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What's the biggest drop in quality between a game and its immediate follow-up?

S

saturnine

Member
Dark Souls 2 to Dark Souls 3.

Tried giving it another chance today because of the oncoming DLC, thinking half a year of patches might have helped, but alas, it's still hot garbage to me. Biggest gaming disappointment I've ever felt.
 
V

Vandole

Member
Manmademan said:
ActRaiser_2_box_art.jpg


There's only ever one answer to this one.
Click to expand...

Pack it up and close the thread. We're done.
 
Z

ZaQ_Q

Neo Member
Fear 2 to Fear 3. One was produced by Warner Brothers the other was dooky made by a completely different shop.
 
M

Manmademan

Member
Flavius said:
Yes! Haven't touched it since it was first released, but the profound disappointment I felt many years ago still stings to this day.

Batman: Return of the Joker is up there as well.
Click to expand...

I envy the people in this thread whose biggest disappointment is Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, FFXII, or Dark Souls 3 *rolleyes*

Actraiser 2 took one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed launch titles for the SNES and completely dismantled it.

The entire half-sim, half platformer concept was discarded entirely. Imagine booting up the sequel and finding half the game is gone.

I guess to make up for the lack of content from ripping the game to shreds for the sequel, Enix saw fit to ratchet up the platforming difficulty to absurd levels. The game is pretty but it's also easily one of the hardest games on the platform- and not "dark souls" hard, "fuck you, this game is cheating" hard.

you will be killed over, and over, and over by cheapshots and frustrated by an inexplicably user unfriendly magic system from the opening scene to the credits...if you make it that far.

There's nothing I've come across that's even close to what happened between Actraiser 1 and 2, and I've been gaming for a very long time.
 
S

Sölf

Member
Phediuk said:
I remember Alundra 2 being some pretty hot garbage. The first Alundra may have been a Zelda clone, but I liked it more than most of the actual Zelda games. It's like the second one went out of its way to remove everything that was good about the original.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. However, Alundra 2 was never supposed to be part of the Alundra Franchise from the beginning and was actually supposed to be called "Pirate Adventure" or something like that. I mean, it's not suprising, the gameplay differs and it has no relation at all to the first game.

Also, for me it's probably Super Smash Bros. Brawl to Super Smash Bros. 4. The main reason is the totally lackluster single player. That was the main reason I bought the Wii U and I barely played the game so far, because the single player completely bores me to death after that glorious campaign in Brawl or even the one in Melee.
 
S

SoundPulse

Banned
Final Fantasy I -> Final Fantasy II.

I do respect II for trying new things (and Square for realizing these new things were mostly not good in time for III), but it's just not fun or interesting.

FFI isn't the most interesting game of all time or anything, but it's a solid RPG that I'd almost always prefer to play over its sequel.
 
L

Lord of Ostia

Member
CrichtonKicks said:
Fallout 2-> Fallout 3

Fire emblem RD -> Fire Emblem SD
Click to expand...
Totally agree on Shadow Dragon. Radiant Dawn is also a step down from Path of Radiance, but it was still a great game with all its flaws. Shadow Dragon is just mediocre and the only game in the series I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Thank god Awakening was so much better. Apparently the direct sequel to Shadow Dragon fixes some of its issues, but I've never played it.
 
D

DigSCCP

Member
Not the biggest still tho for me Batman Arkham Asylum to Batman Arkhak City was a HUGE bummer!
They went from a amazing 3D metroidvania to an OW that did nothing for me.
 
stuminus3

stuminus3

Member
I love Deus Ex: Invisible War but even I can't understand why it wasn't the first reply and every reply afterwards.
 
F

FlynnCL

Unconfirmed Member
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys ► Ys V: Kefin
Ys became an extremely standard action RPG with V. It wasn't terrible, but it's never what Ys should be.

Also I feel a bit sad whenever someone says Final Fantasy II was a huge drop in quality. It's one of my favourites in the franchise.
 
B

BiggNife

Member
Saints Row 3 is great, I have no idea what the fuck you guys are talking about on that one

For me I'd probably say Dead Space 2 to Dead Space 3. God, DS3 was such a letdown.
 
T

TheGreyHulk

Member
TheAdmiester said:
Saints Row 2 to Saints Row 3. Never seen a franchise take such a sudden nosedive.
Click to expand...

i loved SR1 & SR2. i played those 2 games to death, so naturally i was super pumped for SR3 but it just didn't feel the same.

it was good as like a "super hero" game, but it didn't feel like SR at all. i hated all the canned finisher moves and all that. I still beat the game, but i never felt like going back. it had it's funny moments, but it was not Saints Row at all to me.

what sucks is when people think of Saints Row, they think of SR3 and many loved it... but it's no Saints Row...

SR4.... yeah.... not gonna speak on that turd.
 
T

Trigonometrize.

Member
How has no one posted Jak and Daxter 1 > 2 yet? The former is 3D platforming collect-a-thon bliss with an amazing no-loading screen world to the sad, bore-fest of Jak II.
 
C

CHC

Member
Dragon Age Origins -> Dragon Age 2.

Dead Space 2 -> Dead Space 3

Final Fantasy XII -> Final Fantasy XIII (debatable that it isn't an "immediate" follow up but clearly the next game in the series).
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Madden 2005 (PS2/Xbox) -> Madden '06 (Xbox 360)

Madden 06 is the worst Madden game ever. MAdden 2005 is usually considered the best up until the latest renditions.
 
C

Clint Beastwood

Banned
lol @ people saying stuff like ME1 -> ME2, Saints Row 2 -> Saints Row 3, etc.

While I don't care much for ME2 there are a significant number of people that like it. There's no one that legitimately likes DMC2, the game doesn't even deserve to be acknowledged. Same with Deus Ex Invisible War. When the hell is the last time you ever saw someone say they enjoyed IW? No one even jokes around about that.
 
S

Sesha

Member
ITT People posting sequels they simply don't like, or that aren't immediate. Modern Zelda, Soulsborne, Mass Effect, Saints Row? Get real. I really dislike MGS4 for example, compared to MGS3 which I love, and I wouldn't suggest that.

The biggest drops are games like DMC2 and Alundra 2. If your suggestion isn't comparable you need to play more games, or get more realistic about the games you like and dislike.
 
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