The story behind Days Gone and the sequel that never was

From USA Today: "“The Walking Dead meets Sons of Anarchy” – that was the original pitch for Days Gone, according to game director Jeff Ross.

“Where The Walking Dead had a great influence on us was the prison season,” he tells FTW. “They’re homesteading within this massively protected fence and boundary. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I would do.’ You want to be secure, go to the secure facilities. I was like, ‘Wow, this is a lived-in world. These guys live here and then they go beyond the gates to find stuff and run into all kinds of trouble.’ There’s a loop there. That’s gameplay. There’s an overworld.”

[Flawlessmic]

Seriously another article about this.

Jess ross honestlys needs to move on from this.

He made a decent game which just wasnt well liked or that special.

Sony isnt in the business of just decent, so yea paur the decent game with lukewarm reception, no sequal is understandable.

Dont think to many of us are shedding a tear over it.

Hopefully bend knocks it out of the park with their next game.

[EvertonFC]

I thought they did a grand job for there 1st AAA game, Sony built them up just to knock them back down IMO. DG had a great foundation like the original killzone had, but GG got a second chance which ended up being an awesome killzone 2. Why didnt Sony give them a chance like they did GG?
Same with DriveClub, it was Sonys answer to Forza yet they let that slip, also Wipeout studio. I love Sony but they dont half mess things up sometimes reminds me of the mistakes my football team are making atm.

[mkis007]

Knack got a sequel...

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Who's gonna tell Mark Cerny no?

[Christopher]

A sequel that cost next to nothing. Apples to oranges.

[mkis007]

Im just saying that even if it only sold 5 million...that still is sequel numbers.

[EvertonFC]

Exactly

[Petebloodyonion]

I'm sorry but I found that Day's Gone was a better game compared to Spider-Man
Care to tell me what are the interesting optional quests in Spiderman?
On the other hand, doing runs for Copeland, Tucker, Rikky was fun and brought real story elements.
I was often thrilled about doing Marauders camp because I knew it would give me new crafting recipes.
Saving hostages was always a rush because I knew that they could be killed if not careful and the trust reward was great.
Eliminating my 1st horde was intense versus how meh facing the Taskmaster was.

Perhaps there's a reason why ppl invest a lot of hours in-game like this or Dying light and why ppl play Spider-Man story campaigns and rush to play another game.

Now in the end I'm sure that if the media didn't bash the game day 1 of the reveal by saying do we need another open-world zombie game with Sony Uncharted type of graphics the comment would be completely different for this game. And just a reminder that the media praised MGS5 as a perfect game.

[Christopher]

***Care to tell me what are the interesting optional quests in Spiderman?***

The motorcycle gang side quest that even had a boss fight. Too bad other side quests weren't like this.

***On the other hand, doing runs for Copeland, Tucker, Rikky was fun and brought real story elements.***

No they didn't. Only main story items actually added to the story. Side missions in Days Gone were pretty much go someplace and kill either marauders or a horde or horde nest.

***I was often thrilled about doing Marauders camp because I knew it would give me new crafting recipes.***

And people were thrilled about doing side missions in Spider-man because they could unlock new suit abilities, tech, or upgrades.

---

Look, I plated both. They're both about as good on side quest stuff and their stories are what they are. But trying to prop one up over the other when they're pretty similar in open-world design concepts is poor logic.

***Now in the end I'm sure that if the media didn't bash the game day 1 of the reveal by saying do we need another open-world zombie game with Sony Uncharted type of graphics the comment would be completely different for this game.***

I disagree. The game was a solid 7/10 and had its flaws. It was far from as refined as other games and even had framerate issues.

[Petebloodyonion]

@ Christopher

***On the other hand, doing runs for Copeland, Tucker, Rikky was fun and brought real story elements.***

No they didn't. Only main story items actually added to the story. Side missions in Days Gone were pretty much go someplace and kill either marauders or a horde or horde nest.

Care to mention which side missions given by town members involve clearing Hordes and infected nests? Cause none of the job handlers ask this kind of job.
But all job features some cutscenes (story element) explaining why you're doing a run and helped explain Deacon's relation toward certain camp members, the camp rules or way of life, relations with a rival gang. Also, jobs provide insight into the personality of Deacon as you could often see him accepting a killing mission without hesitation when harm was done to a defenseless woman in other instances he would lie to Tucker about not finding the target because he/she would be forced to work in a labor camp.

But you bring another aspect that could be a factor for DaysGone being a better game
All side activities generate distinctive kind of reward and effect on the game
While most of Spiderman side activities give basically token and XP (only black cats give you a unique suit)
Almost none of them provide a benefit (aside from Xp and token)

On the other hand
- Clearing Hordes will lessen the infected presence
- Clearing marauders camp will give you map reveal and a crafting recipe
- Clearing nest will allow waypoints
- restoring power to Nero camp will give provide you with a permanent boost
- random event often provide a chance for major trust improvement

Now I'm not saying that my opinion is the best cause I'm sure some ppl loved Spiderman ( The story is one of the best ones for an open world on par with Batman origin)
I'm just saying it's easy to let the pygmalion effect into blaming this game while praising Spiderman
And just check that the average score for ppl on Metacritic that is pretty close versus critics that show a completely different story.

And like I said at the end, Let's just remember that MGS5 is perfection according to critics while Days Gone is a 7/10 game.

[Christopher]

@pete: the quests you're describing aren't side quests.

[Petebloodyonion]

And what would you call them? cause, last I checked, an optional story quest that isn't mandatory to complete is called a side-mission.

And usually ppl talk about side activities for things like collecting 100 things, clearing tower, outpost, hunting, etc..

[SyntheticForm]

Though I possess the capacity to appreciate what others love that I don't, I really don't see the big, knockout deal in Days Gone. I thought it was completely average as a game but with exceptional visuals.

The characters and writing were alright and the game, moment-to-moment, was alright. Decent loop, but nothing remarkable. The hordes were cool with the Sawmill being notable, but nothing else was notable to me.

I'd welcome a sequel to tie up the loose ends left by that cliffhanger, and I'd like to see an update to this foundation, but I'm not clamoring for it.

What is remarkable, however, is how the game is still being rather incessantly (yes incessantly) banged on about not only by fans but by this director. It's been a steady drumbeat that's never really died for a game that's not all that popular.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Generally games that aren’t financially successful don’t get sequels. Days Gone didn’t perform well enough for Sony to green light and fund a follow up title. Despite, a former director stating Days Gone sold more than Ghost of Tsushima. His methods of estimating sales where flawed, and the sales number he gave were likely inflated.

I highly doubt Days Gone sold more than Ghost of Tsushima. Hence Sony never publicly announced sales figures for Days Gone, unlike their other successful titles (GoW, Horizon and Ghosts).
Sony, knows how well Days Gone performed. As I stated earlier Sony, based on their confidential data, doesn’t consider Days gone to be title that warrants a sequel.

[EvertonFC]

Killzone was hardly profitable but got a second chance to which ended up putting GG firmly on the map of great studios.
Its a absolute piss take building Bend studios up to then offer them a support role making TLOU remake. I would have punched someone in the face after all my teams hardwork to be asked to be a bit part player again.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Killzone 1 didn’t have a very long development cycle, it didn’t cost Sony a lot to produce. Days Gone, however, had a 6 year development, making it much more expensive.

[Magog]

Bend Studio is working on a new IP of their own choice and design. I'm sure it will be better than Days Gone given there is fresh blood at the helm. The writing and characters of Days Gone you could tell were written by someone who thought Road House was the peak of Cinema.

[EvertonFC]

You mean gaming fannies throwing there dummies out. Lots of gamers out there who missed out on a fantastic game all because of wokeness ? like I said bunch of fannies acting like 65 year olds writing into agony aunt.

[PhillyDillyDee]

Are you having a stroke?

[Silly Mammo]

.

[darthv72]

...you mean to tell me you DIDN'T like Roadhouse?

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I hate sequels to open-world games. GTA pulls it off by changing the setting drastically, and spacing the sequels out with an immense amount of development time.

I’d prefer to see the studio tackle another IP. Personally, I think Sony could use more sci-fi and multiplayer exclusives. I’d love to see Bend spend 5 years on a new multiplayer or sci-fi IP, and then give us Days Gone 2 at the end of the PS5’s lifecycle. I’d love to see their hordes on ps5 once they understand how to tap into the hardware.

[Knightofelemia]

What GTA sequels? Only sequel Rockstar has popped out is RDR2. So porting GTA V from PS3/XB360 to PS4/XB1 now to PS5/XB S/X is considered a sequel? And porting the GTA trilogy that barely works to newer systems also is considered a GTA sequel? Rockstar are too busy milking those Shark Cards no one knows when GTA 6 will drop everything is just speculation or rumors. Bully 2 got scrapped, I doubt we will see RDR3 anytime soon, GTA V is getting ported yet again to newer platforms, doubt L.A Noire will get a sequel. Can't figure out how you think GTA gets sequels unless you're reliving the PS1, PS2/OG Xbox days.

[curtain_swoosh]

the guy doesn’t seem to be able to move on.

[Silly Mammo]

Yeah he's very bitter... And I liked the game and wanted a sequel.

[-Foxtrot]

I want a sequel, the twist ending was something I was looking forward to in the next game

[andron]

I really liked Days Gone great game. But I'm not sure we would need a sequel...

[got_dam]

Days gone was fun. Was not there on the technical side on ps4, but the pc release fixed most of that. It's not the end all be all of games but i enjoyed it a lot. Was cool seeing my home region in a game too. Could really tell that Sony bend was fond of their home.

[Knightofelemia]

I would have bought a sequel to Days Gone I still like the game and Sony dropping the game on pc should have helped in showing Sony Days Gone is not a franchise to give up on.