Epic Mickey Re:Painted

[Miru]

Big thanks to Lord Enemil on DeviantArt for the idea of the Underworld of Disgrace!


Epic Mickey was a really good franchise, or so it seemed. Well, I feel that it’s about time for the game to be brought back and fully stretch all four of its wings and perhaps even fly. The first game alone has a ton of missed potential, and I really believe that the second could be entirely scrapped and start from scratch, exploring more of the universe. The concept art of the original game is key to this new vision of Epic Mickey, the dark steampunk-chimera aesthetic of everything. Let us begin, with a new telling of Epic Mickey…


Prologue


“The Cartoon Wasteland was created so those forgotten could live in peace. Oswald was amongst the first residents, and soon became the king. Kinghood had a strong cost, and Oswald’s heart was lost into the inevitable folds of darkness, leaving him nobody to those outside this lost world. However, he ruled justly, yet still envied and feared his successor. The bright times were interrupted by the deafening crash of a being who was rejected from the light, and fell into a new world beneath Wasteland. This is known as the Underworld of Disgrace, a hungry abyss of endlessness and suffering. As Wasteland grew, Oswald sought to expand it.


Eventually, the Kingdom of Wasteland grew proud, as billions of inhabitants lived there. Until one day a great fool from the outside realms made a fatal mistake, and unleashed the Shadow Blot. The world was divided up in a series of great wars, known as the Blot Wars, where many were lost to darkness, and Oswald had to make sacrifices. Today, things are perhaps even worse than during the wars, as incomplete materials of what makes each and every one of us people lurk throughout the ruined nation, with oceans of deadly Thinner dividing every province of the land, and rampant warlords. He shall pay the price, as darkness will take his house!”



Wasteland creation myth, author unknown




We open on Mickey sleeping in his bed, as the calendar rolls over. He awakens and gets out of bed, and decides to check on the globe of Wasteland, and heads to the room where it is kept. This globe is about four times the size of our hero, and is suspended over an abyss at the bottom of the room. The globe radiates a green light, filled with strange ancient characters (the Atlantean language from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the Mara language from Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, and the symbols of the KH evil races), that encircles the entire room, illuminating the books and other items on the shelves. The Blot’s arm reaches from the globe, vainly trying to escape, but manages to grab hold of Mickey, whom is then sucked into the Wasteland.

I will start detailing the game’s sixteen main levels and eight postgame levels soon, and then the gameplay mechanics. This game will be a lot more action-focused than the original.

 

[Tanna Eros]

I do love this game. I play both games over and over.

 

[Miru]

Let me get some hype here! I present to you all the level names of the first game;

Dark Beauty Castle

Mean Street Under Siege

Giant’s ChronoTower

Hidden Factory

Atlantean Depths

Renegade Fleet

Mount Raiden

Forbidden Wonders

Mount Ouranos

Lonesome Manor

Temple of Eyes

Mount Chaac

The Lost Zone

Wasteland Fortress

Mickeyjunk Mountain

Within the Blot



And now, here’s the kicker; we have a post-game, too.


Floatyard

Prescott’s Arena

Stratospheric Station

The Styx

Tower of Nightmares

Graphite Highway

The Machine

Air Battalion

Hidden Spaceport


Post-game is based on California Adventure.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

I think Mean Street is more of a hub area than a level.

 

[Miru]

I think Mean Street is more of a hub area than a level.

Speaking of which, Mean Street is one of the game’s hub areas, which also include:

Gremlin Camp

OsTown

Bog Easy

Tomorrow City

D’isgny Gulch

Beast Country

Ventureland

Wasteland Gate




Downtown Wasteland

Moonlight Plaza

Aquilifer Landing

Eclipse Forest

Metal Backlot

Inferno Pier

Wasteland Hotel


I’m thinking of some optional areas too; Motorcity? (Cars Land) Something based on Willow and/or THX-1138 (Galaxy’s Edge)

Anyways, here’s the game’s first level:

Stage One: Dark Beauty Castle (Mean Street)

When Mickey is sucked into the Wasteland by the Shadow Blot, thus begins an opening action sequence where behind Mickey, one can see another, larger Wasteland park in the distance, and Mickey must find a way to escape the clutches of the Shadow Blot. Mickey will then land in Dark Beauty Castle, where we see the Mad Doctor’s lab table, where he then appears. He straps Mickey down to the table, and then extracts his heart, and turns it half-green and half-blue, before inserting it back into his body. “Your heart must become like a sponge if you are to survive.” This is what enables his transformations. Gremlin Gus then interrupts the Mad Doctor. If Mickey escapes the Shadow Blot, a hole will open up under the destroyed table of the Mad Doctor, allowing a different passage than if he did not escape. Going through the castle, one can see the decaying, dismal ruins of what was once a place of splendor for Oswald, with the Mad Doctor having applied bits of his personal touch to.

Oswald himself will occasionally pass by, showing fear of Mickey. Notice that sometimes the portraits of Oswald will change to the Nobody symbol. Spatter and Seer Blotlings will begin to crawl out of the crevices and cracks in the stony gray walls, after which Mickey will collect his paintbrush (named the Duality), your main weapon for most of the game. You can then use your paintbrush to spray Paint and Thinner on the Blotlings and objects. If Mickey escaped the Blot, the upper route reveals a talking music box, who jumps into your pocket, releasing a Tint. These Tints will be attracted to Mickey for good behavior. On the lower route, you enter an abandoned dungeon, and then The Mad Doctor’s mechanical arm then appears to try and finish Mickey off. Hit its base to disable it and reveal a pair of Turps. Turps are attracted to Mickey’s bad behavior. Exiting the castle grounds, Gremlin Gus flies down, excited to see Mickey, and briefs you on your mission to come, after rescuing another gremlin named Jamface. Soon, however, a Beetleworx appears at the top of the castle, and Mickey must climb his way to the top, as the enemy fires at him. Mickey can use hand-to-hand attacks to stun the Beetleworx, a Tanker, before finishing it off. After defeating the Beetleworx, a much bigger and scarier Beetleworx, the Splatter, appears. A chase sequence ensues, as Mickey cannot harm the Splatter yet. The Splatter chases Mickey through a crypt of the castle, with seven glass coffins, inscribed with “INERT” painted on each.
“What was that horrible thing?”, Mickey says to himself as the chase through Mean Street goes on. The Splatter, a hideous machination made of ink and scrap metal, chases the player all the way to the very entrance of Wasteland Park. It thrashes and throws fragments of buildings around, and tries to splash the player with Thinner. The Splatter is running low on its fear battery, though, and so it will eventually shut down, to be carried back to the castle. Look on the outside of the castle to see this inscription: “Her tale was twice told in tears of thundering terror and torrential tragedy. East of the Sun and West of the Moon, her tale was one of wonder. Forgotten by victory, singed by evil.”

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

There’s already a car theme area call Autotopia. There’s also River Country, and Discovery Island which were abandoned.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Wasn’t the heart suppose to be the way Mickey could leave the wasteland since those that are forgotten loses their hearts becoming inhabitants of the Wasteland?

 

[Miru]

There’s already a car theme area call Autotopia. There’s also River Country, and Discovery Island which were abandoned.

River Country, Discovery Island, and DisneyQuest will be in the sequel. Motorcity doubles as a tribute to a dearly-missed Disney XD show.

Wasn’t the heart suppose to be the way Mickey could leave the wasteland since those that are forgotten loses their hearts becoming inhabitants of the Wasteland?

Yeah. I’ll address that. Perhaps the half-blue, half-Green Nature makes him forced to stay there until it ends? Mickey is totally bound to wasteland, unlike other residents (what happens to those who try to leave is spoiler-worthy!)

Anyways, here is what I have for Stage 2 so far;

Stage Two: Mean Street Under Siege (Mean Street)

After the end of the hair-raising chase, Gus gives Mickey the map and times of the Wasteland Park. Mickey notices that there is also a set of “Forbidden Zones” outside the park. Gus says “They are forbidden for a reason, Mickey. We should seek the Gremlin camp, to meet with my own kind.” Easier said than done, as Blotlings roam the streets en masse. Mickey and Gus fight their way through the Blotlings, and then head through the secret Garden of the White Trident for a quick passage home, and end up confronting a new variety of Blotling known as the Swamp Master, a large, plant-like Blotling that is defeated by exposing and attacking its roots.
The Garden of the White Trident is a thing of ethereal beauty, with white smoke surrounding the lake. Inert mermaids decorate the area. Vines grow around the area, and extend into the lake, along with a circle of fir trees. The largest vine is decorated with tin hearts and robotic nightingales.

 

[Tank Man]

I grew up playing Epic Mickey 2 and saw stuff on the first but forgot about it and uncovered it a year ago and found the disc scratched and I was sad because me and my sister would always play that on our 360 as our favorite adventure game. It needs to come back with a better story. May not happen but they need an Imagineer team to help make it and I wish it got more love

 

[Miru]

Here’s where things really start.


Stage Three: Giant’s ChronoTower (Gremlin Camp)

When Mickey arrives at the ramshackle Gremlin Camp, he is met with the sight of the head of Animatronic Kermit, a machine crafted to keep Oswald happy. Kermit introduces the concept of the Animatronics, and how they must be re-assembled, through song. Gus clarifies that Animatronic Kermit’s other parts are probably in Bog Easy (however, there IS an animatronic Jiminy Cricket to find and complete here). Mickey first decides to help around the Gremlin Base. Soon, we hear screams as the Clock Tower comes to life. The Clock Tower has been driven mad by the constant sound of “It’s a Small World”, and has become hostile to all around him. Prescott, another Gremlin, tells Mickey about current events. “So, Gremlin Village was built out of necessity. There were many gremlins and so few places to put us other than right here after the Blot incident. So we set up camp here, and yet, somehow, so many of us got captured and placed in cages. We already thought the Thinner Disaster was bad enough, but now this is war. I’ve seen these events first hand, because as the leader, I was forced to do so.”

Around town, Mickey first gives the Animatronic Kermit’s head to Animatronic Mr. Toad for safekeeping, and then meets Persephone, goddess of Spring and Disney’s first realistic human. Persephone also has a plan to save the Wasteland from what is happening now, but is soon captured by the Clock Tower. A quest to save her ensues. Mickey must enter the attraction via the first Projector Screen Stage (Mickey and the Beanstalk) and find a way to get to the Clock Tower. Mickey starts in the industrial gears of the machinery, before entering the ride building, with a boat thankfully driven by our tireless companion Gus. We are introduced to the first common Beetleworx, Hoppers, in the Jungle Room, along with new types of Blotling in each room. The Jungle Room introduces Raptor and Panther Blotlings, as well as a forked path which allows players to enter one of two rooms; the Ocean Room (Aqua Blotlings) or the Desert Room (Toge Blotlings). After this path; the Ocean Room can lead to either the Oriental Room (Soulstalker) or the Arctic Room (Whiteclaw), while the Desert Room leads to either the Metro Room (Aerblaster) or the Mountain Room (Darknome). Regardless, although there are different missions that can be done in each room, each room also has links to rooms across from it, and Mickey ultimately enters the Goodbye Room, where he talks to the Singing Harp. If you have the Music Box, the Harp will take her for keeping, and inform you about her past. “She was once a chambermaid, before an Enchantress cast a spell on the castle. Before she was a chambermaid, she was the daughter of a wealthy man. Her name was Ashley.”

After Mickey gets done finding and fixing her strings, the Clock Tower takes her as well, with the Music Box jumping out back into your pocket. The battle between you and the maddened Clock Tower begins, Set to a twisted version of “It’s a Small World”. If Mickey is a Scrapper, the music will the play in reverse as well, complete with lyrics in reverse, or so it seems at first. If Scrapper Mickey goes for the violent route, the lyrics become only “Walt’s asleep forever, Jim’s asleep forever, Stan’s asleep forever” ad infinitum. As Hero Mickey, the music will begin to revert to normal as the fight continues. Depending on the form of Mickey and what he used, the results are varied. It is possible the Golden Harp’s base is melted away, allowing her to walk freely, Persephone may enter a battle form to help Mickey out, or that the Clock Tower is killed. You will also gain one of four new brushes to add to your collection; the Goddess of Spring, the Musical Wind, the Eternal Green, or the Metal Crusher. You may obtain all of them except the Metal Crusher under the right circumstances (all parties survive, both Persephone and the Harp are happy, and if Animatronic Jiminy is assembled, you may also go back much later in the game to get the Metal Crusher anyway).

After the boss is beaten, Gus and the rest honor Mickey with a celebratory dance party. Inside Gus’s shack is a familiar, key-shaped object under a sheet. “I have no clue what this doohickey is, but I have a gut feeling it is way too much responsibility for any of us at this moment.” Mickey then points to a swirling portal near the Teacups. “That place is extremely dangerous, but nothing’s come out and attacked us from there yet. Anyway, we need some intel work done right now. There’s a set of auxiliary lands to the original five, one of which is called OsTown. This is Oswald’s dwellings, and a place of commerce. Someone known as “The Device” operates there, and she’s said to have been working on projects for Oswald before the betrayal. She might know something about him that we don’t. She may also be able to operate the TriMount Defense System, which will turn the tide of battle. Each Mountain is located in a different region, these being D’Isgny Gulch, Beast Country, and Tomorrow City. Beast Country is one of those auxiliary regions I mentioned. But it seems a bounty huntress who calls herself Skorn could have it differently. Are you ready?”

You can later on return to the Clock Tower, and enter the highest point, where Madeline, the bell-ringer, resides. She will give you the reward known as Fidelis Maximus if you are a Hero.

Stage Four: Hidden Factory (OsTown)

Mickey enters OsTown, which currently is dilapidated. Animatronic Goofy’s head appears, and tells Mickey he must find his parts. You can take him to Animatronic Mr. Toad for safekeeping, or continue to find his parts. The big thing here is a large factory on the outskirts of town. Get inside and this stage begins.

Mickey makes his way up through a busy factory, with conveyor belts producing Beetleworx skeletons (Hoppers and Spinners), ominous red lights, and incomplete Animatronics of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Ludwig Von Drake. Blueprints of Animatronics line the walls, indicating the boss you reach as you race to the heights of the factory. Jump on springboards and across conveyor belts as you fight your way through Beetleworx.

Suddenly, an Animatronic Aladdin awakens. It has no personality and is designed only for combat, preparing to attack Mickey. After you defeat it, violently or otherwise, “The Device” reveals herself as Gadget Hackwrench. “Why do you arrive to this locale? Why would Mickey see me?” Your intentions are announced to her, and she informs you about what she needs to activate the TriMount Defense System. “Mickey, what is needed is a rare metal found within the outskirts of Atlantis. It’s in the Abyss of Nothing’s Distant Tears, you must take a submarine. That’s what I’ll need to get you to the Mountains and activate them. Here, you can have this Paintbrush I made.” She bestows you the Gadgeteer’s Touch, and if the Aladdin Animatronic survives, he gives you the Kaligrafx paintbrush as well.

We see Skorn outside, looking on at what’s going on. She marks Mickey as a target, potentially providing her with profits. If the Aladdin Animatronic is destroyed, you can reap its scimitar, but you must escape the crumbling laboratory. Regardless your next destination is clear. Gadget will talk to Gus about her discoveries, and the location is marked as clear. Off to Atlantis. Use the Projector Screen (The Jungle Book) to get there.

Stage Five: Atlantean Depths (Tomorrow City)

Entering Tomorrow City, Gadget, Gus, and Prescott enter a submarine to crew alongside you, and seek the needed element. This armed submarine sinks into the dark lagoon, surrounded by rocks. This is a vehicle stage, where your submarine is armed with claw arms to collect metal ore, and torpedos for combat. The ruins are guarded by Leviathan, still intact, albeit dormant. From this sleeping horror, a new Beetleworx boss, the Tainted Ocean, suddenly appears, sending players into a tense battle to sink it and its Blotling (Aquas, Dropwings, and the newly introduced Mariner and Torpedo Blotlings) crew. Deeper into the ruins, one may notice another submarine on your path. It’s Gadget’s old rival, LaWhinie! She now leads a deep-sea pirate crew, with Desiree DeLure as her first mate! A duel of the ships ensues. After defeating her, LaWhinie turns tail, leaving behind a piece of the metal required to activate the mechanism, along with the torso of Animatronic Donald.

Once the crew returns to the surface and disembarks, Mickey can go back and use a smaller sub to enter Atlantis again, where a statue of Kida and Milo holds another paintbrush; the Emerald Heart. You receive a vision that you might have to return to Atlantis later. On a nearby wall, it reads “She wished for an eternal soul, which she could never attain due to the nature of the world.” Skorn marks where Mickey has been and prepares for a confrontation. Gadget begins to work on the activation, but Gus has some more intel work. “Purportedly, a rogue animatronic is now operating somewhere in Bog Easy, an area accessed from the intersection of D’Isigny Gulch and Ventureland. He is said to be working on the production of an advanced Beetleworx. I think there’s a little fairy there who may be able to help.”

Next set of levels introduce two crucial plot points and a new game mechanic.