Creative Director Of XCOM Talks About Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Polygon has produced an interested feature with the creative director behind the acclaimed XCOM franchise to find out his thoughts about the amusing and strategic Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on the Nintendo Switch. The game has such an impact on him that he is set to reevaluate the franchise. You can read all his thoughts here.

“Playing Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, I had many moments where I laughed out loud, or felt a twinge of jealousy at a particularly clever mechanic, or felt that most coveted gaming moment: the exhilaration of a worthy challenge finally overcome. All of this happened in a game in a genre I supposedly know as intimately as anyone can.”

“What a joy, then, to have another team come along and upend your thinking, showing you that there is always room to improve on old concepts. For example, in XCOM, moving a soldier is typically a simple case of running them from cover A to cover B. That’s how it’s always been, and it’s not something I ever thought of changing. Until I played Mario + Rabbids, that is, where movement is a chain of interesting decisions like springboarding off of your squadmates, sliding through your enemies, rolling through warp tunnels — all before you fire a single shot. Movement in Kingdom Battle adds a whole new layer of tactical interest to every turn. It jolted me into reconsidering one of XCOM’s design principles.”

“Not that anyone should expect bright colors, talking plants and crazed forest creatures in the next XCOM. But don’t be surprised to see movement work completely differently. This, ultimately, is the delight of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle for me: to have a worthy competitor, or perhaps a worthy compatriot. When people make good games, everyone wins.”

Source

Thanks to Kespino20 for the news tip!