According to a recent New York Times article, Destiny co-creator Joseph Staten is writing the story for the upcoming Xbox One exclusive game from Keiji Inafune, ReCore.

According to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, 2016 will be the year of new IP for Xbox One, and when one looks at the the slate of games coming to the console next year, it's a statement that's hard to argue with. One such new IP is an exclusive game from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune called ReCore, which will be written by the co-creator of Destiny, Joseph Staten.

This news comes from a recent article in The New York Times, which focused on the role of female characters in gaming. As those that have been following ReCore since its announcement will know, the game features a female protagonist, and thanks to the New York Times article, we now know a little bit more about the game.

Firstly, the female protagonist is named Joule, and she is on a journey to save humanity. While the ReCore E3 2015 trailer didn't show any gameplay, we do know that Joule's shape-shifting robot companion will play a central role, and that the core mechanics are heavily inspired by Nintendo franchises Metroid and The Legend of Zelda.

Unfortunately, gameplay wasn't really discussed in the New York Times article, as it focused mainly on the fact that the main character is female. Joseph Staten had this to say on the matter:

"The male gender does not have the monopoly on heroism. Joule is emblematic of this conviction, and we hope she's a character who stands strong and stands out in a market filled with male heroes."

So, now fans have to wonder, is Joseph Staten writing ReCore's story a good thing? Staten left Bungie for Microsoft about two years ago, and since then, the universe he created with Destiny has been heavily criticized for its lacking story. That being said, Staten also has experience working on the Halo franchise, and those games are generally praised for their plots, with a couple exceptions.

Something else to take into account is that Destiny's story used to be very different. It is possible that the original, more fleshed-out version of the Destiny story is the one that Staten was largely involved with, though most of it was left on the cutting room floor before the game launched.

Ultimately, it seems as though Destiny can't be a good indicator of whether or not Staten will deliver a compelling story and in-game universe when ReCore released next year. Destiny's story went through some dramatic changes before it launched, and we have no idea who exactly at Bungie or Activision is to blame for said changes. In any case, hopefully we see more of ReCore soon, so we have a better idea just what Microsoft is hoping to accomplish with this new IP.

ReCore is expected to launch at some point in 2016, exclusively for the Xbox One.

Source: The New York Times