So I've been feeling this for a while, but never really articulated it or thought about it in depth.
So there are some very long running franchises with many titles in its history, right?
And because or whatever reason:
Exclusivity
Lack of money/time
Bought a title you were more interested in etc
I never got to play them, and now there are so many sequels, you feel almost excluded from the franchise.
So for instance Metal Gear Solid, it's had this patchy exclusive release history and having never owned a PlayStation I've experienced some of it but missed out on large chunks of it.
Now when something is announced I have no attachment in the series.
I could say the same thing about multiple JRPG series.
Dragon Age has had god knows how many titles out. I feel like franchises should work on being more inclusive to new players who haven't played other games in the series.
So maybe story digests, or a playable way to play through or experience key moments in the series history. Like one game/free sampler that has key story beats, mixed with some gameplay, the moment this dude died, the end of the empire etc.
The Sniper wolf boss fight.
Or do what I see from indie games, when a new title in a series comes out, they usually savagely discount the first game. This is how I've gotten into many series I'm unsure of.
I may not have the confidence to drop full price on Bloodstained 2, so I'll buy the first game at a quarter of the price.
That's why I bought Mudrunner for instance then got into Snowrunner.
But why not go further, why not make a big old 3D AAA game, free?
If it released 20 years ago and you're not really making money on it, just let it out there in the wild and then maybe people would get into it.
I'm getting to the point where I've missed so many games, especially AAA ones that I can't muster any enthusiasm for sequels. They're non events for me.
They like a wet fart. Because I can't relate to them, I have no nostalgia for them. I have no investment in the characters or story. And I don't see how I could be interested in these games because I feel like the companies making them haven't done anything to engage or entice me with.
I am, secluded/excluded from them. I can't say I'm that bothered by it, but from a business perspective, isn't outreach a thing?
So there are some very long running franchises with many titles in its history, right?
And because or whatever reason:
Exclusivity
Lack of money/time
Bought a title you were more interested in etc
I never got to play them, and now there are so many sequels, you feel almost excluded from the franchise.
So for instance Metal Gear Solid, it's had this patchy exclusive release history and having never owned a PlayStation I've experienced some of it but missed out on large chunks of it.
Now when something is announced I have no attachment in the series.
I could say the same thing about multiple JRPG series.
Dragon Age has had god knows how many titles out. I feel like franchises should work on being more inclusive to new players who haven't played other games in the series.
So maybe story digests, or a playable way to play through or experience key moments in the series history. Like one game/free sampler that has key story beats, mixed with some gameplay, the moment this dude died, the end of the empire etc.
The Sniper wolf boss fight.
Or do what I see from indie games, when a new title in a series comes out, they usually savagely discount the first game. This is how I've gotten into many series I'm unsure of.
I may not have the confidence to drop full price on Bloodstained 2, so I'll buy the first game at a quarter of the price.
That's why I bought Mudrunner for instance then got into Snowrunner.
But why not go further, why not make a big old 3D AAA game, free?
If it released 20 years ago and you're not really making money on it, just let it out there in the wild and then maybe people would get into it.
I'm getting to the point where I've missed so many games, especially AAA ones that I can't muster any enthusiasm for sequels. They're non events for me.
They like a wet fart. Because I can't relate to them, I have no nostalgia for them. I have no investment in the characters or story. And I don't see how I could be interested in these games because I feel like the companies making them haven't done anything to engage or entice me with.
I am, secluded/excluded from them. I can't say I'm that bothered by it, but from a business perspective, isn't outreach a thing?
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
Actually Dragon Age has only had three games for it so far. I’ve seen them on sale for pretty cheap more times then I could count over the years. Honestly I think most games with sequels generally have their previous games on sale a number of times before the next game comes out.
Developers have too much work on their hands as it is. Wanting them to produce something with what be considered as key moments is quite an ask. Most franchises aren’t really too difficult to jump into at any point to be honest. Of course you’re not going to have that nostalgia or ties to characters since you haven’t played the game but that’s fine. I think you just have to look at the game and judge it on if it looks like something you’d be interested in playing it on its own. Just like you would if it were the first or only game.
Also watch video reviews or read reviews, they’ll typically let you know what you can expect from the game if you’re a newcomer.
Resident Evil 4 can be fully enjoyed without ever playing any other RE games. You'd get a bit more out of the story if you'd played RE2 first but it isn't essential.
Yeah and Final Fantasy games are by and large their own games as well. A couple of direct sequels like X-2 and the XIII trilogy as exceptions. Same with the Dragon Quest, and Tales of games. Honestly have a difficult time thinking of anything that I would consider crucial to have played the previous games for.
I just jump in whenever something looks intriguing enough. I've only played The Witcher 3, loved it on its own merits. I've no desire to play the first two unless I seem them for super cheap. I don't think it cheapens the experience to not play the previous entries.
Theres only about three DA games so not too late to start.
As for Metal Gear, I feel it can be a little trickier to join the series midway, but doable. Start with MGS3 to see if its for you.
As far as experiencing big moments in a game, that's what YouTube is for. A big moment generally doesn't feel all that big if you haven't invested the time in playing it yourself anyway. So you might as just well watch it. Nintendo let players do final boss battles for a lot of their NES games, and honestly it didn't feel like that much fun. There just wasn't any satisfaction to it.
All that being said, I think while time will always be a factor, cost isn't much of one anymore if you want to check out older games. Game pass, PS Plus, whatever the hell Nintendo calls their library, and sites like GoG do a pretty good job of curating old games at reasonable prices. Well maybe not Sony, but fuck them.
One nice thing about modern games is that most of the time they recognize there's an audience out there that's not going to try and catch up on 20 years of History. So they make the games a little more accessible with remakes and extended in-game recaps, that tend to get a bit annoying too long time fans.
What Raven said:
"I suppose reboots and remakes are intended to bring new folks into a series."
But also, I'd encourage you to dip into a franchise that you haev played before. I recently watched Star Wars movies for the first time and read the Harry Potter books for the first time, and they were worth the trip, definately. Series like Yakuza, I think flourish right now because of the Kiwami remakes that made it accessible to more peple.
I've never really given a shit about MGS, I enjoyed the first, but I think I've started is 5 or 6 times now and then stopped -- but the MGS3 remake is supposed to make it more accessible and modern.
I god damned hated Ass Creed 1, but I've dipped in a couple times over the years to check in on it (and had an decent experience, but ultiamtely an open world game for me these days has to be fucking 110% for me to play to completion).
More than a demo, but less that a whole free game.
Like if Mario Odyssey had basically a whole level availible to download and play for free.
Or the best mission from every GTA game.
Or a whole Dungeon from Twilight Princess HD.
Or, a digest game with the best parts of past games spliced together in as a quick recap/refresher.
I saw a recap video for Wolfenstein 2 for people who missed 1 and wad none the wiser. It could have been better presented. I bought Wolfenstein 1 and The Witcher 2 as I intend to play them before the sequels.
Nothing you've skipped because of similar feelings?
I remember someone saying they had no Interest in Xenoblade 3 because they haven't played 2 and XCX.