Oct 19, 2024
Wolfen (1981) dir. Michael Wadleigh
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Wolfen (1981) dir. Michael Wadleigh
Toledo, OH
May 2025
Nikon N80
Wolfen NC 500 ISO 400
horror sub-genres: werewolf
Render of a skirmish between Fox McCloud vs. Star Wolf in the Sargasso Space Zone for Star Fox Assault
Hey y'all. What a launch week, right? Sure, it's only been five days... But I've been mulling over a few things. A few thoughts and feelings, specifically about where I want Star Fox to go from here.
- For starters: Andross is dead. Star Wolf is not. What happens to them? Here's what I think. What if Battle Mode is diegetic? Hear me out: What if the three battles across Battle Mode actually happen, and Star Wolf is making moves on The Cornerian Defense Force's holdings, and Star Wolf, alongside some stragglers - like Caiman - took control of a Venomian Carrier and started wreaking havoc independently on CDF holdings, on the behalf of either an unknown force (the logs DO state that Andross had some forces outside of Lylat, given the Saucerer's utterly unknown origins!) OOOOOOORRRR...
- Andrew is hellbent on revenge. Star Fox not only destroyed Andross' army in one fell swoop, annihilating his uncle's forces, but also just outright killed his much-beloved Uncle. While Andrew is an absolute nepo-baby far outside of his league, Andross afforded his Nephew these privileges for a reason - Andross is a mad genius. Or, well, was. What if Andross saw something in Andrew, and knew the safest place for him to be was under the protection of his hire-on mercenaries? What if, in the event of his death, he'd know that his nephew, utterly obsessed with him as he was, would break at the loss of his uncle? What if Andrew is driving some of these changes, motivating and or incentivizing Star Wolf, as possibly the selected heir? What if this event fundamentally changes Andrew as a person? I know this is a lot of weight to put on our favorite Nepo-Baby's shoulders, but what if they actually did something interesting with Andrew this time, instead of making him a weird Andross wannabe? (Who, admittedly, DID muster up enough forces to make Venomian Remnants a threat to the CDF! Bravo, squirt!)
Beyond that?
- Girls. Give me girls. Velan hit it out of the park with Katt, but give me more women. I want them on Venom, Corneria, fighting the bad and good fight. I want Miyu and Fay. I want Fara. No, Fara does not have to be Fox's romantic partner. She can literally just be a team gal-pal much like Miyu and Fay are! There's room for Krystal and the classic romance, it's a'ight! We can have four women added. Why not? I'd love that. Wouldn't y'all love that? Someday, Lucy and Amanda too. Why not? But let's get Miyu and Fay in first. They've sat in the shadows way, way too long - and just look at the sub's banner, we all recognize them here!
- More games with new stages and new branching paths. This is what makes Star Fox work. The games that don't have branching paths don't do good, Command aside. It's essential to Star Fox's identity. We can deviate from that here and there for sure, totally. But I want to fight across Lylat's forgotten planets from the original game, too! There's a whole four other planets before Corneria, and surely things beyond Venom to see! There's moons to these planets, and nebulae in between! Bring back Sector Alpha, Omega, show us that beautiful Space Colony again! Show us Sauria once more - we know it's in Lylat! A distant corner, probably far beyond Venom! (You know, given how Andross got there first in the old timeline!)
- Arwing variants! Give us the Heavy and Interceptor Arwings. That adds so much replayability. Diversify the Arwings of the primary cast. I loved this about Command, I've never seen anybody say, "Yeah it sure sucked that Slippy, Falco, Krystal Fox and Peppy all had Arwings distinct from each other." Who's ever said that? The variety is cool!
- On Star Wolf, show us Panther again! Algy's a weird one, it's always been a toss-up based on who was calling shots AFAIK (thank you Ms. Solaris!) with regards to if it's Algy or Andrew, but bring us Panther back! Add a Star Wolf lady or two! Show us someone brand spankin' new, I say..! Or, you could even split Miyu and Fay into Star Wolf and Star Fox (something I've had in my head for years, and something y'all think is cool too!)
- Give Star Wolf Wolfen variants too! I LOVE the new Wolfen II, and I think it'd be so so so cool if there was a mix of Wolfen, Wolfen II, and some other new stuff. Once again, Command was so cool for giving everyone a custom Wolfen. This can never ever be a bad thing outside of Multiplayer gameplay balance (and even then, it's workable!)
- New concepts! The freeroam centric Star Fox 2 concept is super nifty, but it's okay if we don't have that - and it's okay if we do, too! I wanna' see Nintendo and Velan REALLY throw their wings into All Range Mode and show us what they can do!
- More Bill and Katt. Simple as. We love them, and so does Slippy and Falco.
All in all, these are my hopes for Star Fox going forward. I don't need remakes forever and I'm open to reinterpretations and retellings, but take us somewhere totally new and bold! What is Star Wolf without Andross, but with Andrew? What happens to Pigma? What happens with Fox and Falco, now that Falco's gotten over it? What of the characters sitting on benches (Miyu, Fay, Krystal)? All questions I want answered.
What do y'all think?
According to the japanese Guide of Star Fox 64 the Wolfen were designed by Andross and Pigma
My headcanon is that Andross and Pigma designed the Wolfen by using Pigma's old Arwing as Basis
Wolfen (1981)
Wolfen (1981, Michael Wadleigh)