We've all been used to video games having trilogies from the beginning (some more lel) but for most games we go through an entire trilogy of games where they tell an overarching story and get through all the major story beats. With games taking longer and longer to develop, means we have to wait years .. Sometimes 4+ to get a satisfying end of that particular arc in that story. It's not like back then when games could be easily released in 1-3 year dev cycles and we can finish up an entire trilogy arc in a reasonable amount of time.



Using TLOU as an example - TLOU 1 released in 2013, and TLOU2 in 2020 .. for part 3 we have no timeframe when we'll ever get around to finishing the story beats it carried from 1 and 2.

God of war reboot on the other hand had it's story finish in two games because the devs said that devcycles are too long and that they'd rather finish that particular arc in two games than drag it out to 3 on account of longer development time needed. Using GOW2 in that sense, pt2 did feel kinda rushed at times, but also felt excruciatingly slow at times as the game struggled with its pacing and trying to neatly wrap up everything in a bow.


What do you guys think? With the current state of things and games needing more time to cook, are we ok with having a new IP wrap up its particular arc in 2 games and then the third game being a completely new story or something that doesn't end up in a cliffhanger that we need to wait half our life for it to be resolved?


For me, I'm ok games wrapping up an entire arc in two games, provided that they take the time to cook it and give it a satisfying end before approaching the third game with a fresher set of eyes.

Of course not every game needs to follow this because games like Hitman don't necessarily really need the previous games to follow up on its iteration as they feel mostly standalone..


I'm hoping you guys get what I mean lol.



Like for the next mass effect, hopefully they can wrap up that entire particular arc within 2 games than drag it on for 3 games.

I’m cool with duology’s.

It depends on the story.

Mass Effect was a perfect trilogy - for better or for worse, with all the complaining about the ending. Folks complain about the Sopranos ending, Inception's ending, etc. - that's on them.

But dragging things out senselessly - Mass Effect another example, with Andromeda being a cartoonish/watered down version of what was perfect.

Starcraft + Broodwar was and still is perfect. Starcraft 2 sucked.

Story, brehs. Story.

I mean yeah it makes sense to do trilogies.

Let's say they put in a ton of research and spending to create and design a concept. It's a huge success and fans want more. Devs can now build on all their investment, re-use concepts, assets and mechanics in a sequel they know is gonna sell like hotcakes since it has an established fan base instead of starting totally from scratch and gambling on a new franchise.

So for chapter 2 they have less work, less of an initial investment, less risk and a greater chance for success.