Epic Mickey - Disney's Weird Immersive Sim

Examining the Epic Mickey series: a strange mixture of immersive sim and 3D platformer. The original game is a curious piece of my childhood, and I've been eager to revisit it ever since it launched a decade ago.
Sources:
www.videogamer...
www.cnbc.com/2...
Games featured (in order of appearance):
Epic Mickey (2010, Junction Point)
Deus Ex (2000, Ion Storm)
Dishonored (2012, Arkane Studios)
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (2012, Junction Point)
Castle of Illusion (2013, Sega Studios Australia)
Featuring music from:
Epic Mickey - Composed by Jim Dooley
Kingdom Hearts II - Composed by Yoko Shimomura
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#EpicMickey #LiamTriforce

[@mspeter97]

If there's one game Disney should re-release, it's this. This is a gem.

[@bossfire2515]

Le Docteur I’m saddened that we may never get more Epic Mickey content ever again.

[@zapunknown]

I’m pretty sure they’re making a remake

[@orange1304]

@@thomast.5235 I believe there was an official announcement or something of sorts (I really think it was, but maybe it's just a rumour) that they are remaking one of Disney's action games. I have my hopes high that it is EM but it's not really confirmed yet.

[@CTGReviews]

I rate Epic Mickey a 9/10 because the camera SUCKS

[@CTGReviews]

Besides that it’s a good game

[@ink1931]

Things aren’t necessarily looking too bad for Oswald, it’s been announced a while ago that he’s getting his own animated series on Disney’s upcoming streaming service. So we’ll just have to wait and see

[@ThePackAttack10]

Fr! Thats rlly cool

[@shinyneko8136]

Inkwell SAY WHAAAAAT!? 😲

[@TheRojo387]

Were Mickey a Nintendo character, he'd be Luigi.

[@MrOnepiecem7]

@@TheRojo387 no

[@TheRojo387]

@@MrOnepiecem7 Oswald came first, making him Mario. Mickey is G2.

[@kassmaster7531]

I feel like this game deserves a remake. The concept was awesome, but it would have been alot better with today's technology.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

This game using Unreal Engine 4. My god, that would look beautiful.

[@rinnnnnnnnnnrinRinOnishi]

Omg yes! God please i need this. This was my favorite wii game

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@rinnnnnnnnnnrinRinOnishi, agreed. This game needs a remake badly!

[@centuryfiles9558]

kassmaster or like a continuation

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@centuryfiles9558, maybe, but I'm betting more on a remake considering the original game alone had quite a few problems...

[@lalas181]

I would be all for a remake of this on the Nintendo Switch. Heck, even just a re-release for the Switch would be nice! It even still has motion controls, so the immersive controls of the paintbrush won't be lost.

[@yourehereforthatarentyou]

like okami

[@lethauntic]

I don't know about a re-release. That wouldn't make the game any more enjoyable, though if you have fun with it, then more power to you. Also, sure you would have pointer controls with the Joy-cons, but they don't utilize a sensor bar, so the aiming would be sub-par.

[@chebic5095]

@@lethauntic Well they could use a let's go solution where you move it around in handheld mode for true motion controls although I could see it being pretty clunky

[@SuperChunk84]

Two words: Pro Controller right stick

[@Foxy02016]

I have the first game on the Wii and the second on Xbox360 (oh god that was 2-3 console generations ago) and I think that releasing both games as a collection for either $40 if it’s just a rerelease ($20 per game is fair for a 2-3 generation old game) or $60 if it’s a remaster

[@CabooseMiller101]

If you weren't aware the japanese release allows you to skip projector levels after completing them once and fixed a bunch of camera issues. You can actually edit an ISO of the game to get it fully running in English as well!

[@chebic5095]

WHY WOULDN'T THEY PORT THAT TO THE USA VERSION IT'S SO SIMPLE

[@CabooseMiller101]

@@chebic5095 the Japanese release of the game came out after the western release and patching games wasn't really a thing on the Wii

[@chebic5095]

CabooseMiller101 That makes more sense. I’m a big Nintendo guy so I’m used to games coming out in Japan first

[@purromemes7395]

THANK YOU

[@ssbbbest]

Great video, this is why I feel like Warren's original concepts for the game with Scrapper Mickey and the more darker tone would've done the game more justice, but Disney Interactive wanted that E rating so the final product suffered for it. Still a great and memorable game even with it's flaws.

[@IKGProductions]

As much as I love this game for the atmosphere, presentation, story, painting, and more, I cannot deny that there are some significant issues and an overall qualities of being an under-cooked experience. I disagree on some critiques, but I understand them. Great video, Liam.

[@mikedasik462]

Well what do you disagree with?

[@lethauntic]

It sounds like when you don't want to dismiss criticism, so you acknowledge the existence of it as a whole, but you really want to, so all you say is that you disagree on unspecified things, though I know that that's very dickish to say. Either that or they didn't have time or motivation or whatever to specify, to be completely fair. But I would like to know nonetheless, because why not?

[@JDaTopo]

The Game was actually kind of rushed on Wii. The game was originally only in development for PS3, X360, and PC only. But the Wii became a massive success so Junction Point had to port everything over to the Wii, but not everything would translate well. So the game became watered down and partially redesigned, which was rushed.

[@GBlastMan]

Well speaking about the consequences in Epic Mickey there was going to be some profound consequences for whatever you did in the game, just it was scrapped early on due to Disney doesnt wanting the game portraying Mickey as a douchebag or "mean person" If you search for the scrapped and cut content from the game (Unseen64 has some of it) at one point in development Warren wanted your actions to change both how Mickey looked and acted and how the people around him react to said changes and actions including 3 "forms" of mickey, the Hero is a more colorful more heroic version of Mickey that is inspired in late 70's early 80's cartoons where he used to have yellow gloves and tan skin on his face but still having the old cartoon face design this form happend if you just used paint and helped people instead of thining your way throught. The Wastelander where is the middle of the road between evil and good, a neutral path to say the least, this is the regular design he has in the game, and lastly the "Scrapper" this had a more washed out colored mickey that has a mean scruffy look to him where his physical abilities (strenght mainly) could had been improved allowing him to be more stronger than normal, but this could affect how people looked at him making things worse for you on the long run. All the things you said with dishonored and Deus Ex are exactly what Warren wanted to implement with the game here that's why he kept saying "Choices matters" because every choice could at the end make your life better or worse. One example he said back then was with this pirate in OzTown, you had 2 choices, one being nice and paint his house over and people could see how good you are for them helping you out with other quests or giving you hints and helpful stuff for your journey, or you could just drop the vault on top of him killing him and then people could run away in fear of you and then you had to figure things out on your own because nobody wants to help a merciless killer like you, but for you was "a fun thing to do" anyway. This is still present somehow in the final game with one of the loading screens of OzTown where it shows mickey thining out the vault dropping on top of the pirate while people are panicked and Mickey is smiling like its just a funny thing, but the mechanic itself was totally scrapped because Disney thought it was too "mean spirited" for Mickey since he is Disney's mascot and a kid friendly figure, so Warren ended up changing the mechanic to just adding guardians to "help you out" but not actually changing mickey's attitude and looks. Ahhh and btw you were supposed to fight against oswald at the end and it was brainwashed by the doctor but the Phantom Blot could had merged with oswald at the end turning into a nightmarish creature that you had to take out on your own. Now none of this scrapped stuff makes the final game better by any means of course, but all you said and thought it could be better for the game? warren did thought of them way early on development but then again Disney's iron grip on the project and Junction Point almost no backup plan for them to fall on if Epic Mickey flopped made most of Warren's ideas just to not meant to be, due to time restrains, being in development for quite a while and restraints of the Wii itself.

[@chebic5095]

This is even more of a reason to remake this for switch this game is another case of immense potential with poor execution, but this time it's a really well selling game series made by Disney which is both good and bad. Good because it means that Disney HAS to remake this it's worth way to much money we're getting to the point where most people who grew up with this are becoming adults and you know how the nostalgia cycle works. On the other hand though it may just be a shameless port only there to cash in on the money and not change anything other than giving the game a fresh coat of paint. I guess it's just up to the luck of the draw.

[@paulakroy2635]

bruh warren is actually kind of idiot of he thought disney would let him put in morality system for mickey. Mickey is literally a poster child for Disney and Disney is family friendly company. Of they wouldn't there mascot turned into an edgy character.

[@Pukeprincess]

@@paulakroy2635 yeah my boy should have taken the bendy route instead of trying to get all those rights and do stuff he’s obviously not allowed to do, at least Oswald has a purpose again, although the way it happened was depressing, and it was a big part of my childhood, so uhhh, good job, I loved it!

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@chebic5095. This aged poorly. Not just visuals, but brand new attacks.

[@dr.ducttape2161]

Nevertheless, i still liked the game a lot! The dark decaying land spooked me as a child, this game is part of why i like dark and creepy stuff and i appreciate that it also made me appreciate older cartoons and the style of those. I think it was a nixe experience and kids like me of that time got to know how cartoons were back then. -(also everything about that game spooked the shit ouf of me and i had nightmares and i didn't want to play the game more because of how frustrating and hard it was)-

[@ShanaReviews]

The last I saw of Oswald was in one of the new mickey shorts that gets posted online. In it Mickey has to sift through trash to help an old woman out. In the pile of Garbage he pulls Oswald out and chucks him away. wow

[@Starfloofle]

Imagine being picked up by your creators decades after they forgot about you only to be given just a little bit of time in the sun where you get to lament your own abandonment, *and then immediately used as little more than a throwaway gag afterwards* I feel genuinely bad for the little guy now tbh The sooner he falls into public domain and people can give him the love he deserves the better :

[@ackminecrer9165]

TAmari He’s getting a Disney+ series

[@bruehatesyou9561]

Mickey: and that's on mickey junk mountain bitc-

[@Youarewhatyoueatsonic]

He’s on a billboard too, amazing I know

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@Starfloofle. And now the first game is getting remade, meaning he's back in the spotlight for the time being.

[@Roxas09202]

knowing how tightly Disney regulates its characters' images these days, I would not be surprised if the devs were specifically instructed to make sure Mickey didn't look too bad in this game

[@adriank8792]

I really wish this game was rebooted and reimagined

[@Foxy02016]

Adrian K same, it could work on modern consoles, with up to 4 players even

[@ReneandKnuckles]

@@Foxy02016 Why 4 players?

[@superwooper5210]

@@Foxy02016 I think Epic Mickey only works as a single player game. It's part of why the sequel was bad in my opinion.

[@Foxy02016]

@@superwooper5210 meh, I think it works with multiple people or single player, but they should fix the AI for single player

[@dcta51]

@@Foxy02016 so splatoon? Lol

[@Redder_Creeps]

Well, now that Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is coming for Switch as a remaster, i can BET that the remake will do the og justice

[@cactussenpai9625]

“They traded a human being for a cartoon character”

[@jackiexkh]

Very interesting video! I really liked this game back in the day, but I haven’t played it in a long time, and this video reminded me of some of the things I didn’t like about the game, as well as things I didn’t really notice when I was a kid, like how your actions have no consequences. And honestly? I think Disney might’ve been the reason for that. Early screenshots of Epic Mickey show that originally, Mickey’s appearence and animations would change depending on your choices. If you did bad choices, you’d get “scrapper” Mickey, who looks and acts very mean. I doubt they would’ve just had Mickey always have a mean look then change back to normal Mickey during cutscenes. That, and the fact that some concept art shows Oswald as a boss, both one in a giant mech and some with him fused with the blot, makes me think that your choices had actual consequences, at least one point. So how could this be Disney’s fault? Well, they probably don’t want their iconic mascot as being portrayed as “the bad guy.” Thus, your choices utimately don’t matter. No matter what you do, Mickey will save Wasteland and befriend Oswald in the end. For most games with scrapped content, I think about how cool that’d be in the final game, but I’m usually just feel content with the game we got. Epic Mickey is not one of those games. I see the concept art and early screenshots and just think that we could’ve gotten a much more interesting game. And it’s a real shame. Looking at the early concept art made me wish they went all-out with the dark twisted aesthetic, but this video made me also wish they went all-out with the morality mechanic.

[@jackiexkh]

Okay, so I just found a video of Warren Spector talking about Epic Mickey very early in development, and he talks about your choices will make huge changes in the world, which further probes that there originally were consequences. Again, this just leaves me wishing we got this instead of the game we actually got. Epic Mickey is one of those games I wish got a reimagining. Not a remake, but a game that takes the same central idea of the original but gives it a complete overhaul. Here’s the video BTW. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6exlISemaeJfa8

[@gracie927]

Yeah I feel that, we could've had an edgy timburton-esqe beutiful whimsical creepshow masterpiece, but Fuckin disney had to be 'all holier than thou' and nerf it. But at the same time I love this game to death and brings back really happy memories of playing it with my dad.

[@crazyfire9470]

Don’t people make fun and memed edgy stuff

[@TommFoolery]

@@crazyfire9470 Not if it works

[@lpfan4491]

I really like both epic mickey games(I only played the sequel on wii, so I never got a piece of those technical hickups gladly), but dang. I really wish they pulled through with those ideas, would have made the whole thing even better than it is.

[@Hynotama]

Kinda odd that Oswalt didn't make an appearance in recent Kingdom Hearts games. He would have been perfect to appear in the Dark Realm as a reference to his disappearance for decades.

[@KaminoKatie]

They could have Oswald have the same motivations as Hilda in ALBW and manipulates Sora so that he can get the Kingdom Hearts in order to restore the Dark Realm to its former glory

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@KaminoKatie. Disagree. I think it'd be best to do a similar thing to Epic Mickey: Playing off of Oswald's jealousy of Mickey and the decades worth of abandonment piling up in his heart, leading him to being consumed by darkness.

[@ComradeSeanski]

so the announcement trailer for the remake is currently close to 1 million views, it's the most viewed trailer from the last Nintendo direct. People still are very much interested in this series and you know damn well if ReBrushed does well we'll get a brand new game in the series. It's exciting to be an epic mickey fan again

[@APPR8VXD]

ima tear up....never thought this day would come.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

Damn, just the announcement got that many views? I know it's Mickey Mouse, but that's impressive given how long the series has been dead.

[@GirlypopShotgun]

Games Featured: Epic Mickey Deus Ex Dishonored Oh yeah, it's all coming together

[@kingcyclops4079]

"They traded a human being for a cartoon character" all weeaboos in a nutshell

[@npc6817]

I REJECT MY SOCIETY JOJO!!!

[@rinnnnnnnnnnrinRinOnishi]

@@npc6817 I WAS BORN IN THE WRONG GENERATION JOJO

[@Unknowniswhatiam]

Oraoraora! Haha guys it's jojo laugh! Mudamudamuda!! Haha Guys laugh Guys it's jojo Guys Guys...?

[@npc6817]

@@Unknowniswhatiam hahaha, r/woosh haha them weebs so cringe amIrite guys? Guys? Shut up twat, just because something isn't funny to you it doesn't make it right to ruin it for everybody else. If making jojo reference classifies me as an idiot in your mind then please, remain on that high horse of yours and leave us jesters to our tomfoolery.

[@Unknowniswhatiam]

@@npc6817 I don't know why you think I'm some neckbeard from Reddit but aight. I fucking read Jojo ffs but you cannot deny that the community behind it is obnoxious.

[@clemdelaclem8864]

I think your criticism boils down to you not caring about changes to the atmosphere/story/collectibles and the changes to the world that way - which is 100% valid. A better way to say what went wrong with Epic Mickey imo is that your interaction with the world didn't have enough malleability to be meaningfully changed. There is no inventory, there is no actual dialogue system, there are only two way of interacting with enemies, there is no character customization, the game doesn't have enough systems that involve the player and thus fails to capitalize on any design decisions that would usually be considered part of an immersive sim tl;dr: Epic Mickey is too simple of a game to make choices meaningful

[@ssbbbest]

I think he established everything you just mentioned pretty clearly in the video. Also stating the game is a simple game doesn't push away it's pro's and con's, Epic Mickey was very ambitious with it's approach and concept, to the point Warren Spector made a entire company just for the series. The idea of "Your choices matter" was Warren's motto when making this game. To not abide to that concept well, he did not deliver what we all expected or wanted, so yes Epic Mickey is a simple game theoretically, but what it originally could've been was much larger and more immersive experience.

[@matthewwilliams8267]

Funnily enough, most of the concept ideas would've fixed most of the problems. We need the MOD community to add the scrapped ideas (Thinner Mickey, especially)

[@deviantgazer4626]

I for one have been in love with this series for a good bit of time. While it has not aged very well, and had problems, I was completely overtaken by the art style, the story, and the narrative.

[@LuNicz]

So many lucky emblems

[@amiraassegaf4220]

LoL

[@dfquartzidn6151]

This is basically Kingdom Hearts without Final Fantasy characters!

[@ReneandKnuckles]

@@dfquartzidn6151 You just described Pre-DLC Kingdom Hearts 3.

[@punpuniia]

I will never see mickey heads the same again...

[@IndyFilmProductions]

Epic Mickey was always a game I enjoyed despite itself. The art direction and story are fantastic in the first one, and I love it purely because of those 2 things. Epic Mickey 2 sacrificed the story for co op because of the rushed development cycle which absolutely sucked and made me dislike the game overall.

[@lasercraft32]

Missed potential is one of the most depressing things ever. I absolutely hate it when people have bright ideas and grand dreams, only for them to fall short and going to waste... Imagine if we lived in a world where Epic Mickey, with its great story and world design, was a true masterpiece of a video game that touched the hearts of people all over the world. Instead we got a lackluster game with no depth and boring amounts of padding. An amazing concept with terrible execution.😢

[@theclockman]

(Scrapped ending idea since it would have been "too dark") Mickey, now looking almost as a rat, goes out of wasteland laughing. In yen Sid's lab he starts laughing again while the actions you did play with yen Sid's voice (at least that's what I saw)

[@trapscancreate5760]

Nice touch putting kingdom Hearts music in. That was the other thing that drew me to Epic Mickey. The promises of an epic adventure in Disney worlds.

[@BrerOswald]

The lack of consequences never really bothered me, but maybe that’s because it was never the part of the game that interested me. It’s a fun game. The choices of the game are there to give you different collectables and change the dialogue a bit. The game is fun and has a great story, so it’s not a huge problem for me.

[@ryko1478]

He does say that it's a serviceable platformer

[@sleepiv1]

I blame Disney for the missed potential tbh I don't think they'd let things get darker than the team already made the main game and therefore they couldn't implement a meaningful bad route

[@chronologizer422]

“I ruined everything you built and took away everything you loved” _BROTHERS_

[@ktoon4725]

Apparently there were plans to have an actual morality system where the more bad stuff you did the more drippy and monstrous Mickey would become. But because Disney didn’t want people to see their mascot as a monster the idea was sadly scrapped, which is such a shame as I think it would have added so much more depth to the game.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

I will say one issue with morality in the game is that Mickey is a bit of a pre-established character, and it's a little odd to have him as the star of a "morality game". In a game like Dishonored, for example, the main character is vaguely defined enough that you can't necessarily rule him out being a psychotic murderer (he's had "one bad day" as the Joker would describe it), nor can you rule him out being a hero. Mickey Mouse, however, he can only be portrayed as so immoral before he starts looking like a completely different character.

[@SarcasticEnchilada]

Pretty cynical review but fair enough. I remember wanting to do all the side quests and redeem all the bosses because it was depressing seeing them all sad and disheveled in the game. To me the story, atmosphere, music, and the choices made this game memorable to me, I didn’t even remember that the pins didn’t matter or the camera was bad. Warren Spector has all my respect for giving me this gem to play in my childhood

[@azkun7550]

this video aged like a twinkie how does every epic mickey review talk about the eventual remake

[@baddragonite]

Fun fact about dishonored: the canon ending is actually an in between route where corvo kills some people. This is interesting to me as most games the "good" ending tends to be the canon one for the story.

[@amethyst4578]

with undertale everything is canon thanks to the whole Determination thing, which is pretty interesting

[@Donnarknott1977]

i useed to be afraid of this game because of the mad doctor torchering mickey and my dad was ther when he saw my horrified face and he took the game back to gamestop

[@vitriolicAmaranth]

I'm sorry for your lots but that's adorable

[@ItsRawdraft2]

"torchering"

[@dcta51]

How old were you? Lol

[@dannyzontos365]

The story in the second game was fairly weak compared to the first game in my opinion. If only Junction Point had more time and freedom in creativity, perhaps they could have crafted a better story and made the third installment of the series.

[@CosmoAndDongor]

Danny Zontos was i agree

[@CosmoAndDongor]

Also there is a third game (power of illusion) really bad

[@ZeroX4561]

@@CosmoAndDongor power of illuisions is really good tho

[@buster3041]

For the supposed "play style matters" thing warren kept going on about, that he sort of neglected in the game, I suggest this as an interesting idea that is a little "darker" than what was given the final product but no "darker" than anything you wouldn't find in a Disney film. Now, if i'm not mistaken, no one but Oswald and the mad doctor knew mickey caused the thinner disaster and i'd change that. Have 3 groups of toons that mickey has to engage with when he enters and traverses the wasteland. Group A are the inhabitants that have decided to work with the blotlings and beetleworx either due to "joining the winning side" like the mad doctor/ some of captain hooks' crew did or out of rage against mickey because they believe he purposefully caused the thinner disaster. Group B are just your typical freedom fighters out to protect the world and it's inhabitants from the oppression of the blotlings and beetleworx. Group C are a group that see both the blotlings/beetleworx and mickey as a threat. They think mickey caused the thinner disaster on purpose like group a but are still on the good. They just want mickey and the product of his meddling gone. So group a = bad guys group b = good guys group c = good guys that see group a and mickey as bad guys In groups a & c there are some members that can be persuaded to see mickey as an ally ONLY after you've regained their trust and proven that (for group c) you're not a threat to the wasteland and (for group a) that you didn't purposefully ruin the wasteland and truly intend to fix it. Now if you choose to be bad and use thinner on everything you'll burn bridges with group b and completely ruin any chances of persuading members of groups a & c seeing you as an ally there to help. The game would become much harder and eventually the goal will be to just get out of the wasteland and unfortunately leave things as they are since by that point you've made too many enemies. Either this can be the punishment for choosing the thinner path and you're stuck with that choice or you can get one last alternative to try to fix things. Have mickey at some point dawn a disguise where he goes by the name "Mortimer Mouse" as an homage to his early concept name but don't give him the official Mortimer mouse design. Given him a new one. But if calling him a mouse still seems too obvious then just call him "Mortimer mole" or "Mortimer moose" or something. Anyway at the start of the game you'd have a freedom fighter helping you in some stages but naturally as you use more and more thinner they help less and less until you're completely on you're own like in the official game.

[@LeopoldLitchenstein]

Despite having its issues, I would still give the game a 7 out of 10, love the art direction, atmosphere, and the idea of player choice when it comes to boss fights. It was definitely held back by the hardware in some ways as well and could have used a better camera and better execution of the concepts, though. Now the sequel on the other hand... we don't mention that one.

[@GlyderTheSpider]

Kingdom hearts music makes it feel like epic Mickey is a spin off

[@cabralanselmo5777]

First, thanks for mentioning Castle of Illusion, really wish more people talked the Illusion series. Second, time for pointless information about the PC version of Epic Mickey 2: 1 - most people who complain about the game crashing use AMD Graphics cards, I completed the game twice on both low and high-end laptops with Intel HD and Nvidia respectively and it never crashed on me, so take that as you will; 2 - the reason the PC version doesn't have co-op is because it's incomplete, it was originally going to be released a few weeks after the console versions in 2012, but when the game bombed Disney canceled the PC version when there was still co-op left to program, but then in 2014, for some reason they took this incomplete PC build without co-op and sold on Steam to get a cheap buck, and because both Junction Point and Blitz Games (who programmed the PC port) are long dead at this point, there's no one to make a patch to add co-op or fix the crashes, so it's going to remain this way until the sun dies. :(

[@medocinporfavor]

Dude, keep them coming. You’re very great to listen to (and to watch playing)

[@silentspring222]

As a huge fan of Deus Ex I still have to disagree with the whole “choices have far reaching consequence” thing. Morrowind had far-reaching consequences in its choices. Deus Ex had walking in on a woman in the bathroom and saving Paul.

[@nickthedreamer4434]

Did you have a chance to play "Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion"? It was released on the Nintendo 3DS around the same time Epic Mickey 2 came out. Also, while Oswald isn't as prominent in the American parks, he's actually been showing up in parks around the world like Disneyland Tokyo and Disneyland Paris. He even had a small musical show in Disneyland Paris for a time revolving around him and his girlfriend.

[@liz_violet]

in california adventure you can get a whole line of oswald goodies, like cups, books, and oswald ears.

[@HeyItsBrad]

Gud stuff Liam, but why the heck was Kingdom hearts music so fitting when watching Mickey just hop around... oh wait

[@GoFidoGo]

Its perfect for the reveal of the murderous micky mouse.

[@edward756]

I don't think dishonoured is exactly the best example of a morality system. In my playthrough I had less abilities because I was going mostly non leathal until the last 4 levels when I went balls to the wall violent and I still got the good ending without any problems. Still loved the game and loving the videos. Edit: the upgrade to your time slowing ability breaks stealth and makes low chaos the easiest way to beat the game.

[@LiamTriforce]

Truthfully, it has holes. I was using it as an example of how you can effectively alter a game world based on player choice. I actually didn't know you could get away with that though, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Dishonored deserves the video treatment someday, it's just gonna take a lot of consideration to factor as many outcomes in as a can. But it's one of my favourite games so I could probably justify spending that kind of time writing about it. And thanks for watching!

[@edward756]

You probably already have checked it out but the DLC is killer if anyone has not played it, if you make a video please do the knife of dunwall and brigmore witches. Good luck with Dishonored whenever you get around to it, I'm already a little excited.

[@dophelsinette]

As somebody who played the games as a kid, I was surprised to find myself bored and finding them rather lackluster playing through them this time around. It's unfortunate we may never see what was a great idea executed and realized to its full potential.

[@cizd]

I think part of the issue was starring Mickey. Disney in later times have been REALLY protective of Mickey. There was probably a lot of push back during development.

[@Bijo69]

A switch port would be nice, with paint and thinner coloured joy-cons even.

[@Epicguy124s]

Good news

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

More than a Switch port.

[@meaninglez100]

From what I recall, they wanted to make the consequences more drastic, but Disney got scared it could potentially tarnish Mickey's image. A lot of the game felt at odds with what it wanted to do and the fact that it was a Disney game for kids

[@Gorilla_Chaos]

My only memory of this game was somehow glitching out of the map, falling for a couple of minutes, then suddenly splat! And I’m done. Iaughed for a solid 5 minutes and that’s it.

[@mirthfulArtist]

I remember seeing ads for this game and thinking it looked so cool. The vintage aesthetic and the "painting" mechanic were right up my alley, but I never got a chance to play. Do you think a remake could fix this game's mistakes, or is it better left in the past...?

[@lucasgibbs7400]

REMAKE ALL THE WAY, WOOOOO HOOOOOO

[@nick-cepticon782]

27:35 at least they let you view some of these old cartoons in the menu, but I think you unlock them by collecting extra content sketches...

[@zapunknown]

I played the game so many times but I never found the dragon bridge and I just love how the final boss isn’t in the final level

[@RenegadeJ.P.]

Rumors of a remake have me watching this video for the first time. Hope they can manage to take some of the ideas and make it the game it was meant to be. I love it as it was, but it definitely needs improvement.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

The idea for a remake would be to have some of the original people working on it, a lot more development time, actual choices through gameplay, definitely more progression, better combat abilities, and nerf the amount of tickets that you can get from anywhere, all while still keeping what made the very first game so fun. Maybe they can have even more time pass and even have Mickey questioning what his purpose is anymore because the company that created him seems to mainly use him as a marketing tool rather than something people genuinely loved and cared about. Edit: Or we can just get a remake done by Purple Lamp; That too.

[@ClownDuck]

I so..So desperately hope we one day get, at the very least, a remaster of this game. Maybe with some voice acting too. It's a genuinely really good game, there's a lot of missed potential, but I always loved Epic Mickey. Probably my favorite Wii game of all time. I would love to play a version of this game with amped up graphics.

[@kylecastaneda8265]

No matter how broken the first game is its a part of my childhood and has one of the most fucked up caracter i met in gaming the clock tower

[@giannigiovful]

The fact that they weren't allowed to put the original lyrics in the song is a missed opportunity. The boss music sounds so much creepier with it present

[@starchilder734]

I returned to this game a while back, now as an adult. i saw my leaning towards the thinner path, to escape the tedious nightmare which stood before me.. and i realized. the game was shit on purpose. to be a metaphor for childlike wonder, and how it thins with age. nostalgia is the sepia toned, sun bleached Mickey merchandise, in the wasteland of a lost childhood. When i was young, i was the mickey mouse of this colorful world, painting it with new life. but now, with age, i have become Oswald. a shadow of brilliance and artistic expression, only wanting for something better, holding onto the false legacy that i couldnt see with my young eyes. i am now but a wandering soul in the projector levels of life.

[@ayhuz]

Or wii games don’t age well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@starchilder734]

@@ayhuz that too.

[@froakachutmm2630]

This is one of my favourite games ever! I love it! I don’t know why it doesn’t get more respect and admiration. The controls and camera aren’t as bad as everyone says!

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

Oh, the Wii controls are near perfect. Trust me, I played the game and I was pretty much instantly loving it, mostly due to the fact that I was much younger back then and it wasn't the era where Disney was just filled with greedy bastards! The camera can be a bit fidgety at times, but I remember the game mainly for its story, the characters, and overall atmosphere. I didn't give two shits about the collectibles very much, and if there were choices I didn't notice a thing at times, but the theme, music, level design, the levels themselves, story, and characters were beyond awesome. I barely even played the sequel, though, mostly because I didn't have the full game...

[@SlamBolts]

This game is sucha gem. It has great atmosphere, and the dark tone makes it super interesting

[@yeetboi4202]

THIS GAME OH BOY THIS GAME when i saw the mad doctor trying to remove Mickey's heart scared me so bad

[@leeartlee915]

The problem they were always going to have with this game was the fact it was Disney game. The only way this game could have been “mature” is if they used another IP. All that players choice we wanted would have alienated children. Children need games to be relatively easy to understand. Imagine an 8 year old trying to understand Deus Ex. I know it would have confused the hell out of me if I was that age. I barely understood it as an adult..

[@ryko1478]

He's not saying that it should be as complicated as Deus ex, he's saying that it should at least have depth

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@ryko1478. Exactly. It's as if people think kids are stupid and can't handle any amount of depth despite reality usually saying otherwise.

[@Master_WannaBe_]

21:38 It’s really hard for someone like myself who has never played Epic Mickey to understand how fans of the game can be so in love with this game and yet have quite a bit of hatred for it. This isn’t just criticism, cause I have games that I love that I have major criticisms about, but I have yet to hear a single good thing about Epic Mickey. I can easily sum up everything I’ve heard about Epic Mickey. “Aw man I loved Epic Mickey, but the camera sucks, the platforming sucks, the morality system sucks, the story sucks, it was all awful. But it was such a great game, I hope it gets a remaster.”

[@ThatGuyRobbie14]

Honestly, the only thing that actually sucks is the controls. The story is fantastic, the morality system is mediocre, the soundtrack was amazing, and the platforming and puzzles are great and were only held back by the controls. The remake is fixing those controls and I feel is going to give this game another fighting chance.

[@Asurvivoroftheapp]

Also give this game an HD release with studio mdhr working on the 2d segments and we are business!

[@byronwalker6232]

kg house inc official channel yes

[@clayxros576]

Eh,. not the worst thing. At least in Pubic Domain people can give Oswald the respect he has so long been denied.

[@andrewdavis7408]

I watched this video 3 times in one day, good job. I would say that in order to make this a perfect game all of this would be needed. The way Mickey looks, acts and how the people around him react change, including 3 "forms" of mickey, the Hero which is a more colorful, more heroic version of Mickey that is inspired by late 70's early 80's cartoons where he used to have yellow gloves and tan skin on his face but still having the old cartoon face design. This form happens if you just use paint and help people instead of thinning your way through. The Wastelander which is the neutral path, between evil and good. This is the regular design he has in the game. Lastly the "Scrapper". This had a more washed out colored mickey that has a mean scruffy look to him. His physical abilities (strength mainly) are improved allowing him to be stronger than normal, but this could affect how people look at him making things worse for you in the long run. Overall moral fixes, including an actual bad ending. If in the bad ending you fight against Oswald and the Phantom Blot merges with him turning into a nightmarish creature that you have to take out on your own. If neutral you fight the Phantom Blot. If good, you fight with Oswald and he congratulates you on saving Wasteland. Camera controls fixed, along with better camera overall Framerate fixed Better Controls, including a better combat system Invisibility frames added Knockback fixed Skippable projector levels after the first time Unskippable enemies more prominently implemented Guardians show secrets instead of where to go Pins do something(Powerups, abilities, currency, upgrades, literally anything) More player choice in bosses Implementing abilities based on how much Paint/Thinner is used More interesting quests More simplified tutorial Animatronic quests give better items Less E-tickets given Fixed easy skips in quests for moral Less repetition in final portion of the game Sad paintings shouldn’t be revealed by paint Power sparks shouldn’t be buyable or found on the ground After finding film reels, you unlock the cartoon the level was based on Voice acting Being able to go back to older areas without a side quest or projectors Possibly add costumes from Epic Mickey 2 For Epic Mickey 2, everything before still applies, but get rid of co-op, musical aspects, & add spirits giving abilities. Btw, thanks to GBlastMan for a comment on this video, explaining how the morality issues weren't always supposed to be there, but Disney didn't want to portray Mickey as a bad guy, I just copied and pasted the morality ideas from that comment. Also, let me know if there is anything I missed.

[@dannypalin9583]

Epic Mickey has always been a mixed bag for me. I still remember the leaked concept art: steampunk backdrops, machines made out of various Disney characters, etc. It was amazing. Then it finally came out. The game had a strong story, but its execution was half-baked. Wasteland is a place made specifically for either forgotten or scrapped characters and places or ideas. Junction Point Studios was given access to the Disney Archives, a place nobody is allowed to see without special permission. They could have used the rejected designs for the Seven Dwarfs, the Squirrel and Chipmunk pair from Bambi, the Hunter from The Jungle Book, Louis the Bear from The Rescuers, etc. Instead, we got 50% Aspects that aren't forgotten, 25% Generic horse/cow NPCs, 10% Forgotten aspects, 5% "Remember this from this cartoon/movie?" and 10% Peter Pan. The only truly rejected material present in the game are the Gremlins. And the idea of being either good or bad? No permanent consequences. If you do something bad, all that happens is you get told off by Gremlin Gus in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it text box.

[@francescawhite4166]

i had this game when i was 10, played for like a half an hour and then got stuck in an area because i didn't know what i was supposed to do.

[@gracie927]

Unpopular opinon: Oswald was Spinel before spinel even knew what gardens were

[@VictorADino]

When I first got the game I had a ton of fun with it, never finished it but liked replaying the beginning. Then the second game came out, my brother and I played it, after like 3 hours we got bored of it immediately and never touched it again.

[@kevinyveltal3418]

Btw epic Mickey 2 on PC is still broken , mostly on the cutscene where 2 of them were crashing in my playthrough.

[@unclegrandpagaming165]

EPIC MICKEY IS BACK

[@greyrifterrellik5837]

I saw some of the original concepts and designs via gameinformer magazine before the game came out. Yeah, there was probably a ton of disney meddling because the game we got feels like a heavily watered down version of what they were going for. A small example being the idea of giving visual changes to mickey to reflect the player's actions; golden shoes for staying "good", but slowly getting a more sinister, rat-like appearance for being "evil". Yeah I am 100% certain disney vetoed that almost immediately.

[@lpfan4491]

oh hey, this game. the story is really good honestly and the gameplay is good enough. it's problems are that the choicesystem is pretty unrealized and that backtracking is nonexistant because the game is actually too linear. if you missed something, you screwed up, play new game plus. only exception is one sidequest where the things you missed can be bought for a lot of cash at the end. also a lot of the time, being evil is just being good with less rewards. the part where the game shines the most is the ending where depending on what you did, wasteland will either become a dark place that is hell to be in or a really nice one. also, using color and thinner is really fun the sequel did some things better, some things worse. I honestly like the original more, even tho I have to say the sequels colorpalette is more fun to look at(even tho I usually like darker palettes more)

[@dantegallardo1974]

Great video. Glad this showed up in my recommended

[@qaaris4280]

See, being mean makes me feel bad, so I did all I could to help the citizens of Wasteland. I feel like that was the thing some people missed. You shouldn't care about the rewards, just help people if they need help.

[@tntori5079]

I dig the use of the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack in the background =) Great video about a game I really wish had gotten better.

[@Tucher97]

I think the morality system here might be due to restrictions, the game appears to be aimed towards a specific audience but i guess the head devs thought there shouldnt be seriously conquences just backlash that is so minor to hte point its nothing, maybe if there is like a buddy or NPC that accompanies you the entire game who lets say claims to be doing stuff and helps you out with large size obstacles but he isnt exactly swell so maybe if you cause more problems in a level he/she will say "I see you like to make things difficult for yourself, I can respect on making things a challenge so here is this large size obstacle and you surely want to make it a pain in the ass" all the while that if you do enough of negative affects then this adventure buddy of your's disappears but you learn he becomes the final boss and is some blobbious horror that is very very aggressive or if you do enough of things ot make things easier on your self, this buddy may give you a health pool to restore health when you need it or a pool of ink and thinner to restore yourself just because you have a writer who can think of clever ways to use morality in a game doesn't mean jack if you put seriously restrictions on him/her

[@moonlight1393]

I totally agree with your criticisms. But what I still remember what I loved most about this game: and that was experiencing all of the land/world for the first time. I'd just turn the game on and go over everything and try to find all of the little secrets. I never played the second game, but I did watch the playthroughs online. The story for the second game was painful to follow, even the guy playing the game said so himself. Not that the story was all that strong in the first, but it was still fun and interesting. And best of all, it did introduce me to Oswald. So points there. I could rant more, but lets just end it with my own personal thoughts: excellent world building and design, but soooo much failed potential in the story and game mechanics.

[@aspen8470]

I did like the game, I actually quite adored it. but you do bring up valid points.

[@bearbaughgames]

The game was to hard for me to beat when I was younger, but the story intrigued me and sparked my interest in old Disney shorts and history. The second game was to boring to finish. I really wish we would get a cartoon adaption of the first game or something.

[@oliviapolychronopolis4150]

There was a comic/manga adaptation. Not as cool as an animation, but it'll scratch that itch for like 20 mins.

[@bearbaughgames]

@@oliviapolychronopolis4150 really? do u know where I could find it?

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@bearbaughgames. Look up "Tales of Wasteland"; It was a digicomic series to promote the first game prior to release and acted as a prequel to the first game.

[@kylethenoble1211]

I appreciate your lengthy reviews as well as your usage of game grumps content

[@bunn__y]

I love this. I have to admit since I loved the characters it never occurred to me that there really isn't much driving you to save them. That said, I always was unhappy with the morality system. Like I loved the idea but the lack of different endings always felt 'eh' to me. At the time I didn't know as much about gaming so I just assumed that they did it as best as they could but looking back now they could have done more without that much effort. They could have had the thinner ending have Oswald still want Mickey's heart but decide that his job is to look after the wasteland because someone has to take responsibility and kick Mickey out. I really like your idea for an ending too especially with the idea for a neutral ending. This game was so cool but also lacking. Also I've been thinking and you remember the 'wonderful world of evil' projector level in Epic Mickey 2: what if the reward for completing bots was that we got a story about their adventures with Oswald. After all the strengths of Epic Mickey are the platforming and the characters so playing into that would be cool. Do you think would work better?

[@LothlorBass]

I would kill for an epic Mickey switch port/remaster, I loved this game as a kid

[@RandomEntry13013]

*Monkeys paw curls a finger.

[@OliverKane3582]

…who did you kill?

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@Entry13013. Monkey's Paw would imply regret or a warning; Given that Purple Lamp aren't exactly new to platformers, I don't see much reason to be worried as of yet. (Though this is definitely the kind of platformer they aren't used to.)

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

How much blood did YOU spill? Lol

[@Asurvivoroftheapp]

That intro gave me chills, FEELS GOOD

[@teztanaka5820]

you actually cant get the parts for any of the animatronics other than goofys, it really spanked me right on nuts when i thought "oh ill just buy the parts i missed" for donald to just be given a big n o p e, why couldn't they just let you backtrack in this game.... its not that great a game...but having all these old disney characters and the atmosphere is pretty cool, some of the concept out is pretty out there as well

[@jesusistheonlyway9398]

Alot of these points are valid....but... ..epic mickey 2 was actually ENJOYABLE! For me atleast. It may be the Nostalgia speaking though...

[@superbanananinja]

This game made me fall in love with Oswald. This video brought back so many memories, man it's been a while since I played this. And yet everything shown seemed familiar. I've not thought of the game critically like this(as I was young), but I think it's good to look back on it! Let us look forward to more games with competent morality systems in the future :D

[@GalacticHero2068]

Wow, man oh man do I remember this game. It was a few years ago, I don't remember but I may have been 8 or 7. I got my parents to pick it up for me and I loved it so much, I especially got hooked because of its dark atmosphere, The opening cutscene is nostalgic, upgrading my paint/thinner, and the choices. I remember in tommorowland on my first play through I used thinner on Pete which affected the story, the side quest were also fun. Also since I was a little kid, the undead/mech pirates creeped me out lol. But yeah, great job on this retrospective. Definitely got me nostalgic!

[@theresademoranville3384]

I've always hated how in Epic Mickey 2 Gus is just a 2D image but in Epic Mickey 1 he's a full 3D model that makes no sense -_-

[@Semy_04]

oh yeah I forgot about that now that really pissed me off why is gus a 2D flat piece of paper but in the original game he's a 3D model

[@badcatalex]

Please do a video on Epic Mickey 2. Edit 1: In EM2, costumes are *NOT* just cosmetic! They can have special bonuses when worn.

[@justsomebodyhere4930]

Play Epic Mickey 2 on 3DS, it’s completely different from the other versions and is actually more of a sequel to castle of illusion than anything else

[@sandwich_bubbles47]

I am NOT the one to ask for criticism on this game, I am EXTREMELY blinded by Nostalgia, this was my first ever game, and I’ve played it through countless times!! And it really has shaped who I am today! I do agree that the last level (the inside of the Blot) was a HUGE disappointment, and totally missed a great opportunity!! I do know the game could be better, and with rumors of a remake in the works, I hope Disney can make a great game even greater!! Some of the early concepts for the game sounded awesome, like Mickey Changing physical appearance depending on what path you take, from being more cartoony and heroic, the having his ink literally dripping away revealing a sketch of him underneath! Epic Mickey 2 was a big disappointment to me as well, it was too cheery, and short, oh so very short, I do prefer the pin system though, but other than that, it was very rushed! Again, the early concepts were FAR better, it would have involved the Pete’s trying to revive the Blot, and what not, go read about it on the wiki, it’s pretty interesting! I begged my mom for a 3DS so I could get the power of illusion spin-off, but I’m still yet to finish it, one, I don’t really like it that much, it isn’t bad, and actually has the dark tone like the first game, but I’m just not a fan of 2D games, and I’m stuck on the last level! But thankfully, there were other games on the 3DS like Kid Icarus Uprising and Tomodachi life that made the purchase worth it! I know I have a lot more to say about Epic Mickey, cause it’s been with me all my life, and so I have an entire Childhood’s worth of Memories, but this comment is getting really long and you probably stopped reading as soon as you clicked “show more” Also, this game totally cursed me, now I always fall in love with the underrated/forgotten characters/franchises, and not gonna lie it’s pretty annoying lol

[@zai8774]

I strongly agree with the last part lol epic mickey made me love bendy and the ink machina just because of the forgotten characters

[@ecorp13]

Loved this game, and loved how u used kingdom hearts music in the background of this video

[@stanleysmooth]

Dude this is my favourite game of all time

[@sizar9003]

I just thought about playing on emulator and then boom - remake announcement

[@bossfire2515]

There was going to be a Epic Mickey 3. It was going to have more musical notes. I wanted closure for this trilogy. I’m ready sad because of the cancellation. What could’ve been, what could’ve been.

[@Jessica-zq9sy]

i am so glad i discovered epic mickey. more than half of my childhood would be gone

[@net_spider]

I want to say thats Kingdom hearts music I hear every now and again, but I might be wrong.

[@jerryalexis576]

The missed potential could have been nonexistent, because if you watch concept art and elimimated mechanics, you can see how much darker the game could have been too. Yet, Disney didn't want Mickey to look/feel/act as an evil being, as mickey's aspect would have changed much more, I think this is what caused part of the missed potential.

[@zooweamama5799]

Wow it’s been forever since I even thought about this game, I remember being obsessed w the concept and when I finally got epic mickey 2 on the Wii U when I was 11 I remember getting stuck near the very beginning due to a combination of the shitty camera controls and the constant lag, it was such a let down for me