The gaming world has seen so many amazing franchises come and go, some continuing to this day and others ending many years ago. However, there are a select few that manage to see their stories come to a complete end, concluding with a final chapter that sends the characters and world off with dignity, without feeling as though the series has overstayed its welcome.
Big FPS Game Franchises That Are Officially Done
There was a time when the FPS reigned supreme and these franchises were at the top of the world, but today, they're all but dead and buried.
These franchises come from all sides of the gaming landscape, ranging from narrative epics to open-world masterpieces, yet they all manage to capture the same feeling of satisfying finality. It is never nice to see a beloved series fizzle out or be stretched out far longer than needed, but sometimes, the developers know when it's time to call it quits, even if fans would love to see more.
Uncharted
One Last Adventure
- Cinematic action-adventure with iconic set pieces.
- The fourth mainline installment closed out Drake's story with respect and without being drawn out.
The Uncharted series is PlayStation royalty, setting a new standard for cinematic storytelling and action-adventure games that many other titles are still chasing today. Over the four mainline entries, players got to see Nathan Drake explore everything from ancient ruins to lost civilizations while being taken on an emotional journey that concluded at the perfect time.
Ending with A Thief’s End allowed the series to conclude on its own terms rather than continuing on endlessly. It delivered closure and allowed the characters and series to rest in a mature way that protected its legacy from stagnation. The spin-off, Lost Legacy, was a nice departure that brought some older characters into a new story, but it still managed to keep Drake's identity intact while delivering an extra footnote on the franchise's legacy.
Dark Souls
FromSoftware's Masterful Trilogy
- Brought the Soulslike genre into existence and made it mainstream.
- Loosely interconnected worlds that culminated in a poetic and beautiful final encounter.
There are a lot of things that can be said about Dark Souls. Some remember the series for its brutal difficulty, others for its impact on the wider gaming world, but the franchise is almost universally beloved for a wide range of reasons. Playing through these games now gives players a unique trip down memory lane, as they get to see the progression of the genre and FromSoftware, who have now cemented themselves as one of the most respected developers in the industry.
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Although each game doesn't directly tie into the next, the story threads that hold the worlds together are strong enough to keep players invested in the obscure plot that drives everything forward. The third game feels like a love letter to the franchise, bringing back many iconic areas and characters, and it managed to close out the series respectfully and give the devs the opportunity to move on to their next big projects.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series
A Tearjerker From Start To Finish
- Choice-driven narrative through the zombie apocalypse.
- Follows several characters and their journey of growth, resolving many arc by the final series.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead series distinguished itself from other character-driven games by focusing on individual stories and the deep emotional bonds that are formed under life-threatening pressure. Each season introduced new dangers and characters for players to interact with, but the heart of the series was always centered on the protagonist, Clementine, and her decisions within the world.
The final season closed things out in a way that many fans were satisfied with. Unlike the show that many cite as continuing for far too long, the game managed to end several stories and arcs without prolonging the suffering too long — both for the characters and the players — and it showed how narrative games can offer real, well-earned conclusions that truly value the choices made by the player.
BioShock
High In The Sky To Deep Below The Waves
- Dystopian worlds full of social commentary and moral dilemmas.
- Ended in a way that tied together ideas in a conceptual way, rather than forcing a conclusion.
BioShock carved out a unique identity in the FPS landscape, focusing more on exploring thought-provoking narrative themes in a distinctive world rather than pure shooter action. Both the Rapture and Columbia settings offer a unique commentary on humanity and the development of civilization, immersing players in sci-fi worlds that still manage to feel grounded and driven by the people within them.
BioShock: Infinite and the expansions that followed created a natural endpoint by tying the franchise's worlds together in a way that wasn't forced but still made sense in the grander scheme of things. The series could have continued on, and there are rumors of a fourth installment, but as it stands, the series has garnered a legacy as one of the most important video game franchises ever made and an achievement in world-building and game design.
InFAMOUS
Gliding Across Cities In Style
- Superhero adventures revolving around karma and morals.
- Several endings that all gave the series finality, even if the door was still slightly open for more.
The inFamous series gave players a different kind of superhero experience that centered on moral choice rather than mindless destruction. Through all the series' protagonists, the common thread of corruption remained, showing players how extraordinary powers can both uplift and bring down society depending on who is wielding them and how they are used.
Open-World Game Franchises That Are Effectively Dead
Despite their strengths and plenty of promise, some open-world series are very unlikely to make a comeback.
Through Second Son and its standalone expansion First Light, the franchise ended gracefully without erasing the possibility of a future sequel. Concluding when it did allowed the series to leave a positive legacy behind and preserved its identity within the open-world genre, all while managing to avoid fatiguing the fanbase with several more installments.
Max Payne
Completing The Arc From Trauma To Redemption
- Noir action series known for intense gunfights and introspective narratives.
- The series moved towards closure and peace in an organic and natural manner.
Max Payne built itself on both a unique approach to storytelling and an iconic gameplay style that remains engaging even today. Each entry followed Max as he navigated personal losses and a decaying sense of self, with the series evolving visually and mechanically in a way that maintained its core identity yet still managed to keep it feeling on par with the other games releasing at the time.
The final chapter closed out the story by presenting players with a confrontation with Max's past, ultimately allowing him to walk a path toward peace rather than the endless violence he'd been surrounded by for so long. This conclusion mattered because it delivered an emotional resolution while respecting the tone of the series, proving that action-heavy games can still thrive when fused with meaningful character journeys and stories.
Mother (Earthbound)
Defining The Early RPG World
- Quirky trilogy blending humor with childhood wonder.
- Concluded with a powerful and definitive finale.
The Mother series (known as EarthBound in the West) earned its reputation through its heartfelt writing and imaginative worlds, which balanced whimsical themes with moments of sadness. Childhood innocence remained a key pillar throughout the entire franchise, as players explore the real-world struggles of growing up and the fear of loss.
Mother 3 gave the series a powerful, emotional conclusion that tied its themes together in a well-rounded manner. Instead of expanding into even more sequels, it embraced a bittersweet final chapter that confronted grief head-on, giving the franchise a timeless feel that wasn't tainted by unnecessary additions later on.
Batman Arkham Series
Comic Book Legends Made Real
- Captured the identity of iconic heroes and villains.
- Closed Bruce Wayne's story instead of needlessly continuing.
The Batman: Arkham series set a benchmark for superhero games, shaping Gotham City into a richly atmospheric world that faithfully brought the Caped Crusader to life. Throughout the series, players got to explore Batman’s relationships, fears, and unwavering resolve, gliding across the rainy Gotham landscape and taking on some of the comic book world's most iconic villains.
Arkham Knight delivered what felt like a natural endpoint, giving Bruce Wayne a final act that neatly tied everything together without needing additional stories. However, the impact of that conclusion was later diluted when Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League placed itself within the same continuity, which undermined a lot of the earlier narrative resolutions and weakened the overall strength of the original conclusion.
The Witcher
Maturing Along With Its Hero
- RPG series that redefined the genre.
- Sent Geralt's arc off with dignity, leaving the franchise open to explore new stories.
The Witcher trilogy evolved into one of gaming’s most acclaimed narrative experiences, following the courageous monster hunter Geralt and his adventures across the Continent. Things started slowly, but each entry managed to develop both the lore and the gameplay, eventually giving players the most complete experience in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which now stands at the top of the RPG world.
The third game served as a fitting finale to Geralt’s story, resolving major arcs while keeping things open enough to allow for more tales to be told within the same universe. Concluding the series at its peak ensured that the journey felt complete, allowing the franchise to evolve with a new narrative centered around Ciri in The Witcher 4 without compromising the character who defined it.
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