Apparently some of the gaming press is starting to fall into that crap. A few sites, Gamespot most of all, are claiming Arkham Knight is the third game in the Arkham series. Um, what? Just because Arkham Origins was made by a different company, is a prequel and is apparently not as good as the first two* doesn't mean it's not part of the series. If the quality of the game is the problem, then that's the same as me saying only two Sonic games were made in the last decade, and as far as the prequel thing goes, you never heard anyone saying MGS4 was the third game in the series, right? (Granted, it's not the fourth either, but rather the sixth, but let's not nitpick about the MSX games, 'kay?)
*I haven't played it yet myself, but my brother tells me the only problem he had with it was that it was more of the same compared to Arkham City, which I have played. Now Arkham City is great, mind you, so I won't complain that loudly if that's really all there is. I've heard complaints about glitches and the story not being up to par, but as long as it's not an unplayable mess and the story doesn't make the game into a really unpleasant experience, I'm not going to rip my hair out there either.
While I think the idea of not counting a game because it sucks is completely moronic, not counting one made by a different company is a bit different. I'm not familiar with the Arkham games, but take your MGS example. You don't consider the NES sequel, Metal Gear Acid, or any of the other games as part of the series. And I also think that if Arkham Origins was to get its own sequel, it would be part of a separate series entirely. Much like how Metal Gear Acid is considered its own series. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteSnake's Revenge isn't canon, though, and Metal Gear Acid's gameplay is completely different. Arkham Origins is just the same as Arkham City, on the other hand.
DeleteI've beaten all three out so far, and Origins was still good. The Deathstroke fight is ridiculous, but at least that fits with the character (still a difficulty spike, one so bad my brother won't play through the game because of sheer frustration). I actually saw this like a year ago and it confused me too.
ReplyDeleteUgh, game journalism. There's a reason the only journalist I follow is Jim Sterling.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the same thing about Arkham Origins, that it's pretty much just Arkham City revisited. If that's the case, and Arkham City is one of the most critically acclaimed games of last generation, I don't see where the complaints are coming from. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is more of Galaxy, but that game is just as good if not better than Galaxy. I could always use more of greatness (unless it's been done to death).
To them, the sequel being more of the same stuff as the previous entry or most popular entry, no matter how acclaimed it is, it may as well be done to death. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. But I guess people expect a series to stay close to what makes it good, but change just enough to justify buying it. SoulSilver actually puts the Morton's Fork situation I mentioned well. If you change things a lot (subjective), people will complain that it's not like X. If you make more of the same stuff, people will complain that it's too much like X...
DeleteYou know, I'm starting to question my hate of Team Flare and Lysander as villains. I've just read an article (albeit from a questionable source, I guess...) making a theory about Lysander's ideals representing those of France’s pre-revolution ruling class.
ReplyDeleteConsidering how it is mentioned that Lysander could be descending from the old Kalos royalty, I guess it's plausible, but if that's the case, makes me wonder why it was only mentioned once in the entire game and why that side of the conflict wasn't explored further.
Same reason as for everything else: because the story was written on a Friday afternoon.
DeleteMan, that's so dumb. They had all the elements to make a good story but didn't use any of them.
DeleteBefore that I thought they had just been lazy with all of it but the fact that they could have had a potentially good story outline yet ended up as the final product we got is... I have no words...
If the writing staff was the same one from gen 5, we know that they could've done something great, they just chose not to. Some people say revisiting the same story via a deluxe version would be an exercise in futility, but I say the potential for redemption is actually there. Platinum did it, why can't it be done again?
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