Top 5 stand-alone games that definitely deserve a sequel

Gaming studios usually tend to release sequel games to their most ambitious projects in an attempt to continue their legacy. Many sequels have shone throughout the years like the Uncharted and Mass Effect series that offered a more immersive experience.

Even though fans love to see sequels to their favorite games, it is a risky venture for gaming studios. Sequels are capable of taking franchises to new heights, but anything less than perfect can bring down a game’s reputation drastically.

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Stand-alone games that need a sequel

While plenty of games have received sequels to continue their franchises, many successful games have been left off that list. Here are the top 5 games that deserve the opportunity to shine again with a sequel:

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1) L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is undoubtedly one of the best detective games out there. Rockstar Games released L.A. Noire back in 2011 as a detective action-adventure game, which offered a unique mystery-solving gameplay that required observation skills as well as gunfights.

The game is set in Los Angeles, where players take on the role of Detective Cole Phelps and solve cases in order to rise among the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Players can freely roam around the interactive open-world map based in Los Angeles in 1947, which resembles a lot from the open world of Mafia 2.

In order to solve cases, players have to interrogate witnesses and suspects, search for clues in the crime scene and follow up leads. This makes the gameplay extremely engaging and demands a lot of attention from the players.

Despite not having any prominent competitors, Rockstar Games has not released a sequel to L.A. Noire. Mystery solvers and detective lovers would surely love to see another masterpiece following L.A. Noire.

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2) Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered: Soul Suspect is the resultant of Square Enix’s approach to adventure and mystery stealth games. Released in 2014, the game is based on a lone-wolf detective who tries to discover the identity of his own killer.

Players take on the role of a detective known as Ronan O’Connor, who gets killed at the beginning of the game by a suspect known as Bell Killer. After his death, he takes the form of a ghost and is informed by his long-demised wife that Ronan must solve the Bell Killer identity in order to join her.

Though the overall setting is not that large, players can do many ghostly things like walking through walls, interrogating with other ghosts, detecting ghostly traces in a murder scene and even possessing animals and humans. Players will also encounter creepy-looking soul sucking demons that are quite hard to eliminate.

While the game feels a little cramped and doesn’t give much freedom to the players, the concept is quite unique and appealing. A sequel featuring a large setting and improvised gameplay can unleash the full potential of the game.

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3) Firewatch

Firewatch was released back in 2016 as a narrative-based adventure game by Campo Santo. It is considered one of the best adventure games released in the last decade and has swept plenty of prestigious awards due to its excellent narrative and stunning cel-shaded visuals.

Players take on the role of Henry, who is a fire lookout in the Shoshone National Forest. Henry will only keep in contact with a person known as Delilah via walkie-talkie and will need to choose dialog options to communicate and develop their relationship as the days pass.

Players will encounter strange events happening in the forest that are linked to incidents that happened years ago. Firewatch takes players on an emotional yet thrilling journey that will leave an impact after the game finishes.

Delilah will play a major role in the mystery and players are still dying to get a view of Henry’s only companion. Firewatch fans would surely love to see Delilah and Henry finally meeting each other in a sequel.

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4) Bloodborne

FromSoftware and Sony’s flagship action role-playing game, Bloodborne was released in 2015 as a third-person strategic combat shooter. Based on the Victorian era, players take on the role of hunter, who tries to find the source of the blood-borne disease that is affecting his city inspired by Yharnam.

The hunter can be highly customized by players and will be able to use various weapons like swords and firearms to eliminate enemies. The gameplay focuses on exploring different locations and interacting with NPCs that will unravel the deep mysteries of the city.

Bloodborne shares the same developer and director of the Soul series, so a lot of gameplay elements feel similar to Soul titles. Despite Bloodborne exceeding Sony’s expectations in terms of sales, they are yet to release a sequel.

The Soul series boasts a huge fan base in the gaming community and after witnessing the huge success of Elden Ring, FromSoftware might just come up with a sequel to Bloodborne.

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5) Alan Wake

Remedy and Microsoft released Alan Wake in 2010 as an action adventure game with a horror vibe. Players take on the role of Alan Wake, who tries to solve the mystery behind his lost wife, who disappeared during a vacation at Bright Falls.

Players go through an excellent narrative that features unprecedented plot twists. The game is broken into six episodes that hold a fast-paced storyline that demands a lot of attention from the players.

Players will encounter murderous shadows that attack Alan Wake with weapons ranging from chainsaws to shovels. These enemies are engulfed in darkness and are only vulnerable when they are exposed to flashlights.

The combat style requires players to strategize between charging batteries for using flashlights and reloading ammunition to hit simultaneously.

Remedy has previously scrapped a sequel to Alan Wake and revealed that Control (2019) and Alan Wake will share a connected universe. A sequel to Alan Wake, known as Alan Wake II, has already been announced at the 2021 Game Awards and players can expect the game to be released in 2023.

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