Series where the first game is great but all the sequels are bad in comparison

ME: Sequels turned into Gears of War with dialogue, what a waste.

DMC2 is trash, period.

DMC3 have bad enemy design, and you spend most of the time in the game fighting them.

DMC4 doesn't have a good campaign.

MGS2 follows the same structure of 1 but is worse in every aspect.

MGS3 have laughable writing, bad characters, awful level design and abysmal pace.

MGS4 have good ost, gameplay and fan service, the rest is garbage.

Didn't play MGS5.

These are the ones i remember right now.

@brenobnfm: I agree with your first three, but METAL GEAR!!!

Heads Up video might be NSFW

I thought Metal Gears 1-3 were all solid master pieces. Hideo Kojima is definitely one of the best minds of the Video Game Industry. A bold statement, but that's just my opinion. I think I'm not alone in my thinking though. ;)

Can't wait to see what he cooked up next with "Death Stranding."

Deus Ex

the prequel games (the two new ones) are pretty good, but as a whole the first game is just so, so, so much better than all the other installments, they are trash in comparison

Disagree mate, i think MGS2 was fine on it's own, but not good in comparison to it's predecessor. I loathe MGS3 and 4. But to each his own.

Good one.

crysis (and warhead).

crysis 2 was pretty good and certainly not a bad game but story-wise, bizarrely, had little-to-nothing to do with the first game(s). the open world was gone, the destructibility gone, the alien enemy changed, the protagonist different, even the visuals weren't as good... it was a sequel that felt very unlike its predecessor, and got nowhere near it quality-wise. then crysis 3 came along and further pushed that feeling of detachment from the originals. a pretty awful way to conclude the trilogy. beautiful but awful

Super Monkey Ball

The first one is one of my favorite games of all time. The second one is still good, but not as great as the first. All of the rest of them sucked.

Tomb Raider by Core Design. I couldn't get into TRII, III, Chronicles and the Angel of Darkness. Even if the Last Revelation was good, its gameplay was getting old, and the graphics not that surprising.

@brenobnfm: I disagree. Devil May Cry 3 is the Best Devil May Cry Game.it has more and better bossfight Battles(DMC 1 forces you to fight each one 3 times) and more enemy types.it has better camera compare to DMC 1 . enemy designs were also great how can you consider these enemies as bad design ?

DMC 3 also had Turbo mode,Vergil mode(which is much better than Sparda mode in DMC 1),realtime weapon change(much better than switching weapons in pause menu),styles,having this ability to choose the missions in a menu,more outfits for the characters.DMC 3 also had a better story compare to 1.(and better cutscenes)

The gameplay is also much deeper in DMC 3 compare to 1 due to this fact that you have more moves,more weapons/swords and you can pull out a lot of crazy moves in there that you can't in DMC 1.

DMC 3 also has a Gold mode which gives you infinite continues which is much better than limited continues that won't really make the game harder.(it just forces you to play older missions for grinding Red Souls.)

Saying DMC 1 is better than 3 is completely wrong.even DMC 4 has a much deeper Gameplay Compare to DMC 1.unfortunately the only problem that 4 has is Dante levels.

Mass Effect 1 is the only shitty one in the franchise. Mass Effect 2 is the single biggest leap in quality I've ever seen a sequel make over the predecessor.

I can't think of a single franchise where only the first game was good.

@brenobnfm:

You lost me at Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid. I strongly disagree with you there. I feel like their sequels strongly overpower the originals in every aspect.

Fear.

Do you like anything or are you trolling? You also made the thread about the OT of Star Wars being bad.

@brenobnfm:

How can you enjoy Metal Gear Solid 1 over the others anyway? Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid 1 was so damn unlikable and the writing was made so casually! It was really hard for me to finish Metal Gear Solid 1, especially past the first hour and the horrifying camera angles as well as the repetitive level design didn't help one bit. But I pretty much forced myself through it and eventually I started liking it once the plot twists started happening.

Like Hideo Kojima, I think he struck gold with the Big Boss story arc and I don't blame him for killing Solid Snake's boring ass in Metal Gear Solid 4. Solid Snake was a good start but his super human abilities really fucked up the serious tone of the first Metal Gear Solid. What I love about Metal Gear Solid 3 is that Big Boss is very human and his test of endurance was awesome compared to Solid Snake's adventure in MGS1. Solid Snake was the raw form and Naked Snake was more fleshed out as a character. He grew with his own ideals and he actually felt like he was his own person. Solid Snake was more like a dog always chasing a stick someone threw.

That's where it confuse me more. You say that MGS3 has laughably bad writing even though it was written by the same creator of MGS1 and 2 and also was in the exact same spirit. I could see why you hate MGS4 though. The cinemas were excruciatingly long and boring as hell. MGS5 didn't have those issues though and gameplay-wise MGS5 makes all of the older ones look unplayable, if not for the story.

Already been mentioned, but Deus Ex and F.E.A.R. come to mind...

And maybe Star Wars? If anyone remembers Dark Forces - that was a great game for it's time. I'd love to see another kick-ass single-player star wars game. Emphasis on SINGLE-PLAYER!!!

Far Cry, one of the great surprises of 2004.

But I disagree with those who said Tomb Raider and the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight line. In both cases the second game is better than the first, even if incrementally and even if Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight is virtually unplayable on today's systems.

@brenobnfm: Ain't you the same person who called out Monster Hunter as being a "bad kiddy Dark Souls game", and after I explained how Monster Hunter was complex, deep, and way before DkS you simply deleted your replies. . lol. Well either-way I think you're showing your age with these Rose-tinted glasses in this thread.

DMC3 have bad enemy design, and you spend most of the time in the game fighting them.

Certainly nostalgia here to an inferior game. Level design is better in DMC3, camera control is better in DMC3, plot is better in DMC3, character development and pacing are better in DMC3, lastly; combat is leagues better in DMC3. Music is questionable because both had fantastic scores. But let's go further on this-

If we include boss designs. The enemy designs from DMC3 are overall better than in the original game.

In the original DMC you had three variations of a blob, I wouldn't call that creative. The Knight despite being his brother (Vergil) was also just a re-skinned Dante, reusing most of the players animations.

It goes without saying that from both a character design and as a boss battle Vergil>>>>>>>>>>>>Nelo Angelo

Add to that the Spider and Owl really got old and artistically look generic. Compared to the Twins, Chariate, and other brilliant bosses in DMC3 you be a fool to discredit DMC3 for variation. Now granted from the mob side I did get bored fighting Grim-men grunts on DMC3; so to an extent I agree. But the combat is so much better it makes the Grim-men less an issue. It's not as boring as putting up with DMC1s outdated clunky mechanics, that also had a massive lack of weapon variation.

@dorog1995 made great points in his own right, but I'm still in somewhat agreement with OP. A lot of the grunt enemies did have more personality in the original game. However, as stated for the original game, it had three blob monsters, a reskin of Dante, and threw that Owl and Spider at you a painful amont of times to make the game seem bigger. DMC1 was filled with layers of fat (like DMC4), while DMC3 is far more trim and confident in its content. And for boss variation DMC3 is superior

I can't say that I agree with any of that except for Devil May Cry 2 being bad. Devil May Cry 3 is an excellent game. Both Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid have all been excellent games as well. I can't really think of any franchises that have had great first games but all sequels have been bad. There have been some that have had misstep sequels here and there like the aforementioned Devil May Cry with the second game.

I kinda agree the Mass Effect, 2 was good but they pretty much turned it into a third person shooter, with barely any real RPG elements. And the story was boring, I get Bioware stories are all about the companions, but they didn't have to make the ENTIRE story into a recruitment drive.

Castlevania : Lords of Shadow was much better than its sequel. The sequel had a cool story, amazing music, good visuals, but the design of the game was really bad.

The stealth sections, despite being like 6% of the game were dreadful. Having those Hellguard units that were invulnerable to friggin' Dracula was NOT a good idea. Also, some of the enemies were a pain in the neck to fight. They soaked up way too much hits before they croak. You are Dracula - you're supposed to feel overpowered against normal fry and at least on par with the strongest enemy types.

The story is cool but the way it was told was confusing. I didn't fully understand why Dracula kept going in and out of the Castle till I read the wiki and found that the Castle trying to keep Dracula stuck in it forever. Level design, despite the game being made hub like, faltered. It was really hard to get around and backtracking through areas with enemies that had bloated HP was irritating.

100% agree with this. i loved the first game. epic story but rough around the edge mechanics. the streamlined second was slicker but lacked the charm of the first and i got story fatigue around two thirds through when i realised the game was never going to be much more than one long repetitive recruitment drive. a shadow of the epic tale from the first game

Oh man, I dunno where to start because when I follow a game series, I mostly follow it because I like it.

erm, FEAR maybe...the first game was a lot of fun and kinda creepy but the expansions were crap and I played ab it of FEAR 2 and got bored

I wana include series that got bad somewhere along the line so here goes:

MGS1-4 are some of my fave games of all time, 4 may be the best ever but then along came MGSV and i've complained about it enough so I'll shut up

Massive fan of Tekken but I have not enjoyed the PS3 ones so let's hope this one is better

And PES...where did it all go wrong? PES 2016 and 17 are fun but they lack the power and finesse of FIFA these days

Mario...like its about time there is a fully fledged version and not some cheap 2D rip off of games 25 years ago

Oh and how can I forget Resi...I haven't played enough of 7 to comment but Resi 5 and 6 were just bad games

FEAR. The original was great, the first FPS I actually enjoyed, but FEAR 2 was a letdown (however it's still a decent game). I lost interest in this series after 2 and never played 3.

Ghost Recon

The first Soul Reaver is by far the best in the series. Every game after took one step forward, two steps back. (Blood Omen was technically the first, but it is so much different from every other game in the series. SR was the foundation the rest were built on)

The Ubisoft Prince of Persias never got bad, but none were ever as great as Sands of Time.

@soul_starter: Resident Evil 5 is a good game, not as good as 4 but it's still a good entry in the series.

Dragon Age, Origins and Awakening were great, but 2 and 3 were kind of meh.

The original Disgaea is still my favorite, because the cast of characters was so likable. The other games in the series are good too, and to be fair I haven't played some of them. but the first is still the one that stands out to me.

The first Metroid Prime was better than the second and third ones, because that game was so well-polished.

I think the impact that Demons' Souls had was a bit lost on me with Dark Souls.

A lot of people would argue that vanilla WOW was better than its subsequent expansions. I never got to experience it, but might agree if I had.

MGS2 is objectively better than mgs1. People just don't like raiden but the game was fucking great, it is a better game than most modern games, and I'm not talking about shitty video games either and I"m not talking about quality, I'm talking about the depth of the gameplay.

I actually liked Raiden and I loved the story. It's kinda eerie how spot-on Kojima was about the digital age. I loved the Tanker but it was the bomb defusal all over Big Shell that I did not like. The remaining portions of Big Shell was awesome though. I also liked the boss fights (except for Fatman and the Harrier) - I used to glitch-vade through Vamp and Solidus by hanging off a railing/ledge and getting back up just as they are gonna attack you so that you go "through" them without any damage done to you and I follow this up with a combo. Very easy to defeat them and takes no time at all.

@vfighter: That's your opinion and it's fair neough but Resi 5 took so many steps back: the combat was slower, everything was so sluggish, you almost always had a partner with you which took away from any genuine horror (Resi 4 still had a lot of that) and so on. It was essentially Capcom trying to do what they'd done iwth 4 but getting it all wrong.

@fend_oblivion: Damn, I had no idea about that glitch lol And although I like MGS1 more, MGS2s story was one for the ages and as you say, it really reflected the times and still does today. I also enjoyed the musing on what it means to be a sequel, a nod from Kojima towards the fact that he was actually reluctant to make a sequel lol

Late 90s to MGS4 was Kojima at his absolue peak.

Max Payne for me

@soul_starter: You can see the glitch in this video. It's very easy to do and works on any difficulty mode. For some odd reason, I can't find a single video online that uses this same glitch for Solidus. The glitch works for Solidus in the same way - hang off a ledge and when he tries to attack you, get up and you'll glitchvade through him. Use that time to do a quick combo. Jump off the ledge and repeat till he croaks.

Like I don't know what people are saying, mgs2 is without a doubt worth being a game, I also even liked Fatman, it was a funny fight.

I'd say that it even did stuff better than mgs3.

But yeah, Raiden I liked decently, when he changed in mgs4 he was a good character but good in a different way (like oh shit that guy is bad ass)

I think people are just not liking the fact that they had to see a naked guy, which is more to do with low self esteem and gay thoughts than anything -w-

Could be but I think it's more to do with them not being happy that there was another protagonist in the first place. People grew up with Solid Snake, and that's who they wanted to see in MGS 2.

I liked Raiden; dood could do aerials. AERIALS.

Final Fantasy Tactics was amazing, but the pathetic watered down "sequels" on the GBA and 3DS are an insult to the name.

Also, pretty much every Final Fantasy after the PSX era went downhill. I haven't played XV yet though, and it looks like the first FF in years that I actually WANT to play.

@dorog1995:DMC3 has better boss fights, i give you that. I has a better combat too overall, although i prefer the more strategical and weighty feel of the first. DMC is better at everything else: atmosphere, soundtrack, level design... DMC is a much better video game overall, DMC3 is a better combat simulator. Some of the enemies in DMC3 are just a chore, **** that chess pieces and blood goyles.

No, you mixed it up things, i said Chrono Trigger is a kiddy game and Dark Souls was 100x better than any game on that list, including any Monster Hunter. I didn't delete anything, i was banned. Showing my age? I played both DMC's for first time last year mate.

Nope, Mass Effect 1 had flaws, but had a great concept. Mass Effect 2 is just made by committee garbage with some polish.

Sorry, i didn't mean they are bad, they are garbage.

First of all: Hideo Kojima is a hack, he can't write for shit, he is just a good video game director and has good ideas. Metal Gear Solid is a much tighter package then it's sequels, Kojima didn't have the same kind of power at the time and it had a GOAT localization conducted by Jeremy Blaustein, the guy that fixed all non sense shit that is present in the sequels and directed the voice acting, choosing the actors and etc. The result? Kojima fired the guy because he fixed his shit, and you can clearly see there was no substitute in the sequels.

What makes MGS1 great?

Shadow Moses: the best location of the series, unrivaled atmosphere.

Voice acting: one of the bests of the MEDIA and the best of the series by a country mile, just look that trash called Twin Snakes to realize how important it is.

Soundtrack: amazing, best in the series.

Script: much better than the sequels, gave the game phenomenal pace.

Characters: Best cast, FOXHOUND is miles better than Dead Cell or Cobra Unit. Solid Snake and Grey Fox are legendary characters. Big Boss is just a shallow wannabe SS with bad voice acting(same actor but much worse performance).

Writing: Already had some ilogical stuff, but nothing compared to the sequels. Also, the localization probably improved it by 500% considering the level of the writing in the sequels.

There isn't one thing that MGS2 is better apart from graphics, it's inferior in every single level. The game had an interesting message in the end, that's it.

There is so much bullshit in this game: possessed arm, otacon melodrama and much more.

I can agree with Mass Effect games. I find the first one to be the best balance of a WRPG and a shooter out there. The second and third just does not reach it. ME:A is good but need more polished added to it.

Kudos for having mentioned Jeremy Blaustein! That man did Snatcher CD's localization as well, and it proved to be far better than what most localized games were getting in written form, because the voices made all the difference and set the mood. However, I cannot subscribe to conceptual differences that appealed to a major audience, because it led to their ignorance (case in point: MGS labels 'Otaku' as someone who likes Japanimation).

The funny thing is that Metal Gear Solid: Integral (the Japanese original that was ported to PC) featured the English voice cast, so I can't put my finger on the subject of Jeremy Blaustein being fired by Kojima, because it's Konami that ultimately calls the shots. As a production studio getting money overseas, Konami looked at Kojima's creation as a means for adaptation, like an anime to an on going manga, so it doesn't surprise me that the former was without Kojima's consent, and that creative differences put Jeremy Blaustein aside.

No such thing as an asshole. The Japanese were simply respectful towards their creators.

@brenobnfm:

If you really feel like that then you should try Metal Gear Solid 5. Kojima had even less control over it than Metal Gear Solid 1. On that note, it's hard to believe that you would play any Metal Gear Solid game after 2 if you thought that Kojima was a writing hack. Story is 90% of every Metal Gear Solid game ranging from 1-4.

I can understand that. I guess I have my own reasons, but Mass Effect 2 was my favourite in the series, and it had a ton of squadmates. I loved all of the choices you could have. Jack wound up being my favourite throughout the whole thing.

Obviously, with so many different squadmates, there's bound to be some with horrible storylines. I enjoyed all the different combos you could make when taking your squad out, and the Suicide Mission at the end where anyone's ass could be on the line.

Kojima got pretty mad about the changes, Blaustein himself said that Kojima didn't want to work with him after that, i think Blaustein was very assertive about what he thought was the correct decision and would not back off like a "yes man", most of Kojima's dumb non sense wouldn't work in the west, it worked after that because MGS was an established brand already, but he got pretty criticized anyway about stuff like nanomachines. Kojima's ego is too big to accept someone changing his work even if it is for the better, but fair enough, it's his work and he has the right, even if his writing skills are shit.

@brenobnfm:

DMC is better at everything else: atmosphere, soundtrack, level design...

I don't know how you think level-design is better in the first game, the areas are really annoying to navigate and the camera rarely knows how to respond to the maps. This is dialled up to 11 during the Ghost Ship.

Atmosphere, really question. . DMC is very one note in that department outside of the Ghost Ship and the ending areas it's purely medieval coba stones.

and Dark Souls was 100x better than any game on that list, including any Monster Hunter. I didn't delete anything, i was banned.

Really? Well now, that just makes me wonder what you did to get the ban, lol.

And 'nah' Monster Hunter 4G>>Dark Souls :P

I don't need to re-explain why. Both are amazing games but 4G has far more content, depth, replay-value, and creature design is in a league of its own.

You clearly just favor games with unfounded bias, with little to back-it-up. Which is fine, but it's very different when you smack talk games that are overall, and heavily considered superior_

Hmm, Call of Duty , Battlefield , Dark Souls, Persona, most Nintendo games. Forza , and a shit ton of indie games.

To name a few , but to be fair most FPS games tend to go towards the bottom of the barrel.

Bioshock, Hotline Miami

Dragon Age is the obvious one here.

The first was great and the subsequesnt games were friggin' garbage.

@Jacanuk: call of duty? I really liked the new ones.

The one in space?

That one is the worst in the whole franchise.

actraiser for snes, the first game was one of the masterpieces of its day, the sequel was a generic challenging platformer. I did enjoy the sequel but I don't think anyone would argue it is better than the original.

Batman series on the nes: the first batman game for nes was amazing and still holds up as one of the greatest platformers ever made, all of its nes sequels were mediocre to total trash.

Final fight: Although I did enjoy all of the final fight games (including the much hated ps2 game) I think most people would agree that the original arcade final fight is the strongest game in the series.

I'm sure I could think of more, also it bears repeating that just about everything posted in the original post is wrong except for dmc 2 being a garbage game.

Crysis. The first game got me back into pc gaming and fps games after a long hiatus. After beating the first game I was so excited that there were 3 more to play. Then i started crysis 2. I couldn't go anywhere and the story was soooo shitty! Crysis 3 was even worse! By that point I couldn't even enjoy Warhead because the bitter taste in my mouth. How they can destroy such a great game blows my mind.