ScientificPizza
Banned
Borderlands 2 very much felt this way to me.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sequels that you feel just rolled off a production line
- Thread starter Toadthemushroom
- Start date
Black Flag was basically a spinoff of III. The gameplay and assets were liberally reused. I always found it odd how they called it IV.
TheDinoman
Member
To be fair, NSMBWii and NSMBU do have solid level designs and gameplay, so it'd be wrong to say that no effort was put in them. It's just mainly the presentation that was lacking in those titles.
That being said, NSMB2 is the definition of mediocrity. What a pointless game.
I wish it had been that. It actually felt like a step backwards from the PS3 games in almost every respect except graphics.
Toadthemushroom
Member
Yeah, I feel that NSMB DS obviously had a lot of thought put into it, but NSMB Wii was definitely justifying itself by going for a four player multiplayer angle, and NSMB U had the best level design in the series.
It was New Super Mario Bros Gold, later renamed NSMB U, which really felt derivative. Ugh.
InsaneTiger
Member
No, gameplay felt more muted. The smoke power was super underwhelming and the gamw didn't get interesting until you got the Neon powers. Killing off Cole was a mistake.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
This thread just tells me that a lot of you equate "poor execution" with "assembly line".
For instance, for all their flaws, Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 were far from assembly line.
For instance, for all their flaws, Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 were far from assembly line.
ebullientprism
Member
I loved it but you could tell they phoned it in somewhat.
reelbigtink
Member
Every 3D Castlevania has felt like this to me. Boring, wonky controls, and they usually look terrible and feel rushed. Even the trash 2D Castlevanias like Circle of the Moon are better.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
I could understand that sentiment with Halo 5, but I don't see how that applies to Halo 4.
You may not like what they did with 4, but it's hard to say that there wasn't passion put into that project. They definitely went all out with the single player campaign.
Also, You wanna talk about a bland a single player that felt bland and sterile, then the worst offender in the series is Halo 2. It's very obvious that Bungie's main focus was the multiplayer for Halo 2. The campaign was just...there.
Maintenance
Member
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Toadthemushroom
Member
Had a think about some RPGs:
-Gust and Modern Atelier.
Koei Tecmo seem to be working Gust pretty hard these days, and while the gap between releases is nothing new in Japan, new games feel increasingly derivative with the developers throwing rather inconsequential mechanics at the wall, hoping they'll stick, and overall the games feel less polished and less well thought out than they used to be.
-Compile Heart and Neptunia.
I don't think this one needs much of an explanation.
-Gust and Modern Atelier.
Koei Tecmo seem to be working Gust pretty hard these days, and while the gap between releases is nothing new in Japan, new games feel increasingly derivative with the developers throwing rather inconsequential mechanics at the wall, hoping they'll stick, and overall the games feel less polished and less well thought out than they used to be.
-Compile Heart and Neptunia.
I don't think this one needs much of an explanation.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Not to mention that the fact that it was being made from scratch by a different company and different team after a reasonable gap of time isn't very compatible with the idea of a production line.
tareqsalah1
Member
The upcoming call of duty ww2
This game was approved and made within one year after activision saw the success of battlefield 1 and felt pressure to hurry and release a game set in ww2 before EA.
Everything they showed of this fame points to it being a bad game.
This game was approved and made within one year after activision saw the success of battlefield 1 and felt pressure to hurry and release a game set in ww2 before EA.
Everything they showed of this fame points to it being a bad game.
Toadthemushroom
Member
--
Jupiter seems doomed to keep cranking these out after publishers like Square Enix (World Ends With You) and Disney (Spectrobes) stopped collaborating with them.
facetheslayer92
Member
Yea Sucker Punch took the fucking roll/dodge mechanic away and the powers were mapped in such an obtuse manner compared to Infamous 1+2.
QuixoticNeutral
Member
NSMB2 is pretty much the definition of competent but forgettable, and it also came at an unfortunate time where it seemed to push people over the edge into series fatigue and took the wind out of the sails of the excellent NSMBU, which is seriously underrated. That is, I'd argue that NSMBU is underrated because of NSMB2.
Both NSMB Wii and NSMBU brought something new and significant to the table (people look back at NSMB Wii in particular and vastly underestimate what a massive game-changer four-player co-op was), but NSMB2 is the only Mario game that just comes off as inessential. Not bad, just skippable, and I hardly remember a thing about it despite running it to 100%. For stage design alone I'd probably rather play it again than NSMB DS (which I haven't looked at in about a decade now), but NSMB at least ended an inexcusable drought and felt like a material contribution to 2D Mario in terms of bringing in the 3D move set for the first time. (Samus Returns reminds me of NSMB DS in so, so many ways.)
M
Macapala
Unconfirmed Member
Donkey Kong Country TF? Oh dear... man you better run and hide, seriously.
Samanosuke Akechi
Member
Street fighter V
(Soon to be) MVCI
Halo 5
Gears 4
(Soon to be) MVCI
Halo 5
Gears 4
whalleywhat
Member
Isn't that the one that started the "tee hee, rate our missions for us, we have zero clue what we're doing, but it's ok cause it's ironic" stuff?
They can keep cranking them out in perpetuity as far as I'm concerned.
Toadthemushroom
Member
You summed it up perfectly there. What did you think of Luigi U by the way? I only just remembered it existed, though its original release as DLC rather than an actual sequel makes me hesitant to be hard on it.
Wow yeah, that's madness. I played through it last year and was blown away by the creativity on display in level design and presentation. Perhaps a sequel to Returns was mindlessly greenlit, but everyone working on that game did their best to make Tropical Freeze feel like anything but derivative.
Toadthemushroom
Member
I love Picross as much as the next person, but it'd be nice if Jupiter got to work on something else for once, much like how Camelot seems doomed to plug in a Switch release schedule gap with a new Mario Tennis at some point.
RespectThySole
Member
Gears 4.
DAREALGUMMY
Member
pennypincher
Member
Tomb Raider in the 32Bit era.
Sad thing about this is that were some real potential in the base idea for an rpg, it just stumbled so very hard with the gameplay and environments reuse because of time constraints.
DA2 could have been so much more if EA hadn't tried to push an rpg out in about a single year of production.
Common Knowledge
Member
Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam definitely felt like a rushed, "factory-line" created entry of the series to fill in the software gaps Nintendo was having on both their systems at the time. It's the most recent entry in the series, and the most recent one I played, yet it's the one I remember least about.
purseowner
Member
I don't think I've ever disagreed so strongly with any other two posts on NeoGAF.
Toa Axis
Member
That is not how game development works. The game was in production before BF1 was even revealed to the public yet.
Unless you suppose that they just dropped everything they had up to that point a year prior to release to convert it to a WWII game.
All Camelot sports games post-Nintendo 64 feel like that
Time for you to play Mario Golf World Tour then, the best Camelot game of the recent years.
Yep!
I'll defend Dual Destinies. I mean, not as in say it's not conveyer belt as all hell, but more in terms of it being necessary after Apollo Justice kinda alienated a lot of fans. They needed a safe, bog standard AA to kinda reset the series, which is why they could go so damn weird and out there with SoJ.
However it is an example of a general rule with these things: any traditionally 2D or Sprite based game will usually play it incredibly safe when they jump to 3D. I reckon it's probably because so much time is spent on the new engine and modelling and such they don't have the time to innovate or risk experimentation.
However it is an example of a general rule with these things: any traditionally 2D or Sprite based game will usually play it incredibly safe when they jump to 3D. I reckon it's probably because so much time is spent on the new engine and modelling and such they don't have the time to innovate or risk experimentation.
Gunstar Ikari
Unconfirmed Member
The Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth trilogy is a textbook example. Story aside, all three games are basically Neptunia Victory with a few token changes.
Also, as much as I like Mega Man Battle Network 6, it definitely has this feel. The latter half of the MMBN series in general consists of blatant cashgrabs. The funny thing is that Capcom not giving a shit about coming up with more gimmicks actually worked in BN6's favor.
Also, as much as I like Mega Man Battle Network 6, it definitely has this feel. The latter half of the MMBN series in general consists of blatant cashgrabs. The funny thing is that Capcom not giving a shit about coming up with more gimmicks actually worked in BN6's favor.
Vital Tundra
Member
FarCry primal for sure. Its like they couldn't wait for 5 and had to make up for the lack of an Assassins Creed. What a pointless, bad game.
Napalm_Frank
Member
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.
Incredibly bland game that is made in the image of the PS1 trilogy without getting what makes those games feel fun at all. There is almost nothing in it that shows any creative drive, just a bland effort to get a new game out as fast as possible.
And of course it went on to sell millions which is exactly why it was made in the first place.
The next game Crash Twinsanity is not the best game ever made but it feels like the exact opposite, breaking free of the ''production line'' feel, bursting with creative vision and humour.
Incredibly bland game that is made in the image of the PS1 trilogy without getting what makes those games feel fun at all. There is almost nothing in it that shows any creative drive, just a bland effort to get a new game out as fast as possible.
And of course it went on to sell millions which is exactly why it was made in the first place.
The next game Crash Twinsanity is not the best game ever made but it feels like the exact opposite, breaking free of the ''production line'' feel, bursting with creative vision and humour.
Mr Blue Sky
Member
Every Guitar Hero game that came after GH3 or after the release of Rock Band
Huh? Isn't New Vegas the most beloved FO game after the second one? (and deservedly so)
Oh, and my pick is Assassin's Creed..after the second one it felt like playing the same exact game over and over again. Tomb Raider is an excellent example as well.
As someone who dropped the game after 15h playtime I tend to agree. It absolutely feels like Human Revolution: A different story.
I really enjoyed playing through Human Revolution but in the end I had no desire to play the same thing again. It didn't feel like the game had anything to add to the universe or say anything of its own.
Spiritwalker
Member
I agree with Dual Destinies. It was a dreadfully boring and uninspired game and I basically had to force myself to finish it. SoJ was almost as bad tho.
I've got to disagree with you there. Playing ME3 for the first time recently after just replaying ME2 and it is incredible how much feels cut from the previous game. Conversation choices are pretty much gone, dialed down to an up or down choice maybe once or twice a conversation, instead of every line; quests are non-existant, and so far (just finished the moon) the hub worlds are incredibly sparse and devoid of interesting quests or conversations; even the graphics sometimes feel like a step down, with my Sherpard's face being totally fucked up on the import (how do you screw that up?) and some of her animations looking like total garbage. Going from ME2 to ME3, it's clear that they had a lot less time to implement their ideas.
New Vegas were also an incredibly buggy game when it came out. The design of it is pretty good, but it had other pretty significant issues.
playingwithfire
Member
I'm not sure how anyone could have played all the Pokemon games to date and not be bored of the same old formula. The series is in desperate need of a reboot. Hopefully the Switch Pokemon game will be a refresh for the series.
Stormblessed
Member
Every Tony Hawk game after 3. The recent Assassin's Creed games. Most annualised series risk falling into this kind of rut, because they can't really make big sweeping changes to freshen things up.