Support NeoGAF

[Gonpachiro Kamaboko]

With all of Rockstar's studios now all working together on the same massive AAA game (GTAV, RDR2, presumably GTAVI), I wish they would outsource their less popular IP to external developers while still publishing them. I'd love to see another Bully, Max Payne, L.A. Noire or something new like Agent, but it's hard to see that happening at this point if development on these R* properties is going to remain strictly internal.

I need another Max Payne, or at least another game with the same mechanics/gameplay as Max Payne 3. That game was so much fun.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'd love to see a Bully 2 (although I'm not sure you could make it in this climate), but if you had to prioritize two of three, then they made the right call.

 

[hemo memo]

That was the right decision.

 

[Royal-Slime]

Every Remedy game with the exception of Control was high budget. Quantum Break, Alan Wake and etc.

And I LOVE MP 3, especially since I'm a brazilian living in São Paulo where the game takes place. But both gameplay wise and narrative wise, Remedy could do a lot of interesting things. It's not like MP 3 set an unreachable bar.

Except it did. If you think it didn't, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Kumomeme]

assume 7 years they take for RDR2, if GTAVI also took same amount of time, if the project really started at 2015, then 2022 we might see the game. but Jason Schreir said the game still in early phase of development. if this is true than it will be longer for us to see the game.

 

[Hugare]

Except it did. If you think it didn't, you don't know what you're talking about.

Yeah, I dont think that its worth discussing with someone who thinks that perfection was achieved with MP 3.

A game that I've finished probably 6 times already, and its one of my GOATs. But there's no such thing as a perfect game.

You are being jouvenile. Especially in the narrative department, there's a lot that could be improved in that game.

 

[anothertech]

Sure it was. Yep.

/S

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

Bully 2 would be only interesting if it plays immediately after the first. Wouldn't really care for a Bully playing in the 2010's but maybe that's just me.

 

[Twinguistics]

so not only is RDR2 just an absolutely atrocious game, it also killed Bully 2?

sad. but then again I don't think R* will ever make a good game again if they stick with the god awful design choices they do lately

RDR2 is amazing and posts like this nearly caused me to miss it.

The hyperbole about the gameplay is ridiculous. The game is fantastic and plenty enough interactive, the cut scenes are rather short actually.

 

[SentientStone]

No, I was so looking forward to this one. Heard it was going to be about the kid going to college and trolling safe-spaces.

 

[Calverz]

Bully....now theres a game i never played and probably should have.
*shrugs shoulders and returns to GTAIV at 60fps on xbox series s*

 

[v_iHuGi]

assume 7 years they take for RDR2, if GTAVI also took same amount of time, if the project really started at 2015, then 2022 we might see the game. but Jason Schreir said the game still in early phase of development. if this is true than it will be longer for us to see the game.

GTA VI is 2023/2024 when there is around 80M Ps5s in the Wild, they need a massive userbase since the game is going to break all records.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Damn Id love to play Bully 2. I barely finish Rockstar games, Bully was one of them

 

[TTOOLL]

As someone who’s playing RDR2 right now I’m happy they did it. I’m in chapter 3 and it’s the best game I’ve ever played hands down. It’s impressive in all aspects.

 

[Nezzeroth]

I miss PS2-era Rockstar so much. These days they need every single studio in the company for just one game each generation (and GTA online I guess). It's sad.

 

[TMLT]

I just dont think Bully would work today. For one the current culture doesnt fit with it, and other than that I dont think it has the same casual appeal as GTA and RDR do. Sadly with the production costs and development times for games these days it discourages developers from taking risks. Boy do I miss 2000s Rockstar though.

 

[Pallas]

Shame really, the first Bully was a very unique game that had a pretty interesting story, and a few interesting characters, but the one thing I enjoyed the most was the music from the game. As for everyone pointing how how a sequel wouldn’t work in today’s culture, I’d disagree. Rockstar in particular have been known to push the envelope on what’s acceptable and even exceeded it at times.

Just take it into perspective, we live in a world where games like Agony exist but we have some who are scared of what a Bully 2 sequel would be like. lol

Also for anyone who actually played the original Bully, while you can bully/prank students/faculty, the main objective at the beginning of that game was to conquer social cliques and unite them iirc. Of course anyone that’s played it until completion saw what happened.

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

As for everyone pointing how how a sequel wouldn’t work in today’s culture, I’d disagree. Rockstar in particular have been known to push the envelope on what’s acceptable and even exceeded it at times.

I don't see that being a problem either. Wasn't there a new Borat movie recently? Either it was very tame or it didn't get any shit. I haven't watched it.

For me personally though, I enjoy the the 90's vibe of the original very much which is why I'd like a sequel to play immediately after and not in today's world.

 

[TimFL]

Good. GTA and RDR are vastly superior franchises anyways. If getting these out the door means canceling more niche franchises like Bully, so be it.

 

[swaffles23]

Fuck all them games. Give the world Max Payne 4. The last one was so good

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

to the people praising this decision though, vendetta will be real, because I'm gonna tell my mom.

 

[MeteorVII]

Bully 2 legitimately has the potential to be one of the greatest games ever made.

Just think about the jump from GTA San Andreas to GTA IV, and that’s what Bully 2 could be with the great foundation that was already present with the first game...

 

[Amory]

Bully was a magical game back in the day. I still go back and play replay it every now and again.

idk that I need Bully 2 tbh. the first game did everything it needed to do, and did it perfectly.

 

[rofif]

I never played first bully and it's so extremely old now that I fail to see a reason to make a sequel.

 

[AV]

Just think about the jump from GTA San Andreas to GTA IV,

As long as the "leap" is entirely technical and they don't rip the heart and soul out like they did with GTA IV. The game was amazing because it perfectly captured a magical schoolkid vibe, drawing elements from various decades of reality into a strangely eerie and almost Lychian backwater New England town.

I don't need realistic marble and slingshot physics if the sacrifice is that level of charm. I like GTA IV for what it was, but it's a thoroughly bleak experience because of how grounded it tries to be. It was great, but there's a good reason the Gay Tony DLC and subsequently GTA V abandoned that angle, it's just not what the franchise is loved for. I fear that a Bully 2 would make the same mistake of taking itself too seriously.

 

[Amory]

As long as the "leap" is entirely technical and they don't rip the heart and soul out like they did with GTA IV. The game was amazing because it perfectly captured a magical schoolkid vibe, drawing elements from various decades of reality into a strangely eerie and almost Lychian backwater New England town.

I don't need realistic marble and slingshot physics if the sacrifice is that level of charm. I like GTA IV for what it was, but it's a thoroughly bleak experience because of how grounded it tries to be. It was great, but there's a good reason the Gay Tony DLC and subsequently GTA V abandoned that angle, it's just not what the franchise is loved for. I fear that a Bully 2 would make the same mistake of taking itself too seriously.

I really don't know that there's a direction they could go with the bully formula that would make fans happy. They can't make it in modern times or take a more serious tone, they'd lose every ounce of charm and it'd just be a downer

the original game already did just about everything they could expect to do with the concept. you're a kid, you have a bike and a skateboard, you have a slingshot and fart bombs, you chase after love interests and go to class

I guess if they made essentially the same game with better graphics and a modern engine that'd be.....fine?

 

[AV]

I really don't know that there's a direction they could go with the bully formula that would make fans happy. They can't make it in modern times or take a more serious tone, they'd lose every ounce of charm and it'd just be a downer

the original game already did just about everything they could expect to do with the concept. you're a kid, you have a bike and a skateboard, you have a slingshot and fart bombs, you chase after love interests and go to class

I guess if they made essentially the same game with better graphics and a modern engine that'd be.....fine?

That's the dilemma, really. If it was ever going to happen, they'd probably need to stick to what made it so charming in the first place. The absolute last thing we need is a miserably sarcastic and barbed commentary on modern teens, it would just be the Jimmy (ironically) missions from GTA V on a loop and it would be a thoroughly unenjoyable trip.

In my mind the best thing they could do is set it firmly in an older decade where the mechanics of the first game would still make sense - Bully is super weird in that it's logically set in the mid 2000s, but people are still throwing firecrackers and bottle rockets and I'm pretty sure there's almost no cell phones in that game. I love that about it, but a sequel that is solidly set in the 70s or 80s (or hell, even 90s at this point) where those things make more sense, would be great for me. Just expand upon every system introduced in the first game, have more classes and activities, more interpersonal character drama and meaningful dialogues, more optional missions, a slightly larger map without overdoing it, etc. It could work, as long as the tone is correct.

It's like RDR to RDR2 - say what you will about the game, but the tone of the sequel is completely on-brand. Neither of those games are happy, and even the cheerier epilogue in 2 is haunted by the notion that the player knows exactly where it will lead ultimately.

In just writing about Bully I checked whether or not someone patched it to work in Windows 10 yet, and apparently they did in 2018. That's me replaying it soon then, I guess.

 

[Dav-Kripler]

I guess I just miss it when R* would come in it off nowhere with an unknown ip and nail it. Thinking of warriors, manhunt, la noire etc... Bully was phenomenal. And yeah their max payne 3 is my favorite in the series

 

[MeteorVII]

As long as the "leap" is entirely technical and they don't rip the heart and soul out like they did with GTA IV. The game was amazing because it perfectly captured a magical schoolkid vibe, drawing elements from various decades of reality into a strangely eerie and almost Lychian backwater New England town.

I don't need realistic marble and slingshot physics if the sacrifice is that level of charm. I like GTA IV for what it was, but it's a thoroughly bleak experience because of how grounded it tries to be. It was great, but there's a good reason the Gay Tony DLC and subsequently GTA V abandoned that angle, it's just not what the franchise is loved for. I fear that a Bully 2 would make the same mistake of taking itself too seriously.

I mean I’d argue GTA IV was by far the best GTA game but I see what you’re saying.

I wouldn’t want Bully 2 to be some massive open world game or anything, but just a little more involved than the original was.

Like the strides they made in storytelling with Red Dead Redemption 2 with the camp and everything + the streamlined fun mission structure of GTA V and they could make something seriously special with Bully 2.

 

[Philfrag]

Don't get down guys. When Bully 2 eventually comes the NPC AI is going to be so good you'll be able to re-live all your traumatic school experiences all in one game.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

How about a remaster? Bully is a fun game but not enough to spend hours trying to get it to run on modern OS/hardware.

 

[chorizosausage#3774]

Wrong decision.

 

[chorizosausage#3774]

How about a remaster? Bully is a fun game but not enough to spend hours trying to get it to run on modern OS/hardware.

I play it on the Wii U

 

[D.Final]

It would be cool to see something different from GTA

 

[RPSleon]

Im still waiting for Agent. The PS3 exclusive.

Edit:
Its still actually on their website! Why??

 

[quest]

Wrong decision.

Nope you couldn't do bully in today's world honestly. Wish they did immediate college dlc back then inspired by Animal house.

 

[Kenpachii]

betty 2 2021 edition.

 

[Goro Majima]

Hate so much that Rockstar pulled everything to their internal studio so now their output is basically reduced to games that they can monetize somehow.

Kinda wish Take Two gets bought out and then maybe some of their IP can breathe again even if everything isn’t some world beating multiplayer bonanza.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Sucks that Bully 2 was canned, although Red Dead Redemption 2 was amazing and worth the extra effort. So I'm in two minds over it.

I really liked Bully, it was a fresh take on the open-world genre and it was interesting to play a school setting. Perhaps it wouldn't go over as well today, sadly.

 

[MMaRsu]

Im sure it was put on hold for awhile. I dont see them working on anything else besides GTA 6 for awhile tho

 

[Jokerevo]

Anyone got a time machine I can borrow?

 

[DeepEnigma]

I’ll take Red Dead over Bully cmon

Same. Love me some RDR2.

 

[Fuz]

Nope you couldn't do bully in today's world honestly.

Yes, you definitely can.
And in any case, Rockstar could capitalize on the outrage - like they always did.

 

[Hezekiah]

Such a shame, would love to see something outside of the inevitable GTA 6.

Imagine how much it would rile up the woke snowflakes, it would get a ton of 'PR' and sell tens of millions.

 

[YCoCg]

Where's this idea coming from that you couldn't do Bully these days? Jimmy was a character who went against the bullies and adults, what exactly was "controversial" about the game?