Summary
Though it’s a relatively young medium, video games are old enough these days to have decades-old franchiseswith protagonist characterswell-known to gamers. Yet, as the gaming landscape continues to evolve and many gamers cry out for innovation, it’s hard not to wonder whether stalwart franchises couldn’t do with a change of central protagonist for a breath of fresh energy.
To be clear, no game on this list has a bad protagonist. Instead, it’s about whether a new perspective character could give the franchise a new bout of energy to reinvigorate, revive, or reinterpret the source appeal of the franchise. This list is ranked by the necessity of the change, and the good that it has the potential to do for a franchise.
TheDevil May Cryfranchise has always been an underdog, and it has cultivated a loyal fanbase for its scrappy spirit. The game began as a dismissed prototype forResident Evil 4. Yet, despite its scrappy beginnings, the franchise haspersevered through the ups and downsto today.
However, the series' modern games have a problem with relying on old characters with increasingly convoluted backstories and in-built lore becoming inaccessible to beginners. A fresh approach, a new demon hunter, and a break from the old, could be what the series needs to bring in a crop of new players.
Solid and Naked Snake are legendary. If there’s a video game Rushmore, Solid Snake is probably up there as one of the medium’s most iconic characters. Yet, after Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami after the release ofMetal Gear Solid 5, the series' future has been in limbo ever since.
Konami is unlikely to rest on its laurels forever, and if Kojima isn’t returning, it might be a good idea to mark a clean break and have an entirely new protagonist rather than return to Snake. If for no other reason, it would help makethe franchise’s infamously tangled chronologymore accessible for newcomers. It’d be a difficult task, but a necessary burden to carry.
TheStar Foxfranchise has always been the ugly duckling of the core Nintendo IP. It never quite got the massive amount of success it should have, with many players only knowing the characters from their consistent appearances in theSuper Smash Bros. games. That’s a big shame, and one that could be fixed.
While Fox McCloud doesn’t need to disappear, one way to reinvigorate the franchise might be to have a new playable character that doesn’t have decades of lore to learn. This could reboot the franchise from the ground up, and help make it the success it always should have been.
Dead Spaceis one of modern horror gaming’s biggest success stories. However, it came out just before a relative slump in AAA horror quality in the early 2010s, suffering greatly withDead Space 3.The third entry prioritized action over scares, alienating the fanbase. Yet, with the successful remake ofDead Spacein 2023, maybe the time’s right to go back.
But it doesn’t have to be with Isaac Clarke. He has become a bit of a superhero in the lore, and it would be nice to return to a ground-level working-class character who has to facethe terrifying necromorph threatthrough nothing more than their wit and grit.
Though it’s hotly debated in gaming fan communities, the general consensus is that the reveal of Samus’s gender in the originalMetroidis one of the first narrative gaming twists ever. She has become an indelible part of the franchise ever since, and an icon of the gaming world.
However, the franchise remains in purgatory. There’s a new entry on the way, but expectations are pretty low. Nintendo’s dark sci-fi world could benefit from fresh air, diving deeper into the mystical worlds and bounty-hunting shenanigans with a new character ready to bring new players into the fold.
Naughty Dog may be best known these days forThe Last of Us, but many gamers hold fond memories ofUnchartedas the franchise that cut Naughty Dog’s teeth, resulting in some of the best action-adventure games ever made. Yet, after the conclusion ofUncharted 4, the series' future remains in limbo.
Nathan Drake’s story seems to be finished, and it’s hard not to wonder if a brand-new treasure hunter and a clean break from the past is what the franchise needs to boldly stride into the future. The seeds for this were already planted inUncharted 4’s epilogue scene, so hopes are high that this might happen.
Link is incredibly important to everyThe Legend of Zeldagame. He’s the amorphous glue that binds the games together, and he’s undoubtedly iconic. But, at the risk of sounding like heresy, it’s hard not to wonder whether he’s the least interesting part of every game he’s in.
Imagining what aThe Legend of Zeldagame would look like with a fully voiced, fully characterized character would be fascinating. Nintendo has already experimented with this by foregrounding Zelda a couple of times — most recently inEchoes of Wisdom,with great success. But a bold new push for a completely original character could be exactly what’s needed to shake up the decades-old formula and to clean upan increasingly confused timeline.
It’s no secret that theHalofranchise is in a rough spot.Far from the glory days ofHalo 2andHalo 3, modern-dayHalois struggling to hold its own in the brutal world of modern gaming culture, andHalo: Infinitewas broadly a disappointment. The future is uncertain for this bedrock gaming franchise.
Featuring a different player character other than Master Chief, as heretical as it sounds, might be what’s needed to reinvigorate the franchise. After all,Halo 3: ODSTis one of the best games in the franchise, and it isn’t about Master Chief. A bold break and reinvention might be necessary for this gaming staple to survive in the future.
