Are sequels getting less interesting?

[Encentrik]

Now what I mean by that is not the "Sequels usually make things worse" aspect of gaming that people have against series like Call of Duty but rather that the sequels are good but you end up enjoying the previous game(s) more. This is one example I have: Ever since Battlefield 3 came out, I haven't been able to get into the "groove" of it. I love BF: Bad Company; the funny story, witty characters, great gameplay and fantastic level designs keep me playing it over and over.

Why would I play it if Battlefield 3 is superior in almost every way? I know it's a great game, the single player is dull but the multiplayer is utterly fantastic; so why do I keep playing Bad Company? It's down to a sense of memory; I always play the single player first of any game that has a multiplayer component. Multiplayer is weighed down by how much I enjoyed the single player because if I don't enjoy the SP, then in Multiplayer (since the gameplay is exactly the same) I keep getting reminded of how much I didn't enjoy it. Bad Company 2 went from witty comedy to generic, Modern Warfare action movie & this caused me to be bored with the multiplayer because I kept remembering how much I hated the single player.

Another example could be Bioshock 2; now I don't hate Bioshock 2 but like a lot of people say, it wasn't as good as the original. Now my gripe isn't with the story exactly, I thought it was a well done story with interesting characters. My problem was with the protagonist; Jack from the first game was a man we knew nothing about, a man with no past and that past was pivotal to the big twist. We find out Delta's backstory through a quick radio chat with a character we only met once; that to me is not interesting and completely ruined the relationship I had with Subject Delta. I wanted to know more about him and not through some random one time character telling me about it but through an important conversation.

What are your thoughts; do you think that sequels are getting less interesting? If so, for similar or different reasons? If you don't agree, what are your thoughts on sequels?

 

[Lilani]

I personally loved Half-Life 2 episodes 1 and 2 as much as the original HL2. Even more in some respects--the voice of the vortigaunts got better, the look and AI got better, and they finally made it to where the flashlight doesn't draw from the suit power.

I also loved Kingdom Hearts 2 as far as the story, but I prefer the first over it simply because the battle system for 2 got WAY too into quick-time-events and looking awesome than actually letting the battles be decided by the player's own strategies. Birth By Sleep, however, blew me away. Definitely the most satisfying Kingdom Hearts game since the first.

To answer your questions, sequels tend to be "less interesting" for a number of reasons. Since the main cast has already been introduced, and likely already gone through their respective character arcs, there's no mystery about their personalities and intentions anymore. Everything is all out on the table. So unless the sequel was also being written for at the same time the original was being made, chances are they're going to have to either switch casts or bring in enough new problems so that the characters still have something to be unsure and insecure about (and are still being challenged). Also, sequels often have trouble finding balance between adding new content, yet keeping enough of what the original did right in the first place. Great games are usually like bottled lightning--you have no idea how they got to be that way, and you have even less of an idea on how to do it again.

That's why so many of the newer Sonic games have failed. They just totally lost track of why people liked Sonic in the first place. The only exception I can offer to that rule is the Valve games, because Valve is so meticulous and keeps such a clear vision of what their players want everything they touch just seems to turn to gold. They're very much like Pixar in that they have the spirit of what what they want to share, yet they completely tailor their product around what the end result will be for the audience.

 

[JET1971]

Some games generaly must have a sequal because the story wasnt fully completed. games like Myst, Half-Life, and Eldar scrolls. when you finish one it leaves you knowing there is more there to be discovered or you are a cog in the history of that world.

other games such as COD I think having sequals doesnt really make sense, theres no feeling of there is more going on in this world and other stories to be told. stop with the sequals and just make expansion packs. Bring out new IP based on the formula already.

Other sequal issues are you complete a game and there is no cliffhanger, it was a good solid ending and the world is now safe and you live happily ever after. then comes part 2 with a completly new threat, same characters yet there back to being noob weaktarded as though the previous game never happened and theres no real tie in to the first. I think game companies need to stop doing that altogether and make a new IP or atleast ALL NEW characters. games that create a sequal with a whole new cast arnt part of this problem.

As for myself i dont like sequal after sequal of the same characters, and I get tired of the same theme everytime. "Oh look its the same aliens invading again", Oh fight the russians/terrorist/north koreans/mexicans... Bored. i prefer new characters and new stories unless the last game didnt really end. I can never get into playing a superhero comic based game like spiderman or batman either, its been done a hundred times already id rather not rehash the same villians, the same hero, same freaking plot. for fucks sake pull an "Oops there was an accident on the way to the prison and (insert villian here) died." and stop bringing them back!

 

[Scrustle]

I think there is a bit of a problem there. Sequels now are more often thought of as opportunities to make money off an IP than purely a chance to improve on an existing formula, like they used to. And also because of this people are less inclined to take a risk on a sequel too. They don't want to upset fans and risk losing sales.

 

[skywolfblue]

I disagree. I find a lot of sequels are more interesting then their forerunners.

I personally found Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Gears of War 2 & 3, Skyrim, AC: Brotherhood and Portal 2 to be much more interesting and superior to their predecessors in both story and gameplay.