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It feels like absolutely everything is a franchise now.
This is creativity under capitalism, wringing blood from stones.
I hate that this is the case.
Im sick of seeing sequels made for the sake of continuing to make money.
Im not saying that sequels cant be good, or even great, of course.
The constraint of making games within an established canon can be great for creativity.
The power of limitations is the reason that writing prompts exist.
Established rules can be a great starting point.
But at the same time, Im glad thatThe Last of Us might not get a third game.
Why extend a series past its natural stopping point for no reason other than because fans want it?
If its finished, its finished.
Spin-Offs Are More Interesting Than Sequels
On a related note, Ive been enjoyingAvowed.
It doesnt continue the story of the Pillars of Eternity games, though it references it at certain points.
It doesnt have the same characters.
It plays in the same sandbox, but being a spin-off gives it freedom to try new things.
Its not as limited by what came before.
I think spin-offs are far more interesting than sequels.
Dragon Age: The Veilguardhas also been damaged by its attempts to hold on to its wildly player-dependent canon.
Instead, it was forced to follow up on Inquisitions storyby leaving massive plot holes.
Both are more approachable games in long-running RPG series, but one is succeeding wildly where the other failed.
Is There A Middle Ground Between Sequels And Spin-Offs?
Whatdoestend to work is when games arent afraid to reinvent themselves.
As always, Im thinking about theYakuzagames.
Pirate Yakuza did a pirate thing.
These games arent perfect, and maybe arent asgoodas the mainline games, but theyre novel.
And that spirit of experimentation extends, in some ways, to the mainline games.
With Ichiban, the setting, characters, and even combat changed.
Theres a separation there, a kind of reinvention.
Sony changed video games forever with its second generation console.
Then theres the God of War games, where a reboot changed the direction of the series entirely.
Its second era explored a new mythological pantheon, changed the gameplay, and explored entirely new themes.
Its spiritually so different from the original games that the series' creatorgot really mad about it.
Its not a spin-off, technically, but it plays in the sandbox.
It creates something new.
Im sick of sequels.
Im sick of seeing the same things repeated ad infinitum, the same old tricks and faces.
I want more spin-offs, more experimentation, somethingdifferent, for gods sake.
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