How I Would Follow Up "Tyranny"

Tyranny, the 2016 dark fantasy CRPG from Obsidian Entertainment, never received a sequel. Not all games warrant a follow-up, as we're starting to see in this modern landscape of under-performing franchise players, but some titles simply don't feel complete without one. Tyranny is one of those games. Short enough to not overstay it's welcome, long enough for your choices to be impactful and varied, but lacking any large-scale resolution for the pieces laid out in it's final hours. And at this point in time, nearly a decade after release, there is zero indication that Obsidian has any intention of revisiting the universe. As a fun thought experiment, I want to discuss some short ideas for how I would follow this game up in 2025.

Part One: An Archon of Our Own

The idea is pretty cut and dry: Overlord Kyros is gone, and the Empire is fracturing into warring states ruled by the Archons. The main character's actions in the first game proved to the world that Kyros is not infallible or entirely unique in their powers, and the sudden disappearance of the Overlord proves to be the final straw. The unifying forces of fear and hate have begun to eat themselves alive, leaving room for the righteous to recapture land and influence. Rebellions are sparking across the Empire, with some Archons being slain or exiled as the people begin to lose faith in the almighty powers that they hold. It is the rise of anarchy, following the death of tyranny.

You would reprise the role of the Fatebinder, now the Archon of the Tiers. The game would take place in the Tiers, nearly a month after the end of the first game, allowing for reuse of existing locations and assets with changes and additions being added on from there. With the Empire crumbling around you, the number of refugees seeking a new life in the Tiers will only get larger. And where the people go, brutality follows: factions forming within the newcomers, all vying for a piece of the pie, desperate to make a name for themselves in the void left by shattered imperial laws. These conflicts are only exacerbated upon the appearance of two more Archons - Pox, with an army of Plaguebearers at her back, and Occulted Jade, returned to the Tiers with her School in tow.

Part Two: Before the Storm

Pox's arrival was anticipated weeks prior, temporarily halted when news of the Overlord's absence reached her scouts. The Archon of Ruin now carries a whole new responsibility in her campaign: proving that Kyros' will is unparalleled, and restoring some measure of order to this chaotic mess. The previous Archons underestimated you, but she will not make that same mistake. You are the Archon of the Tiers, capable of speaking new Edicts, and your threat to the Empire will be removed from the board.

Occulted Jade was believed dead by the vast majority of Tiersmen, lost to the ocean current along with her cowardly School of Tides. Her followers begin to swarm the coastline, retaking ancestral lands and new tracts wherever they can in a rapid plot of expansion. The Archon of Tides has granted an Edict of her own, though much more metaphorical than the usual fare: retake the Tiers, and prepare for the end-times. Occulted Jade saw something beyond the water, and it has scared her more than Kyros (or you) ever could.

Part Three: Let The Pieces Fall

These are my ideas for a sequel to Tyranny, as they currently stand. I don't have specifics on the rebel factions within the Tiers, or how old companions would interconnect with new companions, but I feel like this concept has enough potential to make answering those questions a more interesting endeavor later on down the line. I wanted to answer questions I had after the end of Tyranny, leading me to incorporate Pox and Occulted Jade as main parts of the story to follow up on their dangling plot threads. The central theme that I wanted to capture here is that your power has consequences, and now you have the responsibility of handling those consequences on a grand scale. From the free agent Fatebinder to the ruler of the Tiers, your actions have too much weight to be made unwisely.

I believe that taking Kyros out of the picture at the start of the story is crucial to shaking up the status quo. Despite your own fledgling abilities with creating Edicts, Kyros has hundreds of years of experience in their use, making an outright conflict seem laughable. Yet if the Overlord has disappeared, then your position as the remaining maker of Edicts puts you at the center of the plot by default - you have no choice but to fight an uphill battle as the Empire crumbles and cracks under the weight of each Archon's ambition, all the while still learning the limits of your own power as the Archon of the Tiers. You learned and achieved great things in the first game, and now you must put those lessons to the test as the world turns upside down.

I would be happy to make another post about this one day, but for now, I believe I've gotten out everything that I needed to. I hope you liked this, and have a great day!