The Wonderful 101

I owed this game some more time, so yesterday I started playing it again. I started a new playthrough from scratch, as it´s been more than a year since I last played and I have to relearn many of the game systems. And that is precisely why I decided to write this post: the game systems in TW101 are FANTASTIC.

The system has many controls and situations to keep track of, so it´s not very user-friendly at first and takes some time to get used to it. The aspect that shines specially is how every system can be used in many different ways and has a lot of specific properties that become really useful in some situations. The game utilizes a lot of specific obstacles in the shape of spiked enemies, enraged ones, lasers, missiles...but also gives the player various ways to deal with every situation:

• Y button: This is usually labelled as the "Dash" command, but I think a better name for it would be the "Group" command. When you press it all the characters get in a tight cluster near the leader and follow him around. This can be used to get the team out of harm´s way, to dispel Unite Forms and call back units...When the group is tight it moves faster, but it´s also more vulnerable. Just with a single shallow action as "run" the game has implemented many uses for it.
• X button: Team attack. It can be tapped to attack repeteadly or held down to charge a more powerful attack up to 3 levels once the corresponding skill is unlocked. This attack makes Wonderful ones cling to bigger enemies and potentially stun them, allowing you to unleash combos and specially, to use the more damaging techniques such as throws or launchers. It also acts as a lock-on command, so the player can instantly teleport to the enemy´s location (awesome skill for resetting jumps in air combos without allowing the enemy to touch the ground) or direct team unites. By using the X button when activating a glyph instead of the A button, the glyph will be activated by other team members, allowing the player to keep doing his stuff. It can also be mixed with skills, so the player can draw the glyph for the sword, then press B, X to activate a sword launcher performed by the team members while the team leader keeps doing his own thing.
• Unite Hand: This is the medium attack (average speed, average-strong power). It can also be used to grab things like shields, protect against fire (which will also allow the hand to shoot fireballs!), activate devices...
• Unite Sword: A fast attack, with lower power but increased range. It can also be used to reflect lasers. The weapon will supercharge and use electricity with a long combo (or when reflecting lasers), which will help to inflict stun on the enemies. This effect is common for all weapons, for example making the hand catch fire with a long combo.
• Unite Gun: Ranged attack. Can cath projectiles and varied stuff and throw it at the enemies. When shooting the bullets are in fact made by Wonderful ones, and hitting an enemy with them will have the same effect as using the X attack, with the Wonderfuls clinging to the enemy and attacking it.

These are just some examples of all the multipurposes each action, button or skill has in the game, but there are many more. Unite Hammer can be used to block attacks from above, to destroy armored enemies or to turn around big enemies. Unite Whip can remove spikes from enemies or grab enemies from the tail. Unite Claw can be used to freeze enemies, climb walls or remove armor pieces. But even things like the Wonder Liner have many uses apart of selecting Unite Morphs. The Wonder Liner can be used to capture enemies or recruit citizens, to recover stunned Wonderful ones, to unlock secrets, to create bridges or stairs... Every action in the game has many uses, which when combined with the rest of the systems at the player´s hands and the many different enemies, hazards and situations, give the game a lot of depth. The best way to sum this up quickly is not a single button or action in the game does only one single thing and that all the different options are useful under the right situation.

Even though we are not aiming for such a complex system for Kitsune and much of the focus of the mechanics will be in the obstacle mechanics rather than on the player himself, it´s a very nice idea to reevaluate all the planned mechanics and search for more uses to each of them. This has also made us rethink the powerUp system, so if we finally allow the player to change the active powerUp quickly at will, more integration with the level mechanics can be possible.