Thoughts on Music

I read recently of that Hack series. Basically it's a big game that comes out ever couple of months featuring the same characters. Now, serials in media are nothing new. We've had serial comics and such for years now, but this was the first attempt at a serial game. And from what I hear, it's a bad attempt. Here's why:

The play system, while fun for a few hours (or one game) does not hold up over multiple 50 buck titles. Also, the locations and new characters open up at a rate of only one or two and issue... And in the end, what you're left with is a game that could have been done on one disk for 50 bucks that was spread over 4 disks for 200 bucks. There's something wrong with this.

So, here's some ideas to make the concept better, cause I actually think the concept is viable. Just will take much more work. Here we go:

1) Craft a drastically deep play system. Like lets say that there's a spell system at work, where we can attach the spells to weapon, and to each other... maybe craft new weapons, armor, spells... but to get everything, you have to play across all four (or whatever) games... Or, maybe the characters in the first game can use spells and attacks that characters in the next can't, but they can use ones different from the first game. Adding a lot of depth, planned out at the start, can extend the life of a serial game.

2) Lots of different characters. Now, we aren't talking Chrono Cross's idea of lots of characters, cause, let's face it, most of them were filler and not really necessary. Let's say that the first game has 5 characters. The next game may carry one or two, or none, of those characters over as playable. Maybe the they are on a mission or something, and you have to continue the original plot with a new team. You could highlight the old characters from time to time, but the people also have new characters they can bond with.

3) Of course, there has to be an epic plot, but let's not do one big plot over four disks. Lets say it's more like sequels, but released every couple months (as opposed to years). This way, new people can dive in at any point in the series, get they're feet wet, really enjoy the game they have now without having to worry about previous happenings, and then in the end, they get a great finale, and they can go play the other parts.

Or, even better, why not have it be 4 teams that each have a different feel and way to play (but not so drastically different it feels like a whole different series), and each team is working towards a similar goal. With enough planning, EACH game would feature the other teams in the background, and if it was crafted right, nuances to the plot would be revealed along each thread, but it would build to something really epic in the end.

Basically, if it's gonna cost 200 bucks, make it worth the 200.

Anyway, that's what I got for now. See ya Sunday.