Epic Mickey: Spector Says Scrapper is Scrapped

When Warren Spector first revealed Epic Mickey to the public in the pages of Game Informer magazine, one aspect of the game which seemed to particularly entice gamers everywhere was the idea of ditching Mickey’s clean-as-a-hospital-bedsheet characterization (or arguable lack thereof), and getting him back to his more mischievous roots.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of backlash once word of the game spread beyond those pages, as those who knew the mouse they’d seen on t-shirts everywhere more than they knew of his history expressed their displeasure at the childhood icon being “messed with.”

In Epic Mickey, the way a player would choose to act would slightly affect the appearance of Mickey, as seen above. The Wastelander would be your standard Mouse of the house, as he enters the wasteland in which the game is set. Act heroically to those you come across, helping them instead of tormenting them and doing good deeds, and Mickey would take on the appearance of the Hero. Act mean and selfishly, however, and he would instead appear as the slightly more aggressive, mischievous Scrapper.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that those in focus groups are apparently against the idea of being held accountable for what they do. From the Mainichi Daily News (via GoNintendo):

“We’re not going to change Mickey’s image so much,” said Spector.

“People don’t like it when you mess with Mickey,” he continued. “We did a focus test that was really eye-opening for me. There was a biker dude saying, ‘Oh, I’d never play a Mickey Mouse game,’ and then we showed him images of a changed Mickey. I was sitting there thinking, ‘You’re gonna love what we do,’ but he said, ‘No! Don’t mess with my childhood.’”

And there you have it: the next time you want to scare a biker dude, show them a picture of Mickey Mouse with a furrowed brow and watch him cry.

This has not gone over well with those to whom the original idea had appealed, not unlike the change from original design art to how the game appears now. But according to Spector, it’s part of the “normal creative process.”

“Sometimes you go too far to find out where too far is.”

Even so, however, some fans’ reactions seem to have blinded them to the fact that the change appears to be more cosmetic than anything. They will continue to be faced with moral dilemmas throughout the game, but instead of Mickey’s appearance evolving, he will be surrounded by levitating little guardians which glow a different color based on whether more paint is used to create, or thinner to destroy.

Spector also added that there is a “cloud of possibilities” that will lead to multiple endings when players reach the end of Epic Mickey.

In an interview with Edge Online (via GoNintendo), Spector expanded more on those changes:

“There’s no good or bad in the game. There’s solving problems in the most direct manner – which is often erasing things, using thinner, erasing characters because it’s quick and easy, concentrating on the main quest and not always helping people out. If you play that efficient way, then you attract a certain kind of guardian, who actually makes you better at erasing things. The guardians support your playstyle, and they’re an on screen representation of the kind of hero that Mickey is.

“For instance, at one point you come across a machine which is turning pirates into robots. You can wreck the machine with thinner, or repair it with paint, and that affects the outcome in the quest map, Adventureland. It affects who’s there, how they feel about you, the prices of items in shops, and so on.”

When asked to characterize the two different styles of play, Spector responded:

Honestly, I struggle to find words – I don’t even want players thinking about it. I know players are going to min-max it and really test the boundaries, but I want players just doing what is fun for them, and if they get frustrated, knowing there’s another way to deal with the problem.

In the end, it seems that the same principles behind the game are in place, but some of the conspicuous aspects have been changed.

Of course, given this was being touted as a way for Disney to make the character of Mickey Mouse relevant again, as opposed to being little more than a mere brand, it does seem a bit disappointing. One can only wonder how this might ultimately affect the game’s performance among consumers when it goes on sale later this year.