Just to get the note of this little essay right, I should start by saying that I'm interested in good children's entertainment. Bugs Bunny is an icon because Bugs' jokes have a deeper inner layer that appeals to as adults, in addition to a perfect sense of comical timing that reliably bowls kids over even if they don't really get the joke. Fantasia is great because it's a dose of high culture that is not just tolerable, but enjoyable for children. And the classic Disney movies are so tasteful, artful, and perfectly crafted that anyone can watch them and get as much out of it as when you were 7 and saw them for the first time.
I feel that the way to produce something like that in the realm of video games is to make a good, tasteful RPG. Cookie-cutter action-adventure games have a place too, but how great would it be for there to be an RPG, or a series of RPGs, that not only enraptures your (hypothetical) 8-year-old, but keeps you glued to the screen as well because it's genuinely one of the best game experiences out there? Pokemon is a fine effort, don't get me wrong, but for most adults, the game is hard going. The storyline is too inconsequential, the battle system too simplistic, the vibe too "kiddy." I don't think any of the classic examples I gave above really feel kiddy - they were produced for adults, but they happen to be entertaining and eye-opening to children as well. Pokemon is kind of a grating experience for the experienced, and the crappy console spinoffs certainly don't help its cause, either.
Anyway, it was in the spirit of looking for a game of this quality that I rented an obscure PS2 title called Magic Pengel: Quest for Color. You might have seen it floating around random stores priced at $15 or less - it retailed for $40 originally, but positive reviews, a strong, family-friendly concept, and the credentials of the animation team responsible for Princess Mononoke weren't enough to save Magic Pengel from hitting the bargain-bin rock bottom in the two years since it was released. Still, the reviews compelled me to give it a shot, because if anyone would understand how to produce a sleeper hit of that caliber, it would be Studio Ghibli. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet its seeming potential. It's almost unbearable to play because of the banal, Dragonseeds-esque rock-paper-scissors battle system, slave-of-Pokemon overworld design, and insipid, uninspired story. The doodling system is nice, because it introduces an element of creativity, but that isn't enough to make this the kind of game I was hoping for.
Someday.
I feel that the way to produce something like that in the realm of video games is to make a good, tasteful RPG. Cookie-cutter action-adventure games have a place too, but how great would it be for there to be an RPG, or a series of RPGs, that not only enraptures your (hypothetical) 8-year-old, but keeps you glued to the screen as well because it's genuinely one of the best game experiences out there? Pokemon is a fine effort, don't get me wrong, but for most adults, the game is hard going. The storyline is too inconsequential, the battle system too simplistic, the vibe too "kiddy." I don't think any of the classic examples I gave above really feel kiddy - they were produced for adults, but they happen to be entertaining and eye-opening to children as well. Pokemon is kind of a grating experience for the experienced, and the crappy console spinoffs certainly don't help its cause, either.
Anyway, it was in the spirit of looking for a game of this quality that I rented an obscure PS2 title called Magic Pengel: Quest for Color. You might have seen it floating around random stores priced at $15 or less - it retailed for $40 originally, but positive reviews, a strong, family-friendly concept, and the credentials of the animation team responsible for Princess Mononoke weren't enough to save Magic Pengel from hitting the bargain-bin rock bottom in the two years since it was released. Still, the reviews compelled me to give it a shot, because if anyone would understand how to produce a sleeper hit of that caliber, it would be Studio Ghibli. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet its seeming potential. It's almost unbearable to play because of the banal, Dragonseeds-esque rock-paper-scissors battle system, slave-of-Pokemon overworld design, and insipid, uninspired story. The doodling system is nice, because it introduces an element of creativity, but that isn't enough to make this the kind of game I was hoping for.
Someday.
