When HM Boost Guardian exists?!
Metroid Prime 2 is awesome but it feels too Zelda in its gameflow, whereas Metroid Prime is Metroid 3D.
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Game franchises that peaked with the very first installment.
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
When HM Boost Guardian exists?!
Metroid Prime 2 is awesome but it feels too Zelda in its gameflow, whereas Metroid Prime is Metroid 3D.
Alex_Mexico
Member
I also love Metroid Prime and that may be the first in that series but not the first in the franchise. How can Prime qualify for this thread?
I played it as a kid when it came out and it blew my mind. No console game I had played before felt like it had such scale and the world was mysterious and amazing. There was no previous game to base your conceptions of it from. Things like The Lost Woods felt truly magical before you knew there was an algorithmic way to go through them every time, for example.
I don't think anything else in the series has come close to raising the bar as much in one go as the original game did. Everything else has been iterative changes to the base formula, for better and sometimes for worse.
Prisoner KSC2-303
Member
See, whilst I think you may have a point, I can't help but feel like I had more fun with 2, simply because the promises of Peter Molyneux had faded from my memory and I wasn't spending the entire game looking for things that weren't there.
The story is terrible and a letdown from what the ending of the first game teased, and half of it is entirely based on memes. I don't get what it's supposed to have improved. More guns? Yawn.
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Angry Birds
Suzushiiro
Banned
Honestly?
The best way I've seen the HL 1 vs. 2 comparison put was: HL1 took a standard engine and did revolutionary things with it, HL2 took a revolutionary engine and did generic FPS things with it.
HL1 also gets the Seinfeld Is Unfunny effect more than 2, for some reason, maybe just because it's older.
Kingdom Hearts - There's a certain 'feel' to the original game that makes me still go back and play it occasionally. I can't quite explain it, but there's just something about the sequels that makes them less enjoyable for me. Might have something to do with the story.
MediEvil - This is one of those series where I rank the games in pretty much the order they were released in. The original 1998 MediEvil still remains one of my favorite games of all time. The 2005 MediEvil: Resurrection, on the other hand, is one of the biggest gaming disappointments I've ever experienced. I've always felt pretty strongly about the 2000 sequel, MediEvil 2: it's right in the middle between the first and third game.
Lego Island - Does anyone remember Lego Island 2?
MediEvil - This is one of those series where I rank the games in pretty much the order they were released in. The original 1998 MediEvil still remains one of my favorite games of all time. The 2005 MediEvil: Resurrection, on the other hand, is one of the biggest gaming disappointments I've ever experienced. I've always felt pretty strongly about the 2000 sequel, MediEvil 2: it's right in the middle between the first and third game.
Lego Island - Does anyone remember Lego Island 2?
TheGamingBox
Banned
the rpg mechanics were the worse thing in mass effect 1, me1 as a rpg was bad and as tps was still bad, while 2 and 3 are great tps games
Would have to be Banjo-Kazooie, I loved the first game as it was nice and small but the second game is just too big for my liking.
This pretty much, I loved Jak 1 as it felt like a natural progression from the Crash Bandicoot series. But for some reason, most likely to get more sales, they opted to make Jak 2 and 3 a gritty and dark game that I just stopped playing Jak 2 because as I wasn't having fun.
I love the entire series, and Jak II in particular did some really cool things with the storybut the change in tone was ultimately for the worse.(Samos hut reveal, Metal Head nest assault)
This pretty much, I loved Jak 1 as it felt like a natural progression from the Crash Bandicoot series. But for some reason, most likely to get more sales, they opted to make Jak 2 and 3 a gritty and dark game that I just stopped playing Jak 2 because as I wasn't having fun.
I feel like Imsomniac didn't really know what to do with the IP and changed things too much between games and lost what made the first one so good and special.
what I came to post.
i realize resistance 3 is well-liked around here, but while it's a good game, it lacked so much of what I love about FoM: the twitchy movement and aiming, the crazier weapons that were never brought back in the sequels, the vehicles, the lengthy single-player, the morbid and lonely atmosphere, the complete lack of downtime and "cinematic interuptions (beside the cutscenes at the beginning of the levels)... etc
I liked 3 and even 2 well-enough, but I find it funny that a spin-off developed by another developer (Retribution) is the only sequel that feels like the original.
Does Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles count? I mean, it's a spinoff, and it has several spinoff of itself (or rather, sub-franchises?).
Nonetheless, none of them will ever reach that sublime level of awesomeness that the first game on the GameCube achieved.
Then again, I'm also quite partial to the My Life As A King and -Darklord spinoffs, both of which could apply since they're distinct games with their own unique gameplay mechanisms (city management(?)/tower defense). And no sequels - making them the best in their respective franchises by default.
Nonetheless, none of them will ever reach that sublime level of awesomeness that the first game on the GameCube achieved.
Then again, I'm also quite partial to the My Life As A King and -Darklord spinoffs, both of which could apply since they're distinct games with their own unique gameplay mechanisms (city management(?)/tower defense). And no sequels - making them the best in their respective franchises by default.
Some great choices that I wholeheartedly agree with here (Valkyria Chronicles, Mass Effect, Master of Orion even though MoO2 is usually the more lauded one).
I think Grandia peaked overall for me in the first installment. Sure the AP battle system only got better and better (Grandia 3 had the best iteration of it) but no entry does the whole "journey of adventure and grandeur" thing quite like the first one (with Grandia 3 having the worst story of the series).
I think Grandia peaked overall for me in the first installment. Sure the AP battle system only got better and better (Grandia 3 had the best iteration of it) but no entry does the whole "journey of adventure and grandeur" thing quite like the first one (with Grandia 3 having the worst story of the series).
Otakumegane
Member
I would have said Pikmin but that no longer applies.
I'm going with Halo.
I'm going with Halo.
Romars202129
Member
Batman. Mostly because metroid style world >>>>>> open world, in the context of that series anyway.
Romars202129
Member
If the series goes through that radical of a change, from a 2d to a 3d one, I say its fine. Its basically a genre shift
The Quintessential Example:
This particular choice is such a perfect example, that I almost contested it on the grounds of not having more than one instalment.
I was just replying to a conversation I found
.But yeah, some people are taking "first in a sub-series" to be relevant, like Metroid Prime or, say, Modern Warfare, which I think I also saw in here.
I agree with all these. Good list!
Robot Pants
Member
Gotta be the worst answer in the thread.
First off GEARS OF WAR
Then
Mass Effect
Dead Space
Crysis
Bioshock
HammerFace
Banned
infamous.
Came here to say this
Yeah no. The gameplay was definitely much smoother and the game itself looked better, but inFamous 2's story was horrendous and so were those boss fights. And the final boss fights were completely forgettable compared to fighting Kessler.
That is so accurate. Couldn't quite put my finger on it rather than I think the story is dumb and the engine is sad&bad. I'm going to echo this going forward.
well duh.
Now I'm intrigued. Why do you think so? IMO Halo 2 had the best multiplayer of any console game in existence, was so long since I played the first one but I don't remember anything that put it above 2.
Most of mine have been listend.
Metroid Prime - More exploration, the better it was.
God of War - Combat never really improved to a decent level, but this had the best story, adventure, and puzzles.This was basically a solid shout out to Greek Myths. The sequels were shit.
Jak and Daxter - Still ND's best game and the best platformer on the PS2.
Cyrsis, Dead Rising, etc.
Metroid Prime - More exploration, the better it was.
God of War - Combat never really improved to a decent level, but this had the best story, adventure, and puzzles.This was basically a solid shout out to Greek Myths. The sequels were shit.
Jak and Daxter - Still ND's best game and the best platformer on the PS2.
Cyrsis, Dead Rising, etc.
I think Retro should get some props for turning a 2D platformer into a first person game and made it good.
supernormal
Member
Well it is definitely the best one of the Bioshock series. I would also say Portal even though it's only two games.
LunaticLMD
Member
Agree with everyone who said Dragon Age.
He clearly meant in the Modern Warefare series.
infamous.
Yup. I really liked the graphics and gameplay changes of the second one, but InFamous' story and boss fights was just amazing. The twists and choices that you make, then seeing them directly affect the city, either cleaning up the streets and rubble or making it worse... Just amazing. I really want a re-release for current gen consoles, with better graphics and gameplay, with everything else being the same.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
as others have said, youre right. Mass Effect for sure.
It's one instance where they should have stuck to their guns and made improvements on the original formula instead of stripping things out and streamlining. 2 is still good but the sense of discovery was lost
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Halo CE
The thread
The thread
LiegeWaffle
Member
I feel like both Crash and Spyro could go here. I am on a fence about those though, since the sequels in both cases are quite solid (especially Crash 2), but none of them feel as good as the originals.
HammerFace
Banned
I just want a proper sequel with a good story and bossfights. Second Son was such a disappointment in those regards.
Unknown One
Member
I'll say Infamous as well. In the end of Infamous, I felt extremely powerful on Heroic. The sequels, I did not feel powerful at all. I felt a lot weaker actually. I liked having only 1 set of powers, but have them drastically upgraded over having a series of powers.
CadetMahoney
Member
Final Fight
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Hail, brother.
And yet here we are. Great design, most boss variety out of the series (although Bloodborne is not bad!), and playing it before the Souls formula was developed into a known quantity was an incredibly rich experience.
Ummmmbassa.
Fata1moose
Banned
Fable II is the best.
Halo as far as campaign goes, though 3 and ODST are pretty great as well. Multiplayer wise, CE was the peak until Halo 5 released.
Mass Effect 1 is still my favorite in that series, they nailed the atmosphere of space exploration. It felt isolated yet grand.