The last couple days I’ve been thinking about how various Studio Ghibli films could be adapted to MMOGs, which would work, which wouldn’t etc.
If Lupin III were adapted as an MMOG, I don’t imagine it would be more than a generic Crime MMOG with the Lupin III label slapped on the side. However, given the large amount of source material for Lupin III, I think if the rights were given to a decent studio, it’d be more suited to an episodic single-player game series (with optional small-scale multi-player)- the kind of thing suited to distribution on Steam.
Now we’re starting to get somewhere. The world of Nausicaä is a post-apocalyptic world, with warring nations vying for control of resources. There’s also the flora and fauna that have developed- giving great possibilities for PVE and PVP content.
The film demonstrated the presence of ground & flight mounts, as well as game professions analogous to herbalism, engineering & scavenging. Siege warfare could possibly be squeezed in too.
One word: Steampunk.
A Laputa MMOG would fit nicely into the Steampunk genre, since aside from the “lost technology”, the world seems to be nicely in the era of the Industrial Revolution. If the lore is tweaked in only the tiniest way- e.g. the events of the film didn’t take place, leaving Laputa intact (or perhaps keep Laputa destroyed but acknowledge the existence of other flying castles around the world). Given the size of Laputa and other castles like it, they’d make great end-game content.
Imagine working up your level & resources to the point where you could get a flying vehicle capable of making it through the outer storm (whether it be a small dirigible for your party or a large airship for your guild). Landing on a castle would be one thing, but you’ve got to take into account the other people trying to find their way there, as well as their plans for the castle. Plunder or attempt to take control ?
Ideally, a Laputa MMOG would be structured such that the game could be thoroughly enjoyed without ever having to go searching for a flying castle. Rather than a guild trying to take over Laputa or another flying castle as their player-run settlement, what about player-run settlements on the ground ?
Not suitable for MMOG adaptation whatsoever. Grave of the Fireflies is a great work of animation, but I have very little desire to watch it again due to how emotionally disturbing the film is.
I don’t particularly consider this film to be suitable for adaptation, though at a push it could be developed as a casual title aimed purely at the tween crowd.
Kiki is a troublesome property to adapt. As discussed on twitter, there’d be some trouble reconciling the lore of one witch per town- though I’m not sure if that was just Kiki’s personal preference as opposed to a rule set in stone (I’ll have to re-watch the film ^_^). Given that the core of the film is a coming-of-age story about a young witch going off to train for a year, a Kiki MMOG would likely be aimed at tween girls.
Personally I feel that a Kiki MMOG would be best suited with each town being a personal instance for each player- though it would be nice if they could invite friends in to hang out (said friends wouldn’t be able to do any game-advancing quests, though social activities would be available). If towns were instanced for individual players, it might be interesting to have a shared overworld area- afterall, Kiki did meet another witch in the early part of the film, so it’s a possibility.
This is another film not suited for MMOG development- the film is about an individual journey, and the film is very grounded in the “real world”.
Whether Porco Rosso could be adapted to an MMOG is debatable. I suppose it could work as a small-scale MMOG; There’s certainly PVP & PVE content available within the story (sea-plane pilots for hire), but I think this would just be a generic flight-sim MMOG with the Porco Rosso label stuck on the side.
Like My Neighbor Totoro, Pom Poko would be suitable for the tween crowd, given the craziness of “transforming raccoons”, though the western release would probably try to erase all references to “pouches“. I don’t imagine there’s much room for PVP in a Pom Poko MMOG, though as the film demonstrated, there’s definitely room for PVE- gathering food & resources to assist in the “plan”, playing tricks on the human developers & construction workers, even the possibility of annual events where large numbers of players take part in really big pranks like the parade, or grand illusions requiring the co-ordination of large numbers of players to maintain.
Pyrii recommended the stories of the Baron from these two films as candidacy for MMOG adaptation- I believe there are certainly possibilities to explore, though I’m not entirely clear on possible gameplay mechanics.
The world of Princess Mononoke has strong possibilities for Asian Fantasy MMOG adaptation; There’s plenty examples of PVE and PVP content in the film. Player races would likely be limited to humans, though there’d be the choice between working against the Gods and working with them. However, as demonstrated by the character of Lady Eboshi, not everything is black & white- it should be possible to have your “alignment” change, based on decisions you make.
Certain areas of a Mononoke MMOG’s PVE content would be less focussed on the humans vs Gods/spirits and more on the various factions found in the world. Inter-faction quests/combat could be mixed in nicely with PVP if player-run settlements/business were thrown into the mix.
I believe this film would be impossible to adapt to a game at all, never mind an MMOG. If follows the lives of the Yamada family- not really MMOG material.
Now here’s a definite candidate for a fantasy MMOG. A fantasy world of spirits hidden alongside the human world. As discussed on twitter, there’s the possibility of either working for Yubaba, or being an independent. Race-wise, the film demonstrated the possibility for humans coming into the fantasy world, and being forced to work for Yubaba (an interesting gameplay element there would be the player character names being forcibly changed by the server (Yubaba).
The name-changing mechanic opens up quest lines to enable the player to get their original name back. Given the scope of the film, this mechanic doesn’t seem to serve much purpose unless you drastically expand the scope of the world beyond the bath house & surrounding restaurants. I suppose the purpose of the name-changing mechanic would be to keep the bath-house area as low-mid level gameplay, with them being unable to leave until they get their name back.
Once independent, players could of course return to the bath house to spend their hard-earned game gold to relax in the baths- the various bath salts giving different types of buffs.
Of course, it would be nice if players weren’t forced to leave the bath house, and were given the opportunity to remain and rise through the ranks, or try out all the different types of jobs. Mini-games along the lines of Puzzle Pirates & Free Realms could come in handy here.
This is a bit of a difficult matter. Certainly the world of Howl’s Moving Castle is ripe for fantasy MMOG gameplay, but I think you’d have to work very hard to make this more than just a generic fantasy MMOG with the Howl label slapped on the side.
There’s certainly strong PVP possibilities (warring nations employing magic as well as non-empowered soldiers), though there appears to be little possibility for PVE present, unless you drop in some entirely NPC factions.
Conclusions
I’ve not given thought to Studio Ghibli’s two most recent films- Tales From Earthsea
and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea- this is because I haven’t seen them (though I own a copy of Earthsea, I’ve made a promise to watch it with someone).
I would have to say that the three Studio Ghibli films most suited to MMOG adaptation (in no particular order) are Laputa, Monoke and Spirited Away. If any of these were released, I think I’m more likely to go for the Laputa- mostly because I’d like a change from the general fantasy-fare churned out by the MMOG industry in recent years. As I mentioned, a Laputa MMOG is likely to fit more into the Steampunk genre, and I’m eagerly awaiting access to the Gatheryn beta (I’m hoping it’ll be different than the let-down that was Neo Steam).
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