Series That Deserve Proper Endings

     The first thought that popped into my head when the new Devil May Cry game was announced was “where does this fit in the timeline?” When I found out that it was a reboot, I knew that revisiting the old timeline would most likely never happen. I understand that movie and game series need a fresh start sometimes and I am looking forward to the reboot, but what upsets me is that fans never got a proper ending to the original Devil May Cry series. I am not saying that every series needs a definitive ending; there are series whose games have the same characters but are separate adventures just like the Tomb Raider series. What I mean is that these following series’ stories were never finished or were not given a proper “final game” in my opinion. (SPOILERS AHEAD)

1. Devil May Cry series (original)

     The original Devil May Cry games were not released chronologically, but the timeline goes Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 2. All of those games excluding 2 were fantastic titles that followed the exploits of demon hunter Dante. Each of those had their own standalone story but were all tied together by characters from previous games. Vergil, Dante’s brother, died in DMC but was established in DMC3. Trish (DMC) and Lady (DMC3) were in the final cutscene with Dante at the end of DMC4, which introduced Nero into the mix. DMC2 is the black sheep of the family with a convoluted, boring plot, a bland second character, easy difficulty, an unrefined combat system compared to the other games and hardly any connection to the rest of the series. That is not a fitting end to a stellar series. It would be great if after the new DMC comes out to create one last, stellar game revolving around all the original DMC characters so it could have a proper farewell.

2. Viewtiful Joe series

     Viewtiful Joe received wide praise amongst critics and gamers for its gorgeous cel shaded graphics, intense action and entertaining story that made homage and fun of popular film genres as Joe fought to destroy evil in Movie Land. A second game was made and ended with a cliffhanger where Joe and Sylvia head towards a dark castle in the distance to defeat the last and final threat to Movie Land.

     This idea of a trilogy was first brought up at the end of Viewtiful Joe 1 where Captain Blue says that Movie Land will be threatened two more times. Instead of a third and final game, Clover Studios made Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble for the DS (spinoff) and Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (Super Smash Bros. clone). While I had fun with both games I eagerly awaited a Viewtiful Joe 3. My hopes were dashed when Clover Studios was dissolved in 2007 and Capcom retained the rights to the franchise while members of the old studio went to form Platinum Games. Capcom has said that they would like to continue the series but that they have no plans to at the moment, if ever. Viewtiful Joe once said that “something always goes wrong once before you get to the happy ending.” Hopefully this is that plot twist before Joe gets his happy ending.

3. Prince of Persia (2008 reboot)

     This was a “love it or hate it” game. Half of the people who played it disliked it for its lack of challenge, dependence on orb collecting and little combat compared to the Sands of Time trilogy. I was in the next half that fell in love with the game for its watercolor world, character development between the Prince and Elika, dream-like control, tight platforming and story dealing with destiny vs. free will. The game was easy as you could never get a “Game Over” screen as Elika would save you from death (not to say you didn’t get punished for screwing up), the combat was decent enough and there never was a sense of urgency even when the fate of the world rested on your shoulders. To me though, the game was meant to be played and enjoyed at leisure. I felt a sort of Zen as I leapt off walls and scaled buildings in search of orbs in the world of a painting come to life without the fear permanent death.

     The game ended with the Prince failing to stop the coming of the dark force of Ahriman from engulfing the world because he could not sacrifice Elika. An epilogue was later released where the Prince and Elika battle Ahriman once more and seem to defeat him. Elika is angry at the Prince and goes off to search for her people, leaving behind the Prince with Ahriman seeking revenge.

     The game got a sequel in the form of a DS game entitled Prince of Persia: The Fallen King. It takes place right after the first game and dealt with the Prince searching for a way to summon Ormazd to stop Ahriman. It was an awful 2-D side scroller that suffered from terrible controls (all touch screen based), a lackluster presentation, repetitive levels and a too easy difficulty. To go from a world that looked like I was playing in a painting, controlled like a dream and had characters I connected with to a generic side scroller with touch screen controls and characters that make cereal mascots seem straight out of Shakespeare was appalling. 

     

     Ubisoft knew that not everyone enjoyed the reboot so the last Prince of Persia game they made was a side story from the Sands of Time trilogy and no word on a continuation of the 2008 reboot’s world. The “sequel” was embarrassing, not at all what the 2008 game deserved. I would love to see a console sequel to the 2008 game and pretend as if the DS game never happened. The ideas and universe that the reboot gave us is full of potential and easily could be another trilogy like the Sands of Time. People just need to accept the fact that it won’t be anything like the Sands of Time.

     I know there are other series that have not finished or did not receive a proper final game (Timesplitters, Beyond Good and Evil and Chrono Trigger come to mind) but these are the ones I have played and would like to see finished. Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Are there any series that you would like to see finished or given a better final game? Post them in the comments below. Don’t be afraid to critique my blog either, it’s how I get better.
Thank you for reading.