<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">With sequels like Uncharted 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Assassin&#8217;s Creed Unity, Halo 5, Batman: Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X and WWE 2K15 on the horizon, many major video game franchises will soon transition to the new generation of game consoles with their sequels. There are still some franchises that I would love to see make the leap to new-gen consoles. Here are a list of sequels I want to see the most on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One or even Wii U&#8211;sooner rather than later.</span></p>
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<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">5. Ninja Gaiden IV</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-50197" src="http://www.explosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ninja-gaiden-3-1024x576.jpg" alt="ninja-gaiden-3" width="820" height="461" /></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">The attempt to make a more involed, darker story for Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden III was not a bad idea. Unfortunately, the story did not really take the angle as far as it could have gone. The Razor&#8217;s Edge version did fix some of the problems with Ninja Gaiden 3 by adding more difficulty and weapon options. I would like to see a more focused return to the franchise with Ninja Gaiden IV for the new-gen consoles. Specifically, there should be more of a romantic angle between Ryu and Sonia/Irene Lew.</span></p>
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<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">4. Prototype 3</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3518" src="http://www.explosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Prototype.jpg" alt="Prototype" width="685" height="385" /></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">I really enjoyed the mechanics and play style of the Prototype games, where the player is basically granted insane powers through the Blacklight virus. After Prototype 2, I would not mind seeing a continuation of the James Heller story. After Heller absorbed Alex Mercer&#8217;s powers, can he truly resist the allure that such power may grant? As the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. For something different, Prototype 3 could easily put the player in the role of a new protagonist, as well as a new cast of surrounding characters, similar to Infamous Second Son.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">3. Saints Row V</span></strong></p>
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<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-45660" src="http://www.explosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Saints-Row-4-Content-Is-Being-Cut-So-That-the-Game-Appears-in-Australia-2-1024x576.jpg" alt="Saints-Row-4-Content-Is-Being-Cut-So-That-the-Game-Appears-in-Australia-2" width="820" height="461" /></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">In Saints Row, the Boss of the Saints becomes the President of the United States and is promptly abducted by an alien overlord named Zinyak. The earth is destroyed, but the Saints now have alien technology to travel through time. The solution? There is your premise for Saints Row V: The Saints conquer time itself. It already sounds like a license to print money.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">2. Darksiders 3</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68115" src="http://www.explosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/darksiders-1.jpeg" alt="Darksiders" width="864" height="540" /></p>
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<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">I loved Darksiders. In 2010, it was a new property that had a ton of potential. The game had a great art style and a cool, unique story that mixed the combat of God of War with RPG-style dungeons and puzzle solving. I liked Darksiders 2; but the story was problematic because it did not advance the ending of the first game. After THQ went under, the Darksiders property was picked up by Nordic Games. Ideally, Darksiders 3 would pick up from the end of the first game and give fans the true sequel they have wanted for several years. The new consoles pose a great opportunity to return to this franchise. Perhaps a sequel could provide a scenario that would incorporate all the members of the Four Horsemen. Darksiders 3 would need to go completely for broke and meet all the potential of this franchise that it has never been able to fulfill.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">1. Dead Space 4</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-47168" src="http://www.explosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/deadspace-1024x576.jpg" alt="Dead Space" width="820" height="461" /></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in 11.25pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;">In case you could not tell from my earlier stories, I am a huge fan of the Dead Space franchise. While I was not as disappointed with Dead Space 3 as some were, the ending to Awakening felt like a major kick in the nether regions. I still have lingering questions that need to be answered. Dead Space is currently on a bit of a break right now. After Visceral completes its current projects, they need to get back to Dead Space and create a big, all-or-nothing conclusion. Either that, or the producers need to buck up and answer all the questions left unanswered by the last game.</span></p>
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Ninja Gaiden IV… Romantic angle between Ryu and Sonia??? WTF? The story needs to be centered on his mission to defeat the fiends or whatever evil forces are out there. He wasn’t meant to be grounded and humanized like in NG3. He’s a badass ninja, enough said. Ninja Gaiden IV, yeah I’m all for it. But the the story should be him about being brutal and merciless and silent. Otherwise, you’re looking at something that’s even worst than NG3.
You obviously know very little about the history of the franchise. There was a lot in the original games about his involved romance with Irene (Sonia in the new games). I don’t think they did a good job of trying to ground and humanize him in the third game. You can only do so much with “Ryu is a badass ninja.” But you are wrong that you are looking at something worse than NG3. The original Ninja Gaiden games are proof of that.
He may not know the history of Ninja Gaiden, but he has a point. What worked back then doesn’t necessarily mean it will work today. Keep in mind the same guy responsible for the stories of the original series on NES was also responsible for the story of NG3… so how did that worked out? Audiences today prefer protagonists to be more antihero in a sense. Just compare all the superhero movies released in the 80’s & 90’s and compare them to how the stories differ today. The point is, story has to focus mainly on one thing such as why he’s embarking on eradicating the fiends or what not. Perhaps you can sprinkle in a little bit of romance similar to NG2 just to break up the monotony, but not enough to stray away just like how they screwed up NG3. Or you know, I could be wrong. If they could somehow partner with Naughty Dog or Hideo Kojima or anyone who has an outstanding record of crafting stories then I’m all for it… However, since this is likely to stay inhouse of Team Ninja and we all know they suck at telling stories (but the best in making tits bounce), then I say stick to something that’s straight forward, even if the story doesn’t make any sense.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is tops on my list of anticipated games too. Despite its flaws, Razor’s Edge was a redemption for the atrocity that the original NG3 was and they said they noted the feedback fans gave them, so I think they’ve learned their lesson on gameplay. They need to cut the versus multiplayer entirely though, it didn’t work at all. The 2-player co-op Ninja Trials were what worked with multiplayer – it provided a reward for getting proficient with certain characters or weapons, because there was a partner there to see what you could do, and when you got through difficult Master or Ultimate trials, you really felt like a master.
Unfortunately, the ability to spam the 360-Y move with the Scythe and overpower everything made mastering other characters or weapons (Ayane for me) less rewarding and kind of wrecked everything. Some Trials could also stand to be better structured and bosses better balanced. Ryu, Ayane, Momiji and Kasumi should all be playable like they were in Razor’s Edge, that was fun. Maybe add Hayate.
In terms of story, Ninja Gaiden 2’s story was more along the lines of what it should be – fairly straightward, Ryu vs. demon army. There’s room for depth between characters in a simple storyline, but a simple combat-focused storyline like NG2 works better for a combat-focused game like NG.
Just bring back decapitation and dismemberment like in NG2.