Sequel Disappointment

[Specter Von Baren]

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

I couldn't get passed the introduction mission, the tone was just so different. The first one was this wonderful, playful romp of a story, with the fun story device of it being the hero retelling the events, thus explaining the rewinding. The banter and chemistry between the hero and the female protagonist was great, and I enjoyed them playing off each other. The ending was good and felt earned, and fit the narrative wonderfully.

...and then Warrior Within. Because what we totally needed was an edgelord, 90s cliche of a character, that totally broke the tone of the hero rascal we loved from the previous game. And then on top of THAT...we have Metal Thong Girl. Oh dear lord Metal Thong Girl. When I got to the fight with her, and the game stopped to go to a cutscene, that was a FULL SCREEN CLOSEUP on her metal clad ass, as she came up from below the deck of the ship......yeah, I just turned the game off. It was just...so wrong for the previous game. Now I don't have any problems with a hot female ass, quite the opposite. But it just didn't belong in my Prince of Persia game. And it was just so blatant.

You know what grinds my gears about all that? Shahdee (Metal Thong Girl) was being ordered to do what she did by Kaileena who is her boss and she turns on her boss and gets killed by the Prince. Later the Prince goes back in time and wants to kill Kaileena but instead of changing the timeline by maybe working together with Shahdee he continues on his own... I don't know. The whole plot grinds my gears with how it works out.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Does it have to be the first sequel?

The intention was sequels to the first title in a series, yes. But this thread has benefited from mention of sequels further into a series, so I'm not exactly gonna discourage it!

Okay, so, when you say sequel, does it have to be connected to the plot of its predecessor or not?

Can be either or! I know my example from Devil Survivor 1 & 2 aren't connected in any way, save for a brief line of dialogue in one spot as reference

 

[Dalisclock]

Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Solid V. MSG4 followed up the excellent Snake Eater with a game that was meant to capstone the story and does so by delivering a lot of longwinded, idiotic explanations, most of which are retcons or NANOMACHINES! The gameplay is okay and even the boss fights aren't bad, but the cringeness around the boss fights(the use of sexy ladies with incredibly tragic backstories who try to hump you to death when you get them our of their super suits) wasn't needed. Also, I may be the only one, but I liked Raiden better when he wasn't an emo breakdancing cyborg ninja. The Child soldier turned manipulated smuck had some emotional punch, instead of the...IT RAINED ThE DAY I WAS BORN!

MGSV both because it was a inferior sequel to Peace Walker(which was structured much the same way) and because of the fact it's both blatantly unfinished in the 2nd act, it fails to deliver on a lot of it's promises and it's plot(PARASITES!) is dumb ever by metal gear standards. The Parasite unit is pretty craptacular for recurring enemies, most of the interesting dialogue is in the audio tapes and then there's the whole Quiet thing(Seriously, just say she likes dressing like that and she's the silent type. Problem Solved!). Only the excellent moment to moment gameplay makes it worth playing.

 

[Hawki]

Time Crisis 5 just felt kinda "slow" and average compared to 2, 3, & 4. It's not bad, not as good as the previous entries. The twist I did not see coming, but I did feel sad as all the efforts from 2 go completely down the drain.

Um, they did stop the guy and his satellite from doing...whatever they were going to do. So, there's that.

Know idea why Robert went evil, but this is Time Crisis. Does anyone care about the plot in this series?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Uncharted 4 - In terms of story. I hate Sam Drake. He is a fan fic character. Nadine is a Karma Houdini. Lost Legacy tried to fix this, but the damage was done. In fact, Cutter should have been Cloe's partner in Lost Legacy. That dynamic would have worked way better.

I could sort of except Sam if I squinted. I had a much bigger problem with Nathan's backstory of his mom being "a brilliant archeologist". The one thing Uncharted 3 did well is expose him as just some orphan living on the street who measures himself an interesting past to pretend he's more important than he is. But then Uncharted 4 comes along and says 'No, you weren't a nobody, your mom was actually this incredible person. And archeology is in your blood.' Fuck off game.

I can see how Chloe and Nadine could've been interesting, if Naughty Dog wasn't so prone to be likeable: It would've been cool if these two characters just didn't like eachother throughout the entire game and at best came out at the end with a newfound respect for one another. But instead they need to become besties by the end, because Naughty Dog. It speaks volumes that the dynamic between these characters only really starts to function properly once Sam is thrown into the mix near the end.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Deus Ex IW: Perfect example of how not to make sequel
Deus Ex MD: Disappointing compare to masterpiece human revolution was
Max payne 2: less atmospheric and worse than original in every way
Crysis 2: incredibly dumbed down consolized version of original one that was masterpiece
FEAR 2: See above

 

[BrawlMan]

Time Crisis 5 just felt kinda "slow" and average compared to 2, 3, & 4. It's not bad, not as good as the previous entries. The twist I did not see coming, but I did feel sad as all the efforts from 2 go completely down the drain.

Um, they did stop the guy and his satellite from doing...whatever they were going to do. So, there's that.

Know idea why Robert went evil, but this is Time Crisis. Does anyone care about the plot in this series?

I am not talking about Ernesto Diaz and stupid satellite. You seem to be forgetting someone. Remember Christy Ryan? The woman you save at the end of the game. Robert killed her off screen. Like said, efforts go down the drain. The second player becomes a bad guy, and the person you saved dies off screen 3 months before the event of the 5th game. That's just not right, and I don't appreciate having it happened. I do care about the plots in a cheesy action movie way. Let's just say I am not the only one either. Oh, and the voice acting for Wild Dog sucked in 5.

 

[Dalisclock]

Dark Souls 2 was my big heartbreak. It had so little of what I liked and was amazing by in the first game that I never once got into a comfortable groove. The whole game felt like a clunky slog - a cover song performed poorly.

Dark Souls was one of those games I tried and suprisingly loved despite me not thinking I would get into it(I don't normally care for challenge modes in games and a game selling on being hard doesn't do much for me). So I walked into Dark Souls 2 with fond feelings for the first one like a year later(and years after both had been released) but aware of it's reputation.

And yeah, it felt like DS2 was made by someone who wanted to recapture the magic and had no idea how to do so, but not only that, didn't seem to understand WHY people liked the first one. The difficulty curve feels excessively punishing in the beginning, even as someone coming off beating the first game(including the Artorias DLC), the Soul Level Mechanic feels broken, a lot of the boss battles feel uninspired(one of them is literally a bunch of big rats in a small, crowded room, and then there's the "Oh, lets recolor SIF and make him poison. They'll never notice" boss). The whole intro is just kinda there and doesn't explain much of anything of what's going on, nor does it ever get mentioned or explained at any point during the game itself. The level design is both good and awful depending on the area, where some areas feel great while the overall progression feels like a bunch of areas stitched together almost at random at times(the infamous Windmill elevator comes to mind). The game punishes you far more for repeated deaths due to the hollowing mechanic and the items needed to fix that are finite.

I personally also detested the sheer invasion happiness on display, where not only could you be invaded ANYTIME(and often were, despite being hollowed), but there were a bunch of NPC invaders added as well. I know a lot of people are into the PVP but I tolerated it in Dark Souls because I could opt out fairly easily. I actually appreciated that bloodborne made PVP entirely optional(and I more or less couldn't PVP anyway because the online was paywalled on PS4, unlike PC).

I've gotten the impression the game basically got revamped(and it's creative lead got tossed/quit) about halfway through development, which explains a lot about just how awkward so much of it feels(Time Travel was apparently supposed to be part of the plot and that would probably explain the intro whirlpool thingy). This was on top of the FROM B-team being on DS2 while miyazaki and the A-Team were making BloodBorne.

 

[Hawki]

You seem to be forgetting someone. Remember Christy Ryan? The woman you save at the end of the game. Robert killed her off screen. Like said, efforts go down the drain.

Ah yes, Christy. That character who had so much depth...

Look, I'm not going to tell people what characters to get invested in and not, but that Christy is killed off-screen doesn't mean much to me when she was barely even a character at all, in a setting where characterization is already extremely sparse. And even then, our efforts aren't undermined per se. The goal of TC2 was to stop the satellite from launching. Rescuing Christy was part of the package.

 

[BrawlMan]

You seem to be forgetting someone. Remember Christy Ryan? The woman you save at the end of the game. Robert killed her off screen. Like said, efforts go down the drain.

Ah yes, Christy. That character who had so much depth...

Look, I'm not going to tell people what characters to get invested in and not, but that Christy is killed off-screen doesn't mean much to me when she was barely even a character at all, in a setting where characterization is already extremely sparse. And even then, our efforts aren't undermined per se. The goal of TC2 was to stop the satellite from launching. Rescuing Christy was part of the package.

Destroy the satellite aside, it makes the second game almost pointless. Characters aside, I just don't feel the game was kind of average overall. Crisis Zone I found more enjoyable than Time Crisis 5.

 

[stroopwafel]

I've gotten the impression the game basically got revamped(and it's creative lead got tossed/quit) about halfway through development, which explains a lot about just how awkward so much of it feels(Time Travel was apparently supposed to be part of the plot and that would probably explain the intro whirlpool thingy). This was on top of the FROM B-team being on DS2 while miyazaki and the A-Team were making BloodBorne.

Yeah, the original director left(or got thrown out as he doesn't appear to work for Fromsoftware anymore; who knows) and the disparate maps got stitched together and retrofitted into Tanimura's vision. Which, given the limited time and creative leeway, he actually did a remarkable job. The guy also co-directed Dark Souls 3 with Miyazaki so obviously he is very talented but sometimes you just have to work with what you have. It's probably a miracle Dark Souls 2 exist at all. I don't think it has necessarily to do with there being an 'A' and 'B' team. The game just had troubled development. Dark Souls 2's mood and themes are still very intriguing I think and a very interesting take on that of the first one.

Another explanation is probably also that Japanese game development tend to be very top down with the director as the central figure. They really infuse the project with their vision. Western game development is different I guess. Like with Fallout I doubt removing Todd Howard as director would have drastically changed, say, Fallout 4. It leads to less of a unique identity but also ofcourse reduces the risk of one person setting the entire project up for failure as you have more people delivering equal input.

 

[happyninja42]

I actually played through that game twice.......Because I just had to get the good ending. Just play Two Thrones. It will wash the nastiness out of your eyes and ears.

I started Two Thrones, but I didn't finish it. I might dust it off and play it again later, *shrugs*

You know what grinds my gears about all that? Shahdee (Metal Thong Girl) was being ordered to do what she did by Kaileena who is her boss and she turns on her boss and gets killed by the Prince. Later the Prince goes back in time and wants to kill Kaileena but instead of changing the timeline by maybe working together with Shahdee he continues on his own... I don't know. The whole plot grinds my gears with how it works out.

Yeah that does sound really dumb. Glad I avoided the game all together. Real shame too, because the franchise and the game mechanic had a lot of potential for a lot of fun in an ongoing kind of way. I know they made Two Thrones, but it kind of fizzled out and the franchise died at that point. Which is a shame, because I enjoyed the first one SO much. It just hit all my buttons for an enjoyable game back in the day.

 

[CaitSeith]

God of War 2.

I never had got disappointed by a sequel as fast and hard as with GoW2. Bye bye, tragic badass of a greek hero! Hello, biggest fool in all Olympus!

I pass, thank you very much and good bye!

Was he ever tragic though? I mean, it was tragic for his wife and daughter, but Kratos was always kind of a big asshole and I can't say I actually felt sorry for him even in the first game. His character in the sequel was worse though since the bit of dignity he had in the first game got torn away in favour of a whiney shitheel.

From classic greek literature definition, yeah, his story was greek tragedy. He was an asshole searching for redemption to cure his guilt. He made the World a favor by getting rid of Ares, but that did nothing for his guilt, and nothing would do; so he offed himself in a fit of despair.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I'm sorry, as usual I have to make things difficult.

My response is something that might not be a sequel, but a possible spiritual successor.

And that's Team Sonic Racing [https://store.steampowered.com/app/785260/Team_Sonic_Racing/], the Sequel/Spiritual Successor of Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed [https://store.steampowered.com/app/212480/Sonic__AllStars_Racing_Transformed_Collection/]

Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed is the best Cart Racing Game I ever played in my life. I grew up a Nintendo Kid, by the way. The 8 year old me is calling me a traitor. But I simply love it.

It was full of life. The music was BANGING. The vehicle transformations. The (albeit light) car modifications. The Power Ups. The Stages.

Oh My GOD, the STAGES. THE CHARACTERS. The whole experience dripped fun and personality. I smiled. I smiled so much playing it. I smiled in a really bad time in my life. It reminded me that there was fun.

Ever since I got a switch, I have been begging the universe for two things. Street Fighter 3rd Strike and Sonic and Allstars Racing Transformed. I got 3rd Strike from the 30th anniversary collection. and I'm happy. When the news dropped that there was going to be a new Sonic Kart racing game from Sumo Digital, it felt like my prayers were finally answered. The Details was scant, but it had Sonic in his same Kart that he had in Sonic Transformed as a cover.

I literally teared up when I saw it. I thought it was a sequel. I bought it and loaded it up, psyched that I'd finally have a Sonic Transformed on the go.

And Team Sonic was muted. All muted. With a team mechanic that isn't fun. Doesn't matter if you're in first place, if your team isn't as good as you, you lose. I still barely get what the power ups are.

Also, strangely enough as an ex-Nintendo Fanboy, I didn't play that much sonic. I'm sure the stages are great throwbacks to those who played it, but I felt nothing seeing these places.

And as you see in the ratings, I'm not the only person who thinks something is off. There are people who love this game. I get it. I'm glad they do. But this is just a shadow of what Sonic Transformed is.

 

[Hawki]

Snip

But can you feel the sunshine?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Snip

But can you feel the sunshine?

Anytime we get to call the Burning Rangers


I'm literally shivering with joy hearing the sounds of this track.

 

[votemarvel]

Snip

But can you feel the sunshine?

Anytime we get to call the Burning Rangers


I'm literally shivering with joy hearing the sounds of this track.

Okay. Now I have to put the game in my Saturn and I was planning to go to bed. Damn you.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Okay. Now I have to put the game in my Saturn and I was planning to go to bed. Damn you.

With everything that I am, you are most welcome.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Mankind Divided compared to Human Revolution. There just seemed to be something off about the controls and the shooting felt stiff.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'm sorry, as usual I have to make things difficult.

Nah, I'd quality your choice as fine enough. Your choice is a big reason why I always make sure to at least check out 1-2 reviews for a game first before buying, unless I know for an absolute FACT it's gonna be perfect and what I expect, which is not often at all. Sorry to hear ya got burned. I also was kinda curious about it. Never played any of the Sonic racing games, and the music/trailers for the new one were top notch. But once I heard about the gameplay... Hoo boy. My heart is with everyone on that