QOTW: Assassin’s Creed has done several great prequels/origins but the best has to be Black Flag as a prequel to AC3. The golden age of piracy was an unexpectedly great time period for an AC game, the naval combat was satisfying as hell and I loved hanging out with famous pirates of the era 🏴☠️
Like Solo: A Star Wars Story is secretly an origin story for Han's iconic Dice,Tomb Raider 2013 is actually the origin of Lara Croft's signature dual pistols.
The final boss disarms Lara of the bow and climbing axe she's been using all game, and lunges at her. She overpowers him and then steals the sidearm off his hip. This is followed by a QTE where she whips out her own pistol and dual wields both, shooting up the boss and forcing him off a cliff.
CV: Lords of Shadow! “Why am I playing a story about a Belmont WITHOUT Dracula?” Only to find out you BECOME Dracula! No wonder the ultimate monster is weak against Belmonts, he IS one! Loved that twist. Great origin story.
Yeah this is also the first one that came to mind for me, I was surprised it didn't come up on the show! Effectively saving the franchise after 2, introducing the style stuff that became a pretty signature element for Dante, seems to still be the most beloved in the series
QOTW: Mine is probably Dragon Quest 3. I don't want to get too spoilery since the remake just came out, but particularly the way the final section of the game ties into DQ1.
...into one continuity. IIRC this was a decision by Hasbro to fold in all new media/toylines into one Aligned continuity going forward.
Naturally this Aligned continuity was abandoned but parts of it still influence the franchise to this day. BTW please watch Transformers One it's legit good. (2/2)
Prequals are pointless unless they do something different, so my choice is Dead Space Extraction. It's the last good light gun game I can think of. Also, while they looked dumb, the PS3 move controllers work really well. Time Crisis: Razing Storm is still worth getting if you have the working gear.
Side thought, the PlayStation 3 really doesn't get enough credit for all of the innovations it tried, it had remote streaming which worked surprisingly well. It also had that odd built in voice modulator for online chat, so you could sound high pitch like the racoon from Chris's porch. Take it easy.
(1/3) I’m bending the rules a bit here, but Hotline Miami 2 serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the events of the first game. It expands on the hallucinatory narrative of the original by fleshing out a full timeline, making the events of HM1 feel much more grounded—though told out of sequence.
(2/3) HM2 explores Jacket's backstory, the Ghost Wolves, the Russian-American war, and the psychological triggers that lead to the revenge-driven events of HM1. While HM1 is often praised for its gameplay, HM2 does a great job of expanding the story and adding depth to the characters’ gameplay.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. While 2 further prequels dilute it's place in the timeline, the simple setup for the story meant it worked well. Helps that otherwise it's also one of the greatest games of all time .
Street Fighter Alpha 2, the sequel game of a prequel series set between the original Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2, specifically Cammy's origin story (whose original appearance is Super, the sequel to SF2).
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country. It takes place 500 years before the main game, so most of the plot has fallen into myth by the time of XBC2, where it's told in disjointed flashbacks, so there's still a bit to learn. The streamlined battle system also makes it easier to pick up.
QOTW: Dark Void Zero is a delightful prequel to a game that- uh- it was fine I guess. Anyway, DV0 had some convoluted meta-lore about how it was designed for the playchoice 10 and Jimmy Fallon had the prototype cart from a contest. The game itself was a fun retro exploration megaman with a jetpack!
Comments
What makes the duology a good origins story is that it combined a lot of disparate lore from different Transformers mediums over the decades... (1/2)
Naturally this Aligned continuity was abandoned but parts of it still influence the franchise to this day. BTW please watch Transformers One it's legit good. (2/2)