How To Save A Dying Video Game Franchise

Character redesigns are extremely risky, given the notorious fickleness of just about every major entertainment fanbase on the planet. But when they work, they really work.

There are two clear winners in recent years, the first being Tomb Raider's Lara Croft.

In 2013's reboot from Crystal Dynamics, the acrobatic adventurer was reinvented as a more believable human being.

Not only were her physical proportions less comically exaggerated, but more of an effort was made to portray her vulnerability and invite the audience to care about her as a character.

2018's God of War reboot-sequel similarly ditched the callous Kratos of yore for a more relatable and empathetic old gunslinger called back to fight once again. For those who were turned off by the sadistic violence of the prior games, the 2018 game took Kratos in a decidedly more human direction.

Again, though, it doesn't always work, as with 2013's Devil May Cry reboot DmC, which while a perfectly fine game in its own right, misguidedly re-imagined Dante as an edgy, "emo" shadow of his former self. Thankfully, Capcom eventually reversed tack, bringing classic Dante back for Devil May Cry 5.

But sometimes a simple character change isn't enough, and a series' waning popularity can benefit enormously from a fresh creative perspective...