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[Dadasch]

Resident Evil 3 to 4
They embraced the action-oriented style and made something special out of it

Resident Evil 6 to 7
Capcom sure loves to fuck things up. RE6 was a convoluted mess; they wanted to please everyone, but in the end it didn't achieve anything.

Assassins Creed 1 to 2
AC was really good for the first 3 or 4 hours, after that you began to understand that you will play the same thing over and over and over. AC2 was a masterpiece.

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune to Uncharted: Among Thieves
I liked Drakes Fortune, but Among Thieves is on another level quality-wise.

Metro 2033 to Metro Last Light
I didn't get the praise for 2033, at all. It was a very basic shooter, it was on rails (literally in many cases), level design was average at best etc.
Last Light really improved the experience A LOT. It was kind of similar, but still so much better.

 

[Peltz]

Metroid Whatever to Metroid Prime

Super Metroid? Um... I'd argue it's at least as good as Prime dude.

 

[TheGamingBox]

Dead Rising 2 to Dead Rising 3. (And probably again to Dead Rising 4, but I haven't played it yet.)

Breath of Fire 4 to Breath of Fire 5.

Banjo Tooie to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

op said postive not negative

 

[Akuun]

deleted

 

[oatmeal]

Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Mario Sunshine -> Mario Galaxy

The general consensus for Sunshine seemed to be a middling "yeah, it's okay" compared to Galaxy's universal praise.

 

[fetus8]

Whatever the last Tomb Raider was, then Tomb Raider (2013). Like the last PS2 games in the series were hot garbage, and the 2013 reboot was an incredibly fun action adventure game that clearly reinvigorated the series.

 

[Mass Effect]

Devil May Cry 2 to Devil May Cry 3 - this doesn't even need to be explained.
Super Mario Sunshine to Super Mario Galaxy - Galaxy is so superior it hurts

Oh and anyone who says Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2 is getting punched.

Metroid Whatever to Metroid Prime

No.

 

[Nheco]

Killer Instinct Gold to Killer Instinct 2013.

Hey, KI Gold was good (maybe not as the current KI, but it was a good game).

Instead, I would say KI year one to KI year three. Miles better at everything, including graphics (720p -> 900p).

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Skyward Sword -> Breath of the Wild

Warlords of Draenor -> Legion

Devil May Cry 2 -> DMC 3

Megaman 8 -> Megaman 9

King of Fighters 12 -> KOF13

MK vs DC -> Mortal Kombat 9

Hitman Absolution -> Hitman 2016

Resident Evil 0 -> RE4

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon -> Awakening

Soul Calibur IV -> SCV

 

[Prince of Space]

Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild

After finishing the former, I was ready to write the series off. If this was its future (haphazardly-applied motion controls; Marioesque obstacle courses; the most godawful, MANDATORY story to tie the "lore" together), then I wanted no part of it.

Thankfully, it seemed most other players didn't want any of that, either, and Nintendo followed up with the best game in the series.

 

[Peltz]

Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild

After finishing the former, I was ready to write the series off. If this was its future (haphazardly-applied motion controls; Marioesque obstacle courses; the most godawful, MANDATORY story to tie the "lore" together), then I wanted no part of it.

Thankfully, it seemed most other players didn't want any of that, either, and Nintendo followed up with the best game in the series.

Skyward Sword is a fantastic game too though. It may not be what people want out of Zelda, but it's a damn great game.

 

[Morlas]

Yeah I don't think sonic can be done for mania
Since the last one was sb fire and ice which was decent

 

[Nictel]

Grand Theft Auto 2 to Grand Theft Auto 3

This is a game that essentially created the sandbox genre as we now know it. Going from a top down, crime simulator to a 3d, open world black-comedy made all the difference, and brought the game to the mainstream. Had it not been for this entry, I'd wager that GTA would not still be around today.

GTA2 was not a bad game. Sure it is dated now but the 2D Mario's aren't necessarily worse from the 3D ones (though the 2D Mario's stood the test of time superbly).

Staying in the genre though: Saint's Row -> Saint's Row 2. From GTA clone to a great and fun open sandbox that stands on its own. I would even argue SR3 > GTA4, especially funwise.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Zone of the enders 1 to 2.

 

[BTA]

uh what?

release order was KH1 to CoM to KH2

Right, but (despite being important) CoM is intentionally a very different kind of game.

 

[The ๖ۜBronx]

Red Dead Revolver to Red Dead Redemption for me with ease.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

MGS2 to 3

 

[Sami+]

$20 on Sonic Mania to Sonic Forces.

Edit- shit, positive. Uh. Sonic Boom to Sonic Mania.

 

[Sesha]

I'm surprised it took 12 posts. Yeah, a lesser pub would have just cut their losses and moved on, luckily Capcom in gen 6 had some sense and went from trash tier to setting the bar for the next decade... I mean, has DMC3 been topped yet?

DMC2 sold well for the time, though. We got DMC3 as it was because Itsuno didn't want to be known as the guy who made DMC2.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Resident Evil 6 to Resident Evil 7

For me easily the biggest turnaround ever given that the series used to be my all time favorite until 5 and I lost all hope for it after 6. Really hard to describe how I felt playing 7.

 

[dadjumper]

MGS2 to 3

Mass Effect 2.

ME1 feels like it needed another half year at a minimum to reach alpha state. Glaring content holes, panic-mode mechanics, shit UI, 2000 rounds of Simon Says, no payoff for quests, not even the loading screen works properly.

Enter Mass Effect 2. Oh boy did they fix the loading screens.

lol no @ both of these.

My pick is Mario Kart DS from Double Dash. From the worst in the series to the best

 

[Wil348]

Sonic Boom to Sonic Mania

 

[theofficefan99]

The upgrade from Shadow Hearts to Shadow Hearts: Covenant was jawdropping. Not just visually.

 

[Dizzy-4U]

X Blades --> Blades of Time

Yuuup.

 

[killatopak]

Witcher -> Witcher 3

From relatively unknown to the game everybody knows.

 

[Kresnik258]

Honestly, first one that springs to mind is WipEout Fusion -> WipEout Pure. The former was a messy combat racer that was nothing like the PS1 games in feel or design. The latter was a brilliant racer that brought back everything I loved about the series.

Also, Atelier Rorona -> Atelier Totori. Former is a drag and with poor time management, latter is one of my favourite RPG's ever.

 

[Rellik]

I was struggling to think of one but then saw this.

Red Dead Revolver to Red Dead Redemption for me with ease.

There are people on NeoGAF to this day who don't know Revolver exists. That's how big of a jump it is.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Bloodborne after Dark Souls 2, also.

Separate IP. It's not part of the Souls series.

 

[TheYanger]

Witcher -> Witcher 3

From relatively unknown to the game everybody knows.

I mean, there was a game in the middle though that legitimately bridged that gap.

 

[Synth]

Hey, KI Gold was good (maybe not as the current KI, but it was a good game).

Instead, I would say KI year one to KI year three. Miles better at everything, including graphics (720p -> 900p).

Absolutely not.

KI Season 1 was shocking everyone with how well Double Helix nailed pretty much everything, and turned Killer Instinct into a fighter that could actually stand on the same stage as the genre leaders (the classics had style, but they were awful fighters at the end of the day). Season 1 KI2013 was fucking amazing, especially with Mick Gordon handling the music. Every new announcement and reveal was super exciting.

Season 2 was again amazing with how well Iron Galaxy managed to catch the ball and keep running with it. Character designs like Maya were near-unanimously praised compared to their previous designs, and the new characters were fucking incredible (especially Aganos). Mick Gordon managed to do even better work on the soundtrack than season 1 also.

Season 3 is where I'd say the game started losing its way, and making decisions that the fanbase wasn't much on board with. We started getting characters without their own stages, instead having the option to shuffle their themes into other stages they didn't fit. Guest characters like Arbiter got stages over actual new character's like Mira. Shadowlords replaced the story mode / arcade character endings of the previous two seasons, and we started getting storylines as posts on the website instead. Mick Gordon got pulled off to do the new DOOM, and his absence was immediately felt on the soundtrack. The character reveals were no longer equally exciting for the music themes that they'd bring with them. We starting receiving remixed characters like Killgore and Shin Hisako that could be made on the cheap. Kim Wu sucked. Ultimate were extremely hit and miss after so long a wait.

Hype and interest around KI2013 dropped off a cliff in Season 3 compared to previous seasons. The OT for the game has basically been on life support for most of that season and beyond, whereas up to the end of Season 2 it was always buzzing with positivity and optimism for the IP's future.

 

[mclem]

Grand Theft Auto 2 to Grand Theft Auto 3

This is a game that essentially created the sandbox genre as we now know it. Going from a top down, crime simulator to a 3d, open world black-comedy made all the difference, and brought the game to the mainstream. Had it not been for this entry, I'd wager that GTA would not still be around today.

Strictly speaking, GTA1 and 2 were also 3D, open-world, and darkly comic. I know what you mean, though, bringing the camera down to ground level opened things up massively.

 

[Markitron]

Watchdogs 1 -> 2 was a massive step up. The sequel fixed literally every problem I had with the original and is a really underrated game IMO. I can see why people wouldn't give it a chance though, after how dour the original was.

Resident Evil 6 to Resident Evil 7

Shoulda been first post. RE7 is a GOTY contender and one of my favourite games in the series.

Resident Evil 6 is a crime against humanity that should never have existed. If I had access to Skynet's temporal displacement system, I would use it to go back and prevent RE6 from ever happening.

 

[Rellik]

I mean, there was a game in the middle though that legitimately bridged that gap.

Yeah, Witcher 2 was great. I'd say Witcher 1 - > Witcher 2 was actually a much bigger leap than 2 to 3.

 

[CJCW]

Street Fighter 1 -> Street Fighter 2 saw SF go from being a completely forgettable footnote to a genre defining game that is still getting updated over two decades later.

This really is the best example possible. Not that SF1 was terrible, but 2 was just that much more important.

 

[pswii60]

James Pond -> James Pond II: Robocod

 

[Orb]

Separate IP. It's not part of the Souls series.

For all i care it is. All of the soulsborne games are similar enough to the point where imo theyre all spiritual seqiels to eachother.

 

[adamsapple]

I'm gonna say (sorry Jawmuncher) RE6 to 7.

Blood Omen to Soul Reaver
Summoner to Summoner 2

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I haven't disliked a mainline 3D Zelda game since they started with Ocarina of Time, but I have to admit that the leap from Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild felt absolutely huge to me.

Skyward Sword had some fun novel concepts it played with, but it also felt like it fully embraced some of the worsening qualities of the 3D Zelda games and lacked a sense of precision polish when it came to its controls, resulting in a mixed package.

Breath of the Wild is now personally my current favorite game of all time. I admit, I did find frustration in the weapon degradation systems on occasion and I also felt like upgrading armor was a bit overly tedious in some ways, but overall I had an absolutely fantastic time sinking about 120 hours into it this year, and for a single player title, I can't remember the last time I (a) spent that much time playing one and (b) felt really, really engrossed in it for nearly 100% of the time.

I hadn't gone on media blackout for Breath of the Wild or anything -- I'd seen videos and gone "that's neat -- but I can't imagine it actually feels as fun to play as it looks. There's gotta be some level of Nintendo handholdiness hiding in that game at every corner..." That's to say, my expectations were keenly in check before it came out, despite following news on it a good deal. I was still stunned at just how much fun I ended up having.

 

[Psychoward]

Mass Effect 2.

ME1 feels like it needed another half year at a minimum to reach alpha state. Glaring content holes, panic-mode mechanics, shit UI, 2000 rounds of Simon Says, no payoff for quests, not even the loading screen works properly.

Enter Mass Effect 2. Oh boy did they fix the loading screens.

By fixing the loading screens do you mean they removed the option to explore the hubs without load screens? ME1 is the best game in the series.

 

[Cyborg]

Uncharted > Uncharted 2... and Killzone > Killzone 2/3

 

[Weltall Zero]

Devil May Cry 2 to Devil May Cry 3. An all around terrible sequel to a great original game followed up by one of the best character action games ever made.

Was going to post this. Nothing comes close.

lots of 2D --> 3D stuff

but that's like cheating

Like what? I can't think of a lot of franchises that got from legitimally bad games to good ones by turning 3D. Quite the opposite, I can think of a few that went straight south when they jumped to 3D.

 

[NESpowerhouse]

Soon: Ace Combat Assault Horizon to Ace Combat 7.

 

[kikiribu]

Uncharted 1 to Uncharted 2 for sure.

 

[Raptomex]

Wolfenstein 2009 is extremely underrated but whatever. I guess I'm in the minority. And it's very fun. That fully upgraded Kar-98 is one of the most satisfying weapons I've ever fired in a video games. A CoD clone? I never got that feeling. The GoldenEye reboot, yes. Wolfenstein, no. Maybe it's just me.

Titanfall to Titanfall 2. Single player.

 

[Garlador]

Two Worlds II is a billion times better than Two Worlds.

... It's still not great, but considering the first game, it's a miracle it's even fun to play.

 

[xerzewatt]

Hitman Absolution -> Hitman Season 1

 

[Vlade]

Suikoden 4 to Suikoden 5

 

[Swiggins]

Killzone for PS2 was an ambitious titles technologically, but incredibly drab and average as a shooter.

Killzone 2 is still graphically impressive today and the gameplay is amazing. A massive step up.

I can still hardly believe KZ2 came out in 2009 and supported 64 player multiplayer with those graphics on a console.

Wouldn't see anything similar until BF4...a full generation later.

By fixing the loading screens do you mean they removed the option to explore the hubs without load screens? ME1 is the best game in the series.

I disagree. ME1's exploration and technical achievements might've been more impressive than ME2's but the meat and potatoes of the game...the story, characters and especially the combat were all MASSIVELY improved in 2.

 

[pretty done]

Dark Souls 2 to Bloodborne is a massive leap in quality. The pretty much fixed every issue I had with DS2 and made the formula even better.

DMC2 -> DMC3 is the obvious one