Kenji Inafune’s New Project Sure Looks Mighty

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Back in October of 2010, Kenji Inafune stated that he was leaving Capcom to “start his life over”. Since then he’s made a couple cameos in games like Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 and Sweet Fuse, but hasn’t really done much in terms of producing a game. That is, until now.

Back at the Penny Arcade Expo this year, Kenji Inafune revealed his upcoming game Mighty No. 9, that he will be producing along with an “All-star team of Megaman Devs”. Fans, myself included, were ecstatic. Kenji-San launched a Kickstarter project on August 31st and met the $900,000 goal on September 1st.

Concept art for the gameplay of Mighty No. 9.

 

On the Kickstarter website, Inafune released a video which basically plays out like an interview, in which he talks about the upcoming features in Mighty No. 9 and some of the background on the game. Inafune states in the video that he felt the need to strip himself from Capcom after various Megaman projects were cancelled, such as Megaman Legends 3 and Megaman Universe, and shows him actually speaking to fans about what they’d want next from Inafune. It seems as if he’s trying his hardest to get the fans involved with the production of Mighty No. 9 and in my opinion that’s absolutely wonderful.

Keiji Inafune, the creator of Megaman poses with Megaman fan Zack W.

To see a developer so concerned about what his fans want, and making his fans happy, shows not only generosity but a passion for the games he creates. I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve watched an interview with a game developer and sat back and thought to myself “I think this is my favorite game developer.”.

I myself am a huge Megaman fan, and let me tell you, the past couple of years haven’t been pretty for Megaman fans, with the cancellation of projects being rampant. I was filled with excitement when I saw that Inafune left Capcom, while Capcom used to be one of my favorite company’s, I’m not so sure anymore. It truly means a lot to see a developer up and leave the studio he’s been working with for 23 years to have the freedom to create whatever he, or the fans, want.

Not only is he making a new game, it’s basically a new Megaman game. Even though no gameplay has been released, Inafune has expressed that the game will feel like a classic Japanese sidescrolling action game. Beck, the main character behind Mighty No. 9 even has the ability to “steal” weapons from his enemies, just like the blue bomber. You can color me overwhelmed with excitement, and the other 36,000 backers on kickstarter.

You can expect to see Mighty No. 9 released sometime in 2015.