FDG Entertainment recently took to Twitter to confirm that Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom’s Xbox Series X/S launch is “imminent”. “Submission process has started and should finish until tomorrow,” the publisher says, which means an imminent launch and accompanying announcement should probably be expected.

FDG Entertainment also confirms that just as it did on the PS5, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom will run at a native 4K and 120 FPS on the Xbox Series X/S. Meanwhile, on the Xbox Series S, the game will run at either 4K/60 FPS or 1080p/120 FPS.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently also available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia.

It's finally happening: #MonsterBoyGame #XboxSeriesX release is imminent. Submission process has started and should finish until tomorrow. We'll keep y'all updated! Series X will support 4K/120fps native; Series S will offer 1080p/120fps or 4K/60fps. pic.twitter.com/oiKYbkArpJ

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) August 1, 2022

In this feature, we’ll be talking about what we feel have been the 15 best Metroidvania games of the last few years. Given how spoilt for choice we are, it goes without saying that we’ll be missing out on a few games, so sound off about those in your comments below.

So let’s kick this off, and let’s begin with the most obvious choice:

HOLLOW KNIGHT

To say that Hollow Knight is not only one of the best games of the last few years, but quite simply one of the greatest games ever made, would not be an exaggeration in the slightest. Team Cherry’s masterpiece exudes a breathtaking level of confidence in everything it does, from the crisp combat, the incredible atmosphere, and the tight platforming to the labyrinthine map design, the charming visuals, and the memorable boss fights. It’s the standard that all Metroidvania games should aspire to, and stands toe-to-toe with genre giants like Super Metroid.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-best-modern-metroidvania-games/feed 0 429830 https://gamingbolt.com/monster-boy-and-the-cursed-kingdom-releases-for-pc-on-july-25th https://gamingbolt.com/monster-boy-and-the-cursed-kingdom-releases-for-pc-on-july-25th#respond Mon, 03 Jun 2019 13:13:00 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=402060

It’s been out for several months on consoles, but Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is inching closer to launch on PC. The title recently received a free demo on Steam, and now has a release date. FDG Entertainment confirmed on Twitter that it will launch on July 25th for Steam and GOG.

As a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy series, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a brand-new 2D action platformer. Developed with original series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa, players will control Jin as he fights to save the kingdom. Jin can utilize six different forms with varying abilities and combat techniques to help him out.

The most obvious highlights are the graphics, which are hand drawn, and the music, handled by composers such as Motoi Sakuraba (Dark Souls series), Yuzo Koshiro (Etrian Odyssey series), and more. If you’re curious about getting your hands on the game now, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details on the PC launch in the coming weeks.

Early #E3 News for our lovely followers: Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom PC Edition will release on Steam and GOG on July 25, 2019. #GOG #Steam #MonsterBoyGame #WonderBoy #PCGaming #Indiedev pic.twitter.com/FH4WUrSCiq

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) June 3, 2019

Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom first launched in December 2018 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4. It was pretty well received, with the Switch version outselling its counterparts by eight times. The PC version has been seemingly missing for the past few months, but publisher FDG Entertainment has finally offered an update.

Long story short, the game is still coming to PC, and a free demo could be out some time this month. That depends on its overall performance, but the emphasis is on creating a compelling launch experience with the full game.

“Once we finished the majority of tests, we’ll release the free demo,” the developer wrote. “We expect to release the demo this month. If the demo runs well on the majority of machines, we’ll release the full version, otherwise we’ll fix what needs to be fixed first. We want to make sure that PC players have a great ‘Day 1’ experience with the full version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.”

The publisher has also shared more information on PC-specific features that players can expect. All the patches from the current console version will be included, along with customizable controls and controller support. Ultrawide monitors will also be supported due to some levels and scenes actually being wider than 16:9. Boss fights are still at 16:9, but they’ll apparently mesh together well with ultrawide scenarios. This feature can be tested in the upcoming demo, so stay tuned.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom may not have been the most high profile release of 2018, but there were still a great many people that were looking forward to its December launch. As a spiritual successor to the beloved classic Wonder Boy platformers, and with several strengths of its own, Monster Boy was met with great reception upon launch, also going on to sell 50,000 units in its first week.

While reporting its launch week sales, publisher FDG Entertainment had said that the Switch version had had the best sales, and that continues to be the case. In a recent tweet, the publisher said that the Switch “continues to surprise” them, and that it’s become “the most profitable console business ever for us”, with sales figures that are in “another universe”. To give you an idea of how profitable the Switch has been for them, they revealed that the Switch version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom has been far outselling the other two versions of the game, with a sales ratio of 8:1 in favour of Switch versus the other two combined.

That doesn’t surprise me, given that the Switch has been enjoying excellent software sales across the board, and that Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom by itself seems to be perfectly suited to the Switch hardware as well. The game is currently out on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, with a PC version also currently in the works- FDG Entertainment provided a brief update for that as well. Take a look at both tweets below.

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1082716029783064578

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1082725777504956416

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, spiritual sequel to the classic platforming franchise Wonder Boy, launched last week worldwide, and has been receiving great critical reception from critics and players alike. That reception is paying dividends too, as publishers FDG Entertainment have announced on Twitter that the game has sold 50,000 units in its first week on sale.

In the tweet that announced the sales figured, FDG Entertainment thanked fans, critics, and all those who purchased the game for their support. After being asked as a follow up about which system the game had sold the most on so far, the publisher revealed that the Nintendo Switch version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was, unsurprisingly, the highest selling one out of all four.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. For more information on the game, head on over here for an interview we conducted with developers Game Atelier earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1072837584844480513

Switch

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) December 12, 2018

Development 

Development on Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom started in 2014. When the game entered development, it was titled Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed, as a sequel to Game Atelier’s Flying Hamster, which came out in 2010. Eventually, the game was picked up by FDG Entertainment, who made the decision with Game Atelier to change the nature of the project, instead turning it into what was described as a spiritual successor to Sega’s Wonder Boy series. Though the game is a sequel to the Wonder Boy games in all but name, the Wonder Boy trademark rests with Sega. As such, the game was titled Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze. After receiving criticisms for the subtitle, it was eventually renamed as Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

Ryuichi Nishizawa, who was the creator of the Wonder Boy series, is also involved in the development of the game, while the game’s soundtrack has been composed by a collection of well-known Japanese artists, including Keiki Kobayashi, Takeshi Yanagawa, Michiru Yamane, Haruka Shimotsuki, Yuzo Koshiro, and Motoi Sakuraba. The game’s soundtrack also includes rearranged tracks from previous Wonder Boy games. Originally the game was supposed to use sprite based visuals, but as per the developers, the visual style was changed a few times during the development process, before they finally decided to use hand drawn art and animations. At one point, the developers had even planned on using 16 bit visuals for the game, as they wished the pay homage to retro style video games on the Sega Mega Drive from which they took inspiration.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was originally scheduled for a launch on November 6, 2018, but this was delayed by about a month to December 4 due to issues with production of the game’s physical copies, for which FDG Entertainment have partnered with Sega. PS4 and Nintendo Switch will receive physical copies of the game, while these will be limited only to North American audiences.

Story

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom sees players playing as a young boy named Jin, who must journey across the kingdom as he attempts to stop his Uncle Nabu from using his magical powers to destroy the kingdom. The developers have stated that they do not wish the emphasize the story too much, and even though the setup will be important to the game, their main focus while developing the title has been on gameplay and mechanics.

Gameplay

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is an open world side scrolling platformer. Rather than requiring precision platforming from players, it instead places a focus on exploration, to the extent that when players fall into gaps, they do not die like in regular platformers, but are instead respawned, with the only penalty being a slight loss to HP. While exploring, players can discover hidden rooms, gear, and equipment, and have to fight against enemies and solve puzzles in the environment to progress further.

Players can transform into six unique animal forms, with each having their individual advantages and disadvantages that apply to combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. For instance, while transformed into a pig, players cannot equip weapons or armour, but they can use magic spells, which can be done in only one other form (human form), while the pig can also sniff around the environment to find secrets. While playing as a frog, players can use their tongues to reach distant places to make previously inaccessible areas more accessible, while playing as a snake allows players to climb up slimy surfaces. Puzzle solving, combat, and traversal rely on and encourages players to experiment with different animal forms.

Transforming, and mixing and matching with various kinds of gear, equipment, and animal forms is also encouraged in gameplay, especially during exploration. According to the developers, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom has over fifteen hours worth of content. Players can explore open environments and pick between branching paths. There are shortcuts and other means for quicker traversal, which the developers also made sure to emphasize in order to prevent the game’s backtracking sections from getting monotonous. The developers have also stated that they have made the game in such a manner that it can be accessible to a wide range of audiences, and will have varying difficulty styles depending on how players choose to play. While critical progress won’t be locked behind extreme challenge, those who want to achieve 100 per cent completion will find a more challenging experience.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

PUBG 1.0 Dated for Xbox One

Amid its various issues and Bluehole’s desire to fix things, the developer announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds would be launching version 1.0 on Xbox One on September 4th. Not only that but the new Sanhok map, custom games and War Mode would also be included with the update. Though PUBG on the Xbox One had a shoddy start and – depending on who you ask – isn’t the best Battle Royale title available, it still has a very, very healthy player base. And they’ve got a whole lot to look forward to.

Devil May Cry 5 Release Date and Gameplay

Arguably the star of Gamescom 2018, Devil May Cry 5 astounded all who played it on the show floor. Along with faster movement, mid-air dodging and a whole variety of combat options, the sequel re-established the Devil May Cry flavour that we knew and loved. Not only that but Capcom announced a release date of March 8^th 2019. Footage for Dante, more details on the mysterious third character “V” and much more are in store but for all intents and purposes, we’re kind of thinking Devil May Cry is back.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Out in March 2019

Perhaps the second most hyped game at the trade fair, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was also playable. Activision took to announcing a release date of March 22^nd 2019 and a Collector’s Edition, complete with a statue of the protagonist. However, it was the gameplay that honestly excited us. Sekiro doesn’t have a stamina meter, boasts impressive movement thanks to a grappling hook and channels a contemporary Tenchu more than you’d think. Despite this, combat is intense, relying on threshold meters that increase with damage taken, leading up to execution-style attacks. It’s bloody, grim and has that From Software vibe to it. Suffice to say, that’s good news.

The Surge 2’s First Look at Combat

If you happened upon that leaked gameplay clip for The Surge 2 a while ago, then nothing in the current trailer really surprised you. For everyone else, it was the first look at a game that’s still relatively Souls-like. The previous game’s special limb-targeting system is looking good, the movement seems more fluid and overall, the world feels more realized. That may not seem like a big deal but those cloaked Hunters and transforming statue gave us hope for what’s to come.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Spirit Trials

Did Microsoft announce a release date for Ori and the Will of the Wisps? No. It did the next best thing though with the reveal of Spirit Trials. This is essentially time trials as players attempt to beat their friends’ best times. Competing against them will be “ghosts” of said friends, amping up the competitiveness even more. Perform well enough and you’ll unlock some rewards. This already sounds like an awesome way to cater to the speed-running and hardcore fan base, having them come back for more after the main story is finished. Now let’s hope a release date shows up sooner than later.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection Coming to Xbox Game Pass

It’s hard to forget just how much of a disaster Halo: The Master Chief Collection was at launch. However, 343 Industries has been working to improve it and all that effort comes to fruition when the game launches for Xbox Game Pass on September 1^st. Along with Xbox One X support (including 4K and HDR), it will bring a large patch that improves matchmaking times, lets players pick and choose which games they want, or whether to forgo multiplayer entirely for the single-player experience.

Desperados 3 Announced by THQ Nordic

This has been a long time coming, especially following the lacklustre Desperados 2: Cooper’s Revenge. THQ Nordic unveiled Desperados 3 and pretty much confirmed that it would be the same isometric, real-time tactics, Wild West title that the very first game did so well. Nothing else was revealed beyond that but it’s out in 2019 so there’s still time to learn more.

Supermassive Announces The Dark Pictures Anthology

In an interesting twist, Bandai Namco – who’s been on fire with the partnerships this year – will be working to bring Supermassive’s next horror anthology to all platforms. The first title in The Dark Pictures Anthology is Man of Medan, a story about tourists who mess with some underwater relics and have to deal with a haunted ship. The textures and animation are pretty great and it’ll be out in 2019.

Overwatch’s Shooting Star and New Control Map

A new animated short is always a special occasion for Blizzard’s Overwatch. While “Shooting Star” didn’t do much to advance the main plot, it did give some backstory into Hana “D.Va” Song. The production quality and presentation were stellar as always but it perhaps pales in comparison to Busan, the new Control map. Available now on PTR, it offers new environmental hazards and interesting geometry while still maintaining the Control essentials. Expect to see it sometime in the coming month or two on live servers.

Life is Strange 2 First Gameplay

Life is Strange 2 finally revealed its premise and gameplay aspects, telling the story of Sean and Daniel Diaz who are on the run after an incident. Magic powers are once again at play but thanks to the age difference of the brothers, the decisions of Sean will have an influence on Daniel. Episode 1 arrives on September 27^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC but early gameplay shows that the Life is Strange aesthetic is more or less intact. Let’s hope the story-telling is up to par as well (or ideally better).

Cyberpunk 2077 Screenshots Tease FPS Gameplay

CD Projekt RED sadly didn’t showcase its behind-closed-doors E3 2018 demo. However, it did release some screenshots that gave us a better idea of what the first person perspective would look like. Furthermore, it announced that a major development milestone was reached with the game being playable from start to finish. Bug testing and other optimization still remain to be done but we could be seeing the game sooner than expected.

Dark Souls Trilogy Announced for US

Remember that Dark Souls collection that was only released for Japan on PS4 earlier this year? Bandai Namco announced that both Xbox One and PS4 players in the United States and Asia could pick up the Dark Souls Trilogy on October 19^th (sorry Europe). So you get Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin and Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades Edition, all for $80. On the one hand, it’s kind of lame for those who recently bought Dark Souls Remastered. On the other hand, if you never played Dark Souls, this is the best way to get into it with all the DLC included.

Metro Exodus Continues Looking Gorgeous in New Trailer

What’s more terrifying than a post-apocalyptic, bombed out Moscow crawling with monsters? Heading out into the great unknown. Because for all the beautiful sights out there in Metro Exodus, from lush green valleys to calm wildlife, there are some nasty things lurking in the dark. Other human factions that nail bodies to walls for fun, wolves, giant bears – you name it and it’s probably trying to kill you. Still, Metro Exodus looks great and we’re looking forward to its upcoming February 2019 release all the more.

Battlefield 5 Open Beta Dates Announced

For all the criticism that Battlefield 5 has received over its customization and depiction of World War 2, it does look insanely good. DICE teamed up with Nvidia to showcase the first person shooter on the upcoming GeForce RTX, which was quite the visual feast. However, it also unveiled the open beta for September, bringing the new Rotterdam map to Conquest. It’s available for Origin Access Basic/Premier and EA Access subscribers on September 4^th but everyone else can jump in on September 6^th.

This War of Mine, Windjammers 2 and More Heading to Switch

Nintendo isn’t running out of indies for its Switch platform any time soon. At the start of Gamescom, it unveiled numerous titles like 11 bit Studios’ Children of Morta, This War of Mine and Beat Cop for the platform. Moonlighter also received a more solid release window, which was great, but that wasn’t all. Slay the Spire, Night Call, Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom, Everspace, The Gardens Between, Bad North and so much more looked great. Oh, and did we mention Windjammers 2? Because Windjammers 2 is FINALLY happening. Sure, many of these are already available or coming to other platforms but having them on the go is just fantastic.

Soulcalibur 6’s Libra of Soul and Tira Revealed

Not content with a traditional single-player campaign, Project Soul announced another story mode for Soulcalibur 6. Libra of Soul does have its differences though as players will create a custom fighter and engage with other player-created fighters and main roster heroes. Each of these encounters will have different rule sets to mix up the battles further. The customization system harkens back to Tekken 7 in many ways so hopefully, the voice-acting for Libra of Soul is on point. Oh and Tira is back but as a DLC character. So that’s a thing to either get excited or upset about.

Shenmue 3 Releasing on August 2019

Ys Net’s Shenmue 3 will be releasing on August 27^th 2019. Now, all jokes aside about another possible delay, the sequel is actually looking pretty good. The animation is mostly on point, textures look nice and sharp, and even the story is very well presented. I mean, who didn’t mark out when Lan Di was shown after so long? Honestly, the biggest compliment I can give the latest trailer is that it evokes the same feelings that the original Shenmue’s reveal did in the Dreamcast era. Take that for what you will.

THQ Nordic Bringing Microsoft Titles to Steam

Xbox One/Windows 10 titles that have been relegated to the Microsoft Store are finally coming to Steam and physical retail. THQ Nordic announced a deal with Microsoft for the same and will release games like ReCore, Super Lucky’s Tale and Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection. All these titles will arrive on September 14^th. It may not seem like that big of a deal compared to other announcements but could lead to other Windows 10 exclusives arriving on Steam. No, not Gears 5 or Halo Infinite but some other stuff, probably.

Ace Combat 7 Arrives in January 2019

Bandai Namco had announced that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown will be released on January 18^th 2019 for Xbox One and PS4. Even better, PC players can get their hands on it in February 2019. The newly unveiled trailer was full of intrigue, political dealings, high-flying action and…more political dealings. Regardless, the game looks gorgeous and a worthy follow-up even if some of the English voice-acting is…different, to say the least.

New Settlers Game Announced

Champions of Anteria? Get out of here with that nonsense because The Settlers are back. Not only is Ubisoft re-releasing all of its old Settlers titles on November 15th but it has a new game in development. Releasing in Autumn 2019 and simply named The Settlers, the game runs on Massive’s Snowdrop Engine and heads to a new world. Will it live up to the old games? Maybe not but hey, maybe it will. There’s always hope, right?

To learn more about the game and its development, Gamingbolt reached out to FDG Entertainment’s Philipp Döschl who answered the following questions.

"It’s officially part of the Wonder Boy of the Wonder Boy series and the creator of the series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is on board, so it’s more than just a game “inspired by”, it’s a real sequel to the series."

This is a game that is being made in a close collaboration between FDG Entertainment and Game Atelier. Any particular benefits or challenges faced because of the way things are set up?

Of course it’s always a bit difficult when the teams are based in multiple locations. However we’re used to it and luckily both Game Atelier and us are in the same time zone, which helps a lot. Probably one of the biggest benefits of working with a studio in France is how fast you can find talented people for a short period of time to prevent production bottlenecks. When it comes to this, France is a lot more flexible than Germany.

As a game directly inspired by the Wonder Boy games, is Monster Boy also aiming to carve out its own unique identity?

It’s officially part of the Wonder Boy of the Wonder Boy series and the creator of the series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is on board, so it’s more than just a game “inspired by”, it’s a real sequel to the series. It shares the same vibe while bringing in lots of modern and fresh elements.

The game has spent a long time in development now. What is the reason for such a long development period?

The game grew significantly since we got on board. The most obvious changes are the graphics which were completely reworked a couple of times in past four years. Check out this comparison:

"The gameplay also got more complex, many mechanics were added, the game got a lot more depth and much more. Development on Monster Boy is a very dynamic and organic process, which makes it a bit more challenging to plan in advance. We take our time and tweak everything until we’re satisfied with it. We want to deliver a great game which people will remember for the next decades."

I’m sure bringing in Ryuichi Nishizawa must have been beneficial to the development process. Can you elaborate some ways in which his experience proved useful?

Nishizawa-san gives a lot of valuable feedback. He’s not involved in the project on a daily base, but he’s close to the project, sharing his views on things.

Will the game have a huge emphasis on story, or is it mainly there to serve the gameplay?

We’re all a bit sick of games that feel more like interactive books because there’s so much reading. Story is an important part on Jin’s journey through the Cursed Kingdom of course, but gameplay and especially its variety is even more important. We now got the perfect balancing between and engaging, motivating story and a diversified gameplay.

Can you tell us some of the ways in which different animal forms are used in the game?

Every transformation has its own mechanics. The pig can’t equip weapons, armor, etc, however it can cast magic, which the other forms can’t do except for the human form. Plus the pig can sniff and find secrets. The frog in return can equip stuff but can’t cast magic. He can use his tongue to reach areas only reachable by him, swing through levels, and so on. I won’t spoil all of the forms now however 😉

"We now have an amazing depth in the settings, hand drawn animations for all characters and enemies, effects done through shaders and tons of details and other things."

Having worked on this game for so long must have been exhausting. Are you going on a break for a while or do you already have ideas for a new game you want to start working on?

There’s no real break for us at FDG, we already have new ideas and a new prototype is about to leave prototype stage and go into alpha 😉 Of course we’ll all have some time off and holidays here and there, but we won’t close the studio before our annual holiday break around new year. Things might be different for Game Atelier though as they’re working really hard and focused in order to get the game finished in time.

The game’s art style is unique and balances a fine line between retro and modern. What was the inspiration behind the art style?

It was a very organic process until we reached the final art style. The overall graphic quality got higher with every iteration and we kept on saying “damn, it’d be cool to add this and that…”. We now have an amazing depth in the settings, hand drawn animations for all characters and enemies, effects done through shaders and tons of details and other things.

There’s not a single source of inspiration but rather multiple ones, especially on the technical level and how different techniques were used and combined to create the world, the effects, tricks and how to make it look even more appealing over all.

There has certainly been a resurgence in retro-themed games recently. What would you say you love about games from the ‘80s and ‘90s which has inspired Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom?

The sense of going on a big adventure in a magical world. Back in our childhood when we played the Monster World games on Master System and Genesis, it felt like we went on a trip into an unknown land with secrets hidden behind every stone. Also, once we started playing, we didn’t want to stop and kept going on till we finished the games.

Can you tell us about any differences in the way the game will perform on various platforms?

There will be no differences.

The game is now confirmed for the PS4 and Xbox One, which also means it will support the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Can you please let us know the resolution and frame rate it will run at on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

The game runs in 1080p / 60fps on all platforms.

Xbox One X has a ton of memory on board (12GB in total and 8GB of that is available for games). Do you think PC game developers such as yourself, will now be setting your PC memory requirements even higher in the future due to Scorpio offering even higher memory allocations?

I doubt it’ll have a big impact as we all need time to adapt (customers as developers alike). Of course the bigger devs will make use of the additional memory.

As for graphics, the more details you show, the longer it takes to create them, which makes the production costs go higher and it needs more time. Smaller studios will not be able to afford this.

It’s natural that games look better year by year and that they demand more resources, yet the tools used need to be ready for that too. And last but not least, there has to be an installed hardware base that’s big enough to justify the amount of additional work.

Is there anything more you’d like to tell our readers about Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

Thanks for the amazing support so far, the kind words and the countless people having checked out Monster Boy at events so far! Finish line is in sight and we can’t await to release  the full game!

Arguably the most important spec bump that the Xbox one X brings to the table is not the 6 TFLOP GPU, but the 12GB of GDDR5 RAM- the unified pool of usable RAM is far higher on the Xbox One X than it is on any other console currently on the market, and should theoretically end up having an impact in terms of the baseline memory requirements for console game development.

I say theoretically because install base considerations, as well as the existence of gaming PCs, which have had higher memory than consoles for a very long time now, kind of make the advantages offered by the Xbox One X a bit moot. And indeed, most developers we have talked to have cited those very reasons for why the Xbox One X’s extra memory might not influence game development that much going forward.

Philipp Döschl of FDG Entertainment, the folks behind Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, feels similarly- there hasn’t been enough time to adapt to the new spec, and a lot of smaller developers won’t be able to keep up with the resources needed to fully utilize higher end machines. Plus, he points out, the install base consideration still applies.

“I doubt it’ll have a big impact as we all need time to adapt (customers as developers alike). Of course the bigger devs will make use of the additional memory,” he said.

“As for graphics, the more details you show, the longer it takes to create them, which makes the production costs go higher and it needs more time. Smaller studios will not be able to afford this.

“It’s natural that games look better year by year and that they demand more resources, yet the tools used need to be ready for that too. And last but not least, there has to be an installed hardware base that’s big enough to justify the amount of additional work.”

I can’t disagree with him- and more than anything else, it is this that makes me despair the lack of meaningful exclusives from Microsoft for Xbox. While third parties are unlikely to ever fully plumb the extent of what the Xbox One X is capable of, Microsoft commissioned exclusives could have shown off what the system is capable of had they existed, much like Naughty Dog games, or Zelda, do for their competitors.

Stay tuned for our full interview with Philipp Döschl in the coming days.