As someone who likes detective and puzzle games, story driven games and in general games based on history L.A. Noire was kinda my cup of tea despite all other shortcomings. I did play it on PC and there is now mod that fully solves 30FPS lock and other issues so it was better experience when i played it second time on Deck recently. But even though i knew some things regarding that era and my previous wish to see sequel move to places like New York or Chicago i kinda changed my mind after listening two audio books related to LA/Hollywood.
First book was "Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age" that focuses on Greenland explorer from Denmark Peter Freuchen and part that relates to to this topic is late in the book when he moved to LA to work as writer for studios like MGM. But he is not one that took my attention, book mentioned Eddie Mannix, MGM executive and producer known as "Fixer"
Eddie Mannix the New Jersey native had the kind of working-class accent that people mocked, but never to his face, likely because he was built like a boxer and had a heavy jaw like a fighting dog's. He had worked as a bouncer, or something like it, at an amusement park before transitioning into the movie business and working his way up the MGM ranks. Most people at the studio knew him as the "fixer," the guy who protected stars' public images by making their problems go away.* Mannix's own personal life was a tawdry minefield of love affairs and other scandals, which might be why he was so good at handling similar incidents for other people. Some accounts of his legacy at the studio suggest a sad history of abortions forced on starlets, sham marriages forced on homosexuals, and several unsolved murders—although the murky nature surrounding these incidents makes their specifics hard to pin down. He was rumored to have mob ties and probably carried a weapon on his person, maybe several.
Then recently stumbled on book called "The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn" that is biography of most famous Hollywood PI Fred Otash.
During the height of Hollywood's golden age, one man lorded over the city's lurid underbelly of forbidden sin and celebrity scandal like no Fred Otash. An ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. vice cop, Otash became the most sought-after private detective and fixer to the stars by specializing in the dark arts that would soon dominate the entertainment industry.
Otash was notorious for bugging the homes, offices, and playpens of movie stars, kingmakers, and powerful politicians, employing then state-of-the-art methods of electronic surveillance and wiretapping for a who's who list of clients for whom he'd do "anything short of murder." He lied to federal authorities to protect Frank Sinatra from criminal liability; recorded Rock Hudson's coming out confession to his estranged wife; moved in with Judy Garland to help her get sober; taped President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's tragic love affairs with the greatest sex symbol of all time, and he listened to Marilyn Monroe die.
And boy even if just 1/3 of things he talks about in that book are true there is enough material to make multiple L.A. Noire games. So much dirt, conspiracies, famous names and infamous events offer so much opportunities not just to tell the stories but to offer players different kind of gameplay. Hollywood is probably even to this date one of the "dirtiest" part of America, full of cray stories that most won't see light of day. So my wish to move series to other cities is not that strong anymore after learning a bit more history of LA/Hollywood. And i truly hope that Rockstar will at least give IP someone else to work on if they don't want to do it themselves. As i said first game is just tip of the iceberg, and there is much, much, much more material for sequel.
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