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
00:16that manage to tell interesting stories and show us our favourite characters at different times in their lives.
00:21I'm CypherWhatCulture.com and these are the 10 best video game prequels.
00:26Number 10, Street Fighter Alpha.
00:28Once upon a time, the old joke went that Capcom were afraid to count to three.
00:33Street Fighter 2 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.
00:51Alpha 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 week and often, or wait for the all-powerful level 3 super?
01:06It's that one by the way, do that one.
01:07Known in Japan as Street Fighter Zero, Alpha takes place between the original Street Fighter and its sequel.
01:12In fact, it specifically references the Street Fighter 2, the animated movie duel between Ryu and Ken and M. Bison.
01:19Street Fighter Alpha's placement in the timeline between Saga and Bison's tournaments
01:22allowed 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.
01:36Number 9, Pokemon Legends, Arceus.
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.
01:46Even the most die-hard fan could recognise the series had been spinning wheels for a long time,
01:51at least from a gameplay perspective.
01:53Being a spin-off, 2022's Pokemon Legends Arceus allowed Game Freak to try some new things that largely pay off.
01:59At best, it can be described as a pseudo-open world,
02:02but Legends breaks several tenets of the franchise,
02:04allowing players to battle wherever they stand
02:07and be attacked by agitated wild Pokemon themselves if they're not paying enough attention.
02:12Pokemon Legends takes place an undetermined amount of time
02:14before every other game in the series, stylised on Japanese history.
02:18In the Hisui region, which will eventually become the Sido region,
02:21the Survey Corps are doing their best to study wild Pokemon to catalogue them.
02:26This is eons before the technology of the Pokedex exists,
02:29and players are tasked with filling out a book with their findings.
02:31Similarly, 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
02:43of a world familiar to so many gamers.
02:46Number 8, Grand Theft Auto, Liberty City Stories.
02:50Grand Theft Auto 3 changed the video game landscape when it arrived,
02:53forever altering the look and feel of GTA itself.
02:55So it seemed poetic that the first time the franchise went fully 3D on a handheld,
03:00it should be a game that takes place within the same location and story.
03:04Liberty 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.
03:13The game puts players in the shoes of Tony Cipriani, an important NPC in GTA 3,
03:18and explores his past as he returns to the city to rise up the criminal ladder
03:21after laying low for four years.
03:23This leads directly into Tony's position in Grand Theft Auto 3,
03:27where he's second in command of the Leon family.
03:29The game makes very few concessions,
03:31considering 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
03:38whilst listening to one of several radio stations.
03:41Outside the plot, Liberty City Stories doesn't skimp on optional content
03:45like community missions, street races, and hidden packages.
03:48Returning to Liberty City is a joy,
03:50allowing a nostalgic look back at the location that first catapulted GTA into the mainstream.
03:56Number 7, Halo Reach.
03:58Halo Combat Evolved began with the destruction of the human colony Reach,
04:01and throughout the years, fans were told how integral this planet and its fall were to the story.
04:07The last days of this planet were the battlegrounds for a bold mission
04:10which saw a group of Spartans save the AI Cortana before she fell into enemy hands.
04:14The final Halo game that original developers Bungie made appropriately was Halo Reach,
04:19which 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,
04:29Reach was a darker and more despairing story that put players in the shoes of those soldiers.
04:34Every Spartan who took to the fields of Reach will remember the gut punch that was the final objective,
04:39survive, fighting in the haze for as long as possible knowing this is a story that can't be changed.
04:45Mechanically, the introduction of armor abilities changed how every player approached Halo's familiar combat,
04:50with sprinting and jetpack usage making things more fluid and chaotic.
04:54It also grew the multiplayer portion of the series in every way,
04:57both the standard PvP approach as well as the cooperative firefight mode
05:01and a bigger, more badass level creator.
05:04A sublime bow-out for Bungie and a superb prequel.
05:07Number 6, Castlevania III, Dracula's Curse.
05:11For this entry, we're going way back to the past,
05:14to 1990, to the Nintendo Entertainment System,
05:16and to when Konami actually used to make games for their selection of IPs.
05:20Yes, 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.
05:30Yes, that Trevor from the Netflix series.
05:33Dracula's Curse provided quite a bit of the trajectory
05:36for the franchise's overarching plot, and the anime adaption,
05:39by introducing us to Alucard, Cipher Belnades, and Grant Dynasty.
05:44These four would-be vampire hunters give gamers a lot of choice
05:47when it comes to different play styles,
05:48and how they can approach the sprawling world of Dracula,
05:51which, unlike the original game,
05:53now has branching paths in its level selection.
05:55It may not seem like much now,
05:57but 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,
06:06and got stuck on its own spokes.
06:08Castlevania III was not just a stunning return to form,
06:10but set the stage for a lot of the future of the series.
06:13Its degree of choice would go on to inform games like Symphony of the Night,
06:16and its plot cemented the foundation for the vampire-hunting Belmont lineage.
06:21Number 5, Deus Ex, Human Revolution.
06:24Deus Ex's setting is one of conspiracy theories and nanotechnology,
06:27exploring a world on the brink of collapse,
06:29due to warring factions and a deadly pandemic.
06:32By exploring the past of this scenario in the series' prequel,
06:35players can get a better understanding of how things got to the state they're in.
06:38Set 25 years prior,
06:40Deus Ex, Human Revolution's main character is Adam Jensen,
06:43who, after being involved in a terrorist attack,
06:45is enhanced with nanotechnology.
06:47The player explores the growing social divide
06:49between the elites who have access to this power,
06:52and the lower classes.
06:53Importantly, Human Revolution really expanded
06:55and added detail to Deus Ex's world through its story and incredible environments.
07:00Player choice is paramount.
07:02Combat is satisfying from both a balls-out, gun-down-everyone perspective,
07:06but also, importantly, if you choose to go slow and stealthy.
07:09In terms of the story,
07:10Human Revolution's world is rich with optional content for players looking to explore.
07:15Human Revolution retroactively laid the groundwork for the original Deus Ex in wonderful ways,
07:19and, 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
07:30was something that many other games took notice of in that console generation.
07:34Number 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 game.
07:47It simplified gameplay in every way,
07:49and Dante's fun, obnoxious personality was basically switched off like a lightbulb.
07:54The direction of the next game was clear.
07:56It needed to be much more like the first Devil May Cry.
07:59Not only did Devil May Cry 3, Dante's Awakening,
08:01bring back all the amped-up ridiculousness that fans loved,
08:04it also distanced itself from DMC2 by being a prequel to the original.
08:09DMC3's plot perfectly ties into the first game
08:11by focusing on and filling out the backstory of Dante
08:14and his relationship with his brother Virgil.
08:16There are plenty of references to that first story,
08:19some cute and some clever,
08:20that make for a lot of aha moments for players everywhere.
08:23It truly feels like a love letter,
08:25and to some degree an apology for the DMC2 misstep.
08:28More than that, it was a refreshing kick to the teeth,
08:31a challenging, stylish action game
08:33that was truly the follow-up that fans had been waiting for.
08:36Number 3, Super Mario World 2, Yoshi's Island.
08:39When it comes to timelines for their games,
08:41Nintendo is a company of two extremes.
08:43In some cases, we get intense, sometimes confusing
08:45and often hotly debated messes like the Zelda timeline.
08:49In others, we get something like the Mario franchise,
08:52where all of its games seem to just take place in a timeless void.
08:55It's sort of inconsequential which Mario games go where.
08:58After all, Mario saves the princess again
09:01isn't exactly the sort of story that impacts a deep canonical lore.
09:05Super Mario World 2, Yoshi's Island is a rare exception to the rule, however,
09:08and in doing so, establishes a lot of truths about many Mario characters.
09:13Clearly, Mario has known Yoshi since essentially his birth,
09:15and at the end of the game,
09:17we even get a shrouded look at the adolescent Bowser.
09:20Whilst it's never made clear why Bowser kidnapped Baby Luigi,
09:23this encounter must be the first time
09:24that all these famous characters have interacted.
09:27As for the game itself,
09:29whilst the original Super Mario World
09:30is the plumber's beloved first jump to 16-bit,
09:33the prequel's gorgeous hand-drawn aesthetic
09:35makes it a timeless classic in its own right.
09:38It is largely considered a masterpiece
09:39in the Super Nintendo's already strong library
09:42and one of the best 2D platformers of all time.
09:45Number 2, Yakuza 0.
09:48Yakuza has an incredibly dedicated fanbase,
09:50so it says a lot that many of them would agree
09:52that the series 2015 prequel
09:54is one of the best the franchise has to offer.
09:56Setting a game 17 years before the original
09:59allowed for Yakuza's writing team
10:00to really explore mainstay hero Kazuma Kiryu's character
10:03in new and bold ways.
10:05Instead of the man the established fanbase knew,
10:07Yakuza 0 introduces a younger
10:09and more hot-headed take on the character.
10:11It also brings longtime fan-favorite Goro Majima
10:14closer to the forefront
10:15and makes him a main playable character
10:17for the first time.
10:19In order to shake up the formula,
10:20Yakuza 0 innovates by introducing
10:22multiple fighting styles
10:23for its protagonist to switch between.
10:25More than that though,
10:26the game is just the perfect example
10:27of everything that the series has to offer.
10:29A dramatic, emotional story
10:31threaded through a world of insane hijinks,
10:34numerous side games,
10:35and hours upon hours of content.
10:37Yakuza 0 being a prequel
10:39actually offers a great jumping-on point
10:41for new players,
10:42and as such was just what the series needed
10:43to establish itself better in the West.
10:46Reports that Sega had sold more than expected,
10:48or that they had even been under-stocked
10:50in some markets,
10:51show just how key new players were
10:53to jump into the series.
10:541. Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
10:58Kojima always was keen to grow out
11:00the Metal Gear Solid series
11:01in interesting and realistic ways,
11:03and the jungle setting for MGS3
11:05was an opportunity to really transform
11:07the depth of the series' gameplay.
11:09Not only can players equip different styles of camo
11:11to better blend in with their location,
11:13but they can also scrounge for food
11:15to make sure Snake isn't suffering from hunger.
11:17It makes Snake's dependence
11:18on his surroundings very clear,
11:20and makes MGS3 a very different prospect
11:23from its forebears.
11:24But this isn't the same Snake
11:26from MGS1 or MGS2.
11:29Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
11:30is even 17 years after its release,
11:32the earliest entry into the franchise's timeline.
11:35It stars Naked Snake
11:36as he infiltrates a Soviet Union base
11:38to save a kidnapped scientist,
11:40but finds himself caught in a political coup.
11:43The winding story of MGS3
11:44lays the groundwork for the series
11:46by telling the tale of Naked Snake's
11:48ascension to Big Boss,
11:49but it also introduces many important aspects
11:51and characters that would go on
11:52to be major parts of the former
11:54and future games.
11:55Unlike other entries in this list,
11:57it's technically possible
11:58for players to mess with the MGS timeline
12:00via their actions,
12:01although don't think you'll go unpunished
12:02if you kill important characters.
12:04And the award for most unique
12:06Game Over screen ever
12:07goes to Time Paradox
12:09if you take out anyone
12:10who needs to appear later down the line.
12:13And that's the list.
12:14Let us know what you thought
12:15down in the comments below
12:16and any other video game prequels
12:18that you very much enjoyed.
12:19Make sure you like this video,
12:21share it with your friends,
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12:25I've been CypherWattCulture
12:26and have a good week.