Jacqueline Hyde
Time Thief
Last night, I was thinking about this conversation from a while back with @Chase, @Claire Yeon, and @Eugene, when suddenly it struck me all at once. Here's my proposal:
The game is emphatically not based on the Netflix show - which frankly I think we have to assume any new game at this point will be, but it's going to be a nightmare. Instead, you're an Acme agent, Carmen is the head of VILE, and all is right with the world. In addition, the game does one of literally two things Adventures in Math actually did right, and pulls from all the different games and shows. The Chief, Chase, Zack and Ivy, Jules and Hawkins, Carmine, Stretch, Shirley the travel agent... they're all in this universe, as are villains from all throughout the franchise's time - from Scar Greynolt and Merey LaRoc to Sara Bellum to Snarla Swing and Count Hypno.
The game is third-person, 3D motion-captured (cf. recent Tomb Raider, Life Is Strange, Spider-Man, etc.). You can name your player character and set their outfit, hairstyle, hair/eye/skin color, body type, and so on.
It's mission-based, like Great Chase Through Time and Treasures of Knowledge, but isn't necessarily linear like that one. Acme HQ is the hub, and you enter as a new detective, just as in the games up through the mid-'90s. Several cases are available at the beginning, and after completing a set number of them, you rank up, and unlock new (progressively harder) missions. Cases can be assigned by The Chief - voiced and mo-capped, of course, by the only person who could possibly play a live-action Chief, Tracee Ellis-Ross. They can also be started by approaching another detective (Zack, Ivy, Jules, Hawkins, the Good Guides, ...) found throughout Acme HQ who needs assistance with a case - similar to Armando, Tatyanna, etc. joining Zack and Ivy partway through an episode and sticking with them till the end of the case.
These cases are investigated by globe-hopping, as in the classic games, but in addition to asking witnesses for clues to the villain's next location, you sometimes need to solve puzzles to progress, as in Great Chase, Treasures, Adventures in Math, and The Game That Must Not Be Named. The cases have some kind of story to them that's unraveled by speaking to the witnesses and other detectives and informants, like in Treasures, or the side missions in recent Tomb Raider or Horizon Zero Dawn. Building a warrant isn't part of this mode, as the villain's identity is either known from the start or is revealed through the story.
As head of the Acme Academy, Chase (voiced by The Rock) offers training to improve your skills for cases. What this looks like, I don't know.
In addition to the story-based cases above, a free play option is also available to track a villain from location to location and build a warrant, in the style of the classic games. You can also explore Acme HQ to find funny surprises, like in the original Where in Time (or the Namco Museum PS1 series).
It sells zillions of copies and the people rejoice.
What's your fantasy 2020 Carmen game like?
The game is emphatically not based on the Netflix show - which frankly I think we have to assume any new game at this point will be, but it's going to be a nightmare. Instead, you're an Acme agent, Carmen is the head of VILE, and all is right with the world. In addition, the game does one of literally two things Adventures in Math actually did right, and pulls from all the different games and shows. The Chief, Chase, Zack and Ivy, Jules and Hawkins, Carmine, Stretch, Shirley the travel agent... they're all in this universe, as are villains from all throughout the franchise's time - from Scar Greynolt and Merey LaRoc to Sara Bellum to Snarla Swing and Count Hypno.
The game is third-person, 3D motion-captured (cf. recent Tomb Raider, Life Is Strange, Spider-Man, etc.). You can name your player character and set their outfit, hairstyle, hair/eye/skin color, body type, and so on.
It's mission-based, like Great Chase Through Time and Treasures of Knowledge, but isn't necessarily linear like that one. Acme HQ is the hub, and you enter as a new detective, just as in the games up through the mid-'90s. Several cases are available at the beginning, and after completing a set number of them, you rank up, and unlock new (progressively harder) missions. Cases can be assigned by The Chief - voiced and mo-capped, of course, by the only person who could possibly play a live-action Chief, Tracee Ellis-Ross. They can also be started by approaching another detective (Zack, Ivy, Jules, Hawkins, the Good Guides, ...) found throughout Acme HQ who needs assistance with a case - similar to Armando, Tatyanna, etc. joining Zack and Ivy partway through an episode and sticking with them till the end of the case.
These cases are investigated by globe-hopping, as in the classic games, but in addition to asking witnesses for clues to the villain's next location, you sometimes need to solve puzzles to progress, as in Great Chase, Treasures, Adventures in Math, and The Game That Must Not Be Named. The cases have some kind of story to them that's unraveled by speaking to the witnesses and other detectives and informants, like in Treasures, or the side missions in recent Tomb Raider or Horizon Zero Dawn. Building a warrant isn't part of this mode, as the villain's identity is either known from the start or is revealed through the story.
As head of the Acme Academy, Chase (voiced by The Rock) offers training to improve your skills for cases. What this looks like, I don't know.
In addition to the story-based cases above, a free play option is also available to track a villain from location to location and build a warrant, in the style of the classic games. You can also explore Acme HQ to find funny surprises, like in the original Where in Time (or the Namco Museum PS1 series).
It sells zillions of copies and the people rejoice.
What's your fantasy 2020 Carmen game like?
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