Discussing Restitched: will Stuffy ever be Sackboy?

It's been a whole 17 years since Sackboy entered our lives through the first LittleBigPlanet game by Media Molecule. And it's been almost one year since the online servers for the franchise closed permanently. Across the span of that decade and a half, LittleBigPlanet has impacted my life phenomenally.

Sackboy saw me sit my year 6 SATs in primary school. He saw me cry over maths in secondary school, only to take it as an A-Level in college. He saw me give up my dreams of becoming an architect (because of A-Level maths), but watched me overcome it all and find passion in journalism at university instead. He shaped the childhood of every kid who was born in the late 90's and 00's, and even early 2010's, so it comes as no surprise that he is informally declared as Playstation's mascot by most. But now we live in an era where Sackboy must pass the baton on to his (alleged) successor, Stuffy.

I know my beloved bundle of brown knit can't be around forever, but I seriously wish he could. From day one, there has been something so unique about Sackboy that no game development company could ever quite capture the essence of. He's irreplaceable, if you will (despite him dying and respawning like nothing ever happened).

Sackboy is adored by many for how much personality he has despite him being just a little guy. LittleBigPlanet allows Sackboy to be incredibly expressive through facial expressions and actions, making up for his inability to speak. Sackboy can be different levels of happy, sad, scared, and angry with hand gestures to match each emotion (peace signs, thumbs down, shivering hands, and fists respectively). He's also entirely customisable, and thanks to him being a BNOP (big name on Playsation), there are endless video games desperate to collaborate and see Sackboy sporting their merch.

Now, I should cut Stuffy some slack - his game's not even out yet - and I understand that Restitched is a project inspired by Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet. However, for me personally, Restitched is just a bit too similar. Yes, a 2.5D platform game featuring a cute stuffed toy that you play as isn't the most inventive thing in the world, but it almost feels like Stuffy is being forced to be something that he's not. Trixel Creative have undeniably done an amazing job at creating a stunning game that looks really fun to play, but I don't feel like it's going to fill the Sackboy shape in my heart.

I apologise dearly Stuffy, I do think you're cute - but what I really need is LBP4 game.