No sequel- games left unfinished

[therearerules]

In the Too Human thread Harsin mentioned it needs a sequel to complete the story ike Still Life. What other games have left their story unfinished in hope of a sequel, completely forgetting that nobody will want buy an unfinished game unless a sequel is sure to hit (hello Halo 2!)?

I've been burnt by:

Still Life. although this was building up to a clear conclusion, with a race against time and everything, and it was pretty obviously not going to be a massive seller leading to a big sequel, it still decided that they wouldn't complete the game there for some reason. I'd like to think that they simply hadn't worked out who would make sense as the killer, as opposed to cynically thinking people would feel required to buy a sequel, though both are pretty bad.

Dreamfall. It ends with the heros in peril (spoilers!) which is a pretty common end for something with a sequel, though none has appeared. Some folks argued it was a good ending, but the only way it could work as a proper ending, and not just something to compell you to spend more on a sequel, was if it didn't completely contradict the happy traipsing fantasy jollies before it. It was as if Labyrinth ended with the baby still in captivity. The sci-fi section ended nicely though.

[Lorfarius]

One that really annoys me is Haven: Call of the King on PS2 by Travellers Tales. It wasn't the greatest of platformers but had a rather intriguing ending with the bad guy winning and leading onto a sequel. However it didnt sell too well so they just abandoned it and any hope of them ever completing the planned trilogy.

The ending was pretty bleak so its a shame they never followed it through.

[Stig]

Devil May Cry did have sequels but what really anoyed me was that they didn't have anything to do with the previous story. I havn't played DMC4, but I was quite anoyed that DMC2 had nothing to do with the story of DMC1.

[Lorfarius]

Dreamfall. It ends with the heros in peril (spoilers!) which is a pretty common end for something with a sequel, though none has appeared. Some folks argued it was a good ending, but the only way it could work as a proper ending, and not just something to compell you to spend more on a sequel, was if it didn't completely contradict the happy traipsing fantasy jollies before it. It was as if Labyrinth ended with the baby still in captivity. The sci-fi section ended nicely though.

Theres a sequel in the works:

Link

[mushashi]

The most obvious one and everyone's favourite marmite-flavoured game series:

Shenmue II

Just release a book or something for a bit of closure at least

[newmiyamoto]

No mention of Shenmue yet? I want to defeat Lan Di! And obviously have a threesome with Joy and Nozomi...

EDIT: gah, beaten to the punch.

[Wroth]

A few months ago, Beyond Good and Evil would've been the poster child for this.

[therearerules]

Theres a sequel in the works:

Link

Episodic? Oh man. I wager that this game will never be complete.

[Lorfarius]

Episodic? Oh man. I wager that this game will never be complete.

I've never played it but I've just been to Amazon and ordered Dreamfall and The Longest Journey. I best not be disappointed

[therearerules]

A few months ago, Beyond Good and Evil would've been the poster child for this.

Really? What happened in the end? I never defeated the last boss and just imagined that when you do everyone cheers and everything returns to good. I take it that didn't happen?

[Mortis]

Episodic? Oh man. I wager that this game will never be complete.

Adventure games lend themselves well to episodic though (see Sam and Max for a good example) so I'd be quietly confident we'll see this.

[T Pot]

XIII.

it ended with a "to be continued" page. grr

[Lorfarius]

Really? What happened in the end? I never defeated the last boss and just imagined that when you do everyone cheers and everything returns to good. I take it that didn't happen?

I never even got that far back in the day. Seemed just like a generic platformer to me so I didnt put too much effort into it.

[El Stevo]

It's like a Still Life coming-out party down here. The game was actually pretty Ok wasn't it?

I'm still pretty upset that we haven't learned the secret of Monkey Island yet.

[therearerules]

It's like a Still Life coming-out party down here. The game was actually pretty Ok wasn't it?

Yeah, except the stupid baking puzzle. And they didn't give nearly enough time to building other characters to have a good ending (any reveal would have been met with a Mark and Lard style "whooooooooooooooooooooooo?", except the dad or boyfriend, which would have got "huh?"). That's probably why they didn't have one.

[Harsin]

It's like a Still Life coming-out party down here. The game was actually pretty Ok wasn't it?

As long as you don't get me started on the baking cookies 'puzzle'.

http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/still-life/614838p2.html

The one that practically made me scream, though, has Victoria baking cinnamon Christmas cookies for her Dad. Yes, that's right. In the middle of the biggest murder investigation in Chicago in years, the game grinds to a complete halt until you as Victoria bake cookies. Even worse, the recipe for the cookies is in some absurd code written down by your grandmother where you have to figure out what ingredients she's referring to when she says to mix together "Half a cup of generosity and a tablespoon of romance." Don't go looking for clues in the rest of the game, either. Apparently, whoever designed this game somehow believes that all the information you need is contained within the recipe. Maybe so, but this puzzle marked the first time in years I've had to resort to a walkthrough to get through it.

[spaceyjase]

Really? What happened in the end? I never defeated the last boss and just imagined that when you do everyone cheers and everything returns to good. I take it that didn't happen?

Aye, that's pretty much what happens....

but after the credits it shows PJ has been infected by Domz

.

[Wroth]

Really? What happened in the end? I never defeated the last boss and just imagined that when you do everyone cheers and everything returns to good. I take it that didn't happen?

It tied up quite nicely, but then there was a bastard cliff-hanger scene after the credits which not-too-subtlely hinted "SEQUEL". 5 years later it's only just been announced.

ending (spoilers, obv)

[mushashi]

XIII.

it ended with a "to be continued" page. grr

That just reminded me that Psi-Ops uses the exact same thing

In the game's final cutscene, Nick crashes one of the helicopters with telekinesis. Then there is black and the screen says "TO BE CONTINUED".

[Billy Brown]

In the Too Human thread Harsin mentioned it needs a sequel to complete the story ike Still Life. What other games have left their story unfinished in hope of a sequel, completely forgetting that nobody will want buy an unfinished game unless a sequel is sure to hit (hello Halo 2!)?

I've been burnt by:

Still Life. although this was building up to a clear conclusion, with a race against time and everything, and it was pretty obviously not going to be a massive seller leading to a big sequel, it still decided that they wouldn't complete the game there for some reason. I'd like to think that they simply hadn't worked out who would make sense as the killer, as opposed to cynically thinking people would feel required to buy a sequel, though both are pretty bad.

There's a sequel to Still Life on the way, too:

http://www.microids.com/en/catalogue/51/st...adventures.html

[Gabe]

Well Too Human is meant to be a trilogy; I can imagine that if they re-use the same engine and a lot of the assets then they could probably knock the other 2 out fairly quickly and cheaply, thereby not being too reliant on the original selling massive amounts. Maybe.

I'm disappointed that Shining Force III parts 2 & 3 were never translated (although they may have been standalone stories, I've never actually gone back and finished part 1).

[Hambury]

Shadowrun on the SNES - the sequel was referenced at the end.

Soul Reaver 2 on PS2 - Quite like the first two, would have been nice to see where it went.

[Lorfarius]

Well Too Human is meant to be a trilogy; I can imagine that if they re-use the same engine and a lot of the assets then they could probably knock the other 2 out fairly quickly and cheaply, thereby not being too reliant on the original selling massive amounts. Maybe.

I'm disappointed that Shining Force III parts 2 & 3 were never translated (although they may have been standalone stories, I've never actually gone back and finished part 1).

There are some very good fan translation patches available. Part 2 is completed and 3 is well underway.

Link

[Vin]

XIII.

it ended with a "to be continued" page. grr

Hell yes. That was a quality little game that sadly, about three people played. Released around the same time as BG&E IIRC.

KOTOR and Strangers Wrath also need some closure.

[Liquid Myth]

I'm disappointed that Shining Force III parts 2 & 3 were never translated (although they may have been standalone stories, I've never actually gone back and finished part 1).

They're continuations. At the beginning of Part 1 (the only one released here), you have to name three characters, who are all the team leaders. The first guy is for Part 1, and the other two for Parts 2 and 3. You meet the second guy in parts of the game, and the third guy joins your team for a bit but falls into a waterfall or something soon after getting him. In Part 2, you lead the second guy's team, and in Part 3 you lead the third guy's team.

[angel]

Not exactly a story based game, but Serious Sam has refused to end it's (admittedly pathetic) story in 3 games..SS, 2nd encounter and SS2, all promise a showdown with "mental" the final boss, and every time you get some fucking cop-out joke ending. The SS2 end is on youtube and is a complete joke, im glad i gave up on the series. Its you in a dark room or something and he escapes. F.F.S.

[Mortis]

Soul Reaver 2 on PS2 - Quite like the first two, would have been nice to see where it went.

Err there was another http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Kain:_Defiance

[Pob]

The ultimate one for me is Freespace 2, which had an amazing story. It ended with the humans having to collapse the only jump-gate back to Earth to stop the enemies' advance, leaving a massive portion of the human fleet and the player cut off (I think). Once I finished it, I was imagining all kinds of exciting ways to follow up on that ending, until I realised that they would never make Freespace 3 as the second one sold about six copies.

EDIT: reading the Wikipedia page, I realise I'm mixing up the endings of Freespace 1 and 2. The second one ended with the fleet fleeing from a bunch of enemy ships sending a star into supernova in order to open new jump-gate to Earth, or something. It ended on a cliff-hanger and not much was really explained.

[Keyboard Koala]

Star Wars - KotOR was meant to be a singleplayer trilogy

Makes you wonder if BioWare will reach the end of the supposed Mass Effect trilogy as well...

[therearerules]

Star Wars - KotOR was meant to be a singleplayer trilogy

Makes you wonder if BioWare will reach the end of the supposed Mass Effect trilogy as well...

Really? How did the second tie up to the first? I only played KoTOR and it seemed like a standalone game. There's some games which are standalone but have a sequel hinted at, and there are others which need the sequel to complete any of the storyline. Like Shenmue. Only I never resented Shenmue for its cliffhangers, probably because before I even bought the games I knew I would be left wanting at the end, and also because they play like the beginning to an epic story, but still a story in their own right. I couldn't imagine avenging me dad at the top of that big building in 2 (or in that cave), it would have been far too anticlimatic.