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Red Ash reunites Mega Man Legends producers; Kickstarter begins

The first details for the Mega Man Legends-inspired Red Ash have been revealed at Anime Expo 2015, as a panel with creator Keiji Inafune began with the launch of a new Kickstarter.

Ozzie Mejia

July 4, 2015 11:55 AM

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Earlier this week, Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune revealed a tease for a whole new game that is basically a Mega Man game, but cannot be called a Mega Man game for legal reasons. While Mighty No. 9 pays homage to the main series, however, Red Ash appears to be inspired by Mega Man Legends. During a panel this morning from Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Infanue and producer Eiko Tanaka officially revealed the game's Kickstarter.

To help hammer home the 'Legends' connection, the project will be led by Inafune, as well as art director Kazushi and director Masahiro Yasuma, both key members of the original Mega Man Legends production team. The Kickstarter page also points to a special collaboration with Tanaka's Japanese animation house, Studio 4°C, which will work on Red Ash's anime story. That one actually has its own separate Kickstarter page.

Red Ash is a third-person episodic action-adventure game that takes place on a desolate planet that's been devastated by the Robot World War. The remnants of humanity were able to rebuild through Lost Technology, a precious resource hunted by those known as Delvers. The current situation sees the floating city of KalKanon on a crash course with the city of Great Slope. Great Slope plans to prevent this by firing off a massive cannon called the Peacemaker, but the Bones Agency, led by a young girl named Call C. Bones, are seeking to take the KalKanon treasure from its underbelly before the Peacemaker can fire its shot. It'll be up to the main character, the teenage boy Beck, to stop KalKanon's freefall and make off with the treasure in the process, while discovering its secrets.

Inafune and company are hoping to introduce some distinct elements to Red Ash, including the idea of bargaining between partners, pirate-style. Beck can also forage dungeons for loot that can be used to pay for upgrades to his abilities.

The Red Ash Kickstarter is seeking $800,000 for the first three episodes. Two more additional episodes will be released if the project reaches $1.3 million. There is an early estimated release date of July 2017. Developer Comcept currently has two other projects in development: the aforementioned Mighty No. 9 and the Xbox One exclusive ReCore, which is being developed in conjunction with Armature Studio.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?