Capcom talks Lost Planet 3, Devil May Cry: the "whole purpose" of a reboot is to do things differently

Dress up the past, or break for the future? It's the eternal dilemma faced by studios who specialise in rebooting classic videogame franchises - surely the most villified bunch of men and women on the internet. Speaking to VG247, Capcom producer and Lost Planet 3 design lead Andrew Szymanski has unsurpisingly spoken out in favour of trying new things.

"I do believe that with Devil May Cry and with Lost Planet 3, Capcom is showing that collaboration with Western developers can result in something that is more than the sum of its parts," Szymanski argued. "Capcom as a whole has had a lot of experience both positive and negative in this area and I believe it is informing us well at this point.

"The key is to remember that the goal is not to re-create these franchises part-and-parcel with another developer - that would defeat the whole purpose," he went on. "Instead, we are attempting to breathe new life into Lost Planet by infusing it with sensibilities and strengths that would not have been available had the title stayed with the internal team exclusively."

Lost Planet makes for a less controversial reboot than Devil May Cry, of course, as it's the younger, less consistent and less venerated series. "It is a tricky balancing act," Szymanski commented elsewhere in the piece. "As you know it is impossible to please everyone. Change too much and fans may get upset; change too little and you are accused of letting things stagnate. In a way we are lucky as Lost Planet as a franchise has a knack for re-inventing itself with each new instalment.

He also discussed the importance of letting designers follow their own noses. "No game is perfect, and no method of planning exists to make things turn out perfectly. We plan the best that we can to make sure that the project runs smoothly, but we also understand that the unexpected will happen and creative spontaneity has to be allowed in order for ideas to flourish. I'm sure that all publishers have their own unique best practices in this area."

Lost Planet 3 is a "return to the roots", narrowing the focus back down to a single character with a more elaborate storyline. There's still a giant mech, but you'll also do a lot of tooling around indoors. The feel owes quite a bit to Dead Space, at a glance. Read more about it here.