The sequels I don't want to play

I don't want to play: The Last of Us: Part III

Now don't misunderstand me here... Finish reading this paragraph before you slam on your desk or rip a teddy bear in half. I love The Last of Us and I love The Last of Us: Part II. And that said, I want more post-apocalyptic drama from Naughty Dog, but I don't want to pick up where the other game left off. I don't mind Abby as a character but I don't want to play as her any more. I don't want Ellie's sadness, loss, pain, and ingrained darkness to characterise the third game, either. Instead, I want Naughty Dog's "threequel" to be a return to what made the first game so superior. I want to play as Tommy and Joel (and to some extent, Tess) and I want the adventure to take place before the events of The Last of Us. A playable prologue, pure and simple.

I don't want to play: Starfield 2

Bethesda's ultra-hyped space epic, for me, was never the game it should have been, or was said to be beforehand. This is, in more ways than one, the very definition of an overhyped disappointment and that "perfect" 5/10 game that never took off and never reached anywhere near the heights that Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim did. Instead, Starfield felt to me like a stale, stiff menu simulator with meaningless exploration and a paper-thin story, and I certainly don't want a sequel. Just like I don't want Redfall 2 or Brink 2. In fact, Bethesda should never have even started development of Starfield, instead they should have put everything into The Elder Scrolls VI.

I don't want to play: Resident Evil 9

As much as I like Lady Dimitrescu and the atmospheric, mini-maze-like Castle Dimitrescu, there is no getting away from the fact that Village and Resident Evil 6 are the two least memorable games in this beloved horror series. As I said, I liked the first chapter of the castle and consider that part to be of Resident Evil 4 class but the swamp and factory towards the end I consider to be one of the weakest parts of a Resident Evil game in many, many years. I don't really think the first-person perspective works as it should in this game either, although it did in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. That said, I want loads more Resident Evil games in the future, just not a ninth one that continues this formula and story. Instead, I want a lavish remake of Code Veronica next, and after that I want a spin-off in the form of Resident Evil 2.5, where we get to experience the events directly after Resident Evil 2.

I don't want to play: Gears of War 6

E-Day is, as far as I'm concerned, the right bet when it comes to Microsoft and the next instalment in the Gears series. If I had my wish, this would have been the game released after Gears of War 4. The return to Epic's core values for Marcus Fenix and his allies is what I want from Gears of War and I am thus looking forward to the next game in the series. In the same breath, Gears of War 6, a straight continuation of the lacklustre fifth game, is not something I want to play. I don't want to control either Kait Diaz or Del Walker and I never want to windsurf on a frozen lake in Gears of War again. At least no more than I want to explore blood-soaked catacombs as Super Mario.

I don't want to play: Halo Infinite 2

I totally understand that this might feel like the worst bout of concentrated double standards you've ever encountered. I love Infinite, so why is this here? I absolutely think the single-player portion of Infinite was and remains absolutely brilliant but I also realise, in hindsight, that the open-world portion of this game added nothing. Halo was already semi-open-world from the very beginning, which in hindsight is a better setup for what Master Chief is, stands for, and should be. It was also the more "organised" underground segments in Infinite that I remember most today, which means that I do not wish for an Infinite 2 but a return to regular "levels" as in Halo 1-3, above all. For Halo 7, I would actually like Halo Studios to put a lot more focus on the Flood and build a grander horror atmosphere. Sure, the Flood part remains the single worst part of Halo: Combat Evolved, but for me it's more about the endless repetition of the same tired moments than anything else. I rather like the Flood and the mythology behind it. Something that combines glorious outdoor environments with claustrophobic indoor levels with a dash of GTFO inspiration could go a long way.

I don't want to play: Wolfenstein 3

With Swedish MachineGames being praised for their diligent work on Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle, many gamers have been wishing for that final instalment of their Wolfenstein saga. For my part, I rather hope that MachineGames has moved on and left BJ in the rear-view mirror. I'd rather not have any more of that, especially considering how mediocre I found both New Order and New Colossus to be. Instead, I hope they are currently working feverishly on Quake V as they have not only shown themselves to be masters of Quake design (Dimension of the Machine is ridiculously good) but also ingeniously skilful at concepting and development. I hope they are working on a sequel to Quake III: Arena with all that entails.

I don't want to play: Portal 3

I know that Valve's designers who put Portal and Portal 2 together are fantastic. After all, we're talking about two of the best made puzzle titles of all-time. In the same breath, I think Portal has done its part, exploring every possible nook and cranny of what can be done with the first-person puzzles that Portal is based on, and I simply hope that Valve puts its energy into other things. Beyond Half-Life 3, which I will never stop dreaming about, I hope they focus on Team Fortress 3 and Left 4 Dead 3 instead.

I don't want to play: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

As I found Black Ops 6 unimaginably boring in terms of the story mode and the single-player portion, it naturally makes me sincerely hope that Treyarch will now look elsewhere and do something else with their continued Call of Duty journey. Because yes, in my opinion, that has really done its job now. I don't want to see any more of either Adler or Woods, and the whole thing with classified Black Ops missions and government conspiracies started to feel old in the hands of Treyarch years ago. It's time for something new. Call of Duty is expansive, and the mythology has anchors in every conceivable conflict, past and future. Do something completely new with brand new characters and move away from the loaded PlayStation 4-optimised garbage game engine and jump into something fresh, that impresses both graphically and gameplay-wise. No more stupid corridors with a shooting range-like structure and idiotic enemies. No more forced checkpoints, which means that the stupid random enemies stop appearing out of nowhere (which means that you as a player can usually just bum rush forwards and thus annihilate the enemies in this way). Give us something new. Give us the future of Call of Duty.

I don't want to play: Need for Speed: Unbound 2

Need for Speed III, Hot Pursuit, Underground, Shift, Most Wanted... There are so many truly memorable racing titles within this venerable game series and there is so much potential to get it right, to dial into today's street racing culture, and create something that lasts in the long run. However, Unbound was not a game that succeeded in doing so, as it felt rather outdated in terms of gameplay and conceptually lame. Instead of a proper sequel here, I hope EA returns to what once made Need for Speed the genre's hottest series: Underground. Give us Underground 3 for crying out loud, drenched in JDM culture and set in an open, ultra-clean, rain, and neon-soaked Tokyo. After that, build the best police chase experience ever. Think The Crew but with a specific Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit-style setup where everything takes place online and eight players act as cops while 16 players are speed-crazed street racers. Your job is to drive from Chicago to San Francisco as fast as you can while the cops' job is to stop you. Drench this in Ray-Traced Frostbite graphics that really crush the competition in the genre, and with a rocking and punchy soundtrack to boot.

I don't want to play: Forza Horizon 6

The first game in this hyper-popular series was the best, personally. Colorado was a great place for Playground Games' super-fast road racing, and the concept of the motoring festival up there in the mountains felt fresh and new. However, that was 13 years ago and since then the formula has become increasingly stale and repetitive. Colorado was replaced by the South of France in the sequel, then Australia in the third, Scotland in the fourth, and Mexico in the fifth. The format and the competitions themselves remained the same, with slightly more variety than in the debut title. For my part, the charm of Forza Horizon 5 died after about four hours. The world felt dead, I felt like it was all about polygons set up purely for my amusement rather than me actually driving around in a real world, and I think it's time for a change here too. Give me Forza World, instead. The first title should be set in Japan and focus on drifting. Let me race in an AE86 from the bottom of Ikaho Onsen to the top of Mount Haruna and skip the festival part this time.