![]() Image: Disneyĭisney Illusion Island doesn’t have traditional combat. But on top of keeping each character visually recognisable, Diala also went to great lengths to capture their essence in gameplay. This sometimes came down to tiny visual details like adding an outline around Donald’s eyes to better capture his visual identity compared to Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, or maintaining Mickey’s signature three-circle head shape. Grand-Scrutton said authenticity has been the team’s top priority, and that meant being flexible when certain stylistic choices no longer aligned with capturing the characters’ essence. When you’re trying to create a slightly unorthodox take on an existing property, accomplishing that while still keeping the end result recognisable to fans (and the IP owners) becomes an ongoing visual, narrative, and mechanical design challenge. So it’s always been that kind of like, loving guidance.” It was a better story deeper in a lot of ways. “I got on a call and it was with a design liaison there and Chris Painter the writer, and they didn’t come on and go, ‘no, don’t do this to Mickey.’ They were like, ‘OK, explain this to me, like talk about why you want to do this’ and by talking to them and saying it out loud, I realised I’d become focused on telling ‘a story’ rather than ‘a Mickey story.’ And as soon as that kind of became clear and I was able to put it back on track, it all just became a much more understandable story. ![]() “Some really good guidance I got early on, my first draft of the story I had written was still very similar to the story that’s in the game, but I got a bit dark in a couple of places,” Grand-Scrutton said. According to Grand-Scrutton, Disney was open to Illusion Island having a more fantasy-driven take on Mickey and his world, and said nothing was outright turned down if the devs at Diala could explain their thinking. Recent games like the crossover mobile RPG Disney Mirrorverse are filled to the brim with characters from throughout Disney’s portfolio, each retooled to be a hero of a fantastical take on the Disney canon. But even from the outside, it feels like the company is more open to video games riffing on its established characters than one might expect. ![]() Part of the potential challenge there is working with a corporation as big as Disney that, in theory, would be very precious about its characters’ identities. With visual callbacks to different eras of Mickey Mouse’s nearly century-long history but also a desire to carve out something new for itself, Disney Illusion Island has to find a balancing act between being an homage and having its own identity. So, I think it’s less that we kind of based it on the shorts and I think it’s more that we’re influenced by the same things.” Image: Disney Minnie in her traditional heels and dress wouldn’t have worked for platforming. You see in the proportions of our characters, but also Minnie’s outfit. I kind of knew I wanted that classic-inspired group, but we needed to do something modern with it that made sense for the game. ![]() My favourite Mickey is that kind of ‘30s, ‘40s-era Mickey, the white-faced Mickey rather than the skin-tone Mickey, and I think it was very much the same for the show. “But I think what you’re kind of seeing is that we both have the same influences. “So we’re completely separate from the show, right? We have nothing to do kind of the modern show,” Grand-Scrutton said. Disney Illusion Island isn’t a 1:1 recreation of a specific era of Mickey Mouse cartoons, but Grand-Scrutton traces its similarities and differences to other Mickey Mouse properties back to specific inspirations. What could have easily felt like a mindless, licensed cash-in instead offered a great deal of tight-feeling platforming, cooperative play opportunities, and gorgeous animation evocative of Mickey’s modern animated series, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse. ![]() When I played the demo alongside Grand-Scrutton and Disney Games Producer Kelsey Wong, Disney Illusion Island held up against its inspirations. head out on an adventure which takes the form of a combatless, cooperative side-scroller, complete with Metroidvania-style backtracking and ability unlocks that fill out the map.įrom a design standpoint, Grand-Scrutton cites influences like modern side-scrolling touchstones Rayman Legends and Ori and the Blind Forest. Never one to turn down a chance to help others, Mickey and co. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone said no to me at any time,” Grand-Scrutton told Kotaku at Summer Game Fest.ĭisney Illusion Island follows Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy through the world of Monoth, which is in a state of disarray after the theft of three magical tomes. ![]()
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