Infamous Deserves A Better Send-Off

Ghost of Tsushima is one of the most anticipated games of 2020 yet I’m still hoping for another game in the infamous series. While I enjoyed infamous second son and seem to be biased towards all super hero media, I have issues with parts of it. Infamous second son was followed by a shorter spinoff game called infamous first light but would like to see at least one more full length infamous game right some of the miss-steps of second son.

First and foremost, an infamous sequel would need to avoid the cultural appropriation issues some people had with second son. Admittedly this issue went right over my head until I read about it. In an effort to increase cultural representation in Second Son, protagonist Delsin Rowe and other characters come from a fictional indigenous group called the akomish. However, the akomish were based off of real life indigenous groups with little to no consultation from members of these groups. The result was this aspect of the game feeling more like cultural appropriation than inclusivity. Thankfully, Ghost of Tsushima looks to be incorporating Japanese culture in a far more respectful way. Hopefully this indicates another infamous game would also do better portraying any underrepresented groups it would include.

One of the highlights of second son for me was the paper trail dlc. However, I felt it ended in a disappointing fashion. The dlc is centred around Delsin tracking down a conduit name Celia who controls paper. These in game missions are fun, interesting and complimented by content outside of the game itself. To complete this dlc the player must bounce between in game missions and online puzzles. This is enjoyable but ends somewhat disappointingly. Given Delsin’s ability to absorb powers many players assumed that Delsin would end up wielding paper powers as well. Despite these assumptions completing these missions yielded story revelations and cosmetic options for Delsin instead. It would be great to see creative content like this have a bigger payoff in a future infamous title.

The biggest issue I had with second son on my first play through was how conduits were depicted. In the first two infamous games conduits and their powers were much more intriguing. A complex story with sci-fi and supernatural elements led to conduits with diverse and mysterious powers. This includes energy manipulation, material manipulation, telepathy, telekinesis, physical transformations and time travel being used by conduits in the first two infamous games. In second son the powers are far less varied and are largely limited to energy and material manipulation. Most conduits control some form of energy or material aside from Delsin who controls multiple. I feel like oversimplifying conduit abilities makes conduits inherently less mysterious and interesting. I think a final infamous outing would do well to return to some of the more complex lore behind conduits that was evident in the first games.

My last qualm with second son is also related to conduit powers. Specifically, how Delsin’s powers influence the gameplay. In theory giving Delsin smoke, neon, video and concrete powers should make for the most enjoyable combat in the series. Unfortunately, to me it felt weaker than in the previous two games. I found switching between power sets to be impractical within fights so I mostly stuck with one power set per fight. Furthermore, within each power set I found myself using the same powers and tactics in each encounter. With this in mind I don’t think the combat is as varied and engaging as infamous 1’s expansive electricity powers or infamous 2’s electricity complemented by fire or ice. Were sucker punch to make another infamous game I would like them to focus on one more thought out power set or have multiple powers be used simultaneously.