Entries in franchises that are bad as sequels but still good games - Think Star Fox Adventures, Chrono Cross, etc

3rd Birthday aka Parasite Eve 3.
Pretty fun game, but the only thing it shares with former Parasite Eve titles is the main character's name.
They really went out of their way to not say mitochondria in that one. Also Maeda becoming a creep was lame made even worse by what Aya really is.

Still one of my fave psp games. Also good atmosphere.
 
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I'd say Bioshock Infinite fits the bill. The setting is interesting yet completely divorced from the claustrophobic dystopian atmosphere of Bioshock 1, 2, or the System Shock series. The bosses were a bit too bullet-spongey, but I enjoyed the journey in between, even with all the stupid preaching Levine ham-fistedly wrote into the narrative.

I liked it right up to the point where they tried to shoehorn in a connection with the other Bioshock games, which was so insultingly stupid and unearned that I would've rage quit if it wasn't already the end sequence.

It really just has nothing to do with the rest of the CNC series. No Kane, no Tiberium, no alternate timeline created by killing Hitler, completely different gameplay style. It's a perfectly fine near future RTS, but it's not CNC.

Spot on. Generals was probably the only properly balanced CNC game ever released, the only one that would make sense as a competitive muliplayer/esport game. However it's not flamboyant fun like CNC was in style, gameplay, or story. The fans kind of respected it but wanted a return to the previous series.

But we wound up getting CNC 4, a bad sequel that was also a bad game, so what do we know.
 
I would say Quake 2, but Quake 2 isn't even good. Quake 3 is good, but not a good sequel at all.

Also I think Chrono Cross is a fine sequel, despite its messy story. It seems a lot of the hate comes from people upset that Trigger didn't get a happy ending because of it, but to be honest I'm sick of games/movies/shows that are all just happy endings all the time. There is a real issue in media these days where everything has become escapist, no conflict can exist. I'm glad that there are still things that aren't happy 100% of the time, and I think the story Cross tells is absolutely worth being a sequel to Trigger.
What about people who hate Cross because it had autistic as fuck gameplay where everything had a microsystem within a microsystem?

Yeah I'm totally describing someone I know who might be writing this text using my keyboard right now...

They really went out of their way to not say mitochondria in that one. Also Maeda becoming a creep was lame made even worse by what Aya really is.

Still one of my fave psp games. Also good atmosphere.
Can you go ahead and spoil 3rd Birthday for me? (For context I've only played the original PS1 Parasite Eve, and I think I saw the live-action movie once). I'm basically curious what you mean about Aya (I can't recall who Maeda is).

......................................

Some more proper examples (and Tate Mode's username helped jogged my memory)....

I think R-Type Leo is probably the most fun I had with the R-Type series. EDIT: I don't mean this as a knock against R-Type--I like that franchise and you're not getting my copy of R-Type Delta--but I think Leo feels more like a Thunder Force game that for some reason has the R-Type name on it.

On that note X-Multiply is apparently actually a part of the R-Type canon, its one of the best shmups of all time IMO, but really I wouldn't have thought it was in the same universe if people hadn't told me so.

Getting away from Shmups, I can't believe I forgot all about Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. Criticized at the time for doing something different with an established property, Pac-Man 2 plays.... kinda like a point-and-click adventure, except Pac-Man doesn't wait for you and in fact has moods that determine what he'll do in response to you. This is honestly a game for the "Games I wish Had Successors" topic as this premise really could work with today's technology--on 16-Bit Consoles its kinda easy to see the holes. But I do recall so many times playing it and it really did this awesome job of building this weird parasocial relationship between you and Pac-Man.

On the note of "characters I never thought I'd really give a damn about," Super Mario RPG is like the only Mario game I still love and regard highly. These days I tend to just want Mario to go away... to put it one way, Mario RPG is the one time Mario and his world were actually an interesting place I felt I could love and want to explore more about, with people who I would like to get to know. Nowadays Mario feels a lot like Scooby-Doo to me, that one part of my childhood I've gotten sick of because the rest of the world will just not stop shoving it in my place.

Finally.... I will go on record as being one of the few people who never understood the hate for Resident Evil Survivor.
 
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Hitman:Absolution

I believe it's a competent stealth/action game in general but a terrible HITMAN game. It opted for a more cinematic feel and had an emphasis on story rather than the sandbox. The linearity of the levels don't help either. However, there are many memorable set-pieces like the train station, China Town market, the Nuns, etc.
 
Can you go ahead and spoil 3rd Birthday for me? (For context I've only played the original PS1 Parasite Eve, and I think I saw the live-action movie once). I'm basically curious what you mean about Aya (I can't recall who Maeda is).
At the end of pe2, it's speculated more people like Aya will start appearing with mitochondria enhancing them. She also encounters a child named Eve and adopts her as a younger sister by the end.

3rd Bday throws that out of the window because Square is too cheap to buy the license again and creates this time traveling quantum leap soul swapping plot that never explains exactly how the overdrive system works. They avoid the mitochondria word like the plague and the NYC and Mojave Desert stuff is just a side note.

Maeda was the shy Japanese scientist in the original gMe who was there to explain the plot of the book and help fight off Eve is now some stuttering pervert who oogles over Ayas body.

its made worse because it turns out you were playing as a 12 year old Eve in Ayas body.

There's a lot more stupid shit like characters such as Kyle from PE2 now being some sort of god...

But still a good game if you ignore the plot.
 
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I always felt like they should have just completely separated Black Flag from AssCreed.
That would've been the much smarter thing to farm out to their secondary studios instead of what they did do, which was go back to New England again in Rogue and try to crowbar pirate mechanics into that setting.

I feel like every entry in the Civilization series gets dumber, but Civ 5 was the tipping point where, even though it wasn't a good sequel to Civ 4, it was at least interesting in its own way. I can't say the same about 6.
 
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Star Fox Adventures is a bad game in general.
It's the best 3D Zelda clone I've ever played, though I've never played Okami yet which people usually seem to point to for that.

Also I think Chrono Cross is a fine sequel, despite its messy story. It seems a lot of the hate comes from people upset that Trigger didn't get a happy ending because of it, but to be honest I'm sick of games/movies/shows that are all just happy endings all the time. There is a real issue in media these days where everything has become escapist, no conflict can exist. I'm glad that there are still things that aren't happy 100% of the time, and I think the story Cross tells is absolutely worth being a sequel to Trigger.
There's a lot more to it though. The art style, the combat, and the way they handled the cast stands in stark contrast to Trigger, and I'd argue it was all inferior. Still good, but not as good, and very different.
 
My favourite game Dino Crisis 2 could be counted as this.

The first game was a survival horror in the Resident Evil mold. The sequel is a fast paced action game where you get kill combos for points to buy upgrades for weapons to get more points. Amazing game, but aside from dinosaurs and loose plot connections, it has little to do with the original as far as I know.


Somehow no one has mentioned Resident Evil 4 yet. It revolutionized third person action games, but has little in the way of survival horror. Although that's debatable as the opening with the village and the regenerators at the end are scary. The only real connection to the series is Leon and Ada, both could easily be swapped for other characters. Resident Evil 5 is a great treasure hunting action adventure and is hugely underrated imo. Again, some of the monsters are scary but when you're running through tombs, dodging rolling bolder traps and grabbing gems to sell for weapon upgrades, it's fair to say that the horror of being trapped in a location full of dangerous monsters has been lost.

It really just has nothing to do with the rest of the CNC series. No Kane, no Tiberium, no alternate timeline created by killing Hitler, completely different gameplay style. It's a perfectly fine near future RTS, but it's not CNC.
Isn't that true of Red Alert as well?
 
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This topic is kinda hard because so many “bad” sequels are franchise staples today: Super Mario Sunshine, The Wind Walker, Batman Arkham Origins, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Super Paper Mario, any Sonic game, Fire Emblem, etc.. There are so many franchises that tried something new and were hated, only to now be loved as potentially the best entry.
 
It's the best 3D Zelda clone I've ever played, though I've never played Okami yet which people usually seem to point to for that.

If Darksiders 1 & 2 are too action-focused for you, you could give a shot to Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy


I think it does a better job at being 3D Zelda clone compared to SFA (it has much better puzzles, similar to what you can fin in the Wario Land series), it is dirt-cheap on Steam and pretty much any toaster can run it.

My favourite game Dino Crisis 2 could be counted as this.

The first game was a survival horror in the Resident Evil mold. The sequel is a fast paced action game where you get kill combos for points to buy upgrades for weapons to get more points. Amazing game, but aside from dinosaurs and loose plot connections, it has little to do with the original as far as I know.


Somehow no one has mentioned Resident Evil 4 yet. It revolutionized third person action games, but has little in the way of survival horror. Although that's debatable as the opening with the village and the regenerators at the end are scary. The only real connection to the series is Leon and Ada, both could easily be swapped for other characters. Resident Evil 5 is a great treasure hunting action adventure and is hugely underrated imo. Again, some of the monsters are scary but when you're running through tombs, dodging rolling bolder traps and grabbing gems to sell for weapon upgrades, it's fair to say that the horror of being trapped in a location full of dangerous monsters has been lost.


Isn't that true of Red Alert as well?

I guess Metal Gear Rising fits this thread as well, it's a game set in the Metal Gear universe but in a completely different genre.
 
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Devil May Cry: Devil May Cry is unironically a very good game.

Combat is fast, fluid and fun, level and map design is excellent (and far superior than the mainline dmc games, fight me), the writing is straightforward for once (which is a breath of fresh air compared to regular dmc) and pretty cool at times with alex jones character and the CONSOOM message, the colour pallete is beautiful (compared to every other dmc game being 99% gunmetal grey and dogshit brown) the visual design is superb (to the point I wish mainline dmc games would copy it) and ebony&ivory are useful for the first time since dmc2.

A lot of controls, combos and weapons have also been streamlined making it far less stresful to play and the spanish dub is excellent. All in all the game is just as good as dmc3 and imo pretty close to dmc4.

The reason it gets so much shit is because it had the misfortune of being associated with dmc, was a reboot at a time when people wanted a sequel, and they butchered dante's character by turning him into trailer trash in the name of making him "appeal to the youths" making a lot of people hate it out the gate.

If they called it something else and toned down the cuntiness of the main character I have no doubt the game would have been as fondly remembered as revengeance. (Its also much better than revengeance).

edit:

If you disagree with me I'm genuinely intrested in hearing your take.
 
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This will piss people off.

Resident Evil 4-6

Fun games to play for sure and I put hundreds of hours into each, but they play like a different series entirely. That being said, I'd much rather go back to that approach to RE than any of the modern sequels. Although RE4R is literally that.

Metal Gear Rising

Unlike anything in MGS ever, but doesn't take itself so goddamn seriously. Real fun to play and the OST is S tier.

Metal Gear Solid 4

Time has been kind to it, but it's still an inferior game compared to Snake Eater since there's such a fraction of the gameplay compared to the enormous amount of cutscenes. Although the refined MGS3 gameplay to be more streamlined is great. I hate the over the shoulder aiming, but it's done well I guess.

Max Payne 3

Giant departure from the first two games with it's storytelling and it's locations. But personally it was the most fun I ever had in the series.

Resident Evil Zero

If you didn't have REmake to compare to it, it would be looked at way more fondly probably just from visuals alone. Slog to play and much of it is very uninspired and trying way too hard to be the mansion in REmake.

Resident Evil Code Veronica

A product of the time with everything going to 3D environments and then the amount of detail and interest put into an area suffers. Coming off the heels of RE2-3, it's no where near the player satisfaction of those imo. There is a LOT of downtime in it. Boss fights are probably the worst in the series up to that point. Although Noseferatu I still like since it's so unique.
 
Metal Gear Solid 4
MGS4 is kind of the opposite re the topic. It ain't that great of a game but it seems to exist purely to set up the incredibly autistic deep lore puzzle bullshit that is Peace Walker->GZ->MGSV (which were planned together as "MGS5" early in production) so I guess there's value in it as a sequel if you're up for the full red string Pepe Silvia schizophrenia simulator.

I don't really recommend this though. People who just took it at face value and simply thought it was kinda shitty spared themselves a lot of grief.
 
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Resident Evil Code Veronica

A product of the time with everything going to 3D environments and then the amount of detail and interest put into an area suffers. Coming off the heels of RE2-3, it's no where near the player satisfaction of those imo. There is a LOT of downtime in it. Boss fights are probably the worst in the series up to that point. Although Noseferatu I still like since it's so unique.
That's the one classic RE I didn't finish. I didn't mind the 3D environments, but I feel like the pacing was off and difficulty way too high. I had trouble navigating and not much was happening.

It's the classic RE that needs a remake the most. I hope they do it next instead of RE1 or 0, but I guarantee it'll be the one they stay least faithful to.
 
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Wizardry VI (and onward). They only shared the name of the Wizardry franchise but were good CRPGs. They just had fuck all to do with Werdna, Llgamyn, Knights of Diamond, etc.

Back in the day a lot of computer RPGs did that, though so I can't hold Sir-Tech too responsible. While I-V were fairly straightforward D&D games, VI and onward did that "yes but spaceships, too" thing like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (an old D&D module where you go aboard a spaceship, IIRC, and get power armor, travel to other planets, fight aliens, and so on).
 
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That's the one classic RE I didn't finish. I didn't mind the 3D environments, but I feel like the pacing was off and difficulty way too high. I had trouble navigating and not much was happening.

It's the classic RE that needs a remake the most. I hope they do it next instead of RE1 or 0, but I guarantee it'll be the one they stay least faithful to.
Code Veronica does have pacing problems. Between that, and the actual physical gameplay feeling sluggish are it's biggest problems that I can think of. The camera can be real ass as it'll pan across a set track depending on where you are in an area and you midjudge your run route and run into a zombie.

It's still worth playing, though. Of all the classic fixed camera games, it probably is the most heavy in backtracking (which isn't a bad thing imo). Since you backtrack with both characters, but then you backtrack over Claire's areas even more when you play as Chris. It does have a higher difficulty. Plane Tyrant might have the biggest margin of error I've seen in any classic RE. He has this downward slash that'll kill you in two strikes I believe if you're at full health.

But yeah, it really needs a remake that's faithful and doesn't cut shit. RE4 didn't need one but it looks to be decent. RE0 doesn't need one as I think that one is as good as it'll ever get and it's not even an interesting story. It's just a bad game. And I go back and forth with it and CV on what's the worst old RE game.

REmake doesn't ever need to be touched again. Making that over the shoulder would be idiotic and would suck the soul out of the game. REmake is the benchmark example on how you do a remake right.
 
Code Veronica does have pacing problems. Between that, and the actual physical gameplay feeling sluggish are it's biggest problems that I can think of. The camera can be real ass as it'll pain across a set track depending on where you are in an area and you midjudge your run route and run into a zombie.

It's still worth playing, though. Of all the classic fixed camera games, it probably is the most heavy in backtracking (which isn't a bad thing imo). Since you backtrack with both characters, but then you backtrack over Claire's areas even more when you play as Chris. It does have a higher difficulty. Plane Tyrant might have the biggest margin of error I've seen in any classic RE. He has this downward slash that'll kill you in two strikes I believe if you're at full health.

But yeah, it really needs a remake that's faithful and doesn't cut shit. RE4 didn't need one but it looks to be decent. RE0 doesn't need one as I think that one is as good as it'll ever get and it's not even an interesting story. It's just a bad game. And I go back and forth with it and CV on what's the worst old RE game.

REmake doesn't ever need to be touched again. Making that over the shoulder would be idiotic and would suck the soul out of the game. REmake is the benchmark example on how you do a remake right.
Between CV and RE0 I think the latter at least has great graphics, the interesting buddy system, and nice set pieces (at least on the train, it does kind of just become a worse Mansion after that). It's also got great music, plus even though it was flawed and tedious, the inventory system was a good attempt at solving the problem of always needing to run to item boxes.
 
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Devil May Cry: Devil May Cry is unironically a very good game.
Not willing to say very good, but can agree that it's capable of standing on its own and a lot of the ire is because it's masquerading as a DMC game. If you were to remove any connection to the other Devil May Cry universe, it'd be a more competent Heavenly Sword. Instead the director had to start running his mouth and dragging likable characters through the mud. Just fucking make it Heavenly Sword: Brothers Edition.

My one big (and relatively small) complaint is how the sound effects for the shotgun is fucking weak. It's so fucking weak, the handguns are more booming. The color coded enemies are annoying and stupid, but eh, it makes you use different weapons so whatever.
 
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