In June of 2021, WayForward announced a prequel to River City Girls called River City Girls Zero. The Switch version of Zero arrived in February of this year, but the wait has been much longer for other platforms. Today at the Game Realms store in Burbank, California, WayForward held a Q & A session for the RCG series. Attendees and Twitch viewers gained fascinating insights into the development of both River City Girls Zero and 2, plus we learned when the two games are coming out.
The two WayForward staff who participated in the Q & A session include Bannon Rudis, RCG2 director and Adam Tierney, RCG1 director and RCG Zero project lead. We've already interviewed both gentlemen about River City Girls Zero and River City Girls 2, so be sure to check those interviews for lots of choice information.
From left: Bannin Rudis, Adam Tierney, and two Game Realms staff
During the panel, WayForward shared the following tidbits about the River City games in general:
- Bannin would like to do a cel-shaded fighting game featuring the RCG, but it's up to Arc System Works. WayForward has also expressed interest to Arc in a new River City sports game.
- When asked for their thoughts on the recently-released River City Saga: Three Kingdoms from Arc System Works, WayForward mentioned the game's abundant dialogue and lengthy story mode. Adam Tierney praised Saga's inclusion of Kyoko and Misako as unlockable characters.
- WayForward is working on a River City Girls artbook that will compile high-definition artwork from all three games in the series. They're not ready to announce the publisher yet, but they promise the theme of the book will appeal to River City fans.
River City Girls Zero (Switch version)
As for River City Girls 2, we learned these specific details:
- RCG2 has a revamped respawn system in which players can choose to either respawn in the immediate area or return to a hideout. Hideouts are safe areas found in each "world" (district) with relaxing music. There, players can select from all unlocked helper characters. RCG2 allows two helpers to be equipped at a time.
- Online games of RCG2 don't allow pausing, but players can see when other players are accessing menus from their in-game phones.
- WayForward was asked about a potential 4-player mode in RCG2. The developers neither confirmed nor denied the possibility. Interesting!
River City Girls Zero
As for release dates, the long-awaited Xbox and PlayStation versions of River City Zero will launch on Tuesday, September 13. The Steam version will arrive at a later date. RCG Zero, an enhanced version of a classic Super Famicom game, features 2-player local co-op.
River City Girls 2 was recently delayed so that WayForward can polish the game's online multiplayer functionality. The new release window is late 2022. RCG2 features 2-player local and online co-op. Let's hope that 4-player mode becomes a reality as well! Play-Asia is currently accepting preorders for physical collections of River City Girls 1 and 2 on PlayStation and Switch.