Apparently, Konami is up to something more than just going back to more of its old legacies in software titles as included as one new item in an ESRB listing for a title yet to be announced called Enchanted Wonderland. With the publisher showing rekindling interests in some of its huge franchises in Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid for most of the time during last year, this latest leak seems to hint at a family-oriented adventure gaming shift for the publisher. Rated “E for Everyone”, the title appears poised for a major third-party offering for the burgeoning Nintendo Switch family, including the highly anticipated successor console.
Compared to the others, an interesting aspect of the ESRB filing is that it describes the core gameplay loop in surprising detail, which is geared toward a magical world in which players must “gather joy” to restore a rundown theme park. That premise is tied to exploring different environments as well as interacting with non-player characters and mastering magical abilities. Much of the experience revolves around attractions typical of a theme park, materializing as mini-games. As a specific example cited in the rating, a shooting gallery for UFOs, a classic arcade trope that fits Konami’s historical roots in coin-op entertainment.
It also confers a multiplayer feature on its own: according to the listing, it states that users can interact with each other in-game. It’s been unclear how the social interaction will function; however, it certainly leans toward a live-service or cooperative element designed for long-lasting player engagement. Since the typical time that card ratings are entered is pretty much late in a game development cycle, there seems to be general consensus about Enchanted Wonderland being close to a formal introduction. Timing is in line with continuous rumors about an impending Nintendo Direct, in which Konami has made a habit of showcasing its platform-exclusive offers in history.
Interestingly this marks a totally new strategic shift for Konami into the very interesting “all ages” territory. After decades of focusing on pachinko and mobile titles and then lately moving into the heigh fidelity chops of high-end horror remakes, Enchanted Wonderland almost seems like they are trying to target that audience which has really gravitated towards games like Disney Dreamlight Valley or Animal Crossing. This suggests that if the game turns out to be one of the Switch 2 showcase titles, it may probably become a very important metric of how Konami actually intends to balance the possession of mature and established IPs with launching new brands which would be accessible in the next-generation hardware.
