The Video Game Revue

Game Series Gone Astray

I was reflecting today on some game series that I deeply admire but have gone so astray that I don't expect much out of any new releases under their respective labels. It's a real heart-breaker to reflect on what massive influences these games were back in the day, and yet how little they have to offer at present.

Rainbow Six

R6 has fallen a long way--from the gritty action/simulation hybrid that it used to be to the edgy console FPS that it's known as today. The original Rainbow Six was much more than a glitzy triple-A title made to appeal to Xbox fanboys; it was uncompromisingly technical in nature, more than a little bit scary, and close to as epic as any video game has ever been. The storyline was great, the gameplay was solid, and the overall feel of the game was excellent. R6 picked up a little steam with the sequel, Rogue Spear, which had tighter level design coupled with the same great formula as the first game. Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (the PC version) made massive strides forward with graphics and gameplay, but the storyline had gotten too cheesy and the overall feel of the game was compromised; still, it was every bit the worthy successor to the series, and I loved it to death.

Where has R6 been since then? Currently it's little more than a series of closed-ended action FPS titles designed to be accessible to Splinter Cell fans. The Xbox market has turned Tom Clancy branded FPSes into a mainstream phenomenon, and completely sucked the venom out of them in the process.

Wing Commander

The original Wing Commander (and it's gut-wrenchingly potent sequel) married Elite-inspired space combat sim gameplay with a level of cinematic drama that was extremely rare in video games of the era. Much like Rainbow Six, Wing Commander's was known for presenting immersive experiences with a believable sense of high stakes; in playing the game, one really feels as though one is making a difference, which is a potent thing for any game to offer.

Wing Commander had its ups and downs even during the glory days, with some titles diluting the series somewhat (Wing Commander Academy and Wing Commander Armada come to mind), but that just meant that there was lots of material for the die-hard fans to digest. The last good game in the series was Wing Commander IV, after which Wing Commander became something of an obscure relic, with a really bad movie adaptation being made--one which bears little resemblance to the world developed in the video games--and lately an Xbox Live Arcade title being branded after it which probably has more in common with Quake III Arena than it does with respectable Wing Commander games. As for the genre of space combat sims, there's not a whole lot of activity there at all these days.

Seiken Densetsu

Seiken Densetsu started as a daring action RPG on the GameBoy with some excellent artwork and level designs, considering the platform. This would-be Zelda-killer made the jump to 16-bit glory with its sequel on the SNES platform. Under the English title of Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 2 completely astounded everyone who played it, with its rich gameplay, intricate world design, and drop-dead gorgeous pixel artwork. Squaresoft went on to produce Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger to the same level of quality (and then some), and both of those titles were huge hits in America, but Seiken Densetsu 3--acclaimed as having truly topped its predecessor--arrived too late in the SNES life-cycle, and it was not released in America.

Since then, Seiken Densetsu releases have been lack-luster to say the least. Legend of Mana is a mockery, Sword of Mana is a mere remake, and both Children of Mana and Dawn of Mana miss the point of the series entirely. Fans continue to cry out for a proper sequel to a game that hasn't been satisfactorily reproduced in over a decade, and the RPG production powerhouse Square-Enix continues to be unable to deliver.

Conclusion

There are some fairly obvious and important parallels that can be drawn between these games, with some important lessons therein. All three games thrived on creating intricate fantasy universes with epic storylines that thrust the player into the heart of world-changing events. All three games took the time to develop simple, but effective gameplay that allowed the player's skill to be the center of attention in spite of all of the production value being built into the game. And all three games were developed within already established genres (FPS, Space Combat Sim, Action RPG/Adventure) while pushing the envelope within those genres simply by taking them in fresh directions. Basically, these were all high quality, original games, and they were recognized for it.

Where the series eventually went astray, I suppose, were from trying to be too popular. It doesn't make sense to try to expand on an original idea by dumbing it down for a wider audience; that is simply a tactic for cashing in on a brand's good name and losing that good name in the process. Similarly, one can't force originality by getting too fancy or quirky with the game (as Seiken Densetsu has), nor can one make a game that much more popular by carelessly expanding its budget skywards (as Wing Commander did with it's final title.) Sometimes all a fan-base really wants is for a series to stay true to its roots and deliver the same level of quality that made the series a hit to begin with.

posted by Parappa @ 11:33 PM