Summer Flame Day 2020: It’s Not Worth Reviving Every Franchise

Plenty of subjects are discussed among gaming corners on a regular basis. A frequent one involves franchise revivals, where gamers discuss their wishes for new entries in franchises that haven’t received an installment in years, for a number of reasons. This being a recurring topic is understandable among aging people who grew up with video games, and remember franchises from their youth that have been forgotten by developers and publishers. They, along with like-minded people, have found a place to wish for a new installment together. Some of them have successfully pressured publishers to green light new entries, though most don’t result in new chapters.

I have a different suggestion: Let ‘em die.

I’m well aware of the ostensibly positive reasons for why gamers want new titles for long-dead franchises. The thought of a beloved franchise from someone’s childhood halted for a number of reasons being revived always sounds great. Perhaps the publisher responsible for providing the budget to the development team lost faith in it after a critically maligned installment. Heck maybe it was even one in which they meddled in the development to the team’s chagrin. In other examples, the last title was praised by critics and fans for its quality, but it unfortunately didn’t sell. Revivals sound enticing on the surface, but it’s not always wise to wish for one. It’s further proof of how powerful of a force nostalgia can be, to the point where it can trump logic.

One of the best examples involves the desire for a new Chrono series installment, the previous titles in which consisted of only Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross in 1995 and 1999, respectively. (Cross released in America in 2000.) I perfectly understand why a significant audience wants a new installment, but asking for a new title is a big risk.

Chrono Trigger was nigh-universally praised as not only one of the best Japanese RPGs to grace the Super Nintendo/Famicom, but one of the best ever made. I’m proud to list it as one of the best games I’ve ever played. But Chrono Cross, created by a largely different creative team with a few exceptions like Masato Kato, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Yasuyuki Honne, was very divisive thanks to how different it was. Several fans would like this figurative new installment to resemble Trigger, a tough task given how spread-out and busy the dream team involved with the original game is with other matters, if they’re still working on new games at all.

This means a new installment would bear more resemblance to Cross rather than Trigger, which would lead to inevitable disappointment and cries of it not being a REAL Chrono game from a chorus of people who preferred the latter. The better option here would be to not pursue a new installment at all. Square Enix director Takashi Tokita, by the way, used his story ideas for a new Chrono game in Final Fantasy Dimensions II, so simply making a kind of spiritual successor would be a better alternative.

There are other examples of how franchise revivals can go awry. Fans of 2008’s Mirror’s Edge wanted a new installment for years, me included. EA granted those wishes with Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, which garnered mixed impressions thanks to the combination of first-person parkour and an open world not being the best match. Shenmue III is another example, where fans wanted a continuation to after Shenmue II ended on a mean cliffhanger. The third title, released nearly two decades after the second one, kept several of the Dreamcast-style gameplay quirks, which time hasn’t been too kind to. Not to mention that it still leaves several story questions unanswered Both of these titles still have their fans, but they show the risks involved with asking for new installments in dormant franchises.

As far as Japanese RPGs go: Just ask any longtime and semi-longtime fans of the genre how the wishes for a new Lunar installment turned out. An extreme example, sure, but a lesson that you should be careful about what you ask for.

I’m not saying that going with spiritual successors is a strategy guaranteed to be infallible. Mighty No. 9 turned out to be unforgettable in dubious ways, a successor to the then-dormant Mega Man franchise that was mediocre at best. It did end up indirectly bringing Mega Man back to life through Mega Man 11, so it at least had a good unintended consequence. On the other hand: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night turned out to be a great spiritual successor to the Metroidvania Castlevania series that Konami has long abandoned. There are more positive examples for spiritual successors than negative ones.

These kinds of successors are also a better bet thanks to how they allow for developers to wipe the slate clean and start anew. Taking on a new installment in a beloved franchise after it’s rested on the shelf for years places enormous pressure on a team taking it on, due to the legacy they’ll have to live up to. This is undoubtedly one reason why a team at Square Enix hasn’t taken on a new Chrono game. Well, that and Shinji Hashimoto’s claim that the DS version didn’t rock their world in sales.

It’s not always the best idea to clamor for the revival of a favorite franchise you remember from your bygone years. I can’t promise that I’ll adhere to this advice all the time, because I am frequently my own worst enemy. But I do plan on following it more often than I did before this. I’ll demonstrate that one day here.