What Cassie Drake Leading Uncharted 5 Means For Franchise Lore

An insider claims a new Uncharted game is in development, and the only surprising part is how long it took for the rumor to surface. The series is hugely popular and very profitable for Sony, so a comeback was always going to happen.

Still, with everything going on around PlayStation and the bumpy few years Naughty Dog has been through, you have good reason to feel uneasy about where this is going. The concern isn't about the tech. You can count on Naughty Dog to deliver something that looks and runs impressively.

The real worry is the story, and what Uncharted 4 means for the series.

Plenty of evidence already backs the rumor. Neil Druckmann has said publicly that he isn't directing the studio's secret project, and the developer is also working on its first new IP in more than 13 years, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

That matters because a studio wouldn't gamble on two untested franchises back-to-back. Following Intergalactic with yet another original series would be a huge risk. The cautious route is to take one chance there, then return to a franchise where fans are known to spend money. That franchise is Uncharted, which is why the report about a new Uncharted game is easy to believe.

You can toss around plenty of ideas: a Sully prequel, a game led by Sam, or another outing with Chloe. Those belong in a separate discussion, because the most likely option is the one that's been waiting since Uncharted 4 launched in 2016. That option is a game starring Cassie Drake, Nathan's daughter, taking over the series from here on.

That puts the franchise in a tough spot. In any great story, there's a moment where you either end it at its best or risk ruining it by squeezing the characters for all they're worth. Uncharted chose correctly. It decided audiences had spent enough time with these characters and that their growth had reached a natural conclusion.

When you finish Uncharted 4, you aren't upset that there's nothing left, because the ending feels natural and is executed so well.

Few great stories end on a high note. Most get drained out of greed, without the nerve to close the book on characters who defined a generation. The belief that Uncharted 4 was the end is so deeply set that many players forget a game followed it, and a lot of people don't even remember Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

That's because the ending was planned so carefully, all the way back to the first game. It's so tied to what makes Uncharted what it is that imagining anything beyond it feels odd. The leak says Nathan will definitely return, either as the lead or as a recurring character. As the protagonist, it's tough to picture why he'd leave retirement and go back to adventuring.

He got a happy ending, something you rarely see, and it fit everything he went through across the series in one of the best games ever made. It always felt like the studio knew this was the finish, and the subtitle A Thief's End is no accident. He ends up married to his love interest from the first game, with a daughter, while the supporting cast got endings that suited them.

Wrecking that just to profit from a name like Nathan Drake would be hard to forgive. How it's handled matters, but you could argue this would damage Naughty Dog's reputation even more than The Last of Us Part II did—bringing him back as the lead wouldn't be doing him any favors. It would probably be the exact opposite.

That is the risk with a new Uncharted game built around a returning hero.

The other side of the coin has Nathan in a supporting role, with his daughter leading while he fills a Sully-like spot as the experienced voice of reason. It's a better option than him headlining, but only if it's handled with care. Bringing a franchise back with a new lead and the original cast in the background has been done countless times, and it rarely goes well. Star Wars knows that story.

Cassie Drake makes sense as the new lead. If the series moves forward, she's the obvious choice. The 2016 epilogue made it clear that if the studio ever wanted to continue with someone who shares that love of adventure, it would be her.

What you'd want to avoid is the familiar plot where Nathan doesn't want his daughter following in his footsteps, so she heads out behind his back, everything works out, and he accepts she was born for it. Naughty Dog wouldn't let fans down that way, but it's wise to stay cautious.

The bigger fear is that the new Uncharted game ends up spoiling everything that came before it, to the point where people would rather forget it exists. Plenty of players feel that way about The Last of Us Part II. Some of you may not, but many would rather remember the first game and forget the sequel, and a series this special, and the biggest one in the studio's history, doesn't deserve that treatment.

For many fans, Uncharted simply means Nathan Drake, and the series is fine the way it is.

If they want to revisit it, they have other characters to explore, whether that's another Chloe game, a Sully game, or a Sam game. But based on what we know, the series is coming back, and the new Uncharted game needs to feel massive, closer in scale to the fourth entry than something short.

Nolan North, who voices Nathan, recently said he'd love to return to the role and that he stays in shape just in case. So it's fair to expect the new Uncharted game to be announced after Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The gameplay raises doubts as well, and a new Uncharted game has to deal with them too. Compare the first Uncharted with the fourth and not much has changed in what you actually do, especially in combat.

The foundation is always the same: an action game built on shooting and punching, with little beyond that. A few new weapons and mechanics appear here and there, but the first hour of combat is nearly identical to the last. The combat feels like it has hit a wall, since it lacks what its sister series offers: a skill tree, weapon upgrades, and ways to genuinely change how you play.

Uncharted doesn't need any of that, and RPG elements wouldn't suit its style. What you don't want from Uncharted 5 is the trap God of War fell into, where the gameplay got so stale that it needed a full reboot. That reboot worked out well, and Uncharted isn't near that point, but the new Uncharted game could still disappoint if it plays too much like the fourth entry or The Lost Legacy.

A source of fresh ideas for Uncharted 5 could be 007: First Light, which borrows heavily from Uncharted.

The studio could borrow back by adding a few gadgets, fleshing out hand-to-hand combat, and bringing in more weapons, while keeping the simplicity and minimalism the series is known for. Every game is a blast, but a series that rarely changes can go stale. Still, that's a smaller worry. Sony's reputation, the developer's reputation, and the last few years weigh more.

The studio hasn't released a brand-new game in over six years, only remasters and a remake, and Intergalactic has no release date. If that game flopped, imagine the backlash if a new Uncharted game arrived with Cassie Drake replacing Nathan. Even if that game is perfect, the discourse is coming, much like the one around The Last of Us Part II.

The biggest concern is how the story moves forward without feeling forced and how the series' legacy stays intact. Hopefully the new Uncharted game dodges the story problems around Nathan, meets your expectations, plays great, and improves on what came before. For Uncharted 5, Sony still has time on its side, and a lot will depend on how the studio's next original game is received.