Creatures 4 and the Master Shee
Written onFishing Cactus announced the Creatures 4 Master Shee yesterday. This concept art is the first big piece of news in quite some time! Naturally, it has been met with mixed reactions around the community. Many of us had ideas of what the species of Shee would look like: The images from the past games were mysterious at best, yet these still gave many of us a way to picture the Shee. I agree with many who state that the Master Shee does not depict the Shee that we might have imagined. However, the Shee folklore has always been shrouded in mystery, and their appearance is subject to interpretation. Fishing Cactus may not have pleased everyone, yet Creatures 4 is a brand new game: The team has a mountain of a task in bringing in new players, while still trying to appeal to current Creatures players. There are bound to be aspects that will make us wonder. Perhaps the Master Shee is a lot closer to a human than many of us expected, yet Fishing Cactus is clearly attempting to tie in some elements from previous games. Would a completely new species have been the right route to go? He rather seems like a helpful character to guide players.
I see the responses to this concept art as very promising: Not everyone seems to be thrilled, yet there are many healthy discussions developing about Creatures 4. One thing that Fishing Cactus has done extremely well so far is community involvement. Our questions are almost always answered within a day’s time on the blog, and nothing has been blatantly hidden from us. Except actual gameplay footage and more information, of course, but I imagine those will come when they’re ready! The Master Shee might take a little getting used to for those of us who had preconceived notions, yet I don’t think this design is reason enough to write off the upcoming game, which is apparently coming out in June 2012, according to Bigben Interactive. This design does not completely ruin the Shee species: Perhaps some of us have even thought of some possible stories about the Master Shee! Creatures 4 is still quite a mystery, and I continue to wait to form a solid opinion about the game. We still only know of a few snippets, and Fishing Cactus has not disappointed yet. Keep an eye out for more information and news! Creatures 4 was renamed Creatures Online in 2013.
So judging by the look of this new design. Creatures 4 Shee race have morphed into some sort of hybrid between the Big Friendly Giant and Jack from Jack and Daxter? I have to sadly admit the more visual concepts I see of Creatures 4 the less I am liking it! As no amount of nostalgia goggles can hide the fact from my eyes that Creatures 4 visually simply doesn’t have the same charm or visual appeal that rest of the series had, and instead comes across looking rather much like a bad flash game…:(
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about Creatures 4: I’ve just learned to stay relatively neutral until I can actually play a game. I also think that the name of the game has caused many to believe that this is a direct continuation of the original series. My feeling is that Creatures 4 is more of a game all on its own, inspired by and closely related to C1/C2/C3/DS. I’m still optimistic! Not overly so, though, because shattered expectations can make a mediocre game seem terrible… Spore, in my case.
Hopefully you’ll keep a somewhat open mind, Anonymous! That’s not to say that everyone needs to think the same way. I just caution anyone not to write it off just yet, since we still know very little about how the game actually plays out.
One of the things that kind of bugs me about some of the reactions I’ve seen is this constant reference to ‘kiddy’. Perhaps I’m biased by being a 3D animator, but colourful and friendly doesn’t immediately mean childish in my books. Many of the modern Pixar and Dreamworks movies share these attributes, but I don’t consider ‘Up’ to be a kids movie. It’s extremely deep with serious topics.
I think people are making a mistake to assume that bright colours means c4 is now a kids game.
As for the Master Shee, I agree with most that this isn’t my impression of a Shee. But I do love the style Fishing Cactus work with and I can definitely see the personality of the Lone Shee in this new guy.
Although I’m adjusting my expectations with this new image it’s only on an aesthetic level. I can’t wait until June.
No offence to this but anything that has a serial number after the title should at least try to tie into the previous titles in the series other than just simply cashing in on its namesake. (Point of reference here how not to go about things is the Resident Evil Games vs Resident Evil movies) What I mean by my statement is if they want to reboot the series and produce a stand alone title that pays homage to the original series without being a direct continuation of the series then they really shouldn’t call it C4. Instead call it Creatures Re-imagined or Reborn or something that doesn’t automatically make long time players and fans of the series think its a continuation of the old series. It’s the four on the end that causes my current headaches with some of the design visuals and concepts. For example if I walk into a cinema to see a sequel to a movie you don’t expect to be shown a movie that only has the name in common with its predecessor. Also I don’t believe that simply just because something automatically has the Creatures name and brand attached to it that we should fall over backwards to accept and like it. If something don’t seem right we as fans should say so because once the game is released you tend to find people suddenly voice opinions. But by then it’s too late to change things drastically. Point of reference here how horribly broken Creatures 3 was when it first came out. I still stand by my original notion that allot of Creatures fans are simply looking at Creatures 4 and being blinded by nostalgia goggles rather than taking a cold hard look at the over look and feel to this game. Point of reference how easily people simply accepted how the Norns look now despite the fact that they only vaguely resemble the Norns we have grown up with and grown to love. Maybe I’m alone in my view point but I’d rather Creatures 4 be something we could all be proud of that shows just how far the games and design have come rather than something that frankly looks unremarkable at best. My thoughts on that is think about how Creatures 1 background was created. Clay moulds that simply were unique now look at Creatures 4 and ask yourself if this wasn’t a Creatures game would you even look at it twice? That’s how I view this title.
Lastly how does the concept resemble the Lone Shee the design has zero ties to the Shee other than name sake. I mean if you cover up the name box honestly this Character could be any random character I don’t look at it and instantly scream oh my god its the Shee! I in fact look at it and think so what generic steam punk / wacky inventor game is this from? I’m gonna make a bold prediction here and state that this Character will feature as some sort of talking head giving you advice from the bottom left hand corner in tutorials as your raising your Norns. Think of the way the advisor’s shaped and guided you through games like Sim City and Theme Park ect.
ArchDragon: Well said! I think the bright colors have thrown some into the preconceived notion that Creatures 4 will be geared solely towards children. Although muted color schemes do have their place, I like that this is shaping up to be a bright, vibrant game. Everything looks alive! I’ve had to adjust my view of the game a little bit over the course of the last few months, but it’s mainly just in the way C4 looks. I can’t say much about gameplay yet, although I can’t wait to see some screenshots and/or videos!
Anonymous: There have been a few discussions throughout the Creatures community about how Creatures 4 might have done better if it had been named something entirely different. Keep in mind that this is the first installment in over ten years, and Fishing Cactus is new to the Creatures development family. It’s difficult to assume that it would have followed directly off of the previous titles.
You also stated, “Also I don’t believe that simply just because something automatically has the Creatures name and brand attached to it that we should fall over backwards to accept and like it.”
Very true! Fishing Cactus is in the unique position to please new players, as well as the existing community. There is an enormous gap between these groups in terms of expectations, playing styles, and knowledge of the Creatures series. Naturally, these groups are most likely divided by age, too. It’s a mountain of a task, but no one has been forced to like the game. If it were not tied into the Creatures franchise, I believe it would still gain some attention from Creatures players.
My belief is that Creatures 4 has taken on a new and different persona than the other games in the series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though! Imagine if the new C4 players end up trying out the previous titles: We might very well end up with a much larger community. I respect your viewpoints and understand where you’re coming from: Thanks so much for sharing! Perhaps we’ll both be pleasantly surprised when C4 is released.
I gotta say now that I agree with Anonymous…though because I’m a wuss I haven’t dared comment this negatively before. I liked the aura of mystery and, despite the cutesy nature of norns and all, even darkness (though that might just have been me and any stupid stories I made up as a child, haha) in the series.
It just had this very -intense- atmosphere to it, in C1 and C2 of an ancient forlorn world…something truly beautiful and INTERESTING. I know it’s up to taste, but the look and feel of C4 doesn’t really appeal to me…at all…the look of the game, the music, kind of reminds me of Spore, which wasn’t really a very atmospheric, interesting game (like the Sims, good idea but too comical, not that Creatures never was, it does have humour), the good thing about it (for me) was designing weird-looking creatures but not really the playing the game itself so much. C3 on the other hand had this interesting science fiction feel to it, quite obviously. All of the three original games (not counting the children’s games) were truly interesting and atmospheric, their music was even very fitting. I liked the atmosphere, the feel of old Creatures games. C4, no, not at all. It seems uninteresting and ugly. But I’ll give it a try, since it’s still Creatures, has all the genetics and such. Maybe it will be a fun game, despite the unappealing graphics etc. We’ll see.
Again, these are just my personal opinions and tastes. I bet there are many people out there who would really love the bright colours and Spore music.
Yes, I should definitely try to think of C4 as not canon. It’s still a bit off-putting to me, is all.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about C4: Positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle. I still hold to the idea that we haven’t seen enough to decide if Creatures 4 will be a fun addition to the series. I’m still behind Fishing Cactus, because this media buzz means attention for Creatures in general! However, I am getting a little worried about the lack of information, considering the game has a current release date of June 2012. It’s very much about the environment and mechanics of a game for me, just as you said, Luci! There was a certain feel to C1, C2, and C3/DS that made me think up a million stories as I played. It wasn’t necessarily about playing the game and just watching what happened: I loved thinking of the actual back stories and how Albia or the Ark came to be.
Hopefully we’ll see some new Creatures 4 information soon!
Given that my copy of C2 gave up the ghost many moons ago, I’m willing to give C4 a shot, in spite of all the stuff against it.