At this year's E3, we learned Metal Wolf Chaos XD, a lost From Software classic from 2004, is getting a remaster. Released exclusively in Japan, the original stars Michael Wilson—a fictional US president whose office is in turmoil. From's Masanori Takeuchi says the world's fascination with Donald Trump's presidency makes the timing of the remake interesting.
"This whole project started with Devolver [Digital]," Takeuchi tells our Tom at Gamescom, via a translator. "Devolver tweeted at From out of the blue, no pre-context, they just said: 'Hey, would you like to collaborate on re-releasing this game?' The project did not start from From Software, but it is interesting timing because of the political climate. A lot of people are fascinated by the president, what he does every day—both positively and negatively."
Tom follows up, naturally, by asking whether or not Takeuchi could envision Donald Trump wearing a mech suit.
"[Laughs] It could be funny, visually," says Takeuchi. "But, I dunno, maybe not."
Takeuchi, the 2004 Metal Wolf Chaos director, turns his attention to his original vision. "From Software had created the Armored Core series, a separate mech game," says Takeuchi. "But the mission for Metal Wolf Chaos specifically was that as we released sequels to Armored Core, we realised there was an audience who were interested in playing mech games. The AC series, however, was a little too complex for them.
"Firstly, internally you have to combine and customise your mech a lot—that felt a little too complicated for some people. Secondly, physically, Armored Core uses all the buttons and sticks, and you have to really be precise in your control. There was an audience that wanted something a little more simple, but who still wanted to feel badass.
"The mission for this, then, was to create a From Software mech game that was accessible. Something that's very easy to pick up and play, with an arcadey feel, that lets those players indeed feel badass."
Metal Wolf Chaos XD is without a concrete launch date, but is due at some point in 2019.
Additional reporting by Tom Senior.