Reboots (of game series)
Rebooting classic series seems to become a common thing to do nowadays. Some games are getting full reboots, like the Prince of Persia had two reboots so far (the Sands of Time was the first, and the second reboot was simply called Prince of Persia, released on PS3/X360 (and pc?).
But anyone know of games that have just gotten a partial reboot? Like, pretending one or some of the sequels never existed, and just continuing from a certain point? There are a couple of games I'd like to see this happening, and one of them is obviously Monkey Island. I'd love it if LucasArts just said, "screw it, let's start over and pretend the last game was MI2", and hire Ron Gilbert and Telltale games to make a Monkey Island 3 (this time it will actually be called Monkey Island 3, and have a subtitle, just like MI2:LR did). I like CMI, and even Escape to a certain degree, and Tales is good too. But right now, I feel each game is being held back, dure to the way the story developed by the end of EMI. The canon we have now is confusing and unnecessary, and I think a reboot from MI2 to make the story go in a more "friendly" direction would be perfect.
Second game is MGS, but that was not really due to the story, but the way it's told and the overly long cutscenes that MGS2 and 4 had. Not sure where the reboot would start though. Probably MGS1, to make sure it got a good start. Or maybe just start from the beginning again.
But anyone know of games that have just gotten a partial reboot? Like, pretending one or some of the sequels never existed, and just continuing from a certain point? There are a couple of games I'd like to see this happening, and one of them is obviously Monkey Island. I'd love it if LucasArts just said, "screw it, let's start over and pretend the last game was MI2", and hire Ron Gilbert and Telltale games to make a Monkey Island 3 (this time it will actually be called Monkey Island 3, and have a subtitle, just like MI2:LR did). I like CMI, and even Escape to a certain degree, and Tales is good too. But right now, I feel each game is being held back, dure to the way the story developed by the end of EMI. The canon we have now is confusing and unnecessary, and I think a reboot from MI2 to make the story go in a more "friendly" direction would be perfect.
Second game is MGS, but that was not really due to the story, but the way it's told and the overly long cutscenes that MGS2 and 4 had. Not sure where the reboot would start though. Probably MGS1, to make sure it got a good start. Or maybe just start from the beginning again.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
It's similar to how the new Star Trek film is a reboot, but also not - chronologically it takes place after the Star Trek: Nemesis film, but through trickery involving time travel and parallel dimensions, also manages to reboot everything. It makes (a bit) more sense if you read the tie-in comic book series.
I can see your point though. Sometimes the sheer weight of canon in a franchise means that starting again with a fresh slate can be a real positive thing. Sometimes this works really well (see Batman Begins/The Dark Knight/The Inevitable Third Film) and sometimes it doesn't (horror films, mostly).
Generally this doesn't happen in games, because they either don't have such a complicated story that a reboot is needed, or the stories contained within a series aren't connected, like Final Fantasy. That's not to say that remakes or prequels don't happen, though!
With Monkey Island, I agree that Monkey Island 3 would be appreciated and adored by fans of the series, but really, they'd be the only people who'd buy it. Anyone who isn't already a fan would look at it and think 'Woah, that looks complicated. No thanks'. So I can understand why it hasn't been made. It'd be nice if it was, but it probably won't.
Maybe if we're lucky, a certain game developer will tell that story in a novel or something. Some other format that isn't so costly to produce. Hell, I'd buy it.
*I put the word trilogy in quotes because only one of the three different PoP series has three full games. Like so:
First Series: Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, Prince of Persia 3D
Second Series: The Sands of Time, Battles of Prince of Persia (DS), Warrior Within, The Two Thrones
Third Series: Prince of Persia (2008), Epilogue (Expansion), The Fallen King (DS)
" Well, I honestly don't think MGS needs a reeboot, it's find they way it was written, now Metal Gear(87)and it's sequel could use a reboot. But MGS doesn't need to be touched IMO."
That's no different from now. And seriously, Final Fantasy 7 was the first Final Fantasy game to be released in Europe, and people still bought it. And I doubt that was because it wasn't tied to other games in the series (most people didn't know that beforehand anyway), but because people simply didn't care. They saw this cool game on the telly, and they proceeded to buy it. I think sometimes people are overanalyzing the market. People AREN'T stupid, that's just a dumb myth, made up by elitists who think themselves as "hardcore" and put themselves above everyone. They're not going to not buy the game just because it has a number 3 behind it, at worst they'll just think it's another game in a series they've heard so much about.
If Monkey Island 3 was made, it would sell just as well as, or even better than, any other Monkey Island game right now.
CMI was great, and it IS the third game so live with it.
Either way having Ron Gilbert in it doesn’t mean it will be any good or better, just see how every great director has made very crapy things now, everyone blows it after a while.
George Lucas did a great job in the old Indiana Jones and starwars, but made terrible in IJ 4 and SW 1,2 and 3.
Robert Zemeckis did great in Back to the future but its been terrible in what he has released lately.
The Wachowski brothers did great in Matrix, but they sucked real bad with speed racer.
So having Ron is not guarantee it will be any better.
Also, people are stupid. Some are just better at hiding it then others. That's my personal motto, and every day it's proven over and over again.
Well... I bought the 4th Harry Potter book first.
I'm a big fan of Curse, and I think it is Canon, but it wouldn't hurt to see another direction that the games could've gone in.
You see, that kind of attitude disgusts me, and you're only putting yourself up high on a pedestal. Get off your high horse and realize that most people are just like you and I.
Also, I never said I wasn't stupid either. At times, I can be a right twit.
I've also studied a bit of marketing, and it's a very common mistake to underestimate the customer base. Just like how it's so easy to underestimate childrens' skills and ability to understand their surroundings. Sometimes I think it's in a humans nature to underestimate eachother.
Well, at least that's how I feel it is here in Norway. I've also noticed how most of those who underestimates people are young, normally between 16 and 25. Obviously because at that age you're still not quite able to put things in perspective. Kinda like how an 18 year old who just got their licence don't often have the ability to see their own faults, and think he/she's the greatest driver in the world.
Sorry, I just can't stand the typical internet drivel that the common man is something of an idiot. It's become a stereotype, something that simply has no ground in reality. Just like how the stereotypic video game nerd is fat, ugly and virgin.
I still think the coolest way to handle a Monkey Island 2.5 would be to do it using the exact same interface, art style, and resolution as the first two games. Nice 2D pixel art, no voice acting, and Ron's original premise would be a great way to cater to the original fans while still being clearly differentiated from the current "main" series. It would be aimed at a pretty niche market, but it would cost a great deal less than a modern game would, and it would be highly portable to things like iPhone and DSiWare, so I don't think it would be a totally unreasonable business move.
As for the reboot thing, I don't think that would make sense anytime right after Tales, especially since Tales fairly smoothly showed that you can work within the established continuity while still remaining extremely accessible to newcomers. However, if a few years from now LucasArts wants to make a full-length epic adventure game and just call it "Monkey Island" (with no subtitle or number) and have it restart the series from scratch like Prince of Persia did, I wouldn't be against it. I don't think they'd do that with this particular series because there's no real need to, but that's definitely how I'd expect them to handle something like Loom. In Loom's case, it would make a lot of sense for a new game to totally recap the original story as maybe the first third of the game, then go on to tell a much larger story with that as the base.
My belief isn't something I just came up with on the spot. I've believed it for several years, and I've yet to really see anything to make me change that opinion. When they try, people are capable of doing really smart things - they're the ones who, according to my motto, are good at hiding their stupidity. It's just that people can't seem to be bothered to do that these days.
I wasn't referring to anyone here with that remark, just people in general. But now we're getting wildly off-topic, so if we could just put this down to a professional disagreement and move on, I'd appreciate it.
And you know what? I've worked in retail. Cleaning up the displays? My job. Not theirs. There's a certain amount of work involved in having a job, bottom rung or not.
doodo! - I did actually mention Prince of Persia 3D in my list of PoP games earlier in the thread, but it was in small text, so you could well have skipped over it. But my question to you is 'Do you own it, and if so, have you played it through to the very end?'. Cause I have. On both counts. It wasn't pretty.
I haven't seen the trailer for the new movie, because I don't wanna jinx it. I saw the trailer for Max Payne (possibly the most film-worthy game around) and thought that was awesome, and look how that movie turned out. Not this time - oh no.
Interestingly, there's going to be another Sands of Time PoP game, according to Kotaku. Not quite sure what to make of that!
Haha, whenever I think about POP3D I think about the horrible ending it has.
It started off decent too...
But I would really like to see the Myst series remade using CryEngine3 for PS3 (and PC, 360), and perhaps a PlayStation Home version of Uru Live.
Myst had a remake?
Yep. realMYST ran the entire game in a free-roaming real-time 3D engine and even added the Rime Age as an "ending" of sorts; you get access to it only after freeing Atrus (it's also in the handheld versions, but I wouldn't recommend the DS one). Rime was even incorporated into the story of Revelation, the fourth game. One of the big easter eggs of the realMYST version is that you can head into the woods of Myst Island and come across a rather significant grave marker for anyone who has read the novels...
For those who don't know, Retcon is an abbreviated form of the phrase 'Retroactive Continuity', and is most often used in the comics industry. Basically, it means to rewrite the established canon of something - changing a character's history, for example. Wikipedia has a surprisingly interesting entry on this.
yh most MK fans decided it wasnt Canon and ignored it even though the creators say its canon (sort of like EMI XD)
Myst V is also a fully interactive 3D game.
If you haven't played Riven, you're missing out. It's my favorite game in the series.
FYI: GOG.com has started releasing the Myst series (Myst Masterpiece Edition is already available with Riven coming soon). They come highly recommended and are nicely priced with NO DRM (yay!).
When you think about it, is MK *ever* canon? If it was, every character would be quite dead by now.
Well Lui Kang(Sp?) is dead... and a zombie.
Fighting games have the worst continuity of any video game. (Everyone knows) Letting the player beat the game with every character means that everyone "wins" the tournament.(DOA 4 switches who fights who in the storyline)
I'm hopping for a reboot of Timesplitters, since the last game finished the storyline and that the Free Radical team is now working for Cryptic, it would be awesome to see a new comedic shooter. Monkeys!
Telltale really needs to make an original IP Adventure game btw.
it still has a lose storyline with lots of counity errors XD
Hmmm...I can't think of a game series...like that.
I trust you meant that the only thing that anyone needs to "make up for" on Shadows of Darkness is the application of only 2 weeks of QA. Other than the extreme bugginess, that was a great game.