Heavy Rain
The spearhead of the Quantic Dream game development company, Heavy Rain was released to major success in 2010. Cinematic, emotional and dramatic, Heavy Rain gave players full control in a cinematic epic.
Mercilessly, the game would easily kill off any of the main characters depending on player decisions and would continue to flawlessly present several different endings and scenarios.
A sequel to Heavy Rain would have been difficult with the amount of possible endings. Due to how cinematic and deep the storyline was, a sequel would most likely have affected the franchise negatively.
Game designer David Cage has stated that told Sony there was not going to be a sequel to Heavy Rain and proceeded to explain how he wished to create experiences that were sincere and experimental. A follow-up would be too similar, as if watching the same movie several times in a row.
Heavy Rain, to many in retrospect, may merit a sequel, but perhaps a single powerful experience is enough on its own than to expand it further. Quantic Dream followed up Heavy Rain with Beyond: Two Souls which had several similar gameplay elements but in a whole new setting.
The Last of Us
A sequel to The Last of Us is allegedly already in the works, but would this be a positive way forward for developers Naughty Dog? Winning hundreds of gaming awards, perfect reviews and fantastic sales, it seems ridiculous that a sequel would not be considered, but does the franchise need it?
The Last of Us was heavily built on the relationship between two characters thrown together in a post-apocalyptic world. Being placed in intense and emotional situations, players enjoyed the cinematography and storyline The Last of Us presented.
The ending was perfect, the growth of the characters incredible and a sequel would put the success of the game on the line. Players may be itching to dive back into the world of The Last of Us, but this game franchise deserves the emotional ending it had.
Naughty Dog has since released Left Behind as the first DLC to The Last of Us. Despite not being a sequel, the DLC populates the world even more for the players, and maybe this would be a more positive way for the series to continue. Through the success of Left Behind, recently winning a Writers Guild of America Award, Naughty Dog should continue this style of release rather than an entirely new game.
Pokemon Snap
Embedding itself into the childhood of many young adults, a Pokemon Snap has been oft-requested by fans over the years. Simplistic and full of content, Pokemon Snap brought the world of Pokemon to life in front of our very eyes.
The level of detail in the game was incredible in seeing how Pokemon live in their natural habitats. A sequel would only build on these features with stunning graphics and the array of consoles Nintendo has at the moment.
Creator Junichi Masuda recently spoke out about the growing intensity towards Pokemon Snap and stated that he is ‘not stopping it’ being released. However, he did mention the idea of a remake rather than a direct sequel. Similar to the current releases of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire they would have to be different in a certain way, rather than just a graphical update.
As Masuda states, creating a sequel has to bring something different to the franchise. Unlike the main Pokemon games, Pokemon Snap has not received consistent games since its original release and so a sequel that has the same concepts may not have the audience many fans seem to think. Pokemon Snap brought a lot of fun in the late 90s with the early success of Pokemon, but maybe those experiences should remain in nostalgia rather than being re-released in the present day.
Bully
Bringing the chaos of Grand Theft Auto into a High School environment was always going to generate criticism. The release was immediately banned in Brazil, and ratings were made to increase dramatically throughout the world before it was allowed to be sold publicly.
The game was hugely addictive, crazy and the possibilities were endless in a large open world. The storyline had typical Grand Theft Auto vibes and the character was hot-headed and hilarious. As Bully had all the features of a popular GTA game, why wouldn’t a sequel be a good idea?
Having a sequel would be difficult. The game had already been remastered in 2008, and a sequel would almost certainly take a completely different path to the first game. It would have a new character, a whole new environment, but the repetitiveness would become an issue like other Rockstar spin-off games such as LA Noire and Red Dead Redemption.
Rockstar has found a certain niche in their most popular games, as seen in Grand Theft Auto especially, and having these features in completely different franchises will always generate success. However, due to how perfectly Bully was presented, there just isn’t any need for a sequel that would differ in some way to the original game.
Rockstar has always succeeded in choosing perfect settings for games, and Bully brings out high school memories in a whole new way. With successes with numerous ‘one-off’ games being released, such as LA Noire, maybe Bully should stay as it is.
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