In the world of video games, there's a lot of dead franchises out there that a lot us on NeoGAF want back. You hear plenty of Nintendo fans wanting Metroid back after the Other M and Federation Force fiascoes, plenty of people would like for Rare franchises such as Banjo-Kazooie to return to their former glory (lets hope Yooka-Laylee ends up good!), Mega Man has been in a casket besides a mediocre looking cartoon coming up, and don't even get me started on the state of affairs at Konami!
We're a big forum though, so I'm curious: are there any franchises in particular you desperately want to return, but for some reason or another, not many people seem to agree or care?
I'd like to examine what some of us think here. It could expose some interesting, niche series that most of us have never heard of, or we could hear some interesting viewpoints about long dead franchises. Either way, I'd like to hear what you think about these two things in particular: Why do you think this franchise should come back, and why do you think most people (anecdotally) seem rather cold to that idea?
Anyways, I'll kick this off with one franchise I'd like to return in particular:
The Katamari Franchise
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Few franchises entertained me more than this epic ball-rolling saga. I picked up the first game on whim because it was so cheap, so I wasn't prepared for the crazy acid trip that awaited me on my PS2! Beyond the weirdness though, lied an addictive arcade-styled game that rewarded exploration, route planning, and was just damn satisfying. Few things for me beat the fun of starting at the size of an orange to rolling up entire cities!
I could be wrong, but I think most people think the franchise peaked with its 2nd game, We Love Katamari, which was basically a bigger, more creative expansion of the original. After that, we got a pretty cool PSP game that suffered from some limitations, which was fine.
However, as a fan I feel things started to go south with Beautiful Katamari. I don't hate the game, since I think the core gameplay is fine. However, a lot of the most interesting stages were locked behind DLC paywalls, which sorta made me feel like I wasn't buying a complete game! I thought Katamari Forever was a good return to form in some ways (plus I actually like the jump button), but it was very much a "best of" package rather than feeling like a totally new game.
Then came along the last main game: Touch My Katamari. As silly as this sounds, this was actually the Vita launch game I was the most excited for! However, I foolishly bought it with no prior research, and was blindsided by the serious lack of new content, removal of the very amusing collection mode, and stupid DLC scheme. It's a shame, because I was probably one of the few people who liked the streching mechanic (its pretty much the only use of the back touchpad that I've liked on the Vita), and finally having a handheld with dual sticks felt like a perfect platform for Katamari to return on.
I can see why many people don't particularly care about this franchise coming back anytime soon: this isn't a franchise that's known for serious evolution. After the creator of the series left after We Love Katamari, there's a sense that Namco was basically remixing as much content as they could to save on cash. This is a franchise that peaked pretty early, so I think the sequels after We Love Katamari are viewed as pointless by most people.
Despite that, though I doubt it will ever happen now, I would love for a new Katamari game to be made with the same care We Love Katamari was. There's not much that plays like Katamari out there, so I don't think the series needs to drastically change too much about it to be awesome again. I think what we just need are creative, well-thought level designs, and less remixing and stupid DLC nickel and diming getting in the way!
Now that I've said my piece for one series, I'm curious to see what other series people bring up!
We're a big forum though, so I'm curious: are there any franchises in particular you desperately want to return, but for some reason or another, not many people seem to agree or care?
I'd like to examine what some of us think here. It could expose some interesting, niche series that most of us have never heard of, or we could hear some interesting viewpoints about long dead franchises. Either way, I'd like to hear what you think about these two things in particular: Why do you think this franchise should come back, and why do you think most people (anecdotally) seem rather cold to that idea?
Anyways, I'll kick this off with one franchise I'd like to return in particular:
The Katamari Franchise
Few franchises entertained me more than this epic ball-rolling saga. I picked up the first game on whim because it was so cheap, so I wasn't prepared for the crazy acid trip that awaited me on my PS2! Beyond the weirdness though, lied an addictive arcade-styled game that rewarded exploration, route planning, and was just damn satisfying. Few things for me beat the fun of starting at the size of an orange to rolling up entire cities!
I could be wrong, but I think most people think the franchise peaked with its 2nd game, We Love Katamari, which was basically a bigger, more creative expansion of the original. After that, we got a pretty cool PSP game that suffered from some limitations, which was fine.
However, as a fan I feel things started to go south with Beautiful Katamari. I don't hate the game, since I think the core gameplay is fine. However, a lot of the most interesting stages were locked behind DLC paywalls, which sorta made me feel like I wasn't buying a complete game! I thought Katamari Forever was a good return to form in some ways (plus I actually like the jump button), but it was very much a "best of" package rather than feeling like a totally new game.
Then came along the last main game: Touch My Katamari. As silly as this sounds, this was actually the Vita launch game I was the most excited for! However, I foolishly bought it with no prior research, and was blindsided by the serious lack of new content, removal of the very amusing collection mode, and stupid DLC scheme. It's a shame, because I was probably one of the few people who liked the streching mechanic (its pretty much the only use of the back touchpad that I've liked on the Vita), and finally having a handheld with dual sticks felt like a perfect platform for Katamari to return on.
I can see why many people don't particularly care about this franchise coming back anytime soon: this isn't a franchise that's known for serious evolution. After the creator of the series left after We Love Katamari, there's a sense that Namco was basically remixing as much content as they could to save on cash. This is a franchise that peaked pretty early, so I think the sequels after We Love Katamari are viewed as pointless by most people.
Despite that, though I doubt it will ever happen now, I would love for a new Katamari game to be made with the same care We Love Katamari was. There's not much that plays like Katamari out there, so I don't think the series needs to drastically change too much about it to be awesome again. I think what we just need are creative, well-thought level designs, and less remixing and stupid DLC nickel and diming getting in the way!
Now that I've said my piece for one series, I'm curious to see what other series people bring up!
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