There are games that leave their mark on not only the player, but the gaming landscape. They help set trends and shape other experiences. They become important, due to the level of care and detail put into making them. The original Uncharted , and really the Uncharted series as a whole, is one of those games. Which is why it’s for the best that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is going to close out the series.
The thing about Uncharted 4 is that it’s coming at the perfect time. Naughty Dog is giving people one last experience with Nathan Drake, on the PlayStation 4 no less, before retiring him. Which is good, because it’s coming right about when the series would be jumping the shark. Sometimes, titles don’t need sequel after sequel. It’s okay for something good to stand on its own or end after a few entries.
After all, it isn’t like Uncharted is a Super Mario sort of game. There’s too much lore there for it to continually pipe out the same situations ad-nauseum, with slight variations to keep it fresh. Likewise, that story is the same reason why Naughty Dog probably can’t pull a Tomb Raider with Uncharted . We know too much about Nathan Drake and his world, and it would be too difficult for the company to retcon that.
Besides, there are some who might even argue the series has gone on too long already. After all, Nathan Drake suddenly has his brother showing up out of nowhere for Uncharted 4 . It’s already the sort of desperate move a storyteller would make when he or she would need to find a way to keep a story going past a logical end. No sense trying to drag things out even further past this.
No, ending things now is the wise thing to do. It will leave people wanting more from Nathan Drake and his adventures. You always want to do that with an audience, while simultaneously offering a satisfying conclusion. Uncharted is a series that deserves to go out with a bang, not a whimper. We don’t want to see it turn into a Sonic the Hedgehog or Final Fantasy , where it lingers too long and we hope that maybe the next entry offers redemption.
Besides, it isn’t as though it’s the end of high stakes exploration or tomb plundering while unknown organizations try to stop us. As I mentioned earlier, Uncharted has left its mark on the gaming world. The Tomb Raider series even is better for it. There’ll always be something else with similar gameplay, so let’s not complain about this being Nathan Drake’s last hurrah.