Sequels that destroyed their great predecessors

[aozgolo]

I'm not talking about those sequels that are so terrible that they ruin a franchise. I'm talking about games that when you first played them were in total awe, that you thought it was the best game you ever played at that time, and then a sequel comes along that ups the ante to such a degree that you go back to those older titles and wonder "How did I ever think this was so great?".

Tried Playing GTA3 lately? Yeah bet you have a hard time remembering back when it was the cutting edge of open world sandbox gameplay huh?

There's always games exempt from this, the ones that reinvent themselves entirely. It's easy to skip around the timelines of Final Fantasy to pick your favorite, but there are some series and franchises that Nostalgia Goggles simply cannot save. Let's find as many examples as we can of great games that lost their charm and are now dead to us, murdered by their own offspring.


Disclaimer: This thread will be entirely and purely subjective, you've been warned to uncork your butt before proceeding.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I had lots of examples for this until I read your first sentence. Now I don't know what to say. Due to the technology underpinning gaming constantly growing in leaps and bounds, it's very typical for sequels to significantly improve on their predecessors. And when they don't, it's often because of some game play change that ruffles the faithful. It doesn't mean the older games are suddenly bad. It just means they're old.

I don't know that I have EVER played a good sequel and looked back and scoffed at the game that inspired it as being somehow "bad" in retrospect, as they almost always formed the foundation for the thing I just enjoyed.

Okay, you know what? It's a stretch, but I'll go with Ultima IV. It dramatically shifted the series from a weird fantasy pastiche with rocket ships, laser guns, furries, evil robots, etc. to a thematic power house that set the bar for maturity in plot and world design for decades. The first three games aren't BAD, but they were certainly badly eclipsed by the next four.

 

[Saviordd1]

Deus Ex: HR to Deux Ex.

Yeah yeah, its not as open ended as the original; bite me.

HR was ten times more interesting story wise and less B movie that Deus Ex.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Deus Ex: HR to Deux Ex.

Yeah yeah, its not as open ended as the original; bite me.

HR was ten times more interesting story wise and less B movie that Deus Ex.

Aha, but that's where you're WRONG, my friend!

Because Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a PREQUEL, and thus ineligible!

=P

 

[Evonisia]

Halo 2 to Combat Evolved. Despite the fact that the Health Kits were removed, the gameplay was vastly improved. Level design, writing and the first Xbox's (urgh, I can't call it the Xbox One anymore) teeth glistening look clearly shone through.

Halo: CE is fine but the level design was repetitive and there are three missions which just backtrack previous missions which, considering the length of 9-10 missions, is pretty pathetic. It tried to hide it by making you go into a different room occasionally. It also suffered from terrible balance as the Magnum (the very first gun you get in the game) is basically a god gun and can kill pretty much anything in a few hits, and the Shotgun's magazine and ammo may as well be unlimited. Moving back to Halo 2, it improves upon everything in Halo: CE and does really make it look outdated especially in look and gameplay.

 

[Legion]

For similar reasons as BloatedGuppy I cannot really think of any examples.

The closest I can come up with is that Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead feel kind of plain in comparison to Fallout New Vegas and Left 4 Dead 2. Not bad, but once you have all of the new abilities, weapons and such, it is difficult to go back to the ones before because they have feel a lot smaller and simpler. The lack of weapon mods in Fallout 3 for example and no melee weapons in Left 4 Dead.

 

[Fat Hippo]

Civ V has made it difficult for me to play Civ IV anymore. I'm generally one of those people who gets pissed off when the word "streamlined" is mentioned when talking about video game sequels but Civ V just makes the entire experience so much less of a hassle, mostly by having the best interface of any turn-based strategy game, ever. Most of the time, just click on the icons on the right hand of the screen, and everything important you have to deal with will be brought to your attention. You still make similar decisions, and the strategic depth remains similar, but you no longer have to go hunting for all the things you should be taking care of.

Also, it just LOOKS so damn nice. Just interface, geography, minimap, it's all goddamn brilliant, and it all fits together. Just incredible. And when you go back to IV...yeah.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect and Half-Life come to mind. I don't really feel like ever again playing the first games in those series. Their sequels were just that much better even though I loved the first games. GTA 3 would count for me as well.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

I never played the original Guild Wars (well, not really anyway. Nowhere past the tutorial world.), but I did get into Guild Wars 2 fairly extensively.

From my personal perspective, GW2 is far above and beyond anything I experienced in GW.

I don't think I could ever go back.

 

[shrekfan246]

Snip

That's the opposite of what OP is actually asking for, though.

Devil May Cry 3. If you pretend that DMC2 never happened, Devil May Cry 3 makes the original game look primitive. It's hard to get back into the original with the huge changes 3 brought. And the weird thing is, DMC3 was made by the same team that made 2. Bizarre...

Well, to be entirely fair to 2, the gameplay wasn't the worst part of it.

OT: Bioshock Infinite.

I know a lot of people still didn't like the gunplay of it, but personally I thought it was slightly better than Bioshock 2 (though that drill was hilarious) and vastly better than the first Bioshock; Even the bullet-sponge enemies weren't such a drag just because the guns, vigors, and movement system were a lot more fun to take advantage of. I also prefer its story, if I'm honest. Sander Cohen, Atlas, and Andrew Ryan are the only really memorable characters from the first Bioshock, and after you actually meet Ryan everything takes a massive nose-dive, crashing into a really out-of-place final boss fight and a hilariously arbitrary and abrupt ending.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

That's the opposite of what OP is actually asking for, though.

*rereads OP*

...shit, apologies. I'll edit my previous post.

 

[krazykidd]

Dark souls . Demon's souls was good , at the time , Dark souls completly blows it out of the water .

 

[shrekfan246]

That's the opposite of what OP is actually asking for, though.

*rereads OP*

...shit, apologies. I'll edit my previous post.

You could always use Banjo-Tooie. Or at least, I would, as with the exception of the first-person shooter segments, I think it's far better than Banjo-Kazooie.

[sub]Also, the first ten minutes of Nuts & Bolts are probably the biggest collective insult to the fanbase of a franchise I've ever seen in a game ostensibly made by the same company as the previous titles.[/sub]

 

[scorptatious]

Well story wise, it's all a matter of opinion which Diagaea had the best story or characters.

Gameplay wise though, each game has took elements of previous games and improved and refined them, along with adding more and more new features.

So far, D4 pretty much trumps all the other games in terms of gameplay IMO.

 

[Bad Jim]

Tried Playing GTA3 lately? Yeah bet you have a hard time remembering back when it was the cutting edge of open world sandbox gameplay huh?

GTA3 is a prime example actually. I enjoyed the first 2 GTA games, but GTA3 just blew them away and I could not go back. GTA3 was itself overshadowed by Vice City and San Andreas, but not to the extent that GTA3 overshadowed the 2D games.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Diablo 2. I thought the first Diablo was outstanding, but then I played 2, and the original seemed almost ridiculously archaic in comparison.

Arkham Asylum vs. Arkham City. I loved Arkham Asylum to death, but after playing Arkham City, the combat in Asylum felt incredibly limited and boring, and I realized how comparatively terrible the boss battles were.

Disclaimer: This thread will be entirely and purely subjective, you've been warned to uncork your butt before proceeding.

And best disclaimer I've ever read.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Well I do disagree with the idea of some of the above mentioned games being better than what came before but I cant be arsed to argue especially as its subjective anyway and no one is right or wrong.

I would say Persona 4 counts here for me when I played Persona 3 I was sceptical they could top it and I held off for a long time because I thought it would just be a carbon copy of it. I was glad I was wrong Persona 3 still stands up for me and I still love most of the characters as much as I do some of the Persona 4 ones but gameplay wise its a huge step up and I also felt the story was better. It just felt a more rounded game really and I am glad I gave it a go.

Actually got another one Tekken yup I loved that game when it came out played the hell out of it then Tekken 2 came out and was miles better and for me is still the high point in the series. Soul Blade had a similar thing happen with Soul Calibur only even much more pronounced seeing as it was on a much more powerful system, the mechanics are all there in Soul Blade but SC just polishes them to a mirror shine (shame SC2 dulled it a bit but whatever its still good). Happens a lot in fighters actually Virtua Fighter and DOA are two others I had fun with but their sequels made them look ridiculously archaic and really set the series on track.

 

[The Madman]

Baldur's Gate 2 completely overshadows the original unfortunately. I say unfortunately because BG1 does do quite a few things right and in a few cases even better than its sequel, and with mods the original is still a fantastic rpg experience which I highly recommend.

But 2, 2 doesn't even need mods. Even after well over ten years it's still in my mind one of the best games ever made. Kinda hard for the original to live up to that kind of glowing praise.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Luminous Arc 2 >>> Luminous Arc 1

Each Professor Layton game seems to be way better than the previous one.

Skyrim has a lot of things I liked better than Oblivion, and vice versa so its kind of a wash.

Dragon Quest 8 makes the previous ones look ridiculous, and I liked it better than 9 by a WIDE margin.

Symphony of the Night makes the NES Castlevania games look like complete garbage. I can't speak about IV not having owned it.

Super Metroid pretty much ruined my love of the first 2 games.

Metroid Prime 2 totally outclassed MP1 for me. Both outclass MP3. Most games I have ever played > Other M though.

Kirby's Adventure > Kirby's Dreamland

A Link to the Past almost wrecked Zelda 2, but they are different enough to still enjoy both.

Majora's Mask however completely ruined Ocarina of Time for me. I don't even want to play OoC now, but I do wish I had MM on my 3DS.

Star Fox 64 made Star Fox look like a shit. The sad thing is that it always looked that way, but we pretended it was awesome.