Ben-DutkaWarning: Massive Heavenly Sword plot spoiler ahead!!!
Many of us had hoped for a sequel to 2007's excellent Heavenly Sword . And although developer Ninja Theory has now "moved on," they did have plans to make HS2 at one point.
In fact, according to VG247 , Ninja Theory boss Tameem Antoniades said initially, he had an idea of having Nariko in Hell and her pal Kai on Earth. Basically, the spirit of the sword would have trapped the technically deceased Nariko in Hell, where she would undoubtedly have to battle all sorts of nastiness. Furthermore, Kai would've been playable back on the surface, and she'd try to rescue her friend. An interesting twist was that one day in Hell for Nariko would be an entire year for Kai on Earth, so Kai would actually age; she'd go from a young teenage girl to an old woman during the course of the adventure. …sounds interesting.
And that's cool and all, but that idea has long since passed. Antoniades says that while he'll "never say never," they working on developing DLC for the recently released Enslaved: Odyssey to the West , which will tell a side-story separate from the tale that revolves around Monkey and Trip. The team is also working on the Devil May Cry reboot. For the record, here's Antoniades' comment concerning a HS2 sequel:
"We did actually want to do a sequel, and we did pursue that, but we're not a first party studio, we're a third party studio, and we knew that over the next few years we've got to be releasing multi-platform games. The game Heavenly Sword didn't sell enough to have a confident sequel, so it would have put ourselves as a development studio in a very precarious situation."
1.5 million wasn't enough, apparently. But we've heard all that before and it's true, they're not a first-party studio. They're not supported by Sony. So, like most every other studio in this crazy game, they need to go multi in order to make enough money. Hence, Enslaved , DMC , etc. But maybe that's a good thing. Did anyone really want to see HS2 go multi with the Unreal Engine…? Not HS fans, I bet.
Related Game(s): Heavenly Sword
Well, I'd rather get no sequel than an Unreal multi-plat HS2.
This was the very first game I played to completion on my PS3, and it's left a lasting impression. I hope they can go back to it one day, keeping it exclusive. But we can't really be angry at them for focusing on multi-plat titles right now, it's business. Just please… please do DMC justice.
it sounds like they are under contract for a few years to make multi-plat. hopefully they stash some money aside so they can get back to exclusives for the ps3. they do care about their games but what master say goes….4 now
If you read between the lines this release is simply saying "Sony, if you haul out the big bucks and cover our asses this time, we will give you HS2."
Exactly.
Not sure thats the best investment Sony could make. They would be better off giving the IP to Santa Monica Studios. They would probably get it done in half the time, with half the resources and the game would come out God of War quality instead of crap.
@Jawknee So in other words your saying Heavenly Sword & Enslaved are crap. Both games have they're technical problems but they're still very enjoyable games, they don't fall off into the category of crap.
Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/5/2010 3:08:18 PM
In terms of technical quality…Yes. Thats not to say people who can look past those poopy graphics, glitches and screen tearing won't enjoy the game for its story, characters etc.
I didn't find either game enjoyable as far as gameplay goes but i can see they at least have a decent story and characters behind them. Well Heavenly Sword way. That Monkey character is terrible.
Enslaved's story is loosely based off a chinese novel called Journey to the West, I think, so that's why there are characters such as Monkey, Trip, and Piggy. Unless you hated him because of his design or his voice, you can't really he was terrible.
@Jawknee ok so I admit compared to the stylish gameplay of Devil May Cry & the goriness of God Of War the gameplay for both Heavenly Sword & Enslaved are nothing special. but still they have a lot of potential.
I rather agree, send it to Santa Monica, they need a massive project. But you can't deny this is NT's way of saying to Sony that now that they have a decent new IP and are the go-to guys to reboot DMC that they are worth spending money on.
Who knows if that's true or not, but this is their way of wooing some cash fo sho.
@victor, Yes his design is why i dislike him so. The name isn't that great either.
@Guyver, fair enough.
I believe Sony owns the rights to Heavenly Sword. So if the developer did decide on HS2, they would be forced to a single platform. I'd hate to see such a talented group go under. All is forgiven… on that note…
Hey Sony, is it just me or did Tameem Antoniades' comment sound like a pitch for you to make them a 1st party developer? What are you waiting for?
Last edited by Nynja on 10/5/2010 3:15:04 PM
Kojima Productions is a third party studio, and a title such as MGS4 isn't multi, last time I checked.
What a stupid excuse to use when you're answering someone why you went from 3rd Party exclusive to 3rd Party multi, which apparently is to Mr. Antoniades, is what a standard, "normal" 3rd Party studio is.
Thats because Kojima cares more about his work than making big bucks. He still made a lot of money off MGS4 im sure but i think hes willing to sacrifice a few million sales in order to get his gaming running the best that it can on the best console at the moment.
Besides, you know Kojima is a Sony fanboy. haha
Lol true, but regardless, it's not a smart thing to say.
Well they can say they need to go multi-platform to make more money, that doesn't necessarily mean they will. It will be interesting to see the sales numbers for Enslaved, and I guess we'll see how many million copies it will sell on ps3/360…
I predict more sales on PS3, not because I'm a Sony fanman, but because Enslaved isn't a straight up shooter.
this game will sale a million tops between both consoles.
Thank god they didn't go for it. A more dedicated dev will someday give it a proper sequel.
Santa Monica, go wild with this game! And don't make Kai an old womwan (wtf was Antoniades thinking of anyway?) Old woman? wtf?
From Software is a 3rd party and they sure as hell are comfortable with the 700K+ they sold with Demon's Souls.
Well I believe they're a talented studio but I'm glad they didn't pursue it, not with that attitude. If sony wanted to show them up then yeah hand that project over to someone else. Again another studio whose artistic focus is second only to money.
after just finishing the enslaved demo. Although I can see the benefits of exclusivity, the game is still freakn awesome, I will buy it for sure
They can make whatever they want, I just hope they decide not to destroy Devil May Cry.
Dante deserves another game. That little meth addict they are trying to pass of as him, is insulting.
but the old Dante looked like a badass emo, from what I have seen soo far that game looks awesome
I think NT's ambitions were over-budgeted.
Perhaps, it was smarter for them to become known as a great game developer within a more realistic game budget.
Then after having some clout with a larger fan-base, escalate production values for actors, theatrical musical scores etc.
Considering the size of the PS3's user-base at the time, it would seem that 1.5million in sales would be a great number or products sold. Were there even 10-15million in PS3-owners at the time?
A 10% chunk of that audience buying into your game should always spell success for those who properly budgeted a game.
I took SC: Conviction back to Blockbuster to pick up LoS… Unfortunately, they didn't have LoS yet, and so I went ahead and grabbed Enslaved.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/5/2010 7:36:55 PM
#1 – Heavenly Sword is a Sony Ip, part of the deal.
#2 – Sony ponied up all the development cost when Ninja Theory signed the contract.
#3 – SCE Cambridge was called in to help with the game on a technical, and it seems game design level.
#4 – A sequel was offered to Ninja Theory, they seemed to have declined.
#5 – SCE Cambridge seems to have had a sequel in the works for HS2, when the relations broke down between Sony and Ninja Theory. It was also canceled.
#6 – The next game was going to feature a different culture if you will, was going to follow in look with Indian style.
#7 – how do I know?
heh.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW COME ON THAT WOULD OF BEEN SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!!!
🙁
oh well i guess enslaved will have to do.
in really enjoying it so far, actually even better than what i was expecting!
up to chapter 6 now, NEVER! has a games had such a effect on my that during the day im constantly thinking about it.
i wonder what happens next.
if im not playing enslaved im thinking about it, i cant get it out of my bloody head!
props to NT, they have proven themselves a top tier developer!
they might b*tch and moan like a 80 year old women, but god dam do they know how to make a game!
I would have loved a HS sequel. I wish they would have gone that route instead of this enslaved stuff.
So a million and a half copies sold when exactly how many ps3 consoles were around? It's such a sad world…
Enslaved is a better game, so I'd rather have a sequel to that instead of Heavenly Sword. Enslaved is getting higher reviews, and after finishing both games, I have to agree with the Metacritic average. Enslaved is vastly improved over previous Ninja Theory titles. Well done.