November 9, 2007

WARNING: This column contains spoilers for Heavenly Sword. Do not read if you want to be surprised by the game’s ending

To sequel or not to sequel, that is the question
By Michael Lafferty

There are times when making a sequel diminishes the impact of the original story

If there is one standard that seems to be prevalent in the entertainment business, it is that a hit will breed a sequel – sometimes more than one.

Take The Simpson’s Movie. Maggie utters her first word (at the end of the movie) and it is, you guessed it, “sequel.” Rocky was a great film and has yielded five sequels. It just feels like the powers that be see the dollar signs and regardless of what the story or characters would want, plow through with a sequel. And if the sequel is not feasible, then they put together a ‘pre-quel’ (using the characters for events that happened before the telling of the timeline).

This is just wrong on so many levels.

Consider the literary world. While some have gone the route of using popular characters over and over, regardless of what happened to them in the last story, some authors understand the value of the story and honor their characters. Once Tolkien had Bilbo and Frodo depart for the Grey Havens, he didn’t bring Frodo back for another adventure. He realized that the scope of Middle-earth was grand enough to tell so many other tales. Perhaps none compared to the scope or depth of the Fellowship, but he allowed that thread to remain where he laid it.

Tiny Tim didn’t grow up and have a Christmas remission and have to learn the lesson anew in A Christmas Carol II.

Some stories stand on their own and should be left as works of art, as literary stories well told. And yes, that means forget the sequels.

We have had characters that seemed to die in one story to be mysteriously resurrected in yet another tale. Or, the dev team decided that the character probably should not come back and instead devised a plot line that involved them before the events of the previous game.

In the original God of War, the game starts with Kratos, driven mad through the machinations of the gods, dropping from a cliff to his (presumably) death. But nope, that was one possible outcome and the story was twisted to not only allow Kratos to live through the original game’s ending but he came back for at least one sequel. God of War II was a good game, but scored a bit lower than the original title (if you look at some aggregate scoring publications). Offshoots of the intellectual property (IP) have not fared as well.

Why? Because like a good book a story once told is compelling and can touch the reader (or player) in a manner that any sequels will have to work doubly hard to come close to. We play a game, we get to know a character and then our expectations for that character in subsequent releases are slightly higher. Fans of a character would be quick to point out anomalies in behavior, while the plots have to test them moreso than in their previous adventure.

SPOILER ALERT …

Which brings us to Heavenly Sword and the story of Nariko. This was a tale that was well told. The characters were compelling and had motivations for all their actions. Nariko was spurred on by her caring for Kai, and for a principle, not a people, that meant more to her than her own life.

And in the end of the game it cost her; even with her last breath, with every ounce of ethereal power she possessed, she gave of herself so another could live.

That is a compelling story. And it was told exceptionally well through the art work and animations of the game’s development team, Ninja Theory. Nariko was more than a Shakespearian character; she was the embodiment of true hope that denies what the rest of the world thinks and follows the passion of the heart, even unto death.

The ending of the story was beautifully told. To bring her back would be to spoil all that the first game delivered to its players. There are other tales to be told from that land, other stories that can weave in and out of the tapestry first woven by Heavenly Sword. There is no need to dishonor the memory and sacrifice of a few characters for the sake of dollar signs.

Ninja Theory delivered a game that elevated the connection between superb graphics, amazing artistry and story to a new level. It should be left that way. You can’t improve on it, you can only diminish it.

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