Crossovers within the same franchise, bad or good?

[JC48573]

Ok, I own a few or did but i don't think I was ever fond of them, especially when we look at crossovers within the same franchise. Dissidia was ok just cause it had nice graphics and the design was top notch, but that's about it (with lots of fun too...). I just don't like it one bit because the characters become out of place. well, I understand some players just play them for fun, but they also start hating them eventually. Some gamers just hate the fact that these games are around and just wish they were never made in the first place, but you really can't help it do you? (I stare at End of Darkness...sigh...) I'm ok with fighting games doing cross overs, but RPGs are a different story.

[the7k]

I don't really see why crossovers are bad in RPGs but not other places. I actually like them. In the case of Nippon Ichi games, I really liked seeing characters like Etna and Flonne playable in Disgaea 2 and Phantom Brave - I never felt that their presence screwed up the story or anything.

Final Fantasy Tactics had characters like Cloud, Aeris, Setzer and a few others either appear or get referenced - and again, I liked it. It made it feel like it was just as much a part of the franchise as the rest of them, if not more so.

Breath of Fire would have cameo appearances of characters from previous Breath of Fires (Deis being the most common, but many others showed up as well) as well as characters from other franchises (like Chun Li). Again, nothing wrong with it to me.

Last franchise I remember seeing a lot of cameos in is the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Raidou Kuzunoha shows up in the last version of Nocturne, Demifiend is a hidden boss in the Digital Devil Saga series, etc. Again, I don't have a problem with this.

The only time I can see it being a problem is with Valkyria Chronicles 2, and how they're bringing back certain characters that died in the first game. However, even this doesn't phase me - these characters apparently don't affect the story in anyway, and they only show up in battle. To me, it's no different from giving one of the many other characters an alternate skin or something.

[mobiusclimber]

Who didn't love seeing Sonic in Crusader of Centy? LOL

[Gamerforlife]

The only thing I dislike with this sort of thing is that it usually doesn't make sense. Why does Marvel vs Capcom feature a bunch of Capcom characters who have never been in any Marvel comic book? Why is Chris Redfield not getting his ass handed to him by EVERYONE from the Marvel universe in Marvel vs Capcom 3. He's just a regular guy with guns, not a super hero

The way Nippon Ichi does it works because it makes sense. All the characters are from the same universe. Different dimensions, parallel realities, time periods or whatever but still basically the same universe and the character cameos remain consistent with who they are in other games in terms of story and personality.

Square cameos on the other hand, are usually very inconsistent character-wise. You see certain Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts who are like their original Final Fantasy incarnations in appearance only. It's like seeing some bizarro world version of that FF character you know and love.

It's all in good fun though, so I don't mind too much, but it's just kind of lazy how they never try and have these things make sense, except for Nippon Ichi

[the7k]

The only thing I dislike with this sort of thing is that it usually doesn't make sense. Why does Marvel vs Capcom feature a bunch of Capcom characters who have never been in any Marvel comic book? Why is Chris Redfield not getting his ass handed to him by EVERYONE from the Marvel universe in Marvel vs Capcom 3. He's just a regular guy with guns, not a super hero

Because FUN.

I remember a bunch of people slamming that Star Wars fighting game for the PSX because lightsabers didn't instantly kill people. Now, there's plenty of reasons to hate the game - but this is not a valid reason. This would just mean the only character worth playing as would be the ones with lightsabers. Where's the fun in that?

Similarly, if Chris was completely worthless compared to the super heroes, why would anyone play as him? They wouldn't. He'd just be taking up space. Would it REALLY be fun if Wolverine was immortal, and you could never ever possibly win against him?

I also really don't understand the first part. "Why does Marvel vs Capcom feature a bunch of Capcom characters who have never been in any Marvel comic book?" Wha...? Wouldn't it just be called Marvel vs Marvel then? This just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. The whole point of a crossover is to have characters you've never seen interacting before interacting.

[noiseredux]

I also really don't understand the first part. "Why does Marvel vs Capcom feature a bunch of Capcom characters who have never been in any Marvel comic book?" Wha...? Wouldn't it just be called Marvel vs Marvel then? This just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. The whole point of a crossover is to have characters you've never seen interacting before interacting.

right. It's the old "who would win in a fight between _________ and _________?" thing brought to life.

[Gamerforlife]

I also really don't understand the first part. "Why does Marvel vs Capcom feature a bunch of Capcom characters who have never been in any Marvel comic book?" Wha...? Wouldn't it just be called Marvel vs Marvel then? This just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. The whole point of a crossover is to have characters you've never seen interacting before interacting.

right. It's the old "who would win in a fight between _________ and _________?" thing brought to life.

My point was that they didn't explain it, at least not according to my memory of the game. Did they open a portal or something to the Capcom universe?

And I get that it's fun, I mentioned that in my last post. I'm just saying it's nice when some effort is put into making these things make sense, like Nippon Ichi does. Like the Chris Redfield thing, I can't imagine why a bunch of superheroes would need some regular human who is just good with guns

But hey, I get it, I'm anal retentive, don't mind me

[the7k]

Like the Chris Redfield thing, I can't imagine why a bunch of superheroes would need some regular human who is just good with guns

Also, the Marvel vs Capcom series (at least up until MvC2) takes place in the Marvel Universe. Professor Xavier called upon the heroes from 'Other Universes' to stop Apocalypse and Onslaught.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 did have a story, but it is extremely hard to find details on it and it's never flat out stated in the game itself. I know that Ruby Heart is an integral character to the plot of MvC2.

[Gamerforlife]

Like the Chris Redfield thing, I can't imagine why a bunch of superheroes would need some regular human who is just good with guns

Also, the Marvel vs Capcom series (at least up until MvC2) takes place in the Marvel Universe. Professor Xavier called upon the heroes from 'Other Universes' to stop Apocalypse and Onslaught.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 did have a story, but it is extremely hard to find details on it and it's never flat out stated in the game itself. I know that Ruby Heart is an integral character to the plot of MvC2.

Alright, that all works for me. Well, except for MvC 2. Wikipedia has something on there about the game's story...and it sounds kind of ridiculous, but you're right. Ruby Heart is at the center of it

[the7k]

Alright, that all works for me. Well, except for MvC 2. Wikipedia has something on there about the game's story...and it sounds kind of ridiculous, but you're right. Ruby Heart is at the center of it

Yeah, MvC2's 'story' was one of the (many) things I disliked about it. It gave me no reason to go through single-player aside from boredom or wanting to beat a high score (or unlocking crap, for the retail versions).

Meanwhile, all the other Marvel vs Capcom games actually had endings for each character, and they were pretty fun to watch. Chun Li joining the X-Men, Gambit hitting on Morrigan, and Mega Man getting Onslaughts powers were highlights to me.