Fates.jpg

Masahiro Sakurai shares regular articles in Famitsu magazine - on some occasions he discusses Smash Bros. features and updates or his personal plans, but occasionally he's happy to simply give his views on a topic that's clearly on his mind. This week he considers criticisms some level at extra features in games, suggesting that it can often be unfair.

He's specifically referencing Fire Emblem Fates, and a quirky system in which you can invite companions into your house and stroke their hair - and so on - to raise affinity levels. In comments translated by Source Gaming, Sakurai-san questions why some criticise extras that have little to no impact on the core game.

One such feature users commented on was the ability to invite your companions into your house and stroke their heads and faces to raise your affinity level. Basically, you bring them into your room—regardless of whether you're married or not—and give them a rubdown. Even I chuckled to myself the first time I played: "What is this, Pokémon? Nintendogs!?" Some reviewers, however, went one step further and said, "We don't need this!"

I'm not a big fan of dating sims myself, so I can't say I don't understand their disinterest to a certain extent. At the same time, however, the feature in question doesn't have any impact on one's ability to complete the game, so if it bothers you so much, then don't use that feature.

Sakurai-san goes on to explain that just because games have minor extras, that doesn't mean that more core content was missed as a result, and highlights how much of the Smash Bros. content is arguably outside the 'main' game.

Developers include all sorts of bonus features simply because they want to provide a little something extra for the fans. Even if one were to remove these bonus features from the game, it doesn't mean that would "make room" for something else. That isn't how it works.

...Even Smash Bros. is one big ball of bonus features, jam packed with unnecessary content. "I don't need this; I don't need that, either," some may say. To take an extreme point of view, everything aside from Free-for-All Mode is technically "unnecessary": all the items, all the Final Smashes, all the stages aside from Final Destination. But if you were to take all of those extra features away, all you would be left with is a bare-bones, niche-market game.

It's worth a read (check out the full translation below), and it's hard to disagree with Sakurai-san. Maybe you do disagree, though? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think.

[source sourcegaming.info]