RWBY is receiving a new video game adaptation from WayForward and Arc System Works. The show is ripe for a game since its core premise is about fighting hordes of monsters in a way that's reminiscent of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. It's easy to see how the show's dynamic fight scenes would translate into a game where your character bounces around everywhere with a built-in excuse for multiplayer: Huntsmen work in squads. However, there's already a game adaptation of RWBY: Grimm Eclipse.
Grimm Eclipse started off as a fan game created by indie developer Jordan Scott. Scott was quickly hired by Rooster Teeth to officially develop the game, and it released on Steam in July 2016. Its gameplay revolves around hack-and-slash combat against hordes of Grimm that arrive in waves. Playing cooperatively with up to three other players is highly encouraged, as each additional player can control another Huntress in your squad. While the game was received positively by most fans, it saw much harsher reviews from the few critics that reviewed it. Worth Playing in particular criticized the game as "feeling unfinished," with a lack of narrative and overall polish that hurts the game's core gameplay.
RWBY's new game is a second chance for Rooster Teeth to do its most popular show justice. WayForward specializes almost exclusively in games that adapt existing works, and Arc System Works recently developed the BlazBlue fighting games, which featured RWBY characters as special guest stars. It's important that both of those studios look at Grimm Eclipse to see what they need to fix when developing this new adaptation.
Characters
RWBY is a veritable cornucopia of different characters. The modern world of Remnant emerged from a war in the distant past that threatened individual self-expression. Because of this, it's customary to name children after either colors or something evoking a color. Characters also tend to dress in highly distinctive and flamboyant outfits, and distinctive character designs are one of the show's greatest strengths. As such, it's a shame Grimm Eclipse only let you play as either teams RWBY or JNPR.
A range of playable characters, each with their own distinctive fighting style and abilities, would be a delight for a RWBY game. While that sort of range might strain development resources, it's worth noting Arc System Works' Dragon Ball FighterZ launched with 21 different playable characters. There are easily two dozen characters in the show who could comprise a diverse and versatile roster, including recent fan-favorites like the Ace Ops who could be included as DLC.
Story
While RWBY's storyline has been stunted (the first two seasons of the show have virtually no plot relevance to the overall story), it is ultimately a narrative fans find exciting enough to keep coming back to. Grimm Eclipse neglected this, instead telling a simple story consisting of Team RWBY investigating the tinkering of a dangerous mad scientist. A greater narrative for the game could see players interacting with the large and varied world of Remnant and is a must-have for the new game, especially since it would give a greater range of environments for the Huntsmen and Huntresses they control to fight through.
This game could also provide and opportunity for Rooster Teeth to flesh out an area of the world left unexplored in the show -- Vacuo. While the main characters have visited each others kingdoms, they've yet to travel to the eastern desert. This is also the homeland of Sun Wukong, a character absent from the show's later seasons. A visit to Vacuo would allow the developers more freedom to design the game's setting while also giving fans a peek at something they've known about since the very beginning of the show.