Dear Negative World,

If this doesn't turn out to be the longest post in the history of our little community, I'll be incredibly surprised. You thought "White Knuckle Scorin'" was an example of me in my worst self-indulgent, overkill mode? Oh man, I hadn't even begun to be self-indulgent and over-killering yet!

What I'm trying to say is, you might want to grab a few bottles of Gatorade and a Lunchable. You're gonna be here awhile.



Or just pull up the bus, if you want to get in the spirit of overkill

This is a collection of the first 5 parts of The Fall of Kid Icarus, an Imaginary Video Game that I started composing in the Wii Lobby back in 2006-2007 (I'm a little fuzzy on the dates, but just go with it). Originally, I thought I could knock out my treatment for a new Kid Icarus game in about 3 parts over a period of a couple of weeks. But the project just ballooned in size so much that I had to abandon it, simply because I didn't have the time to keep going. There'd probably have been 12 to 15 parts, in the end - a good 2/3rds more than what I've got here. But even without an ending (or really even a middle!) I hope you guys can just enjoy it for what it is. This is an idea I had for relaunching the Kid Icarus franchise back when it looked like that would never, ever happen.

You should know that I'm one of those guys who grew up playing the original game. I've been waiting most of my life for a proper sequel. My original drafts for The Fall of Kid Icarus go back to 2003 - well before the announcement that Pit was going to be in Brawl. (I have sprinkled it with newer images, though, just to break up the wall of text.)

There's a lot more I could say to set this thing up and explain where I was coming from, but I think I'll just let you jump in and see if you like it. I'll break back in with some thoughts as it goes along. Look for Felix. That'll mean you're getting a note from Me: 2012 Edition.

Love,
Kris



P.S.: As pretentious as it is to quote oneself, I came across this line from one of my blog posts, which I thought would work pretty well as an epigraph for the whole thing:

"But even with all my story ideas and perception of the characters, if Nintendo just made a solid Kid Icarus game that had no more story than "find ye the three Sacred Treasures and try ye not to be turned into an Eggplant" I'd probably still love it."

- Your Humble Author, 2009

P.P.S. Don't blame me for all this. It was Zero who invited me to post it!

URL to share (right click and copy)

Somehow I missed this post back on IGN. I'll need to actually read this sometime, probably this weekend.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 01/24/12, 19:20

Mother of God. I need to set time aside to read this.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 01/24/12, 19:43

@ludist210
@anon_mastermind

I hope you guys do get a chance to read it. Let me know what you think. You don't have to read it all in one go, though!

For those who have read it, I have a question: How consistent do you think it is? I'm too close to it to be able to tell. Is the flow okay? I wrote it over a period of years, so I'm unsure if, say, Part IV shows more care or Part II shows that I was putting more effort into the details, etc. What do ya think? Is it even an issue?

Posted by

kriswright

on: 01/24/12, 21:17

I have to admit, I skim a bit. I might re-read it more fully after I finally play through KI and its GB sequel, but right now I can't comment on the flow.

Also, I've read the first 2 parts only for now (I will read more later). All I can say is: this is a hell of a long intro. As a gamer you've kind of lost me already, I've likely skipped most of it.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 01/24/12, 21:26

Yeah, that's always been something that nags on me. I point out at the top of Part II that this sequence should really only take a minute, while the music is playing and the credits are rolling. I mean... yeah, I wrote this stuff in 2006. Some of my assumptions about what gamers are looking for in a cinematic game were different back then. I know the older I get the less interest I have in long story sequences. But I'm afraid it's too late to deemphasize the story, now. It is what it is.

Do you think it would work better if there was a prologue to the whole intro story? Like, Symphony of the Night style? You play a training level as a fully-loaded Pit just to get a feel for the game, first and then, once you get used to the controls, the story cranks up? Or does that just make things worse by starting the action and then stopping it just to tell the story. Is the issue just too much story, period?

Posted by

kriswright

on: 01/24/12, 21:39

Edited:

01/24/12, 21:40

It's not something that has been done to death so I think it could work.

The whole part of the initial attack in Angel Land could be made interactive to some extent.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 01/24/12, 21:41

Yeah, you're absolutely right. There's no logical reason to make that a cinema sequence at all. It really should be playable. If I ever do a large scale revision - a FOKI 2.0 - I'll absolutely take that advice.

Yes! More comments from El Mundo Negativo! I'm looking for a 2022 completion date, so time is of the essence!

Posted by

kriswright

on: 01/24/12, 21:48

Edited:

01/24/12, 21:49

hmm... I don't remember 5 parts before... wonder if I missed the later ones. Time for some reading!

It does remind me that I have this though, haha.

Posted by

heliumsky

on: 01/26/12, 03:47

@heliumsky

Wow, you got the release date surprisingly close!

Quick, what are tomorrow's lottery numbers?

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 01/26/12, 04:42

@heliumsky

Haha! I've always loved that animation! I've still got all those "Sufferin' Sandals" posters in my Photobucket account, too.



EDIT: Oh, and Part 5 is new. Hope you enjoy it!

Posted by

kriswright

on: 01/26/12, 15:11

Edited:

01/26/12, 15:12

Sorry, still haven't read it yet, but I thought you'd be interested in reading this article about Kid Icarus on WiiU.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 01/26/12, 17:40

@anon_mastermind

Cool idea for an article, but the follow-through's not really there. I'm sure it's not an original opinion, but I'm pretty disappointed with their writing staff, nowadays.

Posted by

kriswright

on: 01/26/12, 19:25

Finally got a chance to read the entire thing! Kris, this is really impressive writing. I mean, the storytelling alone is pretty pretty awesome, let alone incorporating it into a video game concept. Your imagery is very vivid, you take great pains to describe how the game looks and sounds, bringing out the desired emotional impact on the player.

I love how your game concept stays so faithful to what makes Kid Icarus Kid Icarus. And the game works really well having Pit as the silent protagonist. I also enjoy how your game would base the Universe "off of the old Ptolemaic perception of the Universe, including bits of Milton and Homer for good measure." Pit has an incredibly arduous journey ahead of him (1,529 days to reach Medusa… this game is epic!).

And what a dark and grim story your game has to tell. Medusa the God Killer is truly frightening.

Crow's back story and his sacrifice for Pit is very powerful, considering his role in Medusa's victory.

The boss battle The Accuser is well done (and that's a pretty awesome shot of the Game Boy game, hopefully it'll come out for VC).

Vertical levels sound challenging but very rewarding in 3D gameplay.

I will be very happy to read the next chapters of 'The Fall of Kid Icarus' when you get around to writing them!

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 02/17/12, 03:46

@roykoopa64

Have I told you you're awesome today, Roy?

Posted by

kriswright

on: 02/17/12, 18:51

Good to see you @kriswright!

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 02/17/12, 20:24

So I finally beat both KI games and succumbed to Kris's shameless plug on the Game Club thread....

Wow Kris. I really don't know what to say. This is some pretty epic stuff here. I remember *years* ago back around the time Wind Waker was announced, I put together my take on a new Zelda game....but that was something I cobbled together in an hour or so. And it's probably terrible (must hunt it down). You put a shitload of effort into this and it's definitely to be commended.

I guess I'll share my impressions that I got from reading it, it reminded me of two things: Portal 2 and Darksiders.

Portal 2 due to the whole 'climbing from the depths' thing. Here you are in this dank hole, a forgotten corner of reality. Making your way through all kinds of antiquated setpieces, just like the middle section of Portal 2. Even having Orcos and Crow guide you through the areas reminded me of how Portal 2's characters- Glados, Wheatley and Cave Johnson- played similar roles.

The Darksiders feel has been invoked from a combination of the whole demonic mythology bent and the fact that this universe very much has a post-apocalyptic, hellish feel to it. This was once a world at peace. But now those days are gone and there's no hope of them coming back. All that's left to be done is hunt down and punish those responsible.

All in all it's a very interesting take. I think it's the duty of Negative World to mastermind an elaborate scheme to kidnap Sakurai and convince him to make your game.

PS. Palutena's Tears....would they play any role in actually bringing Palutena back at the end of the game perhaps? . Or is she really and truly gone for good?

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 03/24/12, 14:48

Believe it or not, I've never played either Portal game (though I have the first one on Steam, I just haven't gotten around to playing it, yet). Nor Darksiders, for that matter. But I take it as a compliment, for sure. Reputations don't get much better than Portal.

As far as the Tears of Palutena... well, there's a masterplan for them, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too much that Palutena's coming back. You can't just use a healing potion, even a really strong one, on someone who was vaporized.

I gotta say, when I came up with this idea, Palutena was still just a single 8-bit sprite you saw at the end of the game. This was before Sakurai brought the franchise back with Brawl and we started to get all this stunning artwork of Palutena. Back then, one of the things I was interested in doing was making Medusa as credible as possible. So Medusa gets a reputation as a God Killer in exchange for Palutena's role in the game. It's a harsh payoff, but it's part of what I wanted Pit to have to struggle against - the loss of everything. (Either that or I'm trying to throw you off the scent... mua ha ha... Devious laugh).

After playing Uprising, it feels a little unsporting to just kill her off like that, though. Oh well. What can you do? I couldn't bring myself to rewrite it.

Thanks so much for reading it, SL. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. When you kidnap Sakurai, give me a call. He needs to hear my ideas for the Eggplant Wizards...

Posted by

kriswright

on: 03/24/12, 22:49

Edited:

03/24/12, 22:49