Discussion Main / SequelPhobic

TRS voted to cut this trope here

I think the video game section needs heavy editing. Particularly the Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Fire Emblem entries are extremely dated - the former was obviously written before the game even came out (twelve years ago) and the latter describes the state of the franchise before Fire Emblem: Awakening brought it into the mainstream. Others are probably also about as badly dated, but I don't know enough about them to have any input.

Does the page quote REALLY need to be a crack at yhatzee? I fail to see how this contributes to the article at all.

I feel like the page writeup should mention the idea that sequels don't present the same problem for video games as they do for things like movies or books. A book or film series can't get away with the same plot over and over again with just the details changed, because the main plot is most of what defines the experience. A game can and should get away with the same core gameplay (with iterative improvements to the formula, of course) with the details changed becaused the "details" are the scenarios, levels and environments that define the experience. People like Yahtzee say that "all sequels are horrible because they're doing the same thing over again" without realizing that "doing the same thing over again" is not only acceptable for video games, it's actually a good thing because the developers tend to get better at doing that thing as they do it more!

Put it this way: making a good sequel to "Gone with the Wind" requires you to figure out an entirely new narrative for Scarlett or Rhett that hasn't been told yet. Making a good sequel to "Bayonetta" requires you to think up awesome fight sequences Bayonetta hasn't blasted her way through yet.

But, that's probably too wordy and disorganized, and I wouldn't want to add it anyway without discussion.