It’s not an overstatements to say that 2023 was among the finest years for online game sequels ever.
Merely The Recreation Awards 2023’s Recreation of the Yr nominations, all of that are titles from preexisting collection, proves that. It’s not simply that we acquired a variety of new online game sequels in 2023; that occurs yearly. No, what makes the sport sequels of 2023 stand out is what number of of them impressively construct upon what got here earlier than. From Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to Baldur’s Gate 3, these follow-ups all checked out their predecessor, recognized the weaker elements, and instantly addressed these points.
As new IP struggled greater than common within the AAA house this yr — with the success of Hello-Fi Rush and Starfield being counteracted by underperforming titles like Immortals of Aveum and Forspoken — it’s a superb factor that a number of the biggest video games of 2023 reestablished the usual of what makes a incredible sequel.
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Respecting what got here earlier than
Marvel’s Spider-Man, Alan Wake, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Baldur’s Gate 2, Avenue Fighter V, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Diablo 3, Useless Island, Pikmin 3, Forza Motorsport 7, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. All these video games are nice, some even excellent, in their very own proper, however their sequels that dropped this yr have been even higher.
For some, that got here from refining what got here earlier than. For instance, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor expanded the variety of skills Cal Kestis had at his disposal, elevated the dimensions of the planets gamers explored, and continued the story commendably. Useless Island 2 and Forza Motorsport have been equally pleasing iterative sequels that totally realized older concepts on new tech.
Others, like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, virtually instantly addressed each ache level of entries that got here earlier than. Its 2018 predecessor had weak sidequests, irritating sequences the place gamers weren’t controlling Spider-Man, and a controversial relationship to regulation enforcement. Even its web-swinging, as nice because it was, had limits. With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it felt like Insomniac Video games went down a guidelines, fixing all these points one after the other. The sequel’s sidequests are extra participating, non-Spider-Man sequences play higher, it’s story is unequivocally pro-criminal reformation, and even web-swinging has been refined with the loop-the-loop, corner-turning, and Net Wing skills that make traversal much more satisfying.
Different sequels made even bolder adjustments. Diablo 4 returned to the darker themes from earlier within the collection whereas embracing reside service parts. Avenue Fighter 6 added trendy management modes and a prolonged single-player story mode, guaranteeing it had a extra acceptable quantity of content material and approachable attraction than Avenue Fighter V. Pikmin 4 reworked its technique gameplay to make the whole lot a bit much less chaotic.
Then there’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo acknowledged how gamers have been breaking Breath of the Wild by utilizing its methods to create bizarre shortcuts and loopy contraptions — and made that the central gameplay conceit of the sequel. on prime of the best-in-class open-world design, the Ultrahand and Fuse methods encourage creativity, open up much more potentialities for exploration and puzzle-solving, and even resolve the weapon degradation downside from Breath of the Wild. These are the titles I need to encourage the subsequent era of online game sequels.
What comes subsequent
Generally sequels could be greater than incremental follow-ups; they’ll redefine their respective collection. Though not a direct sequel, I’ll argue that Tremendous Mario Bros. Marvel constructed upon the most effective parts of the 2D Mario titles that got here earlier than it. And whereas Digital Traits was cooler on Last Fantasy XVI than most, I commend Sq. Enix for altering issues up by having a darker story and extra action-focused gameplay. Extra related to the dialog is Baldur’s Gate 3, a legacy sequel in a distinct segment style made by a studio that didn’t work on the prior video games within the franchise. Regardless of all these items being stacked towards it, it ended up being our Recreation of the Yr.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the sort of sequel that modernizes a traditional method for the fashionable period. It retained the core magic of its predecessors and didn’t even stray that far when it comes to gameplay. But it surely made tweaks to a lot of these area of interest RPG parts, making them extra comprehensible for basic audiences. It was the uncommon recreation that would account for nearly any emergent motion the participant takes. The consequence was a Dungeon & Dragons RPG that went mainstream; it even acquired referenced in South Park.
By doing that, Baldur’s Gate 3 and all the opposite sequels we talked about have set a excessive bar for future sequels. Video games that aren’t assembly that stage of high quality, like Name of Responsibility: Fashionable Warfare III, are being derided for it. Particularly in an period the place growth is getting more and more costly and taking longer than earlier than, recreation builders can’t afford to have their sequels not be notable enhancements upon their predecessors in some specific means.
The method for the right online game sequel may need been perfected in 2023, and we are going to proceed to get new entries in fashionable collection. A few of 2024’s most anticipated video games — Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Last Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Senua’s Saga: Hellbalde II — are all sequels. After 2023, these titles should meet a lot increased requirements.
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