We love stories. It’s ingrained in us from childhood – we root for a hero, and want to see them go on that hero’s journey – one with a beginning, middle, and end. And that last bit is key – there’s an importance to finality. Every great story needs a coda.
But we gamers, in a year or two, can usually pick up where we left off.
These days, when we finish a game, we can often take comfort in the fact that a sequel, prequel, spinoff – hell, even DLC – isn’t too far away. Sure, there are the occasional titles that stand on their own and choose not to go on, but generally speaking, even the greatest standalone games eventually become franchises.
Until they don’t anymore.
Some game series decide that they’ve told all the story they can tell. Sometimes, the studio goes bankrupt, or decides not to continue. But in all of the following cases, we wanted more.