10 More Games that Deserve a Sequel
8. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Spinoffs are an effort in risk management. A series has enough trouble not alienating its audience on its own, but once another direction spawns a whole new genre, it's going to be hard to leverage designs. With Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the classic, grand RPG style of complex turn-based battles and thick lore got replaced by a real-time variant, which was essentially the antithesis to the franchise. Just by its elevator pitch, it had 'dumbed down' written all over it. That, however, would not give enough credit to what the game's core could do outside of its natural element. Baldur's Gate was rather formative, after all.
Part of the spinoff's strength was a direct tie to the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) rule set, which still stands as the benchmark for the RPG genre today. Whether this D&D design is implemented statically or dynamically, it's bound to have a result that people can acknowledge. The series still took on a fantastical atmosphere, but this time in a more lone wolf manner, as seen through a fast-paced scope popularized by such games as Diablo. Admittedly, Baldur's Gate and Diablo rolled into one sounded a lot more appealing than just Baldur's Gate lite.
After a strong first release that perfectly fit the transition from PC to consoles, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II polished out the kinks of its trial run and added a little more bang to the world. It didn't go all-out, but it showed that the new, swift design of this realm was something worth revisiting. Unfortunately, the release was set during a tough time for Black Isle Studios. A third iteration had been planned to continue the success story, but with the developer in peril and Fallout 3 in its hands, they rightfully chose to take on the latter and drop this side venture.
It's a new age now though. People looking to reconnect to nostalgic days are growing in numbers and others who were disappointed by a lacking Diablo III can be roped in as well. With the right timing, a new Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance could be the perfect storm.
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How about Final Fantasy X, I got like 700 hours in that game. Same for Tropico 5 with 400 hours. Final Fantasy VIII is my most time consuming one with over 2000 hours, though it's just cuz I finished it start to finish at least 45 times. I love that game. MMO's don't really count, then you gotta include Lineage II, TERA, FFXIV, Guild Wars 2 and everything else.
Totally agree about Beyond Good and Evil.
I'd add D&D Heroes for the XBox. I loved that ARPG, and would love to see an updated version using the new D&D 5e rules. Still keeping the top-down action, of course. There's no need to mount the camera over the shoulder for EVERY game.
No beyond good and evil???? Wtf
lot of odd ways to Spell Golden Sun Dark Dawn