Cuphead was one title that seriously got me excited about video games again. Over the past few years, I've become a bit disillusioned with the state of the game industry. There really are only so many FPS and sandbox games that I can stomach, without becoming excessively tired of either genre.
At this year's E3, Microsoft announced Cuphead which just blew me away. The beautiful, retro hand-drawn art style is truly unique and inspiring. The gameplay reminds me of many old school classics that I grew up playing.
Guys, what are your thoughts on Cuphead? Was this one of E3's highlights for you this year?
Honestly, it doesn't look that original to me. Sure, there's "Novelty" in the character and world designs. The "names" of the abilities like "straw slap" - but at it's core, it's just a platformer game, which is a game genre that's been around since the 8 bit era, such as Mario, Sonic, Mappyland, Gex, Crash Bandicoot, and countless others before. I see absolutely nothing "original" nor "innovative" about this title.
Games that I would consider "original" in that there were nothing else like them in terms of gameplay at their release:
Katamari Damacy
Nobby Nobby Boy
Pilot Wings
NiGHTS into Dreams
Okami
These games don't really fit into a pre-existing "genre" there's lots of other examples too, but I just don't feel Cuphead does enough to innovate to be worthy of being the "most" original game. I personally didn't see many games I felt were innovative at this year's E3.
It's Quirky sure, Cute, and certainly has a different type of hero than most games. But at the end of the day, rather you're a cup, or a racoon, or a hedgehog, a lizard, or a plumber, you're still running around jumping, and fighting enemies, and clearing obstacles.
It's a welcomed breath of fresh air among all the big titles everyone was already hyped for. Beyond Eyes also stood out to me, even if you don't do much except walk around. I expect them to do well when they come out, maybe win a few awards, and hopefully encourage the big game development companies to take some risks once in a while.
There's a PC version. Let's be honest, this game won't require a good computer to run.
Anyway, it looks like a pretty fun game and that old-timey cartoon art style is pretty fantastic. Definitely keeping an eye on it, I hope it turns out alright. It's high on my indie watchlist, it provides a stark contrast to other games I'm looking forward to like Death's Gambit and Salt & Sanctuary.
