousnext one

future plans

side by side River City Girls ZeroWayForward has now worked on three games in this series. Are there plans to continue River City Girls in the future?

TerniFingers crossed! I can say that the answer to this question depends almost entirely on game sales. the first River City Girls It sold well and was well received by fans and critics, so we made a sequel. if RCG2 A good knight (or better) it certainly is possible. Although we might consider some post-launch DLC for RCG2 Before a brand new game; In hindsight, I wish we could have attached some DLC to the first game.

Rhodes: I personally like to dip my toes in other Kunio-kun-adjacent titles as well. Sports titles are at the top of my list.

the previousnext one

Xbox Game Pass

the first River City Girls It’s been available on Xbox Game Pass for a while. Has there been any discussion of turning the sequel into the service down the line?

Terni: would love to see RCG2 (And the RCG Zero) in Game Pass! the first River City Girls The game was very popular on Game Pass and helped greatly expand the game’s audience. Game Pass is an incredible service.

the previousnext one

Culture clash

river-city-girls-3.jpg
(photo: WayForward)

Being a western developer, what kinds of hurdles do you face working on a Japanese property like this?

Rhodes: not much. I’ve been working alongside Arc System Works for nearly a decade. They’ll give us feedback and culture feedback so things aren’t too far out of line with what their player base expects. The good thing about River City, as a place, is that it’s not the USA and it’s not Japan. It’s more of a mixture of these two worlds and cultures blended together. It gives us a lot of space to do whatever we want and not have to worry about too much culture clash.

the previousnext one

longevity

What about the Kunio-kun franchise do you think made it permanent?

Rhodes: They are characters as likable and young as the player demographic, yet they do extremely violent things to each other that would be seen as unsavory in real life. The gameplay and characters have the potential to scratch that itch most people can’t scratch of having a tight coterie of competent fighter friends to swoop into town and cause some trouble, all while looking adorable and never pushing the violence to the extreme.

************

River City Girls 2 It is set to be released on December 15th.

the previous

.

(Visited 25 times, 1 visits today)

Related posts