Bully 2

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's not actually announced, I'm afraid. But Take-Two did file for a new Bully trademark. So Rockstar is probably working on it.

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/take-two-files-new-bully-trademark-6412224

I made this topic because I want to know what you want from a hypothetical Bully sequel. Do you think it should be about a high school kid again, or are you looking forward to a more mature, college environment? Or perhaps something else? What are you desires and expectations? Please, let your imagination run wild before they announce it. Also, what was your favorite thing about Bully?

 

[piinyouri]

I've never actually played Bully.
I'm getting filled in on the game as I type this and it does sound pretty fun. For some reason it just never had enough curb appeal for me when it released.

The high school aspect seems to be a pretty unique characteristic fr the first game and I think it might be too easy to make the game feel too GTA'ish if they go the college route.

I dunno, I'm probably wrong though, I'm sure Rockstar could pull it off.

 

[windlenot]

I could go for a college setting. Really, as long as it keeps the lighthearted tone of the original, it doesn't matter to me. Maybe more "mature" weapons, but I'd imagine that's dependent on the setting. And really, that's the most important part for me, and what made the game so unique and fun.

Also, did anyone else try to skateboard up the stairs to the actual school building? Trying desperately to perfectly time your jumps between the two sets and always failing?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I loved Bully and I'd love a sequel for it.
Unfortunately I can't think of a proper setting.
If I remember correctly, Jimmy was 15 in the first game, so that would put him in 9th grade and at the beginning of high school. So he could still be in high school by the sequel (maybe in his last year?). But I'm having trouble imagining a game where you play as an 18 year-old Bully. Jimmy had a newcomer/underdog/pre-puberty thing going in the first game, and "combat" was pretty childish. Obviously you couldn't retain that as an 18 year-old, fighting other 18 year-olds. It'd feel a bit awkward to me, you know. Could they retain the lighthearted tone of the first game? How would combat feature in the game? What weapons would be available? I hope they'd avoid the whole guns-in-high school thing, as well. Also, what would be the "police units" in the game? First game was prefects and small town cops, fair enough, makes sense they'd have the ability to take down a chubby little kid. What about an 18 year-old?

 

[Casual Shinji]

It should stay in high school to keep things simple and fairly innocent. That was the charm of the first game - It felt cartoony, but with a bit of an edge to it. Also, if you set it in college, you would automatically get rid of all the Dennis the menace type gadgets, like the skateboard, slingshot, firecrackers, and potato gun.

You're obviously going to play as a male protagonist, but I think it'd be fun to play as a bitchy cheerleader who lost her popularity and you have to reclaim it or something. No sense in moving away from the 80's theme, right?

I think my favourite part of the first game was doing a running take-down on a dude and immediately following it up with a knee to the balls. So satisfying.

Also, Garry. An antagonist that gets way too little credit.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Also, Garry. An antagonist that gets way too little credit.

Gary was awesome. It's too bad he doesn't show up again until the finale once he betrays you.

Tell me why you couldn't do all that for an 18 year old? It's a game, it doesn't have to be 100% realistic. If I shot my principle with a potato gun, I wouldn't just get an afternoon mowing the schools garden like you did in the game.

You're mistaking realism for verosimilitude. I never mentioned realism. Fuck realism. I'm talking about an established praxis, and how it defines the rules by which a/the game handles itself. Say the kiddies in the Bully universe are established to behave in such and such a way, which they are. I'm wondering, by that rationale, how would an older protagonist behave in an older world that still abides by the same rules, because that's how narrative form works. Bully's is a playful, lighthearted universe. What kind of playful, lighthearted gameplay could we expect from different, older characters? What playful, lighthearted weaponry would they get while at the same time being drastically different from the kiddies' arsenal? What kind of playful, lighthearted combat rules would apply? TL;DR - Bully's success was built largely on tone, and so Bully's sequel will want to keep that tone, while updating fittingly its gameplay to match the characters' growth. Can it be done? I'm wondering if and how here.

 

[Wickatricka]

Bout damn time seriously this game is tits and everyone should play it because its awesomeness is beyond anything you can comprehend.

 

[Wickatricka]

I made this topic because I want to know what you want from a hypothetical Bully sequel. Do you think it should be about a high school kid again, or are you looking forward to a more mature, college environment? Or perhaps something else? What are you desires and expectations? Please, let your imagination run wild before they announce it. Also, what was your favorite thing about Bully?

Didn't read that part in my last post. Probably my favorite thing about it is being in a boarding school (an odd fantasy that I've had lol) and that everything in the game is very organic and the characters are well designed and the different school factions are awesome. Kinda reminds me of like a 50-60s era. I think that if they changed the environment and maybe the how big the school was and the town it'd just make it more awesome. By environment I mean like location and setting. Overall I can't see Rockstar disappointing me with this one

 

[Gauntlets28]

I think they should make a different boarding school, perhaps even a rival of Bullworth that your school goes to war with, being led by an older Jimmy as the "big bad".
They should make it bigger, with more stuff to do as well. I think, if Rockstar can make a game like what GTA V is shaping up to be, sizewise, it can make one hell of a Bully game considering it will be a smaller scale, with more homemade gadgets and really crazy new cliques. There's so many to choose from, after all.

 

[Smeatza]

Excellent.
I worship Rockstar enough to say that any suggestions or wants I might have about the game would be inferior to Rockstar's vision.
Just one thing, another red-headed protagonist please.

 

[StormShaun]

I know that I would like it.
Loved the first one very, very much.

Though I would like these things.
- New protagonist, maybe someone that isn't eager to fight or bad. It would be nice to see a new kid's journey to be top dog ... BUT if we look at other stories by Rockstar, we have seen this before. (Maybe we could be a teacher this time. Or multiple characters?)
- Different setting maybe? I loved the first setting, but I get the feeling that highschool might get boring this time.
- More refined combat.
- Garry, in one shape or form. I would like to see a return from him. (As an adult or young adult would be cool, maybe as Principal or teacher?)
- Go karts. Let me keep my go kart from the first game, that thing sped me around the town like a demon!

But yeah, just improve the first game X5 and possibly change up the story/setting/characters.
I'll look forward to it.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Just make sure it doesn't go dark n' gritty.

Bully's closer to light n' gritty. I 'unno, I don't think it was really enough to warrant a sequel, though I suppose enough good ideas for messing about (Bully seems a bit sparse by the following generation's standards); keep the map small with stuff rammed in up to the ear holes and then you've got it right.

 

[RipRoaringWaterfowl]

Also, did anyone else try to skateboard up the stairs to the actual school building? Trying desperately to perfectly time your jumps between the two sets and always failing?

I've done that. I think I may have succeeded once, but only once.

OP: I just want another Bully, and I want it to be good. That's about it. They'll figure something out.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

You guys are all going on about another Bully being a sequel to Jimmy's story. I think it's way more likely that it's going to take the classic GTA route and start with a new protagonist, new characters, and maybe even a new setting.

What can they add to another Bully to make it better than the first? The first was good because it was pretty juvenile in what it supplied you with and expected from you. So, what more fun little weapons and activities are there? The game can't add car-jacking or spray painting, it has to be kept to things like spiking a prom party and planting evidence on the teacher -- and Bully did that already. The sequel's got to be pushing something, other than the graphical and general upgrades.