But sequels in video games seem to be different. In many cases, sequels are enjoyed more and played longer than the original. Why is this? The story of a game is not subject to different rules than those of a movie or book. So what do games have that the other two do not? Simple: gameplay. You don't (shouldn't) just install a game on your PC and sit back for an hour and half. There is interaction to be had! How does this work with sequels? Well, first, let's define sequel a bit better as there is another difference in the gaming world versus books and movies.
For one thing, games can have expansion packs. These are usually miniature add ons that add to the existing game. Common examples would be adding new unit types to your army, giving your character new classes to take, or a new land with say 10 hours worth of new adventure on it. They arn't really sequels, they just add new things. Books and movies miss out on this entirely. How would you do this for a book? Pick your favorite book and think of how an expansion pack might be added to it. At best it would come in the form of a supplement book, which perhaps gives the history of the lands or characters. Or perhaps it would detail what exactly happened to the beloved character Fah while she was seperated from the main characters. It could work, but it is generally not as valuable as a (good) expansion can be. Downloadable Content (DLC) on Xbox Live is allowing developers to spit out mini expansion packs at a pretty good rate. The general complaint about DLC however tends to be, "I paid 10 bucks for a 3 hour new mission. I want more." Perhaps developers need to spend more time on their DLC packs, but it does go to show that video games are not immune to the "Sequels Suck Syndrome", and when misused can become little more than another avenue to annoy their audience with.
With expansions out of the way, we come to actual seuqels. Unlike expansion packs, these are My Game 2 and stand entirely on their own as a whole complete game. Expansions require the parent game to be installed first, sequels do not. They can be enjoyed as a seperate experience apart from the original, though the story would be a bit lacking and or confusing. But, what makes gamers frequently rave for a sequel, and get annoyed when they go back to the original? Gameplay. The developers have now had an additional couple of years to tweak, improve, and perfect the gameplay from the original. Any ideas they had to cut from the first because of time constraints can be implemented. They can spend more time trying to figure out how to implement Summons with their new system. Plus, they can make targeting a bit more reliable, rebalance the characters some, and make the UI a little more user friendly. Whatever the original lacked (whether or not the player realized it), the sequel often sports. The game is almost always more fun to play, the story might not be as good, but that's less important in video games. Also, if the developers are smart, they've heard a lot of feedback on the game and found what players liked and what they didn't. They can then retool the next game to better suit the players. Maybe they drop the annoying minigame and add more flying missions. That sort of thing is very common and makes many players much happier with the sequel, despite how much they loved the original. All you've got to hope for is that the things they add more of, were the things you liked.
So, think about some of your own sequel experiences. Books, movies, and video games all have them, and there is little chance you havn't run into any yet. How do you feel about sequels?
Need I say more?
Hah! Fah to you too.
ReplyDeleteSequels to books can be successful -- Harry Potter (hooray!) / Twilight (ugh!). Sometimes (in books and games both) it's the characters that draw us in, and even though the story is done or the game is played, we want more. Okay, so I'm having a difficult time thinking of any games this happens in. How about King's Quest? That'll do.
When a sequel is created just to suck more money from my wallet, it shows. The creativity of the first book/game is lost (or at least not properly enlarged) in the subsequent production. It's a shame, a sham, a lost opportunity, a black mark on their record, sullies the reputation of ALL follow-on works, and cheapens everything else in the space. Yes, I really feel that way.
You mentioned all the things that can be added into a game in a sequel, most or all of which should have really been in the first drop. If someone published a book that way, everyone would be crying foul! I understand market timing and tight resources (boy howdy!) and the effect they can have on a game, but somehow we don't let this happen with books. Why is that? I know that books have deadlines and schedule pressure too, and mistakes and sloppiness creep into texts because of it. Maybe its because the game has gone through the "we have to throw all this good stuff overboard in order to make schedule" mill, and what comes out is less than optimal, but at least the outright bugs and lockups has been fixed before release (well, mostly). Yes, the good things dropped from the original can come back in the sequel. On the other hand, I can't imagine anyone removing plot threads from a novel to speed-up the schedule -- it just doesn't work that way.