No matter how you feel about Gears of War 4 , you have to admit that it’s doing something interesting in regards to its story. Instead of following Marcus Fenix through even more adventures, his journey gets to end. Instead, a new legacy is beginning in Gears of War 4 . We’re following his son, JD Fenix, who is also a soldier heading off to continue the family legacy. Which frankly, is a cool idea that should be pursued more often in games.
Think about what we see and experience in most follow-ups. They usually take us on either another adventure with the established hero or an entirely new character. The former can have some continuity issues, especially in games like Mass Effect where characters suddenly don’t have the same levels or skills as the previous installment. The latter forces us to connect with someone who may have no ties whatsoever to the person we’ve known and loved.
By having a series follow a family line, multiple issues are being solved. We don’t see ourselves starting almost from scratch with the same character, someone who should be an experienced pro by the third or fourth installment in the series. It also lets our old heroes retire when it feels like they ought to do so. Their welcome isn’t warn out. Most importantly, it allows a series to continue with a face that isn’t entirely unfamiliar. Some of our affection for the previous hero or heroine will carry over, because this is their offspring. It’s a stranger that isn’t entirely strange. That Gears of War has done this successfully with Gears of War 4 shows it can work.
Best of all, we’re reaching a point with multiple series where this could become a reality. Dishonored is a great example. With Dishonored 2 , Arkane Studios is doing a similar thing. Both Corvo, the hero of the previous game, and his daughter, Emily, are playable characters. He’s the veteran and she’s a newbie. We already know there are multiple endings. Perhaps this is a means of setting the stage for a series where each installment follows one of Corvo’s descendants as they use their unique abilities and skills to rectify situations.
We even have three more series whose developers could take cues from Gears of War 4 to explore this approach to sequels. The Last of Us offered a father-daughter sort of relationship between Joel and Ellie. A sequel could see her carrying on his legacy. We already know Uncharted 4 was the end of Nathan Drake’s story, but now he and Elena have a little girl named Cassie who could keep the adventures alive. God of War shows Kratos bonding with and training his son. Maybe his son will be the next God of War?
The opportunities are endless and, as Gears of War 4 shows, following a family through a series is a great creative direction for games. We now have a new character who is reminiscent of his father, but is still unique and defined. We’ll get to follow him through (hopefully) many interesting adventures. Perhaps, when the time comes, we’ll even see him pass the torch to his son or daughter. Imagine how cool it would be if more games took that approach? And, judging by the state of some other famous series, it seems like a perfect time for developers to try just that.