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Are the days of gaming Trilogies over?

Especially in triple A gaming?

In an interview with YouTube Kaptain Kuba, the reboot's director Cory Barlog explained that given how long each game has so far taken to make, a full trilogy with a single story would have likely spanned roughly 15 years.

"I feel like that's just too stretched out. Like, I feel like we’re asking too much, to say the actual completion of that story taking that long just feels too long, and given sort of where the team was at and where Eric was at with what he wanted to do, I was like, look, I think we can actually do this in the second story," he said.

Also take into account FF7 remake, each game is looking to be about 4 years apart. It’s about to be 2022 almost 2 years since the original with no episode 2 announced and even if it is announced this year I have doubts about it releasing in 2023. By the time they finish the trilogy, the first game will always be dated. Odds are if there is a 3rd game it will launch on next gen consoles, ps6/xboxtwo.

Same with The Last of Us. I maybe give this a little bit more grace since I’m not sure if it was originally planned as a trilogy but now hearing Neil Druckmann say they are just now finished with the script, odds are it will once again release at the end of this generation if not the next.

So by the time a gave dev finishes the last installment in a trilogy they are already thinking about remaking the first game. Long gone are the days of GoW 1-3, Mass Effect 1-3, gears, Ucharted, dark souls, etc, even though some of those games spanded across two gens, they still didn’t take 13-15 years.

This isn’t even AAA gaming, even indie games. Hollow Knight came out in 2017, Silksong still has no release date, if it were to do a third game i wouldn’t expect it until the end of the generation.

It’s gotten so bad that people are actually surprised when gaming sequels look similar to the first game, (BoTW, GoWR) because everyone i used to a gaming sequel being a gigantic graphical leap due to the transition of gaming between development.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I'm fine with it. I really dislike the concept of expanding a story into multiple entries.

Just tell a complete story in a single game.
 

OldBoyGamer

Banned
Not sure about this tbh. I would think that if you planned a trilogy from the off, you should be able to deliver it within 4 years of the first release.

Release game 1 followed by a sequel every two years. Two year should really be enough to deliver sequels using the same tech. 80% should be just new content. 20% new systems/mechanics.
Even 70/30 should still be doable.

edit. Im assuming the trilogy uses the same style etc as opposed to being completely different.
 
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kyliethicc

Member
Knack 3 ... some day

hope GIF
 

AmuroChan

Member
I think as a concept that publishers try to push, we're probably past that phase given the ever increasing development cycle. Obviously, there will still be trilogies in the future, but I think those will be driven by creative vision rather than publisher demands.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Gears 1,2,3 - 2006, 2008, 2011 - 5 years
Mass Effect 1,2,3 - 2007, 2010, 2012 - 5 years
Uncharted 1,2,3 - 2007, 2009, 2011 - 4 years
Prince of Persia 1,2,3 - 2003, 2004, 2005 - 3 years
GTA 3,vc, sa - 2001, 2002, 2004 - 3 years

God of war 2008 -... 2022 - 4 years for 1 game !!!!!!!! Trilogy will be 8 years like that.
 
AAA developers set the bar way too high when they aimed at photorealism. They're paying that price now.

Nintendo is being smart and is focusing on strong art direction instead of technical quality.
They compensate that with more dynamic worlds -- as opposed to the static worlds found in your typical western AAA games.

Indie developers take longer because they may not have the resources or are just bad at being productive.
Not sure I agree with the Nintendo part see as how botw and it’s sequel are 5 years apart right now
 

amigastar

Member
Elex 2 will come out. Looking at older Piranha Bytes games (Gothic 1-3, Risen 1-3)there will probably be an Elex 3
 
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Ebidramon

Banned
No, history has a way of repeating itself.

But also yes, one game nowadays can be as long as what once was considered a quadrilogy.
 

OldBoyGamer

Banned
Gears 1,2,3 - 2006, 2008, 2011 - 5 years
Mass Effect 1,2,3 - 2007, 2010, 2012 - 5 years
Uncharted 1,2,3 - 2007, 2009, 2011 - 4 years
Prince of Persia 1,2,3 - 2003, 2004, 2005 - 3 years
GTA 3,vc, sa - 2001, 2002, 2004 - 3 years

God of war 2008 -... 2022 - 4 years for 1 game !!!!!!!! Trilogy will be 8 years like that.
4 years for that first game is pretty decent tbh. Especially with its production values. But no need for each next one to take so long. Good example of the 2 year plan for me. Even three years.
 

Concern

Member
Problem is devs want to rush everything now but at the same time not held accountable for releasing broken and incomplete games.

These games take longer to make now and they want to rush these out no matter the cost.

Few examples

Halo Infinite - no coop or forge
Tlou2 - no factions 2

And worst example

Battlefield 2042 - no campaign and still missing significant features like voice chat and not to mention buggy af.
 

Inviusx

Member
Depends on the developer. Eidos got their new Hitman trilogy out within 5 years. If Insomniac releases Spiderman 2 in 2023 it will technically be their 3rd Spiderman game in 5 years.
 
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