Howdy folks!
We realize we’ve been hitting you up with a hefty number of updates recently… but here’s one more you’ll need to hear about! Over the weekend we reached ANOTHER STRETCH GOAL!
We had a pretty good feeling this might happen, but we honestly had no idea it would reach the top so quickly. That’s $900,000.00 you’ve collectively pledged to not only make the game, but to keep making it even more amazing! When we hit the initial goal of $400K, we were out of our minds with excitement. Today we’ve more than doubled that goal! And other than just feeling totally S-W-A-N-K about it, the even better news is that we’ve got 3 more characters to add to the adventure:
This means that Sky, Bolo, and Rottytops, friends of Shantae who have appeared in every title, will be fully playable heroes. Each character will embark on the adventure for reasons all their own, and will play differently from one another. Including Risky Boots there are now 5 storylines to play, and a total of 10 modes. The replay value of Half-Genie Hero just went through the roof!!
With this being the FIFTH successful Stretch Goal, it’s practically tradition to inform you of the next one on the horizon.
Should we reach the lofty goal of ONE MILLION dollars (phew!) we’ll be able to add another chapter to the game. Let’s talk briefly about that…A DISH SERVED COLD: Spoiler Alert!
The storyline for Shantae: Risky’s Revenge takes a bit of a twist at the end… Some wayward wishing occurs…we don’t want to spoil it for you. But if there’s someone Shantae would rather not have to face again, it’s NEGA-SHANTAE. As her name implies, NEGA is the polar opposite of Shantae, although she dances equally well. Our next Stretch Goal would add a new Chapter to the game which features this villain as both main attraction and BOSS, as well as a new TRANSFORMATION for Shantae…hopefully something that can counteract the evil doppelganger. Beyond this new Stretch Goal lies FULL VOICE ACTING! We’ll dig into that one later, should the opportunity present itself. For now, give yourselves a HUGE pat on the back! And THANK YOU from everyone here at WayForward!
Yay~! We made it, wooo~!
Woo! Let’s go for that BO
**** I meant VO
NEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA lets do it. lets get her. hnnng omg omg go go go.
What a wonderful time we live in
Guys. We need to get as many stretch goals as possible. This could be the best game ever made, and it would be a shame if any of this content were left out. We must spread the word, inform our friends, post on sites like Reddit, Tumblr, 4chan, whatever. We NEED to make this happen. Come on guys, we can do this. I for one have already gotten five people to donate 20 dollars each, it’s not much, but it adds up. I’m about to donate another 60 dollars tomorrow. We can do this guys.
Wow oh wow! So freaking sweet! This will be the Shantae games of all Shantae games! Congratulations, now get to work! Buuuut, take your time.
I am so stoked! All of the stretch goals would be awesome, but this is the one I really, really wanted most.
I’d put more in but I’ve got to start saving for stuff coming soon, plus I still got my pic to work on for the game.
Eeeeee, so excited for everything, this game’s gonna be so good…
Partay, partay! 😀
Yes! Release date will get pushed back, but that just gives us more time to get to the voice overs and animated cutscenes!
wohooooooooo, so happy they talk so much more about the next goals, nice !!
Dreams are made of these moments! Shoutouts to everyone on deck, from the Staff to the Backers.
we… need… the… rest… of… the… stretch goals NOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The hype I’m feeling is almost too much to handle!
the hype is real!
YES!
Woot woot! New challengers approach! >u> And finally gettin to play as Rotty…woo!
I really want to get to the voice acting. I wonder what Shantae would sound like…
At 1.1 Mil….We should get an animated series. Just sayinnnnn
Umm. Yay!
For a while I’ve been wondering what reaching this stretch goal will mean.
It’s become obvious that the release date won’t be anytime soon. That’s totally fine, because I believe great games should be carefully polished and perfected, rather than rushed. I’ll wait until October of 2015 if it means the perfect game.
And is such a delay realistic? Well let’s look at what this now means:
For the new option to “Play as more characters with their own side stories and gameplay.” Wayforward will need to do one of two things:
They will have each character do something slightly different, but play through 90% of the game the same as you would Shantae, and reach the same areas but through different means. The end result would be the same basic gameplay, but with the novelty of a different character ( aka kinda boring and needless).
or
They will have to re-design many levels so that they will compliment each new character, meaning some areas in this expansive version of the world will only be reachable by, say, RottyTops etc etc. This will offer an exciting new take, and justification, for the new characters…however will call for MUCH more re designing, time, and testing. This translates to it being more expensive…which translates to them only having so much time to do this to stay in budget (unless the reach goal already reflected these plans, which is entirely possible).
Either way, we’re now looking at a HUGE undertaking by Wayforward to design these characters, or levels, or both…so that the game is enjoyable and the characters are more than just a novelty.
Note that the above does NOT include levels or stories/side missions designed exclusively to be play by that character for only that mission. This will probably be included regardless, but still takes extra work.
The only conceivable way Wayforward could possibly do this is they took a gamble and HOPED that they’d reach the stretch goal, and in this case it payed off! This would also mean they’ve already finished most of the game that’ll satisfy the above, which would be awesome on Wayforward’s part for having the hindsight to make that prediction.
But finally that brings up another interesting aspect:
What if…they already hired and recorded voice acting with the hopes that we’ll reach that stretch goals as well (we’re already 1/5 the way to the next stretch goal…and a little less than 200k from voice acting)!
Either way all I’m saying is I’m excited for the additions, and sympathize with Wayforward for now having to rush and make the changes necessary to reflect this achievement. If it were up to me, I’d allow you guys to work an addition year to make sure the game is PERFECT! Good luck, and please give us something memorable. I’ve never been so proud of a community or a game company as I am now.
Vincent