Tyranny deserves a sequel

 It needs one!

We all have those special little snippets of fandom we share only with ourselves, those unique pacts of loyalty we create towards properties that we believe are underserved or 'under-rated'; which is why 'fan sequel' requests are such a popular topic amongst entertainment fandoms. Whether we're talking a proper Dragon's Age Origins 2, or a Fallout New Vegas 2, or a Bloodbourne 2 or a Sonic Adventure 3; people love to throw down their hands about why their favourite games need to be continued so that the moment they felt when they first fell in love with that game can be magically resummoned. I like to think I'm more discerning with my fandom. Or at least, I try to enforce a more sensible and realistic grasp about what exactly a sequel is, what is can be and whether or not it's even really required. I love Metal Gear Solid 3, it's my favourite game ever, but do I need a sequel desperately? No... and yet Peace Walker came out anyway...

Which is probably why I've been so utterly back and forth about the topic of Tyranny and whether that game should have gotten a sequel. Just to be clear, the reality of the situation was that the game didn't financially perform to the standard necessary to warrant a sequel; so we never will see a continuation, but in the realms of our imagination anything is possible. Tyranny is, for me, perhaps the greatest of this modern wave of CRPG games, and in that I absolutely include Obsidian's other, much more popular CRPG: Pillars of Eternity. I love Pillars too, I think those games are great; but Tyranny did something I've never seen an RPG successfully pull off in a manner that doesn't strip out the soul of the genre, and in doing so helped patch one of the most enduring sore spots that the common player has with big RPG games. They trimmed the fat.

True role playing games are almost defined by their complexity and almost garish size and length. They will flood you with systems and numbers and lore and names and keep you juggling it all up until the hundreds of hours. It's just how they are. Now I'm not one of those games journalists who tips over a table and throws a strop when they can't fit their review into a neat time table because the game is too long for them; I actually love the sense of scale and the breadth of memories that a well designed and lengthy RPG can create. I also have no issue with a game that you start playing in January and chip away at for the next 12 months; I think some of the magic of gaming is having that extended adventure that can whisk you away to another world even for just a few hours a week, not everything needs to be rush-completed within a week so you can stay ontop of the trends. (Hell, I've still not finished Pathfinder Kingmaker and it's sequel is onto it's second season pass. By the time I'm done with that, the Owlcat Games have already dropped their Warhammer follow-up CRPG.) But having said all of that; what Tyranny does with the formula is like a breath of fresh air.

Many accusations were slung at Tyranny claiming it was dumbed down and simplified, when in reality all it did was give you an RPG experience, just as rich as Pillars, but without the overcooked and vast depth of systems required to birth a table-top game. You were given the class skills you needed to keep combat fun, provided with just enough gear complexity to not grow overwhelming, provided with just enough party members to not turn large scale conflicts in a messy chaos of screen effects. And the narrative was trickled down to it's most salient and important moments, so there was less time spent wandering the country side helping farmers rescue their plundered cattle and more time playing the factions of the land against each other in your bid to seize power, whether for your master or yourself. A decent playthrough of Tyranny can clock into about twenty to fifty respectable hours, tiny next to your typical RPG, but every one of those hours are crammed with the best moments of RPGs, where you're making the important choices and fighting the memorable battles and meeting the diverse NPCs. That playtime neatly condensed everything I could have wanted out of a stupidly long RPG; which makes Tyranny a master of concision in my book. 

But does it deserve a sequel? One of the huge factors I have to take into account whenever I consider a follow-up is how the first game leaves on something of a perfect open-ended note. The player is left on the precipice of action either rising to become the greatest of the Tyrant's generals or the biggest threat the Tyrant has ever faced, with everything the game needed to say about it's themes and premise having been neatly achieved. All the companions get their post-narrative text and the world almost feels satisfied. Whilst the air buzzes for what could happen next, in a way it's not even important. Hell, one of the big reoccurring tricks of Tyranny is that not only do we never see the titular Tyrant Kyros we serve under, but Obsidian even hides their gender or any identifiable and humanising information on them whatsoever. The mystery creates this monolithic god-like image which seems just unassailable. (Justified whole-heatedly by the plot.) Any follow up would have to shatter that anonymity; which in itself could be an incredible thematic evolution if handled correctly, but even in the best-case scenario it would inevitably end up devaluing some of the special elements that went into the first game, just by revealing anything about Kyros at all.

On the otherhand, Obsidian managed to tease one of the most interesting sounding fantasy worlds I've ever glimpsed at by sheer merit of making the invading armies you fight alongside a melting pot of cultures. You get to live alongside and experience the far vast edges of Kyros' empire merely by serving in the presence of their armies and what you learn about their way of life sounds so rich. I was also dazzled by the cultures of the people you subjugate in the prologue and the stories of the other nations between all of these points. I yearn to see more of this world, to interact with these people and influence the world just that bit more! And even more than that, I'm struck with curiosity to finally explore the depths of the game's biggest secret; the origin to the strange power that inhabits the land. I understand the metaphorical connotations between how the 'Archons' work in Tyranny, but there's some sort of 'elder magic mystery' buzzing inside of the mythos that makes my toes curl up in excitement to think about. There seems to be endless directions a follow-up could go and I want Obsidian to explore all of them! Maybe simultaneously!

The promise of a sequel seems honestly limitless; they could go one of a million directions with it. The obvious follow-up would be a direct continuation of the ending of the first game, but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't jump another five or so years down the line into another tactically significant region of land only this time in a very different sort of role. Still the conquer but perhaps competitively inclined against another equal conqueror? Or we could take the story underground to the mystery of the people who came before, the race that would contain the secrets of Kyros. Or maybe we'll be thrown into the shoes of someone else entirely caught in the middle of a world torn between two rising super powers... although I fail to identify the thematically evil/selfish-inclined spin on the traditional set-up inherent there. There is so much that the Tyranny franchise has to give if only people would give it that chance!

But all this is moot dreaming as this point. The Obsidian teams have moved on to a balance of smaller projects and a Pillar's themed future, leaving this game to gather dust alongside their other masterpieces; which is just the fate of being an incredible Obsidian game I guess. Pillars will probably never get itself a follow-up after Avowed, if Outer Worlds 2 manages to nail the issues with the first game down and be the masterpiece that original wasn't, it will suddenly become the last of it's franchise. It really is a very English sensibility to reach you pinnacle and abruptly stop yourself on the spot, but it's one I begrudgingly respect, and at this point, expect. Perhaps it's better to dream of the perfect follow-up instead of being disappointed by a sub-par attempt. Perfection is unique, afterall.