EDITORIAL | Paprium – A Cautionary Tale of an Indie Cyberpunk Beat ‘em-Up for Sega Genesis
PAPRIUM is a new Sega Genesis game from Watermelon Games that unexpectedly saw a release in late December 2020. Unexpectedly because this neon-soaked, cyberpunk beat ‘em up was first announced in 2013 and after a series of frustrating events, it left many to think that this game was just gonna be nothing but ambitious vaporware.
WHO NOW?
Indie game developer Watermelon Games (WM Games) made a name for themselves for releasing a Sega Genesis JRPG titled Pier Solar and the Great Architects in 2010. The game harkens back to good old fashion turn-based RPG with great production value and one of the better-looking homebrew games that could go toe-to-toe with official AAA Sega Genesis releases.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012 with an estimated time of arrival the next year, Pier Solar HD was finally released on the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo Wii U... in 2015.
ENTER ProjectY
In 2013, WM Games announced their next game with the working title ProjectY (later retitled as Paprium), which led me to immediately signed up on their website and started the process of investing into the GEMS system, their version of Kickstarter.
The game, Paprium, is a side-scrolling brawler set in the year 8A2 post-apocalyptic streets of PAPRIUM, “a Megapolis that rose from ashes after a devastating nuclear war” or so says the marketing material. Featuring 24 levels, five playable characters, 60fps 16-bit visuals and 48Khz x 24 channels all fitted into an 80-MEG cartridge. To date, Super Street Fighter II for the Sega Genesis was 40-MEG cartridge followed by WM Game’s Pier Solar at 64-MEG cartridge.
After the whole Pier Solar HD debacle, I held off investing until 2017 when they announced a deadline for investors to make full payment. In the end, I paid USD$50 for the Investor's Mega-Pack Edition with the hopes that it would be released in the very next year.
The photos and videos they released showed a lot of promise, with large pixel-art characters, a colourful neon city and 90s style beat ‘em up game that could fill the void that Streets of Rage 3 left after not seeing a new series entry for nearly 20 years. I was completely sold to that idea. It even inspired me to build my own Sega Genesis arcade stick despite wanting to get Paprium Grandstick LE.
Things were looking pretty good so far.
THE DELAYS
Unsurprisingly, after they had missed their initial 2018 deadline, much of what happened after was the same as what happened with the release of Pier Solar HD. From their irregular updates, staff turnovers, their extravagant marketing ad, PayPal issue and ultimately their Paprium “launch party” in 2018 held in Paris, France left a foul taste in my mouth. In my mind, I just paid 50 bucks for them to blow it off on party I can’t go to, an over-the-top video marketing ad for the sake of hype and barely any actual game updates.
The prospect of getting the game was diminishing to the point that in response to investor backlash, WM Games offered to refund those who wanted to back out. However, it was too much of a hassle on my part to even bother with the process and just accept the fact that the developers were unable to deliver the finished product and write it off as a cautionary tale of a bad investment.
News about the game would trickle in from disgruntled customers in their forums, on YouTube, blog write-ups and interviews from former staff and the occasional newsletter emails from WM Games that tried to assure its remaining fans that the game will eventually the see the light of day. By then, when their site went temporarily offline some time last year, I was just consuming information about their latest drama.
A WINTER MIRACLE
By mid-December 2020, after nearly eight years of passing interest about this cyberpunk-themed beat ‘em up, I received an email from Magical Game Factory notifying me to update my shipping address as they were getting Paprium ready to get shipped out to investors.
I was highly sceptical by then, even when they said it has been shipped. I kept thinking, they’re just gonna cut their losses and ship a half-ass unfinished buggy mess of a product and call it a day.
However, the few YouTubers who received their copies early were quick to upload the unboxing of their investor edition, gameplay footage showing off a fully playable product and even brief reviews, all in French, got me hyped up again to receive my own copy. Based on what I can see, WM Games is putting the same excellent effort and quality as they did previously with their Collector’s Edition of Pier Solar HD for the Dreamcast from half a decade ago.
Despite the goodwill they managed to get back from the delays, the drama, unfortunately, doesn’t end there.
LIMITED AVAILABILITY
The USD50 price tag I paid three years ago? Well, it seems that WM Games saw fit to increase Paprium’s price to recuperate the cost of producing the game. As it stands, their official store is selling the game at a 26% promo discount on their official website for USD170 for US/JP version and USD340 for EU version. As this game is exclusively made Sega Genesis game with no word of it ever coming out for other consoles, WM is expecting the price to hike up further in the secondhand market such as eBay.
WM’S NEXT UPCOMING PROJECT
WM Games announced another game that they are developing for the Sega Genesis, veiled in secrecy except for the name “A(...)M(...)96” and a vague release of 2021/2022 retailing at USD169.99 for Classic and USD229 for the Limited edition.
So did I immediately jumped to invest in this new mysterious project? Of course not. As much as I like to give them the benefit of the doubt, that they being an indie game dev etc, I think the old adage “once bitten, twice shy” really comes to mind. I’ll gladly miss out their game put all of this drama aside and just move on to other more widely available and completed projects with less drama attached.
As for the game, it's everything WM Games said it would be and then some. It's not perfect by any stretch, with system compatibility issues for some original and clone console being the main culprit. Is it worth playing? Hell yes. Is it worth buying? It depends on how deep is your pocket and your willingness to wait.
Geeks Republika
