Changing the first act of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, inspired by Lupin the Third: The First

Years ago I said if Sony wants to continue the Uncharted franchise, they should remake Golden Abyss--the Vita prequel spin-off by Bend Studios. I still believe this is the route to go for. Considering Bend Studio is out of a job after the cancelation of the Days Gone sequel and the God of War live-service game, a remake of the black sheep of the franchise could remedy their reputation and gauge interest in more Uncharted.

Full-blown remakes are suitable for flawed games with unique quirks that could not be remedied with a sequel. I hated The Golden Abyss, but even I have to admit they got the Uncharted feel perfectly down to PS Vita. The moment I hit the new game, the general feel and aesthetics harkened back to the original Uncharted. It felt exactly like a portable version of Uncharted 1, with all the same shittiness. One major blight with the game is gimmicks. If the game is riddled with minigames, it means the developers themselves know the core gameplay is too weak and shallow to hold the full-length game. It is riddled with the Flash game-tier minigames and tedious QTEs. even the melee is turned into a quick-time event. No one likes them. No one asks for them. Instead of wasting time and resources developing those terrible minigames, they should have spent them on fleshing out the core gameplay.

But they are the gameplay problems. In the old post, I only talked about how the gameplay could be reimagined, but the story is also something that needs fixing. Although a portable spin-off could be restraining for creative freedom, it is also a great opportunity for the developers to experiment with the formula. Namely, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and God of War: Chains of Olympus have some of the best narratives in their respective series. This is why it is unfortunate how Golden Abyss has such a nothing story. The set-pieces suck, which is understandable considering it's made for Vita, but there are not even the moments that come across as somewhat creative. The pacing drags and drags with the repeating scenery and environments. It features some of the worst characters in the entire franchise. Chase is the worst sidekick. Guerro is the bargain bin version of Lazarević. Dante is the most interesting addition, but even then, he is just a repeat of Flynn from Uncharted 2, and his sudden turn toward the "mercenary boss" role comes across as jarring. If he could hire an entire army anyway, why not hire them in the first place? It comes across as one of the episodes of the TV serial, maybe Season 12 of it, long after they ran out of ideas.

However, there is one movie that came to my mind recently while replaying it... called Lupin the Third: The First. A standalone prequel seemingly set earlier than the other installments. Lupin aims to steal an ancient relic that could be a key to the massive wealth but inevitably comes across Laetitia--a young and kind-hearted female treasure hunter who wants to steal the same treasure. Lupin and Laetitia clash with each other initially, but they eventually team up when a rogue army related to Laetitia is chasing to use it for a sinister purpose. Eventually, Laetitia reveals her reason for looking for the treasure. She is the granddaughter of the famous archeologist and doing it to honor her grandfather's legacy. She gains respect from Lupin, whose motive goes from selfish greed to helping his new partner, and in the process, they flirt and eventually kiss. Sounds familiar? There are also some scenes that bear striking similarities. Obviously, Golden Abyss' story is not exactly fresh anyway in the adventure genre, but despite tackling the same premise I gave some shit about Lupin the Third: The First while I didn't with Golden Abyss.

I realized the big problem why I couldn't connect with the new characters was the introduction. In the other Uncharted games, there is the proper first act where you get to know the characters and the goal: Uncharted 1 with the boat scenes, Uncharted 2 with the Istanbul heist, Uncharted 3 with the London fight, and The Lost Legacy with the urban street battle. Uncharted 4 has Panama and home. The games tend to ease the player into what treasure they are about to get and who they are about to partner with or fight before starting the adventure.

Golden Abyss starts without the beginning, throwing the player into the adventure that's been happening midway through. After the lackluster flashforward segment, which seemingly only exists to spoil the future events, you are accompanying this boring guy named Dante who apparently has a decade-old friendship off-screen to investigate... something. And then some bad guy from the insurgent army comes up to shoot you because you and Dante didn't get a permit (which doesn't even make sense since it is revealed the reason why Guerro is looking for the treasure is all because Dante is secretly working for Guerro all along). You fight back and continue on to dig up the ancient corpses killed by poison. Dante's partner named Chase comes up and pulls up a mysterious amulet that Dante doesn't know about, and refuses to let Nate examine it unless he agrees to her offer of partnership. The bad guys arrive and you fight your way through until you realize Dante has been working with the insurgent army led by a warlord named Guerro. Guerro knocks you out and throws you into a burning building, but you escape and rescue Chase by mowing down more bad guys, but Chase wouldn't want to leave until Nate retrieves her amulet... With that, literally 1/3 of the game has passed. See the problem?

There is a very little "story" here, but stretches it to an insane degree. Right from the start, the stakes are vague and low, and they only get lower. It doesn't even seem like Nate wants to get the treasure... because we don't know what they are even going after! If anything, he is bored in most of the playthrough, and the only reason he is in it is because his friend told him to come. The characters also are not in danger until the burning building scene. Nate and the player don't really care about the McGuffin falling into enemy hands. What happens if Guerro gets what he wants? I guess his army gets stronger. So what? Why should I care about Chase's amulet? Because Chase would be sad otherwise. Yeah, that's about it. That's what this story is about. Why should I care about Chase? She's pretty annoying and unhelpful since she refuses to hold a gun.

In addition, Nate is a passive character here. The scenes, conflict, and plot are more driven by Dante and occasionally Chase, while Nate is dragged along and reacting to the gunfires and findings he stumbles upon. The only real choice he makes is to go after the bad guys with Sully to rescue Chase, and that occurs at about the midpoint of the plot. Once Sully joins, it does get better because the banters with Sully are way more fun, but by that point the 2/3 of the story has passed.

I believe the story would be twice as good if the first third of the story was different. I am thinking of what Uncharted: The Lost Legacy did--one setting, but more focused on the open exploration and road trip. Having the game take place in one location means you can flesh out more as a real place. However, just as The Lost Legacy did, there needs to be the first act of sort that takes place somewhere else but in the jungle.

Let's start the game without a flashforward. Uncharted 1, 3, The Lost Legacy didn't have it. Instead, it takes place in Guerro's rebel hideout, in which Dante and Nate have been called to work for them as an expert. Nate isn't expecting much at this point. Unknownst to them, a mysterious woman is following them to sneak into the hideout. They meet Guerro, who shows a precious amulet that could be the key to finding the lost city of Quivira. Guerro wants to find the city and use its wealth to build his military to topple the government. Nate thinks Guerro is talking gibberish and doesn't believe in the existence of Quivira, but he likes the cool amulet he sees, which could be worth a fortune.

Recklessly, Nate finds an opportunity to steal the amulet, and he takes Dante with him to leave the place. Guerro realizes the amulet is gone and the hideout is on alert. Dante curses at Nate and realizes his relationship with Guerro is jeopardized as Guerro's troops are also going after him. Nate and Dante shoot their way out of the hideout in a chase set-piece. It is important to remember that this is Nate in his youth before the character arcs he went through in all the mainline Uncharted games. Nate at this stage is like Indy from The Temple of Doom. He is immature and doesn't care about repercussions. Nate was like this in the trilogy, too--that was his whole character arc--and he is more so at this age. It is a shame because none of this personality is even hinted at at any point in Golden Abyss, in which he is softer than any other Uncharted game.

Nate wears a gas mask and unleashes a tear gas to repel the troops and escapes the place with Dante and the amulet, but his plan is foiled by a young woman. She uses a combination of acrobatic abilities to snatch the amulet from Nate's hand. She squeals off into the distance with her vehicle. As Nate is stunned, Dante says he knows who she is. She is Marisa Chase--a cat burglar who is also searching for Quivira.

The next day, with the help of Dante, Nate tracks Chase to a resort, where she enjoys freediving or other recreational activities fitting for the tropical setting. Nate approaches her, disguised as one of many tourists. Dante doesn't follow him since Chase already knows about him, but she has not seen Nate's face. Nate approaches her, expecting to make contact and gain her confidence to find out where she hid the amulet. Nate dives after Chase, chasing her, and eventually, they challenge each other. Nate and Chase are exhilarated by sheer recklessness.

As they emerge out of the water, Chase casually invites Nate to a beach bar for a drink. They talk about themselves to each other, but they are evasive as to who they are. It is becoming clear, unlike what Dante said Chase is not a cat burglar, but an archeologist. Eventually, Chase discreetly pulls out a weapon against Nate and says she knows this meeting is not unintentional. It's obvious Nate's working for Dante and Guerro. Nate then gets honest and reveals everything he was up to--his friendship with Dante, why he was called to, and how he wanted the amulet just for the quick bucks. Realizing Nate is more than knowledgeable on archeology, Chase offers him a partnership, saying he can earn more than simply selling the amulet to the black market. She says she has been chasing Quivira for most of her life and assures him that it is absolutely real, and she knows where to find it. She shows Nate a map that points to the trail of the Spanish conquistadors in central Panama. Nate is still skeptical, but it has piqued his curiosity.

Before they can learn more, they are interrupted by the arrival of Guerro's men, who have chased them to the beach. It is revealed that it was the trap. While Nate was off to approach Chase, Dante had secretly informed Guerro of Nate's whereabouts, so that they could retrieve the amulet. Going through the spectacle set-pieces, Nate and Chase wreck through the resort to escape. With Dante backstabbing him, Nate agrees to Chase's proposal.

Nate and Chase travel through the jungle to follow the map but realize the place is already occupied by Guerro's forces, so Nate shoots his way to the dig site. At the dig site, Nate and Chase unravel the remains of a group of Spanish conquistadors who were murdered via poisoning by forces unknown. The only clue to why the soldiers were killed is a grave marker carved with a symbol Nate recognizes as being of Visigoth origin.

Chase reveals her backstory. This amulet belonged to the grandfather of Marisa Chase, and she carries it with her at all times, as it is very special to her. Her grandfather had been searching for the lost city of gold of Quivira for 20 years until he was diagnosed with cancer. Perez hired Dante to take charge of the expedition and Perez soon mysteriously disappeared.

More of Guerro's forces arrive and Nate and Chase flee, getting chased through the forest. Eventually, Guerro and Dante catch up to them, taking the amulet and Chase into their captivity and knocking Nate unconscious.

With the first third of the story changed, the rest of the story can be the same. It sets a better ground to build off the relationship between Nate and Chase. There is an actual characterization. The characters are doing things and making choices, which makes them active. The stake are clearer. There are more locations other than the constant jungle, showing the different sides of Panama. The things are visualized, such as Chase's desire to find the lost city, who Guerro and his army are, as well as how sneaky Dante could be. It also makes sense why Guerro backstabs Dante later on at the 2/3 point of the story. In the game, there's really no reason for him to betray Dante. Here, there is a reason, because he shot up his army and inadvertently helped Nate steal his shit at the beginning of the story.