The latest Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter update has the mighty Beck running, climbing and dashing through in-game environments as it explains some of his unique powers, including the ability to absorb the "Xel" of weakened enemies and turn it into power-ups. The second crowdfunding campaign , meanwhile, has been changed up a bit, and now promises both English and Japanese voice acting for another $200,000.
All of Beck's basic movements are in display in the four brief clips of video included in the new Kickstarter update , but it's "the Dash," described as "the heart of Mighty No. 9's gameplay," that's particularly interesting. It allows him to "absorb" weakened enemies, a risky maneuver but one that's necessary for his ability to transform. Transform into what, exactly, Comcept isn't ready to say just yet.
The update also looks at the "lights-on, lights-off mechanic," which some enemies will take advantage of to launch attacks in the dark, as well as the design process that led to the creation of the vaguely Big Daddy-like Mighty No. 2, one of the "Mighty No. Robots" who turned up on the front page of the initial Kickstarter campaign . Finally, it explains the rationale behind the decision to combine the English and Japanese voice acting stretch goals in the new crowdfunding campaign into one big target.
"We were running on the idea that Japanese fans would be more motivated by Japanese voice acting, and English-speakers by an English one. We were surprised (pleasantly so!) by the Mighty Beckers that came out in droves to support the idea of Japanese voice work, asking us why they weren't included in the Stretch Goals to begin with," it says. "This led to our decision to combine both stretch goals into one, larger stretch goal, as you can see now on the Mighty No. 9 site. We understand that you still have concerns about this new process, and please know that this is an ongoing dialogue we want to maintain with the backers."
The new crowdfunding campaign hasn't exactly caught fire at this point, sitting at around $9300 nearly a full week after it began. Unlike Kickstarter, this effort doesn't appear to have a time limit, so it seems likely that it will sooner or later make its goal, but even if it does fall short, some voice acting may still make it into the game.
"If we were not to meet the stretch goal, we'd probably try to find some compromise using the funds we do receive. Maybe limited voice overs, or if we were close to the goal, Comcept would pitch in itself and deliver it anyway," Community Manager Dina Abou Karam explained in an email. "That's still a long way off so only time will tell."
