Good news everyone! This console generation is finally coming to life! Huzzah! How, you ask? Well, for starters, there have already been some great games released. There was the ‘fifth’ Grand Theft Auto (it’s actually the 15th GTA title), that Witcher 3 seemed to get some pretty universal praise, there was a fourth Killzone, a fifth main entry in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, a fourth Killzone, and a pretty good third Dead Rising. In addition, take a look at the line-up of games that we’re expecting in the next 18 months. There’s the fifth numbered installment of Metal Gear Solid that’s just been released, and the fourth numbered installment of Fallout. And the third installment of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Oh, and don’t forget about the fourth Uncharted or fourth Gears of War. What’s that? Sequel fatigue, you say? Why, the very thought of…oh, who am I kidding? Look, I love some of those franchises. I really do. I know for a fact that I’ll buy at least three of those games. But I also find it increasingly difficult to get motivated for a generation that – Bloodborne aside – is currently defined by sequels and HD remasters, especially when they act as mere continuations of a story that has probably run for too long already with slightly improved game mechanics. Of course, publishers and developers have perfectly valid reasons for sticking with the sequels. In an industry where the cost of developing a AAA title can rival the annual GDP of some small nations, risk aversion is all-too-common, yet entirely understandable. However, there comes a time with every games franchise, where the diminishing sales returns probably make it no longer worth the investment, and the current glut of sequels mean that this point could arrive sooner rather than later for several of those franchises. What to do though? Well, remember the swell of opinion a few years back that perhaps games should strive to be more like films in order to be taken seriously? And how we came to the conclusion that this was, of course, nonsense? That games should continue to carve out their own distinct corner of the entertainment market and mature on their own terms? Scratch that… Games franchises need to be more like television. Of course, with the still-fairly-recent advent, and subsequent massive popularity, of the episodic game, the industry has already adopted the most defining feature of televisual media. However, what I’m getting at refers to a genre of television that has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years, spearheaded by the likes of American Horror Story and True Detective – namely the anthology, a series of differing stories told under the one broad banner. Some games have tried to capture this though, including recent release Until Dawn being narratively episodic, and the TellTale Games franchises like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, et al. Not to mention Life is Strange and of course Remedy Games last release Alan Wake, and the forthcoming Quantum Break also adopting this episodic approach. However a lot of these do tend to just tell one story, from one perspective and even though they are following the television inspired presentation, as a player you rarely move from your view as sole protagonist. In many cases, games have become frustratingly prone to creating fascinating and potentially massive worlds, but then focussing on one very specific story within that world. As a result, we get a series of sequels that all feed into that single overarching story without ever really exploring the outer edges of that story and the world it takes place in. The Gears of War franchise is possibly the best example of this. The first one establishes the story and the characters, then proceeds to stretch that story out over the following two games, never really daring to deviate from its chosen path, and refining its mechanics along the way. The first three Mass Effect games also follow a similar formula, although they do at least explore the stories of some of its non-playable characters, and Mass Effect: Andromeda will tell a whole new story in the expanded universe. Both franchises have been wildly successful, but both franchises also have their fair share of nay-sayers, in part because of each game essentially telling the next part of the same story. On the opposite side of Microsoft Studios games, Halo has gone to great length to distance itself from its original story. Bungie had long allowed us to explore the greater universe and events surrounding Master Chief with ODST and Reach, but it’s something that 343i are continuing to do with Halo 5, the reinvention of the chief as a potential rogue and a lot of supporting media including the Halo Nightfall series that established the Locke character and the excellent Hunt The Truth podcasts of an actual investigative journalist discovering fictional secrets and untruths. But still, it doesn’t budge too much from its military space faring characters and constant war against the Covenant. If developers and publishers need proof that an anthology franchise can be successful at AAA level, then they need look no further than perhaps the biggest games franchise on the planet – Grand Theft Auto. Each game has existed in the same universe – the existence of Lazlow and ads for Pisswasser in each one confirms as much – but has told its stories through the lens of a different protagonist each time (even extending this through to GTA IV’s DLC). Another example of AAA gaming getting the anthology model right is the Final Fantasy series, which shows no sign of waning, in spite of now reaching its 15th numbered entry (without even touching on the -2s and the Tactics of the series). This is, in part, thanks to the fact that each one tackles a different story. The sales successes would have made it very easy for Rockstar and Square Enix to churn out sequel after sequel after sequel, with Claude appearing in every GTA and Cloud appearing in every FF. It is, therefore, to their eternal credit that they have chosen to take the risk, and eschew rehashing the same popular characters, in favour of fresh stories, fresh characters and fresh environments. At a time when more games and more options for playing those games are available than at any other time in gaming’s short history, developers and publishers may need to consider the possibility that multi-game tellings of the one story just don’t cut it anymore. To stand out from an increasingly diverse crowd, now may be the time to say goodbye to the sequel.
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