My Little Pony: The Game (Johnsonverse)

My Little Pony: The Game is a 2018 action-adventure game based on the 2010 relaunch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro and the television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010-2020) developed by Hasbro Interactive and published by Johnson Games. Set between the series' eighth and ninth seasons, it follows the adventures of a customizable pony who befriends the Mane Six, and together, they must stop various evil forces from using the Tree of Harmony to conquer not only the pony and human dimensions, but all of space and time.
Development for the game began in 2015, with the goal of creating a video game aimed above the franchise's target audience. Sporting a combination of animated cutscenes and an advanced version of Johnson Games' Equine Engine that allows it to both replicate the art style of the show and use many of its assets, the game was released on November 29, 2018, and was critically acclaimed for its voice acting, writing, graphics, and gameplay. A follow-up game based on the Equestria Girls spin-off franchise, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Time to Travel, was released on November 1, 2020.
== Gameplay ==
In the game, players customize the pony they play as; they can select the pony's gender (filly or colt), their species (Earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn), one of six voices for each gender (the voices each have completely different lines both in-game and in cutscenes), their cutie mark (which gives them certain powers in the game), as well as colors for any accessories, clothing, fur, mane and tail, their eyes, and styles. When not in a level, players can explore Ponyville, Canterlot and other locations such as Our Town, Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, and Cloudsdale (if their character is a pegasus), and go to places like the Castle of Friendship, interact with other characters, learn new moves from Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts, learn new spells from Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon (if the character is a unicorn), buy clothes from one of Rarity's boutiques, visit the School of Friendship, and buy food items from locations such as Mrs. Cake's bakery, the Hay Burger and the Apple farm, using the in-game currency known as "bits". They can also acquire items such as clothing or upgrades from other players in the Ponyville post office, which is run by Derpy Hooves.
In-game combat utilizes a turn-based style similar to other RPG games; they can also summon characters such as Discord and Trixie to aid them.
== Story ==
The game opens at the Ponyville Train Station, where an unnamed pony comes out of the train. They are greeted by Pinkie Pie, who shows the pony around Ponyville. They go to the Castle of Friendship, where the pony meets Twilight Sparkle, who introduces herself to them; she also introduces Starlight Glimmer and Spike. She trains the pony on basic combat functions and controls as part of a tutorial and shows them around Ponyville; Twilight explains that there have been signs of a looming threat to Equestria. 
Twilight introduces the pony to Rainbow Dash, who demonstrates her lightning speed at moving clouds to the pony and teaches them how to use running as a combat function. After this, Twilight takes them to Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, completing the tutorial. Just then, several soldiers from TBA arriv.e 
== Cast ==
* The Protagonist (Filly Voice 1: Tabitha St. Germain; Filly Voice 2: Kelly Sheridan; Filly Voice 3: Andrea Libman; Colt Voice 1: Terry Klassen; Colt Voice 2: Lee Tockar; Colt Voice 3: Alvin Sanders) is the playable character. Being customizable, The Protagonist has a number of abilities to use, ranging from magical powers to more mundane abilities.
* Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong, speaking voice; Rebecca Shoichet, singing voice) is one of five Princesses of Equestria. The Element of Friendship, Twilight is a nerdy alicorn who TBA.
* Rainbow Dash (Ashleigh Ball) is the Element of Loyalty.
* Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman, speaking voice; Shannon Chan-Kent, singing voice) is the Element of Laughter.
* Applejack (Ashleigh Ball) is the Element of Honesty.
* Fluttershy (Andrea Libman) is the Element of Kindness.
* Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain, speaking voice; Kazumi Evans, singing voice) is the Element of Generosity.
* Starlight Glimmer (Kelly Sheridan) is Twilight's pupil.
* Spike (Cathy Weseluck) is a baby dragon and Twilight's assistant.
* Granny Smith (Tabitha St. Germain) is the paternal grandmother of Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac.
* Big McIntosh (a.k.a. Big Mac) (Peter New) is a stallion and Applejack and Apple Bloom's big brother.
* Apple Bloom (Michelle Creber) is the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Applejack's sister.
* Sweetie Belle (Claire Corlett) is a CMC member and Rarity's sister.
* Scootaloo (Madeleine Peters) is a CMC member who idolizes Rainbow Dash.
* Babs Seed (Brynna Drummond) is Apple Bloom's cousin.
* Trixie Lulamoon (Kathleen Barr) is an egotistical unicorn who refers to herself in the third person most of the time.
* Discord (John de Lancie) is a semi-reformed draconeqqus and the Lord of Chaos. He is Fluttershy's best friend, and can be summoned by the player during battle.
* Lavan (Brian Doyle-Murray) is the main antagonist of the game who, along with other villains, conspires to brainwash all five Princesses into handing them control of Equestria so they can rule it with an iron fist. He is based on the G1 villain of the same name.
* Derpy Hooves (Tabitha St. Germain) is a mailmare who runs the post office. She also appears at several other points throughout the game.
* Princess Celestia (Nicole Oliver) is one of five Princesses of Equestria and the
* Princess Luna (Tabitha St. Germain, speaking voice; Kazumi Evans, singing voice) is Celestia's sister and another of the five Princesses of Equestria.
* Princess Cadance (Britt McKillip) is Twilight's sister-in-law and another Princess of Equestria.
* Shining Armor (Andrew Francis) is Twilight's brother.
* Flurry Heart (Tabitha St. Germain) is Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's daughter and the last of the five Princesses of Equestria.
* Pound Cake (Tabitha St. Germain) is
* Pumpkin Cake (Andrea Libman) is
* Dr. Hooves (David Tennant, speaking voice; Peter New, singing voice) is a Time Lord from Gallifrey who was stuck in a pony's body after an encounter with The Master.
* Octavia Melody (Kazumi Evans) is a classical music player.
* Vinyl Scratch (Jesse Nowack) is a DJ and Octavia's best friend.
* Lyra Heartstrings (Ashleigh Ball) is a
* Sweetie "Bon Bon" Drops (Chantal Strand) is a
* Zecora (Brenda M. Crichlow) is a zebra who
* Cranky Doodle Donkey (Richard Newman) is a donkey who
* Matilda (Brenda M. Crichlow) is Cranky Doodle Donkey's wife.
* Sunset Shimmer (Rebecca Shoichet) is Celestia's former apprentice. According to Tim, he intentionally put Sunset in the game "as a gift for the Equestria Girls fanbase". Sunset was never featured in any advertising or even hinted at in interviews or promotions and, as a result, many players were reportedly shocked when they saw the character in the game.
== Development ==
=== Conception ===
The game was conceived in 2014 by Tim Johnson after the release of South Park: The Stick of Truth.
=== Graphics and animated sequences ===
The graphics are designed to look exactly like the animation on the show, and all cutscenes are animated at CinarDHX Media in Canada. The standard intro for the show (which was the one used in the eighth and ninth seasons between 2017 and 2019) is played at the beginning, though it can be skipped at any time. The stylized opening credits sequence, played when a new game is started, is based on the cutie marks of the ponies, with the characters seen through their cutie marks. The sequence was done by Johnson Studios, and is set to an orchestral rendition of the show's theme song.
===Voice acting===
The main voice cast from the show reprised their roles for the game.
== Release ==
The game was released on November 29, 2018 in the United States for various platforms, then in Canada and Europe the next day. It was released in Australia on December 10. In January 2019, it was released in Korea and Asia.
== Reception ==
=== Anti-piracy measure ===
Johnson Games inserted an anti-piracy measure to check if the copy is pirated. If it is, then after the intro, all the graphics are black-colored. In addition, if any person attempts to circumvent this, then the game will crash immediately after the intro.
Category:Johnsonverse