#rest in peace vanpool

[doodlesdreaming]

Any thoughts about Vanpool's departure or what it might mean for the Dillon series?

I'm definitely sad about Vanpool closing their doors. It stings as much as losing AlphaDream(developers of the Mario and Luigi games)

As for the future of the Dillon series...it's tough to say. Mainly because the third game was released during the time when the 3DS was clearly about to be shelved(or beginning the slow burn killing process), so it's difficult to say if we'll ever see Dillon and Russ again.

But I dunno. I'm, slightly, hoping Nintendo will be kind enough to preserve these games by having them ported to the Switch. Heck, the Etrian Odyssey games got ported over as soon as the 3DS EShop closed, so who knows.

For now, I'll just say, I'm glad I got all three of the games when I did. The Red Flash isn't leaving my 3DS anytime soon. 😤

[i-like-eyes]

What potential do you think the Kirby series would have if Hal made a RPG series?

Kirby in any other genre is smth I constantly think about, and now that we have sequels of *basically* every 3DS minigame where there are going to go from here is up to interpretation.

If I'm remembering correctly, the last time Hal worked with another developer was for a larger scale game was Kirby's Epic Yarn from a decade ago, and even then that wasn't originally a Kirby title as well as still a spin off because of the gameplay deviations. I think they got outside help for those tree and gurren lagann minigames in KSA, but they otherwise insist on doing a majority of work in house. Only recently have they got help from Vanpool with SKC and KF2.

My point is Hal themselves is a small company, they don't have a lot of resources by themselves which is why their game line up looks the way it does. About a title a year, two if they are feeling feisty, and mostly Kirby because that's the safest bet. They don't just hire another company to make the games for them because they seem hesitant to give out the ip for some reason, what are their standards so high they were that dissatisfied with the Flagship titles? Taking these factors into consideration, from my understanding that means the majority of their crew is working on the mainline title while they have smaller teams/maybe Vanpool working on the spin offs to keep people entertained while they wait for the big stuff. The spin off titles are super small in scale (and built off of preexisting ideas to save even more dev time) so that most of the effort is put into the big boy mainline titles. This way of making games turns them enough of a profit; they don't have much of an incentive to make larger scale spin offs.

All that taken into account, Kirby Fall Guys was the last fucking thing I was expecting this year. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising, KATFL's popularity was a safe bet, so it makes sense to get out a spin off to capitalize on that popularity while it's still fresh instead of waiting until next year. We still aren't entirely sure who's developing it, and I'd be damned if it was just Hal seeing how ambitious KATFL was. While Dream Buffet looks basic as hell, this could be a sign that Hal is more willing to work with other companies, if that is the case. What we do know for sure is that this mini era of 3DS spin offs is dead, and we are finally seeing new ideas again.

ANYWAYS REGARDING YOUR ACTUAL QUESTION: While I'm sure a theoretical Kirby rpg title made by Hal would be fun, especially considering how much of a rpg fanboy Kumazaki is (why you think Clash is fantasy themed), I don't think it's likely. Rather it's a mon type game or smth resembling the Mario + Luigi series (rest in peace), Kirby with it's expanded universe could fit just about any style of kid-friendly rpg (or hell I'd like to see smth new with the formula). But any rpg needs to be pretty decent in scale, I don't even think we could get smth like Miitopia with how Hal currently operates. But with Dream Buffet on the horizon, Hal constantly hiring new employees, and the success of KATFL, who knows what'll happen.