When I played Uncharted: The Lost Legacy I had a lot of fun and thought it was beautiful and engaging, but lacked innovation in most aspects. The locales, while pretty, weren’t exactly new and the plot was like a shortened version of nearly every other Uncharted game.

Now that Nathan Drake’s story has come to a close, The Lost Legacy was a foray into an Uncharted world without Nate. Can a series so dependent on the roguish, nerdy charm of its protagonist survive without him? Apparently the answer is yes. And, judging from comments made by The Lost Legacy‘s creative director, Shaun Escayg, the Uncharted franchise as a whole isn’t necessarily over.

Maybe Uncharted can survive and continue, but that doesn’t mean it should stay the same. So what did Uncharted: The Lost Legacy show about the future of the franchise? I would say that it showed several major things:

The franchise can survive without Nate.

Will Uncharted be the exact same without Nathan Drake? No, quite frankly it won’t. But given that he’s had his arc and it came to a satisfying end, that’s not necessarily a problem. One of Uncharted‘s biggest strengths is in its characters. While the focus has always been Nate, that didn’t stop Naughty Dog from fully developing other interesting characters in Chloe, Nadine, Sully, and Cutter. Judging by the fantastic dynamic between Chloe and Nadine, there’s a lot that can be done with all these remaining characters and their relationships with each other.

Puzzles make the game better.

Every Uncharted game has had a few puzzles scattered about here and there. But Lost Legacy easily had the most challenging and interesting. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but slightly more challenging puzzles are definitely a way that the franchise can move forward in some mildly new directions while still staying true to the spirit of Uncharted.

It’s time to change the plot.

The characters are what makes Uncharted thrive, but the plot also plays a big part and it’s generally the same trend: race a paramilitary group to a long lost treasure. The Lost Legacy hammered home that this generic plot has gotten tiring now. It makes sense in that this kind of plot provides plenty of goons to fight against and lots of awesome places to visit. But maybe it’s time to move into the more shadowy parts of the thieving world. I’d like to see more variety in the locales than mostly jungles.

 

Let us know what you think! Sound off below whether you think Uncharted should retire or go on. And if you think it should keep going, what should or shouldn’t change?