Heavenly Sword planned as trilogy, part two penned
by Ross Miller 
{ Jul 23rd 2007 at 5:25PM }
"When we set out to do Heavenly Sword ... we wanted it to be a three-game story," he said at around the 11-minute mark. "We've had the story for the sequel for awhile now. Hopefully if this game is successful, then there's no reason why there shouldn't be a sequel and we'd very much like to go into that."
Given the hype for the title and our impressions playing it, Heavenly Sword is very likely poised to be one of the standout PlayStation 3 titles this holiday season. Just don't be surprised if you defeat the final boss and receive a cliffhanger ending.
[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SYN @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:30PM
why plan a game that could flop as a trilogy? and whats with this "trilogy" shit anyways? if it gets old after a second, why force a third just to complete a "trilogy"
if people are begging for more, why end it after a trilogy? it seems mighty foolish to decide how many games you are going to make before the first is released and accepted.
Intentless @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:37PM
Trilogies I don't mind its the .hack that really miffed me...
cc123 @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:34PM
Sooo I wonder when the rumors of the sequel going to 360 are going to start.
Chainblast @ Jul 24th 2007 1:18AM
I hope you're being sarcastic.
bounchfx @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:39PM
whats with this trilogy shit lately?
mass effect, too human, god of war, heavenly sword, etc
genpacker @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:41PM
Don't forget, Advent Rising was planned as a trilogy as well, and it didn't even make it to 2. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_Rising) The game looks good, but I don't know if they should be this cocky yet.
GodisaMyth @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:52PM
All they have done is written the script for the second game. No harm in that. If it flops (which I highly doubt) it will not matter as they have not begun development on the second game. Ninja Theory said that they would see how well the 1st game does before committing to a second title.
Hey Joystiq, are you getting your tips via tortoise? This news is days old.
hvnlysoldr @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:03PM
Super Mario Bros. wasn't planned as a trilogy and there some of the best selling games of all time.
hvnlysoldr @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:23PM
spelling they're
Phranctoast @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:09PM
I prefer when they know it will be a trilogy from the beginning so the story works accordingly. Otherwise it seems forced with little to comprehend. There are exceptions. I dont think they had a sequel to god of war planned when they ended the first one, but wow. what a story...im phyched for the third!
eelb @ Jul 24th 2007 6:05AM
i agree syn. it's stupid that films and games are always being forced into "trilogies." how sad and boring- why doesn't someone make a 2 part story or a 4 part story for a change?
Sony Intern @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:43PM
Heavenly Sword: The Goddess of War
Heavenly Sword II: Kratos wants his game back!
Heavenly Sword III: The game stills plays like God of War
loungemonkey @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:38PM
I am sorry but have you played the game? Because from all the previews I have read they say that it isnt a carbon copy of GoW gameplay and that it has more depth to the fighting.
riggs @ Jul 24th 2007 11:01AM
the website that we're both writing on has proven that its nowhere near GoW and yet youre still making stupid assumptions, my god man have dignity and just stop. for all of us.
Icheb @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:57PM
Dear God, it's
"a while"
"A WHILE"
There is no such fucking word as "awhile". Idiots.
loungemonkey @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:41PM
—Usage note The adverb awhile is spelled as a single word: After stopping in Hadley awhile, we drove to Deerfield. As the object of a preposition, the noun phrase a while is used, especially in edited writing, but the single-word form is becoming increasingly common: We rested for a while (or awhile).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/awhile
tenchi221 @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:45PM
pwnd
Jake @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:11PM
You will see more of this nowadays. It is so expensive to develop a big budget next gen game. But, it is much cheaper to make the sequel, especially if it appears on the same system. You already have the engine, gameplay, and at least half of your textures, art assets, etc. All you need to do is tweak the gameplay, throw in something new, and make new levels and shit.
I know Mass Effect is planned as a trilogy as well. I heard in an interview once, I believe, that Bioware wasn't even convinced they could profit off of the first one, due to the high production costs. But, if it is successful, the second part will sell more copies and cost 1/4 as much to make.
The only problem I see, especially with story intensive games, is that some people might get a console after the first game dropped and not really want to play the sequel when it comes out. In that case, you would have been better off making a new game.
hvnlysoldr @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:34PM
A Catch-22. Make the game set into a trilogy good and people will just buy the old game and not focus on the sequels. But just cut the story to fit into more games and it won't garner enough interest and feel incomplete.
BananaBoat @ Jul 24th 2007 12:57AM
How arrogant of them, seriously. The game looks like a female version of the game God of War, and it isn't even out yet, and they are talking about making it into a trilogy? Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and other such games, earned the right to be made into trilogies by record breaking sales and innovative, never before seen gameplay. What is Heavenly Sword bringing to the table? Nothing. Face capture ala King Kong and Lord of the Rings, that is about all this game has going for it that God of War 1/2 didn't. Honestly, it helps noone when a game is bad, so I can't say I hope Heavenly Sword will be, but for the sake of giving them a nice helping of humble pie, I hope the game doesn't sell a single friggin copy.
Then again, JK Rowling set out to do 7 from the beginning, and I can honestly now say that 7 was epic, and that pre-stating your goals doesn't always backfire.
Chainblast @ Jul 24th 2007 1:24AM
"Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and other such games, earned the right to be made into trilogies by record breaking sales and innovative, never before seen gameplay."
I'm sorry, I'm trying to figure out what never before seen gameplay Halo brought to the table. Good game, but hardly innovative. May I add you're also judging a game not currently playable by the public? Might I add that every single impression I've read from E3 suggests it is more than a God of War clone?
Try to remain objective here dude, and don't make far flung claims about games that are simply over-hyped.
BananaBoat @ Jul 24th 2007 3:51AM
Halo 2 was the innovator in that it was the first true online (console) FPS that is worth mentioning. More than that though, I've seen gameplay footage of the game, and it employs the same "Tap X when the X appears!!" style of gameplay that Gears of War has. In all honesty, it seemed like a very slow paced version of Gears of War. As a PS3 owner, and as a Sony fan in general, it really pisses me off when companies start talking about their plans down the road. The most obvious failure in that regard is the PSP, that people said games were coming for, for about 2 years, and still nothing =p what a joke. I wish they could get their shit together now, but it seems like they have grandiose plans to turn their new IP into a money grubbing trilogy, even before they know if the first one will sell or not. Meh, just meh.
manic @ Jul 24th 2007 5:28AM
OMG EVERY FUCKING FIRST PERSON SHOOTER IS THE FUCKING SAME.
YOU DO THE SAME FUCKING THING... GO IN A ROOM, KILL ENEMIES, MOVE ON. FIND MORE ENEMIES... KILL THEM. MOVE ON.
Freelance @ Jul 24th 2007 8:42AM
If they are planning a a trilogy each game better be atleast 20 hours long. Don't give me no freaking 3 games averaging 10 hours when it could have been just one game.
Malice @ Jul 24th 2007 12:15PM
Some stories can't be told in 1 book. Same can be said for a game!
Cuddlefish @ Jul 24th 2007 1:34PM
I remember when I got my launch PS2 and was waiting for a game, any game to come out for the thing. From Nov to Mar there were no new PS2 releases. Oni (from Bungie) was going to be the the first new release in a long time and was highly anticipated. It was nothing more than a beat 'em up but it generated a lot of hype back then because the system had no games. Oni came out and everybody bought it and was disappointed. With Heavenly Sword I'm starting to have deja-vu. What's so special about this game that has everyone so excited for it?
adam russell @ Aug 16th 2007 7:30AM
A trilogy would be cool but maybe with different characters each time. Base the story around the sword and its many users.
A bit like the soul reaver from the blood omen games.