Yep, Platinum's Making a Legend of Korra Game

The first half of the season was animated by a different studio. I stopped watching after the second episode because how bad it was, but I've heard it got better. I'm hoping the early episodes were redone for the Blu-ray release coming July 1st, if not I guess I'll just have to power through it.

So.. I don't mind anime... was a big fan back in the day

And I must confess that some of the animation in the Legend of Korra is very polished. But looking at it for a second I can instantly recognize that it is not actual anime and it's trying really hard to be. And it rubs me the wrong way.

It doesn't help that I feel the plot takes too many overused clichès from anime making it the most annoyingly fan servicey "west misunderstanding east" product I've probably ever seen.

On the other hand, Platinum is rather fantastic, even when they go wrong (anarchy reigns, and such), they are still pretty rad.

However, I think that teaser is really veritably awful.

@shaanyboi: I think it's not hard to represent the powers when you start the player out as a new bender and just add in new powers as you progress. I guess you might say, "Hey I can imagine doing this or that", but you can say that in pretty much any videogame ever made.

I'm not the biggest Korra fan, but kinda interested in how this turns out. Bending seems a good fit for an action game.

Side note: did season 2 end up being ok? I heard some rough stuff about the earlier episodes and never got around to watching, but now that season three is nigh I'm wondering if it's worth going back to get ready or if I should just skip it.

@the_vein: They're clearly able to do some crazy shit on their own though. Not even in terms of the most powerful benders. You have earthbenders pulling a wall of earth out of the ground, and knocking over a whole row of guys, and then using that chunk of earth as ammo as they fire pieces of it at more guys. In a way, Earthbending alone could potentially break that game. You have waterbenders manipulating water in really fantastic ways, like with water whips, octopus forms, waves, steam clouds, ice manipulation, etc. Aang himself did a ton of interesting stuff with airbending, whether it was creating a funnel to launch rocks at guys, boosting himself around, sitting on an airball and scooting around, etc.

These are superpowers, but like superpowers, when they are so versatile, they become harder and harder to represent in a game without going "Well.. I should totally be able to do this, but the game doesn't let me. I should be able to do this, but I can't." Like the Green Lantern powers, bending relies on creativity, and that's part of why it's so entertaining to watch. But games have strict rules of what you can and can't do, how many abilities you have, balancing them correctly etc.

@shaanyboi: Benders are versatile but people overestimate how powerful they are, to bend you still have to move and perform actions and steps, you can't just earthbend the planet in half by thinking about it. There are a few exceptions, like Amon being able to bloodbend without a full moon or moving but even the most powerful benders have to take some kind of action to bend, and then they can only bend the elements in ways that their moves allow them to.

@huser: Metalbend the guns.

A bit sucky it will just be a small $15 four hour game.

Well, it's Platinum so I'll play it. Curious if I'll ever go down this Avatar rabbit hole.

Now that Hannibal's over I could use something to watch...

Tell me I get to play as this:

I love Korra and I love Platinum so I really hope this is good.

Love Platinum. Sadly, it's a game about something that I don't care for.

Bending is basically just enhanced martial arts, and by the standards of the setting Korra is an extremely physical bender (just look at the video you linked--she doesn't win her fight with Lieutenant with elemental magic, she wins it with a spinning back elbow). A game starring Aang that focused entirely on melee combat might be weird, but for Korra it makes total sense for her character.

I always thought that show looked pretty cool.

By itself? No way - it's still way, way better than most TV shows, let alone animations.

But compared to the original - falls several miles behind.

Platinum Games can do no wrong in my book and even though LoK isn't as great as the original it's still pretty good.
Sign me up I guess.

I wonder what the achievements will be like. :P

Good to see Platinum Games making money.

The cartoon itself went from OK to mediocre/bad but that shouldn't stop this developer from making a good game out of it.

Awesome! :) Love the show, and I trust platinum to make a good game!

inb4 korra sucks

I love this idea

From what I understand from the hands-on impressions I've read, you can cycle between any of the bending disciplines you have unlocked with the shoulder buttons at any time, even mid-combo. I hope this is good, the Avatar universe DESERVES a great videogame adaptation.

and I'm so god damn excited!

God I hope this is good.

The fact it's a smaller download title is actually a relief. Platinum is probably capable of kicking out a pretty quality product in a short time if it doesn't have to be a full retail scope. A shorter experience of higher quality is preferable.

It's totally bananas to me that this is happening, but totally awesome.

The big question is that bending suffers from the Green Lantern problem in a way. You have these amazingly versatile powers, but how do you properly translate them to a videogame without them feeling incredibly limited?

Hell, this in videogame form excites me enough though...

If that's how it actually looks I guess it looks pretty good. Though I'd much prefer the industrial world. I'm actually curious where the avatar goes when guns become the real equalizer.

Art looks ok.