10 Best Video Game Prequels
What's GTA III without Liberty City Stories??
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00:00If sequel is a dirty word, then prequels are even more of a tricky proposition.
00:04It's one thing to follow a plotline forwards from its conclusion into the next logical stage,
00:09but being able to go backwards and make an engaging origin story is a tall order.
00:13As it turns out though, there are plenty of good video game prequels that manage to tell
00:17interesting stories and show us our favourite characters at different times in their lives.
00:21I'm SciForWhatCulture.com and these are the 10 Best Video Game Prequels.
00:2610. Street Fighter Alpha
00:28Once upon a time, the old joke went that Capcom were afraid to count to three. Street Fighter
00:332 got numerous upgrades and became a cash cow for Capcom, both in the arcades and at home.
00:39When it came time for a brand new entry in the series though, that made for a lot of pressure.
00:43Thankfully, Street Fighter Alpha paid off.
00:46Even after spending years tweaking Street Fighter 2, Capcom weren't resting on their laurels.
00:50Alpha introduced many important instruments to the Street Fighter toolkit,
00:54air blocking, chain combos, and the tiered super combo system,
00:58which gives players a lot of choice about their super moves.
01:01Do you fire them off weak and often, or wait for the all-powerful level 3 super?
01:07Known in Japan as Street Fighter Zero, Alpha takes place between the original Street Fighter
01:11and its sequel. In fact, it specifically references the Street Fighter 2 the animated
01:16movie duel between Ryo and Ken and M. Bison. Street Fighter Alpha's placement in the timeline
01:20between Saga and Bison's tournaments allowed for a more character-led style of storytelling,
01:25with its cast wandering around the world pursuing their own goals.
01:28Alpha also introduced new characters who would go on to be regulars such as Dan,
01:32as well as crossing Final Fight characters into the Street Fighter universe.
01:39For years, a portion of the Pokemon fanbase pined for the series to take some risks,
01:43with the most vocal demand being an open-world game. Even the most die-hard fan could recognise
01:48the series had been spinning wheels for a long time, at least from a gameplay perspective.
01:53Being a spin-off, 2022's Pokemon Legends Arceus allowed Game Freak to try some new
01:57things that largely pay off. At best, it can be described as a pseudo-open world,
02:02but Legends breaks several tenets of the franchise, allowing players to battle wherever
02:06they stand and be attacked by agitated wild Pokemon themselves if they're not paying enough
02:11attention. Pokemon Legends takes place an undetermined amount of time before every
02:15other game in the series, stylised on Japanese history. In the Hisui region, which will eventually
02:20become the Sinnoh region, the Survey Corps are doing their best to study wild Pokemon to catalogue
02:25them. This is eons before the technology of the Pokedex exists, and players are tasked with
02:30filling out a book with their findings. Similarly, Pokeballs as we know them aren't around,
02:34and so players must gather and craft apricorn fruit into pre-tech equivalents.
02:39Pokemon Legends Arceus is a cute and charming look at the never-before-seen past of a world
02:44familiar to so many gamers. 8. Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories
02:49Grand Theft Auto 3 changed the video game landscape when it arrived, forever altering
02:53the look and feel of GTA itself. So it seemed poetic that the first time the franchise went
02:58fully 3D on a handheld, it should be a game that takes place within the same location and story.
03:03Liberty City Stories takes us back to Rockstar's fictional version of NYC in 1998,
03:09three years prior to the rise of Claude and the events of GTA 3. The game puts players in the
03:14shoes of Tony Cipriani, an important NPC in GTA 3, and explores his past as he returns to the
03:20city to rise up the criminal ladder after laying low for four years. This leads directly into Tony's
03:25position in Grand Theft Auto 3 where he's second in command of the Leon family. The game makes very
03:30few concessions considering it was originally developed for, and is best played on, the PSP.
03:35The entire city is here, which can be explored in a variety of vehicles whilst listening to one of
03:40several radio stations. Outside of the plot, Liberty City Stories doesn't skimp on optional
03:44content like community missions, street races, and hidden packages. Returning to Liberty City
03:49is a joy, allowing a nostalgic look back at the location that first catapulted GTA
03:54into the mainstream. 7. Halo Reach
03:58Halo Combat Evolved began with the destruction of the human colony Reach, and throughout the years,
04:02fans were told how integral this planet and its fall were to the story. The last days of this
04:08planet were the battlegrounds for a bold mission which saw a group of Spartans save the AI Cortana
04:12before she fell into enemy hands. The final Halo game that original developers Bungie made
04:17appropriately was Halo Reach, which allowed fans to explore the planet for the first time
04:22and meet the soldiers who sacrificed themselves for the success of their mission.
04:26Standing out from Halo's standard sci-fi pageantry, Reach was a darker and more despairing story that
04:31put players in the shoes of those soldiers. Every Spartan who took to the fields of Reach
04:36will remember the gut punch that was the final objective, survive, fighting in the
04:41haze for as long as possible knowing this is a story that can't be changed.
04:45Mechanically, the introduction of armour abilities changed how every player approached Halo's familiar
04:50combat, with sprinting and jetpack usage making things more fluid and chaotic. It also grew the
04:55multiplayer portion of the series in every way, both the standard PvP approach as well as the
05:00co-operative firefight mode and a bigger, more badass level creator. A sublime bow out for Bungie
05:06and a superb prequel.
05:086. Castlevania III Dracula's Curse
05:11For this entry we're going way back to the past, to 1990, to the Nintendo Entertainment System
05:16and to when Konami actually used to make games for their selection of IPs. Yes, I'm still bitter.
05:22Castlevania III Dracula's Curse was the first home console Castlevania title in the series
05:27not to star Simon Belmont and instead it introduced us to Trevor. Yes, that Trevor
05:32from the Netflix series. Dracula's Curse provided quite a bit of the trajectory for the franchise's
05:37overarching plot and the anime adaption by introducing us to Alucard, Cipher Belnades
05:42and Grant Danesty. These four would-be vampire hunters give gamers a lot of choice when it comes
05:47to different playstyles and how they can approach the sprawling world of Dracula,
05:51which unlike the original game now has branching paths in its level selection.
05:55It may not seem like much now, but considering the game is over 30 years old,
05:59it was definitely a rare case when it came to player agency.
06:02After Castlevania II, Simon's quest had tried to reinvent the wheel and got stuck on its own
06:07spokes. Castlevania III was not just a stunning return to form, but set the stage for a lot of
06:11the future of the series. Its degree of choice would go on to inform games like Symphony of
06:16the Night and its plot cemented the foundation for the vampire-hunting Belmont lineage.
06:215. Deus Ex Human Revolution
06:23Deus Ex's setting is one of conspiracy theories and nanotechnology exploring a world on the brink
06:29of collapse due to warring factions and a deadly pandemic. By exploring the past of this scenario
06:34in the series prequel, players can get a better understanding of how things got to the state
06:38they're in. Set 25 years prior, Deus Ex Human Revolution's main character is Adam Jensen who,
06:43after being involved in a terrorist attack, is enhanced with nanotechnology. The player explores
06:48the growing social divide between the elites who have access to this power and the lower classes.
06:53Importantly, Human Revolution really expanded and added detail to Deus Ex's world through its story
06:58and incredible environments. Player choice is paramount. Combat is satisfying from both a
07:04balls-out, gunned-down-everyone perspective, but also, importantly, if you choose to go slow and
07:08stealthy. In terms of the story, Human Revolution's world is rich with optional content for
07:13players looking to explore. Human Revolution retroactively laid the groundwork for the
07:17original Deus Ex in wonderful ways and, despite Adam not being the most fleshed-out protagonist,
07:22the game was so popular that he took the lead for the series' next entry, Mankind Divided.
07:27Moreover, its blend of first-person action and RPG elements was something that many other games
07:31took notice of in that console generation. 4. Devil May Cry 3 Dante's Awakening
07:38Devil May Cry 2 is widely considered to be a low point in Capcom's demon-blasting series,
07:42and most can agree that it was certainly not the right way to follow up on the success of the first
07:47game. It simplified gameplay in every way, and Dante's fun, obnoxious personality was basically
07:52switched off like a lightbulb. The direction of the next game was clear – it needed to be much
07:56more like the first Devil May Cry. Not only did Devil May Cry 3 Dante's Awakening bring back all
08:02the amped-up ridiculousness that fans loved, it also distanced itself from DMC2 by being a prequel
08:08to the original. DMC3's plot perfectly ties into the first game by focusing on and filling out the
08:12backstory of Dante and his relationship with his brother Virgil. There are plenty of references to
08:17that first story, some cute and some clever, that make for a lot of ah-ha moments for players
08:22everywhere. It truly feels like a love letter and, to some degree, an apology for the DMC2 misstep.
08:28More than that, it was a refreshing kick to the teeth, a challenging, stylish action game that
08:33was truly the follow-up that fans had been waiting for. 3. Super Mario World 2 Yoshi's Island
08:39When it comes to timelines for their games, Nintendo is a company of two extremes.
08:43In some cases, we get intense, sometimes confusing and often hotly debated messes like the Zelda
08:48timeline. In others, we get something like the Mario franchise where all of its games seem to
08:53just take place in a timeless void. It's sort of inconsequential which Mario games go where – after
08:59all, Mario saves the princess again isn't exactly the sort of story that impacts a deep canonical
09:04lore. Super Mario World 2 Yoshi's Island is a rare exception to the rule, however, and in doing
09:09so, establishes a lot of truths about many Mario characters. Clearly, Mario has known Yoshi since
09:14essentially his birth and, at the end of the game, we even get a shrouded look at the adolescent
09:19Bowser. Whilst it's never made clear why Bowser kidnapped baby Luigi, this encounter must be the
09:24first time that all these famous characters have interacted. As for the game itself, whilst the
09:29original Super Mario World is the plumber's beloved first jump to 16-bits, the prequel's
09:34gorgeous hand-drawn aesthetic makes it a timeless classic in its own right. It is largely considered
09:39a masterpiece in the Super Nintendo's already strong library and one of the best 2D platformers
09:44of all time. 2. Yakuza 0
09:48Yakuza has an incredibly dedicated fanbase, so it says a lot that many of them would agree that the
09:52series' 2015 prequel is one of the best the franchise has to offer. Setting a game 17 years
09:58before the original allowed for Yakuza's writing team to really explore mainstay hero Kazuma Kiryu's
10:03character in new and bold ways. Instead of the man the established fanbase knew, Yakuza 0 introduces
10:08a younger and more hot-headed take on the character. It also brings long-time fan favourite
10:13Goro Majima closer to the forefront and makes him a main playable character for the first time.
10:19In order to shake up the formula, Yakuza 0 innovates by introducing multiple fighting
10:23styles for its protagonist to switch between. More than that though, the game is just the
10:26perfect example of everything that the series has to offer. A dramatic, emotional story threaded
10:32through a world of insane hijinks, numerous side games, and hours upon hours of content.
10:37Yakuza 0 being a prequel actually offers a great jumping on point for new players,
10:42and as such was just what the series needed to establish itself better in the west. Reports that
10:46Sega had sold more than expected, or that they had even been understocked in some markets,
10:51show just how key new players were to jump into the series.
10:551. Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
10:58Kojima always was keen to grow out the Metal Gear Solid series in interesting and realistic ways,
11:03and the jungle setting for MGS3 was an opportunity to really transform the depth of the series
11:08gameplay. Not only can players equip different styles of camo to better blend in with their
11:12location, but they can also scrounge for food to make sure Snake isn't suffering from hunger.
11:17It makes Snake's dependence on his surroundings very clear, and makes MGS3 a very different
11:22prospect from its forebears. But this isn't the same Snake from MGS1 or MGS2.
11:28Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater is even 17 years after its release, the earliest entry into the
11:34franchise's timeline. It stars Naked Snake as he infiltrates a Soviet Union base to save a
11:39kidnapped scientist, but finds himself caught in a political coup. The winding story of MGS3 lays
11:44the groundwork for the series by telling the tale of Naked Snake's ascension to big boss,
11:49but it also introduces many important aspects and characters that would go on to be major parts of
11:53the former and future games. Unlike other entries in this list, it's technically possible for players
11:58to mess with the MGS timeline via their actions, although don't think you'll go unpunished if
12:03you kill important characters. And the award for most unique game over screen ever goes to
12:08Time Paradox, if you take out anyone who needs to appear later down the line.
12:13And that's the list, let us know what you thought down in the comments below,
12:16and any other video game prequels that you very much enjoyed. Make sure you like this video,
12:21share it with your friends, hit the notification bell and of course, subscribe.
12:25I've been Sy for WhatCulture, and have a good week.