As lovers of video games here at our humble community, Culture of Gaming, we love new games and we can’t wait for sequels to new games as well. But what happens when sequels to these games that we love feel unnecessary? When does too much of a good thing become bad?
Warning: Opinion About Game Sequels Ahead
Please keep in mind that these games feel personal to me. The games you pick will differ. Please remember that this is not me saying what franchises should die. Also, some of these games have story reasons behind them. I will try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, but some things may come out. You’ve been warned. With that warning out of the way, let’s get started!
The Last Of Us
I have decided to start in a way that will let you understand what I mean when I say “doesn’t need a sequel” as opposed to “franchises that deserve to die”. I love The Last Of Us. I can’t wait to buy The Last Of Us Part II on day one. And I HATE buying games on day one at full price.
Metal Gear
The Metal Gear/Metal Gear Solid games remain a devisive series to this day. Some people looking at series director Hideo Kojima see an auteur, a true rockstar of the video game world with the ability to turn video games into masterful think-pieces. Others see a pretentious clod who believes his own hype.
If you read my little bio at the bottom of this page, you’d think I fall closer to the former. While I do think he can get a little pretentious at times, I believe Kojima uses each game to talk about where he is in his life. And he has wanted to pass on the Metal Gear franchise ever since Metal Gear Solid 2 in 2001. Yet for one reason or another, he ended up making four more main series games. Answering questions that, arguably, never should have had answers.
Things only got worse when, in 2015, Kojima left Konami on bad terms. This followed the release of Metal Gear Solid 5, which some would argue is unfinished. The story definitely feels that way. A giant nuke gets stolen and we never see what happens to it. But perhaps because Konami became impatient with how fast Kojima worked (we may never know for sure), the story remains unfinished.
So if Metal Gear has an unfinished story, why not have a sequel finish it once and for all? First of all, Kojima no longer owns the rights to Metal Gear. Any story told would not be the author’s original vision.
Secondly, Kojima doesn’t want to do Metal Gear anymore. He’s since moved on with Sony and Death Stranding. As lovers of video games, we all know what happens when game creators don’t care about their product anymore. Seeing as Konami owns Metal Gear, he couldn’t create another if he wanted to.
It might not seem like all hope lost, seeing as Kojima has wanted to pass on the series for a long time anyway. But my biggest reason for not wanting a Metal Gear sequel remains the most telling reason. Konami did release a Metal Gear spinoff after Kojima left, entitled Metal Gear Survive.
The premise involves an inexplicable wormhole that drops nameless soldiers from Big Boss’s base into a boring zombie infested desert. Konami did itself no favors by including offensive microtransactions including one that lets you pay an extra ten dollars to create another save file. Suffice to say, I hope that Kojima shows us a passionate work of art with Death Stranding. I also hope that Konami learns what fans want out of a Metal Gear game, because God knows, they will try again if it makes them money.
Final Fantasy
I love the Final Fantasy series. I binged the first ten games to get ready for the first Dissidia game after only playing 4, 6, and 10. I was that hooked. I could go on about how the creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, was the heart of the series and Nobuo Uematsu, the composer, was the soul. And without them both, each of the subsequent sequels feels shallow and empty.
But that’s for another day. After all, Final Fantasy XV has its fan base and I can respect it. What I’m talking about includes games like X-2, The After Years, Lightning Returns, and Dirge of Cerberus. One of the wonderful things about Final Fantasy includes that each numbered game in the franchise stands on its own. Uneasy allies with tragic pasts do more together than they ever could alone, and I find it beautiful.
It seems that every time they made a direct sequel to a game in the franchise, it feels unnecessary. An example includes in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The sequel may also completely undermine character development and growth from the first game. An example includes Final Fantasy X’s sequel, X-2.
In my opinion, any Final Fantasy story that can’t be told in one epic game doesn’t deserve to be told. And with the “heart” and “soul” of the franchise gone, I sincerely hope they never touch a sequel to my favorite Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IX.
There may exist franchises that do deserve to go away and never come back. But some games, we just want to leave the way we remember them, untouched by time. I suppose that’s the power of nostalgia. I really liked writing this. I may decide to continue with more examples. Let me know!
What games do YOU love that you don’t want a sequel to? Any game you’re burnt out on? Let us know in the comments below!
