All of these licenses seem really, really strict. And the negotiating power, I'd imagine, is more one sided than balanced. I'd have to think style guides, branding, and all of the images and how they're rendered are often largely out of the hands of the creative crew, sadly. Maybe some are less restrictive, but we're not getting a Mucha-esque rendering of Gene Wilder combined with psychadelic fonts.

What's funny is, for me obviously, I almost feel Wonka's theme execution is actually TOO good! Compared to the muted license of Pirates, it's a bit much for me to imagine playing more than 2 or 3 games back to back. Pirates' tone, it's lack of assets being bombarded constantly, as well as it's sound design being structured in a way that feels more in the background, than incessant, is more pleasing for me.

Wonka was so great to witness and play last Friday, but there's a part of me that enjoys the theme and the flow and rhythm of Pirates more than any other JJP game. As much as people criticize the lack of it's license, to me it strikes the perfect balance of IP and original design that no other JJP game has so far. It doesn't rely on its license for the breadth of the game experience, rather it's license bolsters it.