Gigantic — A Great Game… were it allowed to be

Another MOBA bites the dust

It’s not ever-so-often that I take the time to talk about something MOBA-related. If you were wondering, I like MOBAs. In fact, when they were all the heat in the early 2010s, I wanted to play as many MOBAs as possible because they all withered eventually, and I wanted to make the best of it. There is something really eye-catching in a game that offers an ever-increasing plethora of vivid characters to choose from, each with their own personality and methodology for performing certain tasks in the game they appear in, and MOBAs do just that. Too bad nobody cares about them because, as I said, most of them died. But there was one that I was hoping would become a thing, but it came too late to the party and, as they say, “you snooze, you lose”. Anyway, that awesome game was Gigantic.

In terms of quality, I think that Gigantic was a step ahead of other MOBAs when it was still around. The game itself seemed like a compromise between a MOBA and a hero shooter, so no one could decide if it was one or the other. Regardless, the game was praiseworthy in its distinct graphics, great voice-acting, smooth animations, fast-paced action-orientated combat, and gameplay that’s atypical of a MOBA without compromising the core gameplay of the genre. When I meant “praiseworthy”, I was referring to how it captivated me because I liked this game, so I was completely bummed out when it went away. The game probably hadn’t come, and everyone knew it since the quality did not match the revenue, which forced the developers to shut down the game. Its failure stems mainly from two reasons: One, the messy development process it suffered throughout its life by the people responsible for it. And two, as I said already, the fact that it came too late to the party to establish its presence among MOBAs. But like I always say, it was fun while it lasted.

But I wonder… what kind of lore would the game have if it were allowed to be? The developers of this game had something in mind, and it shows how colourful the game was. One of the levels was a canyon that was once an ocean (so it’s actually a dried-up ocean), but the souls of all the creatures that lived in it now appear as ghosts, so what you see in the levels are several jellyfish “swimming” in the air. The characters were promising too, because one character by the name of Pakko, who is just the cutest snowball you’ve ever seen, was going to be the next Hello Kitty. Unfortunately, success for the game never manifested. But what kind of lore would it have? How would THAT communicate to the fans?

What lore is there to explore?

One thing that was extremely eye-catching about Gigantic was how colourful it was because the art style is as distinct as it could get. Unfortunately, the game didn’t get to develop to the point where it has a TV adaptation of its own (like how Arcane is to League of Legends), and all great MOBAs start with almost zero lore, so there wasn’t a lot to go on in that department either.

But there were signs that there could’ve been something greater. You had the giant beasts who always fought each other; the dried-up ocean with the jellyfish ghosts that was never explained; I bet they were planning an entire merch line just for Pakko, who is, again, the cutest ever (and I can’t stress it enough). These kinds of elements are indicative of a high-quality franchise, if not a successful one, and Gigantic was very high-quality, especially when you consider that the game could only run on above-average hardware.

But alas, the game died, and any opportunity to build a colourful world is dead with it. But I should take the time to think what kind of world Gigantic would have been… were it allowed to be…

I just want a shirt with Pakko on it

From what I remember, the most explicit lore about Gigantic is that there was something about two houses (“houses” like in Game of Thrones… that type of houses), each represented by one of the two giant monsters, known as Guardians, present in the game. I suppose one was good and one was evil because nothing was known about them, and the “good and evil” thing was only represented by the design and colours of the Guardians because there was nothing explicit suggesting that one was good, and the other was evil.

That’s all there was to the history/politics that happened in the world of Gigantic. But what are the environments? The Game had four: an Antarctica-like tundra; a mellow forest; ruins overgrown with vegetation; and, of course, the canyon/ocean with ghost jellyfish mentioned above. The last one tells the most story due to its peculiar features. There were also plans for a flying city of sorts, so that could’ve told an even more incredible story. But what to make of all of it?

From the looks of it, what could’ve become of Gigantic was that of a kid-friendly fantasy world… of sorts. There could’ve been room for more Guardians to appear in the game (and the developers were indeed planning to make more) of all kinds, some cuter than others to coincide with Pakko’s character. And I suppose that there could’ve been more creative environments, such as a volcano spewing purple lava or something (why is the lava purple, I have no idea). I want to keep brainstorming, but there’s only so much room for words, but in truth, I can’t predict what would’ve become of Gigantic. I suppose that it’s a hit MOBA in some parallel universe, but I already told that joke one too many times. However… it would’ve been nice to have been a story developer for it… if that notion was relevant, that is.

Did you play Gigantic before it died?

Because I did, and it was fun! Not that it matters too much… anyone’s opinion, that is since the game is dead (even mine). But it’s nice to reminisce about cool games, so if you played it, tell me what you think.

In Conclusion…

Gigantic is… um… was an awesome game. It’s a shame that it went, but I guess it was inevitable. Maybe next life… who knows?

What lore could the game have had? I was trying to talk about how developers communicate their ideas to the fans, which may or may not succeed, and I tried to approach this through storytelling. I realise now that there is much more to be done than just storytelling. Regardless, it does seem like the problem is bigger than just what the plot of the game is or how the characters are designed. But in all honesty, there is no solution for anything related to Gigantic because the game is not coming back, and no whining will bring it back.

So… what do we do about it?