CRAP Poll # (Infinity - 6): Bring It Back!

It's been a while since we've done one of these Completely Random and
Pointless Polls... so let's do one now!

Here's the question:

In this age of sequels, reboots and remakes, what
forgotten intellectual property would you like to
see revived?

But before you answer: let's set the ground rules: when I say
'forgotten', I mean an IP that not only hasn't seen any new games made
for it in a while (let's say at least fifteen years or twenty years)
but has largely faded from the popular consciousness. One of those IPs
likely swallowed up by Activision or EA and never given another
thought. So nothing that's recently gotten a remake or reboot or
spiritual successor (e.g. "Descent"), or  is likely to still be
recognized by the average gamer (e.g., "Half Life"). You know...
something you love and think deserves a second change, but most of the
world has forgotten.

Got it?

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Alright. Here's my choice: Microprose's 1992 CRPG, "Darklands".
I /adored/ that game when it was released. It lacked a lot of the
polish and visual splendor of its competitors, but at the same time it
was also amazingly forward thinking. It had one of the largest
open-worlds of its time, spanning the entirety of medieval Germany
(how big? Daggerfall is -technically- only two-thirds the size of
Darklands' map). Of course, it cheated to get there; the map in
Darklands isn't cohesive and you can't physically walk across the
entire country (you have to jump to an overland map and navigate
between locations, fast-travel style) but it /felt/ huge. It had
hundreds of cities and locations to visit.

"Darklands" was also completely open-ended. There were two main quest
lines to follow, but if you wanted you could just wander around
aimlessly having adventures: killing robber-barons and doing good
deeds for the church. Your success was measured more by your fame than
in gold or experience or whether or not you prevented Satan from
taking over the world.

"Darklands" also was one of the earlier CRPGs to use procedural
generation. While the overall map (and some quest maps) was fixed,
encounter maps were generated on the fly, adding some unique variety
to each encounter, whether in city or wilderness.

The game was /drenched/ in medieval history, which was both its
strength and weakness. It expected the player to conform to the
sensibilities of the day, and acting according to modern perspectives
often was counter-productive (_never_ go against the Church!).
Similarly, many modern CRPG tropes worked against you; the best armor
and weapons in terms of stats were often the worst to actually use,
being too slow and expensive. The magic system was similarly obtuse,
obeying the strictures of medieval alchemy and Catholic sainthood. It
made the game much more difficult to play than something like "Eye of
the Beholder" (with its wonderfully simplistic click spell and instant
fireball!) but you really felt like you were in the medieval era. The
excellent water-color backgrounds used in all the menu-based
interactions really helped sell it too.

The closest modern equivalent, I think, is the "Mount & Blade"
franchise, which are similarly open-ended in style. Those games,
however, lack the atmosphere and historical authenticity of
"Darklands"; they're just a bit too much procedurally-generated
sandbox.

"Darklands" was originally supposed to be the first in a series, with
expansions opening up the world to new regions and eras.
Unfortunately, the game never took off the way Microprose hoped (not
at all helped by how buggy the game was; I think Microprose released
ten or fifteen updates to the game --back before the Internet made
updates easy-- and it still was never entirely stable or bug free).
Its obtuse gameplay also made it hard to attract gamers... especially
when competing against games like "Ultima Underworld" and "Doom".

But I think nowadays it would have a better chance of finding an
audience, and it deserves a second chance.

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Okay, that's my choice. What game or franchise do you think that the
world has forgotten but -given another chance- probably would work
today?