>>11520312>Expand on the animal appeal?They still use P1/P2 and Plus-era characters for a lot of branding and merchandise so I'm personally expecting them to commit to big-lipped vintage and Plus-style oddball design philosophies down the line rather than only adhering to the Pochitchi/Mimitchi level of animal-style characters the Paradise uses. The fact that they managed to string nostalgic "Heisei-era" fans with the Connection remakes, have meme magic that actually works with their Japanese fanbase through Omisecchi, and brought in returning global fans who fell out of love and newcomers alike with the Paradise shows they struck gold with the formula they have right now.
The Connection remakes are also doing very well since they're often sold out and have to be bought at resale price in Japan, so I feel like they'll commit to that too and release more shells and editions down the line, just like the vintage Angel remake. My guess is that they'll skip the v2 and Akai due to their region exclusivity and being seen as redundant and go straight to the v4/Entama. Entama's gameplay is significantly different from v4 however, so I'm not really sure which gameplay style they'll use here.
I also expect to see more Marutchi. He's become more powerful as a mascot than anything Bandai intentionally tried designing, and they're fully leaning in on it now. Any new entry will likely have him or a character inspired by him.
