Rebirth has got me thinking way too much about narrative structure and sequels, lol. I love the game, but it certainly comes with far more baggage than your average sequel as many other users have said. I'd previously wondered -- particularly with ME3 -- whether it was detrimental that a lot of RPG sequels with ongoing narratives were designed for newcomers as much as returning players, but after
Rebirth I can see why it's particularly imperative to do so for games. My previous frustration is also hypocritical to my own experience, as the amount of gaming franchises that I first played the sequels for is quite high, and worked out well in all instances.
The FFX/FFX-2 sequel discussion is interesting, too. I got into console gaming + the FF series at the end of the PS2 era, and I actually started FFX-2 before playing FFX. I was smitten: an all female party, the music, the dresspheres... I was in my
Sailor Moon era, so that made things even better. I was having an amazing time with the game, but when I finally found a second hand copy of FFX, I bought it and switched over. I actually struggled with FFX for awhile after the highs of FFX-2's battle system, but FFX's story was so good that I fell in love with the game anyway. (I did spend a long time going: "...okay, so when do we meet Paine?") I didn't have full context of FFX's story when starting FFX-2, but I knew there had been loss, a drastic shift in the world, and Yuna was trying to find her place it it. It worked really well as a hook for me.
Strange thing is (I am sure it has been discussed) is that Mass Effect games all sold roughly equally. So either they had no dropoff between installments, or they managed to get new players who hadn't played the first or second one. Each game story is relatively better contained than the FF7r trilogy, but still. I know a lot of people did it, but I sort of can't imagine playing ME2 without playing ME1.
It must have been amazing playing ME1 -> ME2! It took awhile for both ME2 and ME1 to end up on Playstation, I kept hearing all these amazing things about a franchise I couldn't play, so I was thrilled when ME2 released on the PS3, even though ME1 wasn't available on the platform at the time.
Rebirth has definitely given me a greater appreciation for how many clever narrative choices ME2 made for both new and returning players alike, as I was immediately invested in the world.
As you said in another post, I also have a hard time imagining playing ME3 without playing the prior two games, but I can see why it would work, too -- it certainly starts with an extremely high stakes bang, and continues from there. The game also has really good pacing throughout, so that helps, too. (Looking at the console release dates, did I actually play ME3 before ME1?! Surely that can't be right.)
To add to the other posts, the way mass effect did the different stories cut-off made sense and gave each one a clear defined goal unique to each game + the overarching one. First one you need to stop saren, second you need to stop the collectors. This made it easier to attract new customers in-between each one, since it gave the first and second clear defined goals to market around and shop to the customers.
Beaten! Absolutely, the ME trilogy was really clever at giving a new focus for each entry whilst maintaining the same overarching threat. It's harder for the
Remake trilogy, as with each entry the threat remains the same: Shinra, with a greater threat of Sephiroth + Jenova. At least
Remake does get some resolution with the power within Shinra shifting from the former President to Rufus, but
Rebirth doesn't have the same benefit. I retrospectively wish they'd held Sephiroth back more until
Rebirth.
The
Witcher series is also really good at following an existing protagonist with ongoing relationships while exploring mostly standalone stories with Geralt for each game, so it's also extremely friendly to newcomers.
Regarding
Mass Effect, I really like that thematically every game in the trilogy explores a similar theme of leadership, but each game examines it through a different lens. ME1 explores what it means to be a leader and the hard choices that come with that, and ME2 highlights the importance of knowing your team well and their strengths and weakness, and ME3 fittingly combines both, whilst highlighting the importance of appreciating every moment. It'll be interesting to look back on the
Remake trilogy and see what thematically defines each entry.
Rebirth definitely has more of a focus of comradery, relationships, and bonds, which I've really enjoyed.
