Rayman Legends Retold

[Droolie]

Starting at 1:46 here is some interesting footage showing how the game is being made: https://youtu.be/9spxjtLvm_4?t=107
It still runs on the UbiArt engine internally, but the depth planes UbiArt runs on are mapped to curved surfaces in Snowdrop and enhanced with all kinds of 3D stuff. The way this pipeline was created, the developers' tools enable them to run the original UbiArt levels and the newer Snowdrop versions at the same time.

Whether or not this functionality will be available in the final version is anyone's guess. It seems the developers didn't have an answer to give when asked by VGC:

Some players, of course, may prefer the classic 2D look. Given that the two art styles play side by side so seamlessly in-engine, I ask whether players will also be able to toggle between the two art styles at will, Halo-style. “We don’t have an answer to give you on that at this time,” I’m told, somewhat cryptically. Read into that what you will.

Personally, I think it will be very difficult for them because they would have to make acceptable 2D versions of all the new stuff (hub, new levels, real-time cutscenes...), aside from the dragon sections obviously. Since they haven't marketed this switching system yet, I don't expect it. They would want the world to know if such a feature was coming.

Anyway, all this means modding will be quite difficult. To mod a level, you'd have to change the data used by the 2 different engines. I'll obviously try to add support for this (and Origins Enhanced) to my level editor ubi-canvas, but from my experience with Mario+Rabbids, Snowdrop is quite annoying modding-wise as there aren't any good tools for it yet. Even if there were, it would be a pretty tough extra step compared to the original Rayman Legends. Unfortunately, the PC version of this game will also use Denuvo, which will make this hybrid engine harder to reverse-engineer.

By the way, the video linked above describes how the tools/pipeline is mostly handled by Ubisoft Montpellier, whereas the assets, animations etc. are handled by Ubisoft Milan. That makes a lot of sense, as the new designs and cutscenes already felt very Sparks of Hope-y to me.

Some more new info in Julien Chieze's hands-on video at 13:13: https://youtu.be/ft7osnWQdrQ?si=1HFKkoiHF4A9hW__&t=793
They were told that the new villain or new story might be important even for the future of the series.
The power of light you gain in the Land of the Livid Dead makes the gameplay a bit more puzzle-like, allowing you can slow down or modify certain elements in the level.

[Sabertooth]

That's definitely the colosseum. I love the new map. It makes absolutely no sense in context of each game's storyline, but I don't care. They're making something resembling an effort to embrace the established world and history of the Rayman series, for the first time ever in a way many of us thought Origins was trying to do (only to be proven wrong when the game came out), and I'm optimistic.

Does a platformer video game series need a story and lore? No. Are Rayman's previous attempts at story and lore great? Of course not. Yet I don't care, because I love it. Sometimes things are good because they're good things, and other times they can be good just because you like them. Whether or not the former is true in this case is irrelevant to me now because the latter definitely is.

[BlueGoop222]

According to this article, it seems the fate of Rayman 4 does, in fact, rely on the sales of Rayman Legends Retold. Admittedly, the game does have a lot going for it - the huge glow-up the game's gotten, the enhanced edition of Origins being included with it, the whole package being $40 - but considering Ubisoft's habit of having sky-high sales expectations and deeming games like Sparks of Hope or the OG Legends "underwhelming" when they don't sell a billion units, we'd best cross our fingers and hope as many people support the franchise as possible.

Otherwise, we might be waiting another 13 years just for them to remake Legends again and for that to underperform in their eyes, and so the cycle will continue for all eternity...

Bro this is the 6th Rayman… and I’m really excited for it, it looks good!

[Squiz]

I don’t think we will ever see a Rayman 4 that follows the artistic direction of Rayman 2 and Rayman 3, it’s been two decades since and the gaming industry changed so much, also the teams behind the current projects are not the same anymore.
Origins and Legends seems to be a new starting point for the series and honestly, I was not a big fan of the Ubiart style during the last 2D games with the goofy characters face etc, but I love the new art direction it takes with this new 3D remake, the new designs are fine, they have so much more personnality and it’s incredible to have them talking again. I have been waiting so long for a new adventure with a real story and dialogues in Rayman lore, so I’m very positive about all of this and even if Legends was obviously not the best choice for a remake, I can’t wait to discover all the new stuff and above all, the new 3D adventures that will follow if this sells well.

[Retrofuge]

I’m not going to lie this one of the few reveals for the first time that I’ve felt genuinely nothing. No anger or disappointment just acceptance that Rayman is just doomed to fail at this point. I understand why from a financial standpoint they chose to remake Legends. But at the same time, it seems like a waste of Ubisoft Montpellier talent. You’re telling me it took 13 years to remake the game that should’ve been the way it was from the trailer we got back in E3. I can’t underestimate how low effort it is from Ubisoft’s end.

Not to mention, Rayman fans don’t win anyway because Ubisoft is basically using that to determine Rayman 4 even gets made:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/gaming/gener ... 2l Rayman

It’s frankly ridiculous because we know realistically Rayman isn’t just that big enough as a series. It’s too niche and it’s doesn’t have that mass appeal. Also sucess doesn’t even guarantee more games looking what happened to Prince of Persia, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro or even Mega Man. I can’t really trust that retold won’t be a start of another hiatus for the franchise.

I genuinely hate how we have fight to the tooth and nail to get these franchises back only to be held hostage regardless. Just to guilt trip us into buying shiny new remake with the hopes of new material. Even it makes business sense or not. I know the expectations are going to unrealistic like with Prince of Persia: Lost Crown.

As for the game it’s just legends how it should came out back in the day. But the company opted to make it 2D instead of using 3D models. It’s hard to be excited just another remake and it’s nothing truly new. At this point, if Retold becomes another victim of Ubisoft talent being wasted on their unrealistic sales expectations. I think it’s just time to throw in a towel. The wait for these games are too long to justify being patience for their return. Might aswell get into other franchises or make your own Rayman project.

Games like Rayman only are made for certain period of gaming history and those days are long gone. I can see the passion put into this but they could have easily made new title. Ubisoft could even pitch it to an indie developer who cares like Atari did with Bubsy 4D. Pipe dream I know but I will probably won’t get it on day 1 as much as I want to support Rayman. I’m sick of supporting remakes and remasters only for nothing to ever come from it. Rayman feels no different unfortunately

[Niknud2005]

So it looks like the art direction really does match those old CGI animated trailers! It is cool to finally see it all in motion.

Like I mentioned when the leaks first dropped, I still think the $39.99 price tag is super reasonable. But finding out that it actually includes the Origins Enhanced Edition makes it even more worth it!

I am still a bit mixed on some of the character designs though. I noticed the weird DreamWorks look with the separated eyes on that leaked Heavy Metal Fist model, and it definitely takes some getting used to in the actual game. And yeah, that fairy from the key art really is Betilla... she still looks way too generic fantasy for my taste. But honestly, I am willing to give it all a chance, just like I was fine with the combat suit hood going over his hair.

It is also awesome to see that the cloaked villain from the top of the poster is actually getting a full storyline. And hearing that Christophe Heral is teaming up with Grant Kirkhope is great news! I know I am in the minority for actually digging Heral's new style in the 30th Anniversary edition, so I am really pumped to hear what they cooked up for the new music levels here.

I am really hoping this whole project is exactly what I was speculating about yesterday: a proving ground to get a dedicated Rayman Team warmed up for a brand new Rayman 4. I will definitely be picking this up!

[Haruka]

New music level.


I don't know, the level design feels a bit lacking and it doesn't seem to match the rhythm as well as the original game's music levels to me. A large part of that is the player messing up, but it doesn't seem to explain everything. Maybe it's just that the animations are less snappy or that the sound effects are less immediate, but it feels a bit off. And I don't particularly care for the song selection or its arrangement here. (Sorry for being rather negative)

There's definitely room for improvement. When I was watching it I felt that the movement/object placement wasn't 100% in sync with the music rhythm. The Devilbob dressed like that reminded me of Aku Aku for a brief moment!

[Pirez]

It would be funnier if the speed or the pitch of the song varied depending on the difference of your position and the optimal path.

But alas, no.

[goosmaw]

I remember watching a YouTube video that was auto-dubbed that said Rayman Legends was an unfinished game with tons of cut content and worlds, and on the pirate forum I remember a post where someone looked into the original game files and found unused assets and names for many worlds if i remmber corectly there was a cut pirate world, a cut jungle/forest world, Land of the Living Dead, a Gothic castle world and an East Asian inspired world called Crouching Huns. do you think retold well add them

[RayGamer99]

I love the new map. It makes absolutely no sense in context of each game's storyline, but I don't care. They're making something resembling an effort to embrace the established world and history of the Rayman series, for the first time ever in a way many of us thought Origins was trying to do (only to be proven wrong when the game came out), and I'm optimistic.

Agreed! Even if every aspect of the map doesn't make sense, especially when compared to previous maps seen in Rayman 2 and Origins, I greatly appreciate them trying to make Rayman's world and lore cohesive for the first time in a while. If doing that means messing with trivial details like the placement of certain locations, then I'm all for it.

There's definitely room for improvement. When I was watching it I felt that the movement/object placement wasn't 100% in sync with the music rhythm.

That's kind of what I meant when I said that level seemed like one of the music levels in Rayman Mini. Those ones weren't bad, but their layouts weren't exactly synchronized with the beat of their songs, making them feel slightly off. Admittedly, the more I see the clip, the more I find the choice of song funny more than anything. Wonder what they'll do once it's Hammer Time...

I remember watching a YouTube video that was auto-dubbed that said rayman legends was a unfishec game with tons of cut content and worlds, and on the pirate forum I remember a post where someone looked into the original game files and found unused assets and names for many worlds if i remmber corectly there was a cut pirate world, a cut jungle/forest world, Land of the Living Dead, a Gothic castle world and an East Asian inspired world called Crouching Huns.

I don't remember seeing anything about a pirate or jungle world, but Crouching Huns and a Gothic, Transylvania-themed world called Drak's Nightmare were indeed scrapped from the game. It doesn't look like any of those worlds aside from the Land of the Livid Dead are coming back in Retold; a missed opportunity for sure, and I wish they could have at least brought back Drak's Nightmare, but it's not really the end of the world either.

[DocLoFer]

Starting at 1:46 here is some interesting footage showing how the game is being made: https://youtu.be/9spxjtLvm_4?t=107
It still runs on the UbiArt engine internally, but the depth planes UbiArt runs on are mapped to curved surfaces in Snowdrop and enhanced with all kinds of 3D stuff. The way this pipeline was created, the developers' tools enable them to run the original UbiArt levels and the newer Snowdrop versions at the same time.

Tbh, this is probably my favourite thing about Legends Retold, I'm glad they found a way to actually keep using the UbiArt framework instead of abandoning completely, it is an incredibly powerful tool and it would be a shame if they stopped using it for good. I'm really curious about how the integration works and if they did it just to speed up the process of importing the original layouts into Snowdrop or if they plan to keep using it in the future.

Considering how fast they were able to iterate through multiple level designs during Legend's development, I think it could be a phenomenal way to speed up the process of crafting new levels, either for other 2.5D platforming games or for future Rayman games (altought I hope they release another full 3D title in the future, I wouldn't mind if they kept the 2.5D for smaller adventures or even expansions for Retold).

Some players, of course, may prefer the classic 2D look. Given that the two art styles play side by side so seamlessly in-engine, I ask whether players will also be able to toggle between the two art styles at will, Halo-style. “We don’t have an answer to give you on that at this time,” I’m told, somewhat cryptically. Read into that what you will.

As for this, I think that a toggle to restore the original 2D look of the game would ultimately defeat the purpose of remaking Legends as a whole. They've clearly stated that (for better or worse) they want to create a new visual identity for the franchise moving forwards, and adding a switch so that people can play the original experience without all the new additions like the Dragon's stages or the cinematics would only make it worse for the people that already say that the remake is not necessary.

[goosmaw]

I don't remember seeing anything about a pirate or jungle world, but Crouching Huns and a Gothic, Transylvania-themed world called Drak's Nightmare were indeed scrapped from the game. It doesn't look like any of those worlds aside from the Land of the Livid Dead are coming back in Retold; a missed opportunity for sure, and I wish they could have at least brought back Drak's Nightmare, but it's not really the end of the world either.

here I found the post

This music level gives off major jungle vibes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftPgdqfcd9I&t=35s

[Hunchman801]

Time to finally share my thoughts on this, I guess!

I am sure Retold will be a solid remake and a good game in its own right despite a few minor issues, but I never asked for a Legends remake to begin with, and I honestly don't care much for it.

Unfortunately, this decision leaves me pretty concerned about the future of the franchise. It is obvious they chose to remake Legends because they want to use it as the definitive foundation for the series' identity going forward. If we ever actually get a 3D Rayman 4, I can already picture it looking much more like a 3D version of Legends rather than the mysterious universe we explored in Rayman 2 and 3.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the UbiArt games. They are fantastic platformers with beautiful art and fitting music, but structurally and tonally, they just don't fit the previous entries. I could at least imagine the environments from Origins existing somewhere in Rayman's world, but Legends is a different story entirely. The worlds are all directly ripped from real-world concepts, whether it's stereotypical medieval tropes, Jack and the Beanstalk, or James Bond. In contrast, Rayman 2 never felt like it had any real connection to our world, even if it drew vague inspiration from fairy tales. There was a specific beauty in a setting populated strictly by strange, fantastical creatures. The introduction of actual humans and real-world parodies in Legends completely changes the fundamental nature of the universe for me.

This shift in identity extends to the characters and lore too. Polokus always had a weird design, but I liked the concept of this detached, mystical creator god so much more than the goofy, hippie Bubble Dreamer living in a treehouse. Between Origins having such a convoluted, poorly told story that no one fully understands to this day, and Legends having essentially no story at all, I was perfectly content treating the UbiArt era as just a dream sequence. The fact that Rayman was literally jumping into paintings in the original Legends made it easy to assume that none of those places actually existed in the real lore.

But by trying to fix that weak narrative, Retold achieves the exact opposite of what I wanted. It cements these locations as canon reality. Rayman's world is officially one of medieval castles, dragons, and human beings. It feels so much more like a generic fantasy setting now rather than the truly unique, otherworldly universe I fell in love with in the earlier games.

I really would have preferred if they just rebooted the franchise from Rayman 3. They could have closed the book on the UbiArt era, or just let it exist in parallel by making it explicitly clear it was a dream or alternate dimension. With Retold, that option is off the table. I just have to come to terms with the fact that the Rayman universe I grew up with is gone, and even if we do eventually get a 3D Rayman 4, it is never coming back.

As a side note:

Even if every aspect of the map doesn't make sense, especially when compared to previous maps seen in Rayman 2 and Origins, I greatly appreciate them trying to make Rayman's world and lore cohesive for the first time in a while. If doing that means messing with trivial details like the placement of certain locations, then I'm all for it.

I am actually very disappointed by the map myself. While I can appreciate the effort to finally build a cohesive foundation for the lore, there are so many things they could have easily done to avoid contradicting the older games, and they just completely ignored them. For example, it would have cost them absolutely nothing to keep the layout of the original Rayman 1 map intact and simply build the new locations around it. Doing that wouldn't have affected the relative positions of the Legends worlds at all. Yet, even something that simple was disregarded.

[Pirez]

I agree with the overall point, but I'm getting the feeling that it's the creative team that had to fit the lore around the fact that management imposed a RL remake.

It's true that if I was to make a remake, I'd have chosen Origins to turn it into an actual origin story (the thing that was teased in the first trailer. No I'm still not over this).

[Niknud2005]

More details on the contents of the launch edition:

[Xtof60]

The map is beautiful, even it doesn't make a lot of sense.

By the way, here is some gameplay for a couple more invaded levels:

[hoodlumsworld]

Now that I think about it, it's true that treating the original Legends as just a goofy dream sequence was the perfect excuse for all the medieval tropes and real world parodies. By giving Retold a serious narrative and grounding it with a new map, it completely canonizes the generic fantasy stuff over the weird, alien mystery of the older games. I already hated the Generilla design, but permanently shifting the tone of the whole universe is an even bigger pill to swallow.