Sometimes, it's best to quit while you're ahead. Other times you simply have to realize that the brainchild you came up with in the 80s or 90s just isn't relevant anymore, and either needs to end or needs a complete reboot - in other words, pretending like it never existed in the first place and then doing it all over again.
Below are three games that, for various reasons, probably should not be considered for future sequels.
Back in the day, this game made headlines for its brutal fighting system and heavy amount of gore. Since then it's become a staple of the fighting game franchise.
Why it should end: We've done it before. Literally.
What's the meaning of a reboot? When a franchise is rebooted, its old continuity is completely done away with and the story is retold free of any of the rules and restrictions imposed by the previous version of the story line. Mortal Kombat's take on a reboot is interesting and arguably doesn't really constitute the game as a reboot. Raiden is about to be killed when he sends a mental message to his earlier self in the first game, which already sets this game within the MK timeline. So the game isn't really a reboot so much as it's a story about altering history.
For those of you not in the know, the Kingdom Hearts franchise started off as an absolute hit. People immediately fell in love with the swift combination of Final Fantasy-esque inspiration and Disney inclinations, as well as the unique story.
Why it should end: An unrewarding exercise in patience
Since the second game's release, fans have yet to see a true sequel to the series. Birth By Sleep was teased to be the third installment if the player beat the second game on the hardest difficulty, yet this turned out to just be a PSP spin-off taking place before the third game. Dream Drop Distance was recently released on the 3DS, and it, too, takes place before the third game. Chain of Memories takes place between the first and second game while Coded and 358/2 Days, again, take place between the second and still unreleased third game.
Consider that all these games are spread across platforms and are pushing the story forward without pushing the story forward (Sora is still the same age he was in the second game, which was released seven years ago) and the fact that players who didn't play the spin-off titles likely won't understand the plot of the third game.
Kingdom hearts II was a large offender of this. While it did somewhat reveal what happened in Chain of Memories for those who had not played it, actually playing the tie-in shows that Sora killed the rest of Organization XIII, which is why they aren't present. For someone so young, he sure doesn't seem to have a problem with killing people.
Oh, but then again, despite some member's obvious sadness and yearning to have a heart and soul in the second game, he blatantly says that they are simply Nobodies and don't technically exist.
You can almost put Kingdom Hearts III in the same boat as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Apparently it exists, somewhere, somehow. And it's going to be awesome.
Players just won't get to see it for quite some time. What other game promised to be amazing and had a lot of dilly-dallying before its release again? Oh, right. Duke Nukem Forever.
3) Resident Evil
Let's be honest - the beloved survival horror franchise hasn't really known what to do with itself since Resident Evil 4 was released. The premise of the game was the infamous Umbrella Corporation, which served as the antagonist for the series, had finally fallen. The series was revamped with some age progression, some new faces and a whole new threat.
Why it should end: developed amnesia
Time hasn't treated the loved zombie horror franchise well. Following the fourth game's release, fans were treated with a CGI tie-in movie to the fifth game. The movie introduced what was supposed to act as the next antagonist for the series and likely answer some unanswered questions from the fourth gmae: Tricell.
Unfortunately, the player never encounters Tricell in the fifth game. In fact, the only three members you ever see are crazed maniacs that have gone off to do their own thing. The series is famous for its laboratories which tell a story all their own, normally revolving around the chaotic release of whatever virus the characters are now dealing with. However the Tricell laboratories aren't seen for very long and are quickly overshadowed by other events.
For some time now, the franchise has had a bad habit of creating organizations and antagonists in every CGI film and game release (WilPharma and Tricell, Excella, Ricardo, Javier, The Sacred Snakes, Neo Umbrella, Carla, Simmons, Il Veltro, the mysterious organizations Ada and Wesker were working for in the fourth game, Svetlana, Curtis Miller) and doing away with both within the same story.
And should we even begin to mention the large list of forgotten plot devices and/or characters throughout the series? Needless to say, this series needs to end very soon or needs a complete reboot, especially considering the fact that by the end of Resident Evil 6 the cast hasn't actually accomplished anything. Remember the cult that was alluded to, and its relation to the Simmons family and their controlling the United States since it was founded? No? That's okay. Neither do Leon or Helena.
Oh, and remember how the C-virus can mutate and had several different strains, and how a 'cure' would only prevent the virus and not cure the host? No? Well neither to Sherry or Jake, but celebration is still in order during the credit roll.
Oh, and remember Jill Valentine?
It's okay, I know you don't. Neither did anyone else.
So what's the verdict? Do these series deserve to be properly rebooted? Put down once and for all? Leave your comments in the box below and let Examiner know what you think!
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