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Time for this old question again: assuming it is handled by a good dev team, what long dormant game series would you like to see brought back?

Last posted Sep 05, 2022 at 09:51AM EDT. Added Aug 06, 2022 at 04:01PM EDT
18 posts from 16 users

One of the big ones for me is Thief. Square-Enix attempted to bring it back in 2014 with a reboot that felt like it was sorta attempting to capitalize on the popularity of Dishonored, and they did have development handled by Eidos Montreal (the same studio that successfully brought back Deus Ex a couple years earlier with Human Revolution), BUT this reboot was handled by Eidos Montreal's "B team" and in the end just felt underwhelming. It was so underwhelming that I'd legit argue Dishonored is a better sequel to Thief than Thief 2014, even if Dishonored is a bit closer in style to Deus Ex and Bioshock (what kinda helps cement this is Dishonored 2 even got Garret's original voice actor to play Corvo, while Thief 2014 didn't).

Another one is Duke Nukem, as the new Alien World Order campaign in the World Tour Edition showed that making good modern Duke Nukem levels is certainly possible if the right people are involved (and you don't have George Broussard trying to get the team to implement every new technology he sees).

An interesting thing that both IPs have in common is both are now under the ownership of Embracer Group (Gearbox was bought out by Embracer in 2021), and given this company's track record of reviving old IPs from their catalog for modern audiences it's possible maybe a revival is likely now. Yeah Duke Nukem is also owned by Gearbox and infamous greasemeister Randy Pitchford seems uninterested in doing anything with the IP, but now he answers to Embracer's higher ups so if Embracer wants a new Duke Nukem then it'll likely happen.

F-Zero

Pokemon Ranger

Earthbound/MOTHER (If Shigesato Itoi wants to)

Banjo-Kazooie (hopefully none of that bullshit from Nuts & Bolts)

Sin and Punishment

Wave Race

Starfy

Starfox

Those were a few I could think of at the top of my head

Turok. The odd part of this franchise is that it had its return not too long ago. In 2019, Escape From Lost Valley was released and it was an extreme diversion from their predecessors: a chibi-looking game with an isometric, dungeon-esque style. However, if you try looking for it, the game will be nowhere to be found or even buy (unless you pirate it, of course).

In any case, this 68 year old series deserves another run, and what I'm thinking is it having the same treatment that Doom had in 2016. There are two possible contexts where the next game could be: I'm leaning more towards the Dinosaur Hunter saga (the stage which 90% of the games where set in) rather than the Son of Stone saga (which was the basis behind the 2019 game).

I adore the original trilogy, but I actually don't mind leaving Thief in the grave since we have a worthy successor, Dishonored, as you mentioned. I'm more worried about the fate of Dishonored right now, I believe the last game was a bit of a flop and has been put on the ice by Arkane for many years now.

Anyways, some games I'd like to see return:

Brothers in Arms series. The last mainline entry was in 2008, ending on a cliffhanger eluding to a sequel to be set in the Battle of the Bulge. Gearbox has said they are working on a sequel ( and a tv series to boot), but have disclosed very little so there's something to hope for.

Turok has also not seen the light of day since 2008 (aside from insult that was Escape from Lost Valley). Given the popular resurgence of boomer shooters since Doom 2016, I think modern audiences would enjoy a modern Turok.

Actually spin-offs, but considering the whole franchise, I think they count as individual series-es of their own: Devil Survivor and Digital Devil Saga.

Devil Survivor 2 came out in 2012, though both games did receive 3DS ports that added new features/scenarios, with DS2's port being released in 2015. It's such a unique duology for the Megaten franchise, what with its 7-day-time-limit system, character-based branching story, and turn-based strategy gameplay(which the franchise had only seen in another spin-off series: Majin Tensei); it makes me wonder why they haven't gone back to it.

Digital Devil Saga 2 came out in 2005. Unlike Devil Survivor(or most titles in the franchise, really), the Digital Devil Saga duology tells a directly connected story with a definite conclusion at the end of the second game. Despite that, fans have been wanting a new entry set in its universe.

Shining Force as a strategy JRPG and pretty much every single IP that valve has ever made, such as Team Fortress, Half Life, Portal, and Left for Dead.

I'd also like to see a comeback for skylanders, but not with the toys for life setting it once had. Several characters from that franchise actually had some really good designs.

Up until the last couple of years I'd say Destroy All Humans, but fortunately the series has gotten a new lease on life.

Nowadays I'd like to see more of a couple of cult classics that I remember from when I was younger:

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

Brute Force

Darkstone

TerribleTrike wrote:

Up until the last couple of years I'd say Destroy All Humans, but fortunately the series has gotten a new lease on life.

Nowadays I'd like to see more of a couple of cult classics that I remember from when I was younger:

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

Brute Force

Darkstone

You saying Psi-Ops just reminded me of another old Midway IP Iโ€™d like to see return: The Suffering. An action-horror duology from the mid-00s about a death row inmate confronting the monsters representing forms of execution both in a maximum security prison on a remote island, and then the city of Baltimore in the sequel. Whatโ€™s interesting about these games is that the question of if the main character deserved to be on death row is done via player choice as saving or killing the non-hostile humans determine if the main character is a cold blooded murderer or an innocent man blamed for the deaths of others. I think I did like the first game a teeny bit more due to the isolated location upping the horror atmosphere a bit more, but I still liked the sequel and found the story intriguing from start to finish.

Only thing WB (who own all old Midway IPs now) have done since acquiring the IP is they did re-release them on GOG a couple years back, but thatโ€™s it. I think Monolith Productions could make a good reboot, but WB seems to really be underutilizing that studio.

F-Zero since I liked the idea of a futuristic racer and being able to customize my own vehicle. It also helps that aside from the colorful cast, GX had a great soundtrack and I wish the story mode cutscene themes were available.

The Suffering. Mistress Fortune summed up my thoughts exactly with how you could save or kill non-hostile people. I also liked how the designs were for all but one monster and how they reflected different forms of execution. Better monster designs than the western Silent Hill games.

FEAR in its slo-mo first person combat and supernatural atmosphere though I'd like more into the world of FEAR with what made the group exist since they were made to deal with paranormal threats.

King's Field/Shadow Tower. I love the Souls series but I also love the older works From Software has under their belt, especially since parts of King's Field has a new lease within the Souls franchise and not just with the "moonlight sword" and "lady with a scythe" gimmick they had in many of the games. I'd love another first person melee game in a fantasy world that placed an emphasis on the atmosphere.

The PaRappa the Rapper series

In the hands of a modern dev it can become oustanding, especialy with the abundance of talented independent rappers and producers around the internet these days

Last edited Aug 09, 2022 at 06:48PM EDT

Mr. Plankton wrote:

F-ZERO! With Wipeout, Mario Kart 8 DLC with F-Zero tracks and that indie F-Zero I forgot, I think F-Zero would be neat to make a return.

Darkstalkers. One day, it won't be dead.

I had a relatively recent interest develop for Dark stalkers. I think there was a new game planned for the PS3 back in the day but it supposedly got scrapped because apparently a re-release of a re-release did not sell well as well as the failed Tekken / Street Fighter crossover.

F-Zero had a fan buy 40,000 in stocks just to ask if there were any plans for the franchise. I would like to see something come out of that inquiry, although the response to the question was lukewarm at best.

Major_Failure wrote:

Shining Force as a strategy JRPG and pretty much every single IP that valve has ever made, such as Team Fortress, Half Life, Portal, and Left for Dead.

I'd also like to see a comeback for skylanders, but not with the toys for life setting it once had. Several characters from that franchise actually had some really good designs.

I would also enjoy a proper Shining Force that's not just a Tactics Ogre knock-off. Although speaking of Tactics Ogre, A new Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre game would be nice as well. Squeenix has shown a willingness to make turn-based RPGs as of late, so they might do a good job with it--especially if they put the teams who work on the Bravely Default and Octopath games onto such a project.

Another series that could see a revival is Golden Axe. The success and quality of Streets of Rage 4 has shown that Sega still has people who know how to make beat'em-ups. The game could even use the same engine and a fair bit of the code.

A Pulseman sequel/remake from Inti Creates might be good. While Mighty No. 9 was a legendary stinker, Inti Creates normally makes good games. They've worked on Megaman Zero, Gunvolt, Gal Gun, and some of the Shantae games--so they have an otherwise good track record. The problem is that Game Freak likely still partially owns Pulseman, as they made it (Pikachu's Volt Tackle is Pulseman's Volteccer technique.) Of course, Game Freak's track record isn't as good, so I would rather have Inti Creates handle it.

Some series that would be nice, but are ultimately longshots are:
-Gauntlet (as a Midway series, it's probably owned by Warner Bros.)
-Magic Pengel (Too obscure, despite being a great fit for the Switch despite the games are basically about drawing one's own monsters to battle with.)
-Mischief Makers (Treasure dislikes making sequels, and likely would be averse to a remake.)
-Wario World (Warioware just sells more, even though they could just be merged with Rhythm Heaven due to their same art style and similar mechanics, which would free Wario to let him go on adventures again.)

Last edited Aug 13, 2022 at 09:49PM EDT

The Dark Cloud series would be nice.

I heard there's a spiritual successor that was released, but still.
Iirc, there was little overlap with Dark Cloud 1 & 2 storywise, but I wonder if they'd continue that trend in DC3 and have the series be final fantasy-esque or tie it all together.

Skeletor-sm

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