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[OH-MyCar]

Liked:
Castlevania Rondo of Blood. As someone who likes Castlevania II more than most people, Rondo of Blood became the definitive 2D Castlevania experience to me (yes even moreso than SotN). It drew from all of its predecessors and made something fresh and unique for the franchise. SotN, while a masterpiece, cribs too heavily from Metroid. To me, Rondo of Blood is the best expression of what the franchise had to offer.

Disliked:
Dark Souls III. I consider Dark Souls II to be obviously flawed, but the the post-Bloodborne design ethic that went into III was actually more unappealing to me. I enjoyed Bloodborne, but those similarities carved out a lot of what I initially found appealing about Dark Souls: The diverse locations & the sense of surprise in exploration and the slower pace of battle. The more you speed up Dark Souls, the more you slowly begin to encroach into the same territory Nioh did. While Nioh did it well (because of Team Ninja's experience), I think DS3 was an overall disservice to a lot of the RPG-esque strengths of DeS and DS.

Neutral:
Dragon Quest IX. I loved the flexibility of it and the ability to play multiplayer in a way that felt organic and completely natural for the franchise, but it was at the expense of having any memorable characters. Coming off of VIII, which had one of the best casts of all-time, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you much about DQ9's story despite spending over 250 hours on it.

 

[Soleil rouge]

Liked:

GTA's more realistic approach to gameplay in IV and V.

Tomb Raider Uncharted.

Metal Gear - From fixed camera to follow /open world.

Zelda - Open world.



Disliked:

Resident Evil 4, 5 and 6 - Went from survival horror to action adventure.

Driver 3 (or DRIV3R) - Turned into a terrible GTA 3 knock off.

Max Payne 3 - Strictly because of the unskippable comic book cut scenes. Makes the game unplayable for me.



Neutral:

Silent Hill 4: The Room.

Splinter Cell: Conviction.

 

[OrionNebula]

Anything after Silent Hill 4: The Room is complete garbage as far as I’m concerned (and has nothing to do with nostalgia or Team Silent - everything after 4 was just extremely subpar and unimaginative and not serving the series well at all).

I did enjoy the 2 major shifts for Resident Evil (4 and 7, although I dream of something like 7 in TPS).

 

[Jigsaah]

Final Fantasy 11 (level cap of 75) > Final Fantasy 14.

By a mile.

For that matter...why is danger and risk no longer a thing in MMOs? In FFXI if you died, you lost xp, you could even "delevel". There were only a few instance based things in the game, most revolving around the story and boss fights, but you could go to Sky and watch an entirely separate alliance do battle with Kirin (with the admittedly guilty hope that they'd fail and your alliance could get the easy kill).

Knowing what your teammates were doing was awesome...Skillchains for your limit breaks. Setting up the thief for sneak attacks, blackmages with the magic burst for insane damage only after 2-3 other members have carefully coordinated their skill chains.

Parties of six recommended just to traverse an area or risk death and xp.

Final Fantasy 14 is boss battle after boss battle. you do some story in between, but its all just getting you ready for the next boss battle. There is no best in slot philosophy. The whole gearscore movement is ridiculous and rids the game of any semblance of individuality. I want to build my own character based on many viable sets of gear that will work together for my playstyle.

Sorry Rant over.

 

[Jigsaah]

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow > all other splinter cell games combined.

One reason...realism.

In the orignal Spy vs Mercs game, like v. 1.0 or whatever, as a merc, you could put a mine where ever your arm could realistically reach. Most felt this was unfair, but i felt a good spy was resourceful enough to figure out how to get around it. In Chaos Theory they dumbed it down, making it so you couldn't place mine just wherever you wanted. Hated that change. They also made it so after you shocked a merc with your stun gun, if you jumped on his head to knock him out you would be electrocuted for trying to punce and electrified merc. That wasn't the way in the vanilla version of the game.

Maps in Pandora Tomorrow were also better and more balanced than Chaos Theory

 

[plushyp]

The Evil Within > The Evil Within 2
They had it right the first time, what a disappointing sequel that was, yikes. Series is probably dead now too.

No, the games are quite divisive. Unlike you, I actually preferred TEW2 and appreciated how it was a more cohesive experience than the first game. What I liked the most though was how it wasn't a chore to play unlike the first game with its BS one hit killing death traps and certain other oddities. The story was equally bad in both the games though. Atleast the VA in the second game was marginally better.

Now the transition from Dead Space 2 to Dead Space 3 is more deserving of a 'yikes'.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Best one for me was Mario going 3D with 64.

The one I disliked the most, even though I loved the game is Resident evil transition into 4. It just wasn't resident evil but a great action game nonetheless.

 

[-MD-]

No, the games are quite divisive. Unlike you, I actually preferred TEW2 and appreciated how it was a more cohesive experience than the first game. What I liked the most though was how it wasn't a chore to play unlike the first game with its BS one hit killing death traps and certain other oddities. The story was equally bad in both the games though. Atleast the VA in the second game was marginally better.

Now the transition from Dead Space 2 to Dead Space 3 is more deserving of a 'yikes'.

Neat, here's the thread title

Times You Liked When A Series Went In A Different Direction And Times You By Far Preferred The Original Concept

I found 2 to be an absolute slog to play through, it took me like a month to even finish it. I couldn't get enough of the first game, finished it a half-dozen times.

 

[plushyp]

Neat, here's the thread title
I found 2 to be an absolute slog to play through, it took me like a month to even finish it. I couldn't get enough of the first game, finished it a half-dozen times.

Cool, thanks for letting me know the thread title. I didn't know we weren't allowed to discuss posts and just had to post our preferences be be off on our merry way.

Some preferred the first, others the second while many enjoyed both. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Kadayi]

I liked the way GTA V went with the multiple protags. In retrospect, it was a natural extension of what R* did with the 3 character arrangement on GTA IV and its associated DLC, but it was pretty cool to be able to move through the characters in real-time. With that said I'd still like them to get in better writers (their storylines and plots are for shit for the most part), but mechanistically I can't fault it.

Fallout 4. Base building? Nope.I ain't got time for that BS.

 

[The Sane Psycho]

Best one for me was Mario going 3D with 64.

Fuck yes! SM64 is still my all time favorite game. Nothing compares to the magic of that game. I was thinking about making a thread about my top 10 games, though I would put actual effort into it and write a little entry under each choice.

I liked the way GTA V went with the multiple protags. In retrospect, it was a natural extension of what R* did with the 3 character arrangement on GTA IV and its associated DLC, but it was pretty cool to be able to move through the characters in real-time. With that said I'd still like them to get in better writers (their storylines and plots are for shit for the most ), but mechanistically I can't fault it for the most part.

Fallout 4. Base building? Nope.I ain't got time for that BS.

Ironically, the game with the best story in the series is the one everyone hates the most (GTA IV). Tbh, I still really love IV, but San Andreas will always be my favorite.

 

[Kadayi]

Ironically, the game with the best story in the series is the one everyone hates the most (GTA IV). Tbh, I still really love IV, but San Andreas will always be my favorite.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that. I didn't find the GTA IV storyline particularly compelling. Everything was telegraphed, nothing was surprising and the entire experience reeked of ludo-narrative dissonance throughout.

 

[zenspider]

Not sure I'd count this, but I prefer Dragon Quest spin-offs almost entirely over the main series.

 

[zkorejo]

Assassin's Creed origins going rpg was the best fit.

Hitman absolution being 47's personal journey or redemption with lesser focus on level exploration and too much handholding was bad.

 

[AnimalFather]

Times You Liked When A Series Went In A Different Direction

said no one ever

 

[Zannegan]

said no one ever

Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts is the best in the series. Change my mind.

(Only half-joking. I love that game)

 

[The Sane Psycho]

said no one ever

Except it happens all the time. Are you telling me no one liked Mario going from a single screen platformer to a sidescrolling platformer, or to a 3D platformer? Or Castlevania transitioning from linear platformer to Metroidvania/Igavania? Or GTA from top down action game to 3D sandbox game? Or Warcraft going from strategy to MMO? Or Zelda from traditional to open world? Or COD from WWII to modern day combat? Or the Tomb Raider reboots?

Not to mention the various examples in this thread.

 

[AnimalFather]

Except it happens all the time. Are you telling me no one liked Mario going from a single screen platformer to a sidescrolling platformer, or to a 3D platformer? Or Castlevania transitioning from linear platformer to Metroidvania/Igavania? Or GTA from top down action game to 3D sandbox game? Or Warcraft going from strategy to MMO? Or Zelda from traditional to open world? Or COD from WWII to modern day combat? Or the Tomb Raider reboots?

Not to mention the various examples in this thread.

i would say 99.9% of the time the sequel pales in comparison. the only time the sequel was better was Dead Space 2 and parts of Bioshock Infinite.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I really liked the way they did multiplayer in mass effect.

I didn't like what they did to act raiser

 

[sublimit]

Liked: God of War
Everything i have seen so far appeals to me much much more than the older games.

Didn't liked: Resident Evil 4
(could have been a great spin-off title though)

Absolutely hated: Tomb Raider 2013
A joke of a TR game and a mediocre Uncharted clone with pretty graphics.

Unsure: Resident Evil 7
I like the return to survival horror but the First Person view and the emphasis on cheap jump scares puts me off.

 

[Valdega]

Liked:
- Splinter Cell: Blacklist: I had no issues with the fact that combat was viable because the game also allowed me to ghost. Removing analog move speed and the light meter were also good changes that reduced ambiguity and meaningless complexity.
- Fallout 4: BGS is not good at making RPGs. Fallout 3 was proof of that. FO4 was a much better game because BGS decided to dial back the traditional RPG elements and focus more on combat and exploration. They also added more moral ambiguity and nuanced writing. FNV is still the best modern Fallout but if BGS is going to be the sole developer for the series, FO4 is a step in the right direction.
- Shadow Warrior 2: I was disappointed by the semi-procedural level design and lackluster writing but the combat was incredibly fun and the gem system added a lot of interesting specialization options.
- Saints Row IV: Some people were disappointed by the series' transition from GTA clone to wacky superhero adventure but I loved it. Just running, jumping and gliding through the world was a ton of fun.
- Risen 2: I like pirate fantasy and Risen 2 pulled it off well. The game also added a greatly expanded equipment system, a companion system and proper skill checks.
- Prey 2017: I enjoyed the original Prey but it was nothing more than a solid shooter with some interesting gimmicks. Prey 2017 has masterful level design, interesting enemies, weapons and abilities and fantastic atmosphere.
- Mass Effect 2: Streamlining the RPG elements and focusing more on making a good shooter was the right way to go. The original game's RPG elements weren't particularly well-done and didn't mesh well with the combat. Also, the first ME had some really crappy level design and lacked enemy variety.
- Divinity: Original Sin: The Divinity series has gone through several direction changes (the original game was a dungeon crawler and Divinity 2 was an action game with RPG elements). D:OS ended up being an amazing, old-school CRPG and D:OS2 is one of the best CRPGs I've ever played.

Disliked:
- Splinter Cell: Conviction: They turned SC into a shooter where stealth was simply a means of charging up your overpowered Mark and Execute instakill combo. Ghosting was nearly impossible because the level design and AI were designed to force combat and confrontations.
- Hitman: Absolution: They basically turned Hitman into Splinter Cell, with a strong focus on occlusion-based stealth and mostly linear level design where your goal is simply to get from point A to point B.
- Gothic 3: Oh boy. They tried to compete with Oblivion in terms of scale and ended up with a game that did nothing well. Having a ton of towns and factions doesn't mean much when those towns and factions are completely generic and forgettable. Also, the combat system was completely broken. The designers wanted to make a much deeper and more complex system but didn't understand how to balance frame advantage.
- Fallout 3: I don't have a problem with going first-person or removing turn-based combat. However, Fallout 3 easily has some of the worst writing of any RPG I've played. The world is completely incoherent and there's no logic behind any of the locales. Also, the skill checks are the worst I've ever seen.
- WH40K: Dawn of War 2: I was a big fan of CoH but trying to copy it with DoW2 was a mistake. I wanted bases and armies, not squads with overpowered hero units. Also, their attempt to integrate dungeon crawler elements (loot and bosses) felt very out of place.
- Dragon Age II: They tried to make DA more of an action game and designed the combat encounters as such, with waves of enemies spawning out of thin air in every fight. When played on Nightmare difficulty, the poor encounter design was incredibly frustrating because there was no way for you to plan or strategize. Also, the city where the game took place was pretty boring and the environmental repetition got old pretty quick.

 

[cartman414]

Liked:
Castlevania, with it's turn from linear style action platformer to Metroid styled action platformer RPG.

Funnily enough, the Castlevania franchise does both for me. I had zero interest in the old school Classic-vanias, but loved the Igavania games from Symphony of the Night onward (with my absolute favorite being Aria of Sorrow). I gave Lords of Shadow a shot when it became the new face of the franchise, but since I play Castlevanias for a that sense of isolated exploration and mysteries to uncover rather than the curated roller coaster ride linear games provide, it just didn't scratch the same itch. Also, the visual design of Lord Pinhead McTragic did nothing for me.

I'd hoped that ARPG/Metroid-style games and God of War-likes could coexist, but I guess Konami wanted to make the series big time again and so mandated a cohesive brand identity. Mirror of Fate was an attempt at compromise, but it just didn't capture the same feeling for me, and I think the cost of 3D resulted in a smaller map and less varied adventure overall. I'd love another sprawling castle full of danger and secret areas to explore--in 2D or 3D--but I just don't see it happening any time soon.

Liked:
Castlevania - Again, like Tomb Raider, I've pretty much always liked where Konami has taken this series. I loved the change to Metroidvania and even liked the new Del Toro/God of War-esque reboot.

Castlevania in general < Castlevania Symphony of the Night (I prefer Metroidvanias)

Or Castlevania transitioning from linear platformer to Metroidvania/Igavania?

Yeah, no, guys. Castlevania was at its best with Rondo of Blood (and also Dracula's Curse). The Sorrow games are up there too, but the Metroidvanias on the whole lack the challenge of their old school counterparts and the smart design of the actual Metroid games from Super Metroid onward.

Plus, naming the Metroidvanias is one thing, but including the LoS games?

 

[Dr. Claus]

The first series that I can clearly remember doing this was the Jak & Daxter series. I enjoyed the platforming/combat of the original, but they decided to take the series into this strange GTA-style open world with guns. If I wanted guns, I would play Ratchet & Clank. If I wanted an open world, I would play World of Warcraft or GTA.

 

[Zannegan]

Yeah, no, guys. Castlevania was at its best with Rondo of Blood (and also Dracula's Curse). The Sorrow games are up there too, but the Metroidvanias on the whole lack the challenge of their old school counterparts and the smart design of the actual Metroid games from Super Metroid onward.

Plus, naming the Metroidvanias is one thing, but including the LoS games?

Funny how opinions work. =P

I don't really play games for challenge in itself, especially if that challenge mostly boils down to repetition and memorization. I'm much more into openness in games. Give my character a malleable moveset, a world to explore, and flexible methods of moving through that world, and I'll love the game forever. Give me only a handful of weapons to work with and push me down a linear corridor, however smartly designed, and nine times out of ten I'll lose interest.

That's why I couldn't stand the Lord of Shadows after the freeform fun of the Metroid-inspired Castlevanias, and why I found Metroid Fusion a disappointing chore to play. It's also why I tend to prefer Castlevania to Metroid in general. I like exploring a massive castle, not knowing what deadly beastie may be lurking just offscreen, hoping that the next room will be a save room or maybe even a new weapon to try. With Metroid, the environments are great, and the challenge is certainly there, but Samus' moveset tends to be so limited that every enemy encounter feels like it has one optimal approach. That's just not why I play games. On the other hand, Samus Returns' counter was a lovely addition, so my opinion's open to change.

If we're talking 3D games though, I'll take Samus over any Bellmont any day of the week.

 

[Horns]

It felt like Saints Row was headed in the right direction originally. SR2 was a lot of fun, but each one after felt worse then the prior. I probably wouldn't buy another game in the series again if it were to come out.

 

[Hendrick's]

Liked - Red Faction Guerrilla, Red Dead Redemption

Disliked - Splinter Cell: Double Agent (and beyond), Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (and beyond)

 

[Yagami_Sama]

The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the wild is not for me. I really tried to enjoy the game, but it was not my cup of tea. Explore just for the sake of explore was quite boring. It was the most boring game of the series , and this title previously belonged to Twilight Princess.

I also don't like motor bikes on Mario Kart. How Paper Mario is today.

And Metroid on first person was great.

 

[The Sane Psycho]

i would say 99.9% of the time the sequel pales in comparison. the only time the sequel was better was Dead Space 2 and parts of Bioshock Infinite.

That's just like, your opinion, man. Unlike movies, I feel like game series often reach their peak after a few entries.

 

[nowhat]

That's just like, your opinion, man. Unlike movies, I feel like game series often reach their peak after a few entries.

As an example - you may not like the Uncharted series, and that's fine, let's not go there. But who here (that like the series) can honestly argue the first Uncharted is better than Uncharted 2?

 

[DrDerekDrs]

Vandal Hearts 1 - Turn-based strategy perfection, with each level being a tiny, perfectly designed diamond, often introducing brilliant twists on the basic gameplay (the sokoban element in the possessed villager level being a stand-out).
Vandal Hearts 2 - What the hell, guys?! It changed to a weird thing where your move happened simultaneously with the enemy's, and while you could take advantage of this sometimes by tricking an enemy into trying to stab you in the back but you actually stab THEM in the back, it was mostly a failure. Also the level design wasn't a patch on the original.

 

[abracadaver]

Liked:
- Tomb Raider reboots. I never liked the original games


Disliked:
- Gears of War: Judgment. Everything about it was horrible.

 

[Roni]

i would say 99.9% of the time the sequel pales in comparison. the only time the sequel was better was Dead Space 2 and parts of Bioshock Infinite.

Based on all of your hard data?

Funny how opinions work. =P

I'm sort of amazed how a clear OPINION thread still gets people trying to dictate what's good or not.

Disliked - Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Even the current-gen (at the time) version?

 

[VectorVictor]

Liked:
Witcher 3--I loved Witcher 2, but the direction 3 took blew me away and made me wish that we had something similar for 2. Or better yet, a remake of 1 done in the style of 3.
Ultima VII--best game in the series, hands down, and a clear improvement over everything before or after.
Skyrim--not the best story, but the gameplay and inventory system is tight. Really wish we had an 'official' recreation of Morrowind using the Skyrim engine instead of the mod work that's being done.

Disliked:
Dragon Age 2/Inquisition--Origins was by far superior (though not without its faults), and I don't care for the direction the series has taken, both in narrative and (much more restrictive) gameplay.
Oblivion--combat was floaty, story was meh, and coming off of Morrowind, it wasn't the improvement I expected it to be. But for an early Xbox 360 title, it did make a huge impression (in spite of itself).
Gears 4--Gameplay was tight...but I just didn't care for the story at all. Thought they really went into left field on a few things.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Call of Duty going jet packs

 

[Wolfgang Jr]

Original and BY FAR the best.

 

[dottme]

Like
-Tomb Raider reboot. Tomb Raider was dying and the reboot bring it back on the scene. Now, Uncharted steal idea from Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider steal idea from a Uncharted so the gamer can have the best of the two world.
-Nintendo at the beginning of the N64 era. Zelda OoT, Mario 64, F-zero X...
-Persona 5: the new UI and the faster fight help me a lot to enjoy the serie. I’ve tried few times Persona 4 without success but I finished Persona 5 the first time.

Dislike
- Zelda BotW. I was like I can go wherever I want but I don’t really want to go anywhere. For me, it lacks of a story or a motivation to do anything and I quickly gave up.
- Paper Mario. What the F Nintendo are you doing to Paper Mario. If you want to kill it, let it die with dignity.

 

[Joe T.]

Liked:

• Final Fantasy Tactics and FFXI going the SRPG and MMORPG routes respectively. I thought both were exceptionally well executed attempts to diversify the franchise.
• World of Warcraft proving that subscription-based MMORPGs can appeal to the masses.
• Mario Kart, Super Mario RPG and Mario Party, before I lost count of all the sequels.

Disliked:

• Final Fantasy XIV for abandoning the socially-driven, versatile nature of FFXI's sadistic MMORPG design which was (still is?) their most profitable entry in the series in favor of the more mainstream-friendly WoW model.
• Zelda II trying its hand at side-scrolling platforming.
• Star Fox Adventures for being a forgettable 3D adventure after a five year hiatus.
• Halo Wars. Probably overkill to add to the FPS entries, but it was hard for me to get excited about a real time strategy game in that particular series.

I'm not sure where Breath of the Wild fits in yet. I loved that it went open world, but I hated that it practically abandoned compelling storytelling and the series staple of themed dungeons to do it.

 

[cartman414]

Funny how opinions work. =P

I don't really play games for challenge in itself, especially if that challenge mostly boils down to repetition and memorization. I'm much more into openness in games. Give my character a malleable moveset, a world to explore, and flexible methods of moving through that world, and I'll love the game forever. Give me only a handful of weapons to work with and push me down a linear corridor, however smartly designed, and nine times out of ten I'll lose interest.

That's why I couldn't stand the Lord of Shadows after the freeform fun of the Metroid-inspired Castlevanias, and why I found Metroid Fusion a disappointing chore to play. It's also why I tend to prefer Castlevania to Metroid in general. I like exploring a massive castle, not knowing what deadly beastie may be lurking just offscreen, hoping that the next room will be a save room or maybe even a new weapon to try. With Metroid, the environments are great, and the challenge is certainly there, but Samus' moveset tends to be so limited that every enemy encounter feels like it has one optimal approach. That's just not why I play games. On the other hand, Samus Returns' counter was a lovely addition, so my opinion's open to change.

If we're talking 3D games though, I'll take Samus over any Bellmont any day of the week.

Metroidvania style Castlevanias had a lot of weapons, but they mostly felt superfluous (though by DoS they approached a decent level of specialization between types). I don't need TOO much challenge in a Metroidvania, just enough to offer decent resistance. Most in the Castlevania series were a little too much on the easy side.

The only Igavanias with reasonable design were the Sorrows. The others were either too bite-sized in area design (PoR, OoE) or too huge and backtracky (SotN, HoD).

Liked:

• Final Fantasy Tactics and FFXI going the SRPG and MMORPG routes respectively. I thought both were exceptionally well executed attempts to diversify the franchise.
• World of Warcraft proving that subscription-based MMORPGs can appeal to the masses.
• Mario Kart, Super Mario RPG and Mario Party, before I lost count of all the sequels.

Disliked:

• Final Fantasy XIV for abandoning the socially-driven, versatile nature of FFXI's sadistic MMORPG design which was (still is?) their most profitable entry in the series in favor of the more mainstream-friendly WoW model.
• Zelda II trying its hand at side-scrolling platforming.

Something they should have tried again, given they've had the tech to do it even better for ages.

 

[DonJimbo]

Blackops
The first two were awesome the third was the worst in the series hope four is great like the first two

 

[Joe T.]

Something they should have tried again, given they've had the tech to do it even better for ages.

I would have definitely been interested in another 2D Zelda, even if it only served as a prologue of sorts to a more ambitious game like BotW. Now my mind's racing with potential ideas for making this work...

 

[Zannegan]

Metroidvania style Castlevanias had a lot of weapons, but they mostly felt superfluous (though by DoS they approached a decent level of specialization between types). I don't need TOO much challenge in a Metroidvania, just enough to offer decent resistance. Most in the Castlevania series were a little too much on the easy side.

The only Igavanias with reasonable design were the Sorrows. The others were either too bite-sized in area design (PoR, OoE) or too huge and backtracky (SotN, HoD).

Fair enough and well stated. Although, personally, I like huge and backtracky.

As a side-note, I think they could solve the difficulty issues and backtrack boredom simultaneously by having areas level up occasionally. I'm not talking "auto-scaling," where you end up fighting the same ol' enemies, only now they take more hits to kill. What would be interesting though, is if, at set points during the story or your character's progression, new and harder enemy groups would appear in old areas. So, instead of 3 red crabs -> 3 blue crabs with 5x the health, it could go from 3 red crabs to 6, and plus their new friend the lobstopus.

I guess my point is that the problems with the Iga games are fairly fixable for me, whereas the linear games just don't appeal to me at all. *shrug*

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I prefer Mario Kart 64 to any of the later 3d Mario Kart games. I think the games party game style balance and rubberband AI were infinitely more enjoyable. This was a racing series meant to even the playing field for those less skilled. It was meant for everyone. Now it's just balanced the same as anything else rewarding the best by a wide margin.

 

[cartman414]

Fair enough and well stated. Although, personally, I like huge and backtracky.

As a side-note, I think they could solve the difficulty issues and backtrack boredom simultaneously by having areas level up occasionally. I'm not talking "auto-scaling," where you end up fighting the same ol' enemies, only now they take more hits to kill. What would be interesting though, is if, at set points during the story or your character's progression, new and harder enemy groups would appear in old areas. So, instead of 3 red crabs -> 3 blue crabs with 5x the health, it could go from 3 red crabs to 6, and plus their new friend the lobstopus.

I guess my point is that the problems with the Iga games are fairly fixable for me, whereas the linear games just don't appeal to me at all. *shrug*

I guess.

They alleviated things somewhat with Aria of Sorrow onward by adding more warp rooms.

 

[cartman414]

* bump *

Liked: Paper Mario for Matio RPGs. Super Mario RPG was highly enjoyable, but too reminiscent of other Square RPGs of the period. Its N64 successor really gave Mario RPGs their own identity, both in gameplay mechanics and story, with stronger characters on the whole.

Disliked: Star Fox 64 for the guided charge shots alone. Took away much of the game's challenge.

 

[Majid]

Loved: NFS Most Wanted (2012).

It amazes me that no one mimicked their formula. No main menu. No cheesy characters. It's just cars.... and they're all unlocked from the start.