On the back of its recent cinematic release and its fourth installment, the Uncharted franchise has become the center of fans' discussion. Rumors regarding a potential reboot of the franchise have left many in disarray, especially at the prospect of Naughty Dog no longer being the developer of the title.
Given the manner in which Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ended with Nathan Drake and his wife Elena settling down and venturing away from a life of treasure hunting, many are expecting the pair to be omitted from any form of a sequel or reboot. While there are certainly aspects that may be interesting for fans to look forward to in a reboot, many will agree that Nathan Drake should be left out of it completely.
5 Overstayed Welcome
The Uncharted franchise began way back in the PlayStation 3 generation with the first two titles standing as some of the best-ever PlayStation titles in the eyes of many fans. Unlike Naughty Dog's other IP in The Last Of Us, Nathan Drake remained front and center in all Uncharted games apart from the Lost Legacy DLC for Uncharted 4. Fans have had plenty of time to experience the wild and epic adventures with this beloved character, so to reboot the franchise and include him would seem pointless.
Uncharted 3 and 4 contained multiple flashbacks that gave players more context about Nathan's past and childhood showcasing his relationship with his brother Sam, and how his first interaction with Sully. If a reboot truly is in store, it would more than likely mean backstories and arcs for certain characters will be retold or reimagined, which would be out of place given the established character fans have known and loved.
4 The Story Has Already Ended
Uncharted 4 rounded up Nathan Drake and Elena's story and adventures, with many fans labeling the game's ending as a perfect end to the franchise. Nate, Sully, Elena, and Sam have all endured many experiences and multiple close calls to death throughout through all four titles, and are lucky to come out unscathed. There has been an overarching level of tension within each of Nate's encounters with enemies, leaving players wondering how he could possibly make it out alive.
With Uncharted 4's plot literally addressing and showcasing the resolution to the tensions between Nate and Elena, and Nate's obsession with a life of treasure hunting, it would be incredibly out of place for him to continue on. Regardless of whether this is a reboot to essentially retcon previous games, it is burned many fans' memories that Nate's story saw a perfect end with his wife and child.
3 Opportunity For New Character Focus
The most predictable and understandable choice for a reboot would be to allow players to venture onto a new treasure-hunting journey with Nate and Elena's daughter, Cassie. This could take inspiration from the classic Tomb Raider games, as players see an older and grown-up Cassie. Doing so will almost certainly mean Nathan Drake would be present or at the very least mentioned, but this would be dependent on whether the title would be a soft or hard reboot.
This would be a great opportunity to carry on Nate's legacy without bringing him back into action as a playable main character, and could even see him as a Sully-like figure or maybe even Elena as a mentor throughout the title. Sticking with Nate for another title would make it much more difficult for creators to introduce new layers or any form of complexity to the character, that isn't already present in previous installments.
2 Monotonous
As mentioned, given the sheer amount of times fans have witnessed Nate escape death by narrow margins and each game maintaining a similar end of leaving with hardly anything, doing this again would be less impactful. There is a lack of reasoning behind Nathan Drake going on another adventure again would serve a lack of purpose and defeat the purpose of the fourth game, if it does indeed turn out to be a soft reboot.
Unless there is an urgent level of reason as to why Nate would need to pick up his climbing boots again, creating a new story that revolved around him would be unnecessary and may lack the same stakes that previous games maintained.
1 Lack Of Tension
Considering the number of times players have journeyed with Nathan Drake in all four games and the PS Vita Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the suspense of another may be lacking. Given Nate's capability of survival along with the luck of the character, many fans may feel as though the ending or story of a reboot with Nate would be too predictable.
Whilst most are still bemused with why or how this reboot will turn out, this may be the biggest reason as to why a new character would be needed. Uncharted 4 and Sam Drake's introduction came along with many different twists and turns towards its latter stages, and it could be difficult to top the stories fans have experienced.