Guest Characters in Video Games - Discussion

Started by JJ Styles December 23rd, 2015 8:45 AM
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JJ Styles

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Alright, let me start off this topic with the latest reveal from the guys of Namco:


Tekken 7 Fated Retribution - Akuma Revaeal

In keeping up with some preferred forum manners to prevent slow forum loads, I will not be posting any embedded youtube videos, but only links to said videos. Those who plan to post vids should only post the links as well.

As one of the more shocking video game reveals that I've seen in a while, aside from Bayonetta heading into Smash, we get Akuma of Street Fighter fame heading into Tekken 7 with a rather significant role. I honestly was quite shocked with this because i did not expect that to happen.

Back to the Plot:

So we all had these games were we had the opportunity to play a special guest character, a character that usually does not belong in the said game's lore or franchise or intellectual property but somehow through clever inside jobbing techniques, we get them. Usually, guest appearances in games are one-time deals, thus they are called guests, but these guest characters often find their places really well in the games that they were housed in.

To mention some awesome guest characters in games of different genres, here's my personal list with context:

Spoiler:
Dante of the Devil May Cry series as the guest character of Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne as a boss and as a recruit-able party member. (Possibly my most favorite moment in Guest Character gaming history)

Kratos from God of War in Mortal Kombat 9 as a PS3 Exclusive.

The Predator from the Predator movie franchise in Mortal Kombat X, as well as the Xenomorph in the latest MKX DLC Pack

The Console Exclusive Guest characters in Soul Caliber 2 => Heihachi from Tekken (complete with his entire moveset) for the PS2, Link our hero from The Legend of Zelda series for the Gamecube, and if I remember correctly, Spawn of Todd Marcfarlane's Spawn comics for the XBox.

Rash of Battletoads into Killer Instinct 3

Hakufu, Kanu, Ryofu Housen from Ikki Tousen in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus

Ryu Hayabusa of Ninja Gaiden and Ayane of Dead or Alive appearing in Koei's Warriors Orochi 3 as fully playable warriors. -> Way too epic, in an already epic of a clusterflock as Warriors Orochi 3 was.


We all had these feelings of "I wish my favorite character in my favorite game or anime can make it to the game I'm playing and kick everyone's driflooms" kind of fantasies in the games we've played, and voila!

So anyway, how do you guys feel with this phenomenon in gaming? Do you like it? Do you feel that its nice for the gaming industry and the rest of the media? Or do you think its cancerous and should be punched by Saitama in the crotch? Or do you want to see Saitama himself as a guest character in a video game? Who or what do you want to see be a guest character, either featured or a surprise entry, in other games?

Side Note: Fan made games, flash games, and deliberate crossover games do not count unless its like in the case of Street Fighter x Tekken

Discuss????

acatfrommars

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Yeah, we don't see it much but I do like the inclusion of guest characters in games; or characters that we wouldn't expect like Cloud appearing in Smash 4. My favorite though was when I saw Neku in Kingdom Hearts: DDD, I was shocked but happy to see him outside of TWEWY. I hope to see more surprised appearances like that in Kingdom Hearts 3.

Satoshi Ookami

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[SPOILER]Dante of the Devil May Cry series as the guest character of Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne as a boss and as a recruit-able party member. (Possibly my most favorite moment in Guest Character gaming history)
Am I the only one who thought of this? =D
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WindriderShiva

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I'm divided. I don't usually mind them at all, then there's Mortal Kombat X.

There's a huge load of characters to pick from the previous games. Characters with potential, models already implemented in gameplay, movesets (though taken from MK9)... and lo and behold, we get Jason. Even more in MKX Mobile, where he is OP and downright annoying. They couldn't get design to work a tail into Reptile's gameplay design, but hey, Alien was recently announced. I mean it's fun to see that NRS is still supporting the game, but nnnggg there's BARAKA RIGHT THERE! *cries*

Though I bet this was done by WB stepping in, and less because the devs thought it would be cool to remove franchise characters.

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JJ Styles

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Am I the only one who thought of this? =D
Spoiler:
The shameless "In your face" in the box cover was just way too hypey. The fact that it doesn't even come out as a huge surprise but is a huge feature of the game makes it even more epic.

**********************************

In my opinion, Dante's inclusion into SMT Nocturne is obviously my favorite guest character moment in gaming history. The fact that SMT Nocturne itself is a rather gritty and dark game, the idea and the concept of Dante in this dark and gritty world was amazeballs. In SMT we play as a kid/teen who fights and recruits demons then what a better way to create a really strong obstacle against our demon trainer is to go head to head against literal demon hunter.

Spoiler Alert? For thos who haven't played SMT Nocturne
Spoiler:
And the payoff was great because Dante's role in the said game was awesome as a challenging boss and a rather strong party member, should one like to have one less demon in their party.


Atlus vs Capcom. Capcomplz.

I'm divided. I don't usually mind them at all, then there's Mortal Kombat X.
I dont object with your opinion on MKX's Guest Characters as well. At first, featuring Freddy into MK9 was great, then getting Predator into MKX was just as awesome, heck even more so.

But the fact that too much of these horror movie killers or monsters are coming into MK way too often just killed it for me in a poor way. The novelty is there but i mean come on... okay for hardcore MK fans and followers such as myself, its kinda getting lame, but for the "NON-GAMARZ" out there who play a bit of MK but want something more, i guess it works... especially for the "movie-plebs-who-play-abit-of-MK" kind of crowd.

Its definitely some Warner Bro handling. Baraka getting killed to make way for the Xenomorph was obviously some corporate meddling bullcrud that I may discuss on another topic.

The topic of appealing not-so-hardcore gamers will have to come in a different topic though, but i theorize that the use of guest characters is a way to get some fans of a different franchise to play this certain gaming franchise. Saying this without my usually "anti-corporate business bullcrap manner" as a business tactic, i would say that its something plausible or in other words, can sell.

Spoiler:
(I wish I get can Slashed by Lucina's Parallel Falchion or be smothered by Nowi's non existent plot area for making business references, as a business major in a forum thread about video games)

WindriderShiva

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I dont object with your opinion on MKX's Guest Characters as well. At first, featuring Freddy into MK9 was great, then getting Predator into MKX was just as awesome, heck even more so.

But the fact that too much of these horror movie killers or monsters are coming into MK way too often just killed it for me in a poor way. The novelty is there but i mean come on... okay for hardcore MK fans and followers such as myself, its kinda getting lame, but for the "NON-GAMARZ" out there who play a bit of MK but want something more, i guess it works... especially for the "movie-plebs-who-play-abit-of-MK" kind of crowd.

Its definitely some Warner Bro handling. Baraka getting killed to make way for the Xenomorph was obviously some corporate meddling bullcrud that I may discuss on another topic.

The topic of appealing not-so-hardcore gamers will have to come in a different topic though, but i theorize that the use of guest characters is a way to get some fans of a different franchise to play this certain gaming franchise. Saying this without my usually "anti-corporate business bullcrap manner" as a business tactic, i would say that its something plausible or in other words, can sell.

Spoiler:
(I wish I get can Slashed by Lucina's Parallel Falchion or be smothered by Nowi's non existent plot area for making business references, as a business major in a forum thread about video games)
I didn't really think of Baraka getting killed especially to have Alien, mostly because of how it was handled by the storyline, so I have this "it's MK, there's a Baraka clone or Baraka himself somewhere, DEATH MEANS NOTHIIIIIING" mindset. But that's an interesting point, in a sad sense .____.

4 guest characters in a game with established characters, replacing fan favorites... I find it very meh. I'm lucky enough that my new favorite was also brand new in MKX (Erron Black) so I don't really have to face that, but not having Sindel and Baraka while they're right there still annoys me. Yeah I'm a little sour XD;;.

At least I have hope they're not broken to death in-game. Jason isn't, and I haven't touched Predator yet. Because that's what gets to me; when guest characters are seriously OP and treated better than your original cast.

Which is a little unlike my feelings on Akuma being in T7 - but TBH, I haven't kept with T7 stuff as much as MKX. I really don't mind Akuma, but this meaning we're not gonna see him in SF5 was also a bit meh. I never played as him, I don't play SF at the level I play MK and played Tekken anyways, but stillllllllll...

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Pinkie-Dawn

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Guest characters in video games are wonderful, so long as they actually fit well in with the nature of the games they're guest appearing in. The horror movie icons fit well in the Mortal Kombat series instead of, say, a Street Fighter character, because both franchises feature an amount of blood and gore. The guest characters who appeared in Super Smash Bros. are iconic video game characters, because Sakurai placed several rules on third-party guests that they must originate from a video game and must be a "big deal." That means no Goku nor Shrek nor Cory in the House, but they're free to guest appear in another video game that doesn't have this rule. Saitama as a guest character would be too OP knowing his shtick.

Judge Mandolore Shepard

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When it comes to guest characters in video games, I think it is great. I recall that I enjoyed seeing characters from the Star Wars franchise in Soul Calibur IV. Course I also enjoyed seeing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (from the Assassin's Creed series) in Soul Calibur V.
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JJ Styles

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I was always fond of playing as Wolverine in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.
seeing that, I suddenly remember Spider Man in Tony Hawk 2. He was pretty broken, especially with maxed out stats. I forgot how to unlock Spidey and Wolvie in those games though, its been ages.

Guest characters in video games are wonderful, so long as they actually fit well in with the nature of the games they're guest appearing in. The horror movie icons fit well in the Mortal Kombat series instead of, say, a Street Fighter character, because both franchises feature an amount of blood and gore. The guest characters who appeared in Super Smash Bros. are iconic video game characters, because Sakurai placed several rules on third-party guests that they must originate from a video game and must be a "big deal." That means no Goku nor Shrek nor Cory in the House, but they're free to guest appear in another video game that doesn't have this rule. Saitama as a guest character would be too OP knowing his shtick.
To honest, I would pay for Cory rather than Cloud and Bayonetta. Also, Cory would fit well with the nature of Smash anyway.

Kidding aside, fitting in is one of the harder things to execute with guest characters. In fighting games, its pretty easy since 99% of the time, nobody really cares for the lore and story of a fighting game other than what the whole fictional environment of said fighting game looks like.

When it comes to guest characters in video games, I think it is great. I recall that I enjoyed seeing characters from the Star Wars franchise in Soul Calibur IV. Course I also enjoyed seeing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (from the Assassin's Creed series) in Soul Calibur V.
I always thought that Ezio in SC5 was pretty tight considering the time period that the SC series takes place on. It really makes a lot of sense having the renaissance period assassin in the hood be part of Soul calibur, which i think also takes place in a fictional fantasy renaissance period.

******************

For some reason, the whole guest character thing is pretty much something found much commonly in fighting games than in other genres. Its pretty obvious why its easy to integrate guest characters into fighters compared to other genres, especially story driven ones such as RPGs and RTS games (save for Blizzard, who overuses the cameos of other franchise characters way too often. Tauren Marines > Terran Marines).