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Over the weekend, an previous quote from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth co-director Motomu Toriyama began recirculating on social media that, after finishing the game myself, practically turned me into the Joker. It originated in a social media Q&A with the event group, and one query was, “Do I must play Final Fantasy VII Remake to take pleasure in Last Fantasy VII Rebirth?” Toriyama’s response was definitive: “No, now we have made preparations in order that gamers who didn’t get an opportunity to play the primary recreation can totally take pleasure in Last Fantasy VII Rebirth.” Nicely, readers, let me let you know now: that was fairly an exaggeration. Rebirth is unapologetically the center of an ongoing story, and it’s ridiculous that online game builders need to maintain touting this declare that sequels are wonderful factors to leap in, when it’s nearly by no means true.
The insistence in video video games (and media extra broadly) to try to make each big-budget sequel an entry level for its ongoing collection is born from inside and exterior strain. Whereas I sympathize with why a inventive requested, “Can individuals who didn’t purchase your final online game purchase your new one?” would possibly fib and say “After all!”, we don’t need to maintain parroting these deceptive statements and searching for methods to leap into one thing that’s not meant to face alone. In reality, Last Fantasy VII Rebirth is likely one of the most egregious examples of this as a result of, from a story structural standpoint, it’s actually the center of a single story. On high of this, Sq. Enix’s retelling of Last Fantasy VII assumes data of the unique recreation, because it’s clearly in dialog with the supply materials and the participant’s expectations about what a remake of it appears like.
This quote began circulating once more as a result of IGN’s social group used it as a basis to promote the site’s review, despite the fact that the piece itself doesn’t make this case. This prompted responses from a number of commenters that this was dangerous recommendation. To place it bluntly, don’t play Last Fantasy VII Rebirth with out enjoying Remake. That is the second part of a three-game series encapsulating one story. It’s the definition of an episodic narrative meant to be skilled from begin to end. The “preparations” Sq. Enix is referring to should be the recap of Remake’s occasions in Rebirth’s important menu, however even that’s inadequate. Frankly, you also needs to at the very least concentrate on the occasions within the authentic Last Fantasy VII, too, and of these in spin-off recreation Crisis Core for good measure.
However how did we get right here? That is hardly the primary time a online game developer has paraded the lie that its sequel narratives are in some way totally indifferent from earlier ones. The Mass Impact trilogy is arguably probably the most damning instance of this, although Rebirth is giving it a run for its cash. The Mass Impact trilogy has an import function that lets gamers transfer their model of protagonist Commander Shepard, together with their decisions and relationships, by every recreation. That ongoing character arc, formed by you, is the pillar of what makes these video games particular, and but, BioWare was hellbent on making Mass Impact 3 a straightforward recreation for somebody who had by no means performed the sooner video games to spend $60 on when it launched. There are even interviews with lead writer Mac Walters through which he says the third recreation was inbuilt hopes individuals who had by no means touched a Mass Impact earlier than would have an equally gratifying expertise with the sequel as seasoned gamers would.
“One of many targets we set out for initially of Mass Impact 3 was to deal with this prefer it was a film, and it was the film,” Walters mentioned. “Sure, there’s backstory to it. Perhaps you realize it, perhaps you don’t. We actually need people who find themselves simply choosing this up for the primary time to have the ability to simply soar in.”
Whereas BioWare did a variety of legwork, like altering dialogue for new Mass Effect 3 playthroughs that didn’t have an imported save, to try to make this true, it meant some decisions, penalties, and characters felt underserved in the long term. A lot of the payoff between video games might be summed up by whether or not or not characters from earlier video games confirmed up or not as a result of structurally, the sport has to function below the idea that these characters is probably not there and a few gamers could don’t know they even existed. However even once you have a look at the trivia of how Mass Impact’s carryover panned out, Mass Impact 3 was by no means meant to be skilled as a standalone online game. I’d say that making an attempt to look at anybody Mass Impact recreation as a lone product is a idiot’s errand, and that has solely been solidified by the Legendary Edition remasters which package deal all of them collectively and make tweaks to make sure that every recreation seems like a part of the puzzle, as an alternative of standalone entries.
A few of that is advertising. Firms don’t need to let you know {that a} recreation like Rebirth has a whole lot of hours of required studying earlier than you possibly can totally grasp what’s happening, as a result of that may cease you from shopping for it and juicing their numbers within the subsequent earnings name. However hesitation about leaping in mid-story is a good feeling for potential gamers to have. Video video games are sometimes a a lot larger money and time dedication for the buyer than most different media. Dune: Part Two is a neater promote when watching what got here earlier than takes one night time as an alternative of a number of.
No person needs to really feel like they need to spend dozens of hours of catch-up to play the most recent hotness. However the fact is that you simply typically do have to do this. Good sequels are constructing off of the worlds, characters, and themes in what got here earlier than. This race to “nothing that got here earlier than issues, truly” is particularly prevalent in video video games, and it’s having a decaying impact on their storytelling as they desperately cling to the concept that they will trick new gamers into considering they will simply soar proper in at any level.
The Dragon Age collection is positioned as an anthology whereas typically leaving threads hanging between video games, so when it shifts protagonists, a private story is handed off to a brand new hero so new gamers can soar in with minimal funding. Consequently, narrative throughlines find yourself underserved. Swapping protagonists and settings is okay, however Dragon Age is all the time working on the idea of continuity (they even made a whole app that allows you to customise your world state from earlier video games) whereas additionally making arduous breaks to attraction to newcomers. It’s how Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could be the conclusion to a narrative followers have been ready a decade for, whereas nonetheless being offered as an excellent place for new players to jump in
This worry of alienating the hypothetical new participant makes earlier characters and narratives really feel just like the Yoshi that Mario unceremoniously drops down a chasm as he leaps to stable floor. The Assassin’s Creed franchise is usually anthological because it jumps between totally different time intervals every recreation, but it surely has a present-day throughline that has modified fingers so many occasions, it seems like no character will get actual closure earlier than their story is handed off to a brand new protagonist. I jumped into Murderer’s Creed Valhalla with minimal data and grew to care about Layla Hassan, who facilitates the present-day sections, solely to see her discarded on the finish. I used to be a newcomer and was off-put by that, however as Murderer’s Creed sheds previous plotlines for brand spanking new ones seeking an entry level for brand spanking new followers, I can solely think about what long-time gamers are feeling concerning the return on their funding.
The market is fucked right now, and nobody needs to alienate a possible purchaser. If we’ve realized something from collection like Kingdom Hearts and The Legend of Heroes, it’s {that a} decades-long continuity will typically be met with exasperation and dismissive attitudes from individuals who don’t need to make investments the money and time to catch up. So it is sensible that you’d need to dissuade folks from considering your previous video games are important to your new recreation, however the finish results of not assembly your earlier work by itself phrases is confusion and a lack of belief. Last Fantasy VII Remake was offered as a modernized retelling of the traditional PlayStation RPG, and when it turned out to not be that, newcomers have been rightfully irritated after they reached the top of that recreation and had no thought what was happening.
So now, we’re being instructed that Last Fantasy VII Rebirth has no required studying. It’s a sequel that’s constructing off a meta-narrative spanning practically 30 years, however don’t fear about any of that. You’ll be able to soar in right here. No less than, that’s what Sq. Enix would love you to imagine. Now that Rebirth is out, I’m flabbergasted that it was mentioned and formally sanctioned, not as a result of I don’t perceive the enterprise mentality behind it, however as a result of I don’t know why we’re nonetheless making an attempt to deal with sequels as in the event that they’re one thing they’re not.
Sequels are supposed to be extensions of one thing that got here earlier than, and we don’t want to carry them to an ordinary that claims every thing needs to be approachable to anybody, irrespective of after they soar in. To take action is to restrict storytelling to a really slim, simplistic format in hopes that extra folks would possibly be capable to parachute in. It’s not gatekeeping to say that folks ought to compensate for a available, long-running story somewhat than have it capitulate to a watered-down model of itself as sections of the Mass Impact trilogy did.
Whereas the Marvel Cinematic Universe carries its personal baggage as a franchise, I typically take into consideration the New Yorker review of Avengers: Infinity Battle that claimed the movie, which was pitched because the fruits of a decade of superhero films, felt like an commercial for the opposite movies within the collection. The criticism is that so a lot of its scenes’ meanings are “outsourced” from earlier movies and that it doesn’t stand by itself. Whereas Marvel definitely doesn’t want defending, saying a film that was explicitly billed as a grand finale is simply too reliant on previous works seems like not assembly one thing by itself phrases. Tales constructed on a steady, multi-entry construction are inherently tied to what got here earlier than, and it seems like someplace alongside the road, we’ve overlooked that seeking the simplest approach into the media we need to eat.
Tales like Rebirth rebuff this notion. Its narrative issues don’t have anything to do with it being a tightly wound sequel to just about 30 years of legacy, and it’s fairly unapologetic about it, all issues thought of. Sq. Enix needs you to assume it isn’t, and the worry of proclaiming that your $70 product may need some necessary context ready in different video video games has the corporate giving out dangerous recommendation. We have to cease treating continuity as if it’s an issue price avoiding. Not every thing has to have MCU ranges of bags, however on the similar time, not everybody must be terrified of experiencing the entire of one thing.
