River City Girls 2 is the follow-up to the hit River City Girls from earlier in 2018. The game brings back a lot of the gameplay features that players loved and also adds new twists, including brand-new mini-games and an expanded story!
- Kunio-kun connection
- Sequel preparation
- Beat-em-ups
- Cameos
- Making fans and newcomers pleased
- Future strategies
- Xbox Game Pass
- Culture clash
- Durability
On December 15th, River City Girls 2 will release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, and PC. In honor of the game’s release, director Bannon Redis and author Adam Tierney spoke with about the highly-anticipated follow up, exposing when River City Girls 2 was first planned, whether we might see a third game, and more. The initial River City Girls was an unexpected crucial and commercial success, and fans might need to know whether they can anticipate to see more from the series!
The original River City Girls launched in 2019. The sequel guarantees to feature the same gameplay that made the very first game a hit, however with numerous additions, consisting of more playable characters, brand-new opponents, and a larger world than its predecessor. The original game was also offered on Xbox Video game Pass for a time, and Tierney resolved whether the follow-up may get a similar treatment at some point down the line. Tierney not just appeared open up to the concept, however he also raised the possibility of River City Girls Absolutely no appearing on the service!
Keep reading to see our interview with Forward’s Bannon Redis and Adam Tierney!
Prevnext
Adam Tierney: I can’t speak personally to the success of previous River City games over here, given that we only know the sales and fan base of our own games. I can say that when we began preparing on the first River City Girls video game, one of our goals was to make it stand out from all previous Kunio-kun titles, so that there would be no confusion among players whether they currently played this title, whether it was a remake of a previous video game, etc.
Cookbook: The very first River City Girls appeared to find a faithful following where other Kunio-kun video games have actually struggled to beyond Japan. Why do you believe that is?
Kunio-kun connection
Sequel preparation
Was the strategy constantly to do a follow-up?
Prevnext
Beat-em-ups
Tierney: Yes and no. We approached the very first River City Girls not assuming there would be a sequel, putting as much of our effort into the very first video game as possible. That stated, we did choose to hold a few significant characters from the brand back (like ABU, Ken, Yuri, and Rich) for a potential follow up, so that if we did end up developing an RCG2, it would not feel staffed with simply minor characters. And among the huge appeals about doing River City games in general was constantly that we would get to recycle (and broaden on) this huge city with each game.
Prevnext
Offered a few of the limitations of the beat-em-up genre, was it hard to come up with ideas that set RCG2 apart from the first game?
Cameos
Redis: I don’t see the constraints of the beat- ’em- up genre, only the ones that designers of the previous idea they needed to stick to. This genre was initially meant for arcades and meant to drain your quarters with limited lives and the chances stacked against the gamer. We are not beholden to that any longer. The sequel truly presses in an instruction I don’t believe many beat- ’em- ups have actually preceded. I hope it motivates other developers to do the same with the genre.
Bannon Redis: Sequels are never really part of a definitive strategy, but it constantly floats around in the back of your head when developing. Upon seeing the public’s response to the first video game, those little creeping thoughts of a follow-up start progressing into something more achievable and tangible.
Exist any huge cameos players can anticipate to see in this game?
Prevnext
Redis: There are. I am a huge non-spoilery kinda guy, so I am saying nothing. This video game should feel like a love letter to the Techno designers of the past. Literally without them, this video game wouldn’t exist.
Making fans and newcomers pleased
I can say that the answer to this concern relies practically entirely on the sales of the video games. We might consider some post-launch DLC for RCG2 before a new video game; in hindsight, I wish we’d been able to have actually some DLC attached to the first video game.
Redis: I would personally like to dip my toes into other Kunio-kun-adjacent titles. The sports titles are on the top of my list.
Along With River City Girls No, Forward has now dealt with 3 games in this series. Are there plans to continue River City Girls in the future?
Prevnext
Tierney: Not really, because at the end of the day, it’s more crucial to have a fantastic video game that stands on its own instead of something that’s canonically in sync with the previous video games. As we reimagined traditional Kunio-kun characters in our video games, we attempted to keep the spirit of each character, but didn’t try to keep them 100% intact. In Japan, RCG is considered a garden series, nearly like an alternative-universe variation of Kunio-kun, so that gives us a great deal of flexibility to take our own style and identity with these video games.
Future strategies
The first River City Girls felt respectful of its Kunio-kun roots, but it also felt inviting for those less knowledgeable about the series. Is it challenging to strike that balance?
Prevnext
Xbox Game Pass
Culture clash
The first River City Girls was offered on Xbox Video game Pass for a while. Has there been any discussion about bringing the follow-up to the service down the line?
Prevnext
Tierney: We would like to see RCG2 (and RCG Zero) on Video Game Pass! The very first River City Girls video game was incredibly popular on Video game Pass and helped expand the game’s audience a fantastic deal. Game Pass is an unbelievable service.
Being a western designer, what kinds of obstacles exist dealing with a Japanese residential or commercial property like this one?
Redis: Not too lots of. I have actually worked alongside Arc System Works for practically a decade now. They will provide us cultural notes and feedback, so things are not too off the mark with what their gamer base expects. The excellent thing about River City, as a location, is that it’s not actually the U.S.A. and it’s not Japan. It’s more of a hybrid of those 2 cultures and worlds smoothed together. That gives us a lot of leeway to do what we want and not need to stress about excessive culture clash.
Durability
prevent
What is it about the Kunio-kun franchise that you think has made it so sustaining?
The first River City Girls game was really popular on Game Pass and assisted broaden the video game’s audience an excellent offer.
In honor of the video game’s release, director Bannon Redis and author Adam Tierney spoke to about the highly-anticipated sequel, revealing when River City Girls 2 was initially prepared, whether we could see a 3rd game, and more. Adam Tierney: I can’t speak personally to the success of previous River City video games over here, considering that we only understand the sales and fan base of our own games. I can say that when we began planning on the very first River City Girls video game, one of our objectives was to make it stand out from all previous Kunio-kun titles, so that there would be no confusion among players whether they currently played this title, whether it was a remake of a previous game, etc. And one of the big appeals about doing River City video games in general was constantly that we would get to recycle (and broaden on) this enormous city with each game.
Prev
Redis: They are loveable characters that are youthful like the gamer market, yet they do very violent things to each other that in genuine life would be considered as abhorrent. The gameplay and characters probably scratch that itch that most individuals can’t scratch of having a tight clique of competent battling good friends to roll through town and stimulate some problem with, all while looking lovable and never pushing the violence to the extreme.
River City Girls 2 is set to launch on December 15th.