Capcom's PS4 Exclusive, 'Deep Down,' Will Look Completely Different The Next Time It's Shown

Capcom's free-to-play online RPG, "Deep Down" was first unveiled at the 2013 PlayStation Meeting. As one of the stars of the show, the game had the distinction of being one of the very first titles shown off for the PS4. A gorgeous trailer, running on a bespoke new game engine called "Panta Rhei"showed a dungeon crawling hero facing off against a fire-breathing dragon in a giant underground cavern. Following the initial reveal, Capcom's been unusually quiet about the game, seemingly unwilling to let anyone know specifics about "Deep Down." It turns out there might have been a good reason for that, as Capcom's latest comments indicate the company has only now begun to figure out what "Deep Down" should be, and it's making massive changes to its original vision.

Japanese gaming website 4Gamer sat down to speak with Capcom's endlessly ebullient game producer, Yoshinori Ono. During the interview, the website noted that we haven't heard much about "Deep Down" lately, Siliconera provides a translation. "We’re thinking about showing something that looks completely different from what was previously shown, although it might be a while from now. The ideas we have for the game are much larger now compared to when we first announced it," replied Ono.

Ono acknowledged the fact that from the outside, it might appear as though "Deep Down" was in development hell, but assured gamers that this wasn't the case. He stated that the team was considering showing something off, but noted that the title looked completely different from what was shown previously. He also stated that it might be while before they were able to display the title publicly.

Why the change? In its coverage, Eurogamer quotes Ono as saying that the team's initial ideas might simply not have been good enough. He states that as an online game, "Deep Down" would need to be able to capture players imaginations and keep them playing for a protracted period. Describing this as a long-term challenge, he says that the team would rather delay the game and take the time to ensure its quality at launch, rather than release a shallow game.

Post-PlayStation Meeting footage of "Deep Down" has been somewhat hard to come by, especially since the game has technically not been announced for a western release. The story fragments shown indicate the game takes place in at least two time periods, New York in 2094 and unspecified time in the distant past. Magical artefacts in the future period are able to send players back into the past. Once there, they make their way through randomly generated dungeons, battling monsters and searching for treasure.

"Deep Down" was originally scheduled to launch some time in 2015 in Japan, but the delay of a Japan-only beta seems to have scuppered those plans. The Escapist Magazine's hands-on impressions from TGS 2013 indicate that the game was beautiful, but clunky, fiddly and unimpressive at the time. Little wonder then, that Capcom have decided the game needs a little more time in the oven before taking centre stage.

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