Why do we hate the third installment so much?

[Da Orky Man]

This is just selection fallacy probably. You're picking up on a pattern purely because there are so many third games out there, that some are bound to bad.

The third Metal Gear game is Metal Gear Solid, one of the most famous and influential games of all time. The third game in the Solid series of Metal Gear is Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, the least controversial of the whole series and widely beloved by most.

The third Warcraft is one of the best RTS' of all time. The third World of Warcraft expansion (Cataclysm) was the fast selling PC game ever until the newest Diablo.

Final Fantasy III got voted the 8th best game of all time by the Famitsu readership. Final Fantasy III (by which I mean VI) is widely proclaimed by many to be a franchise best.

Grand Theft Auto III (3D) was called a landmark in the gaming industry. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the 3rd 3D GTA game and the third GTA PS2 game and the third GTA in the Grand Theft Auto III series, is the best selling game of all time
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It looks like 3 is a lucky number =D Can anyone think of more to add to this by the way? Videogames are numbered so weirdly

Morrowind
Halo 3
Fallout 3
Wing Commander 3
Saints Row 3
Civilization 3

And so on.

 

[DoPo]

I think they hate it because it actually sucks. Well a lot of times that's the case, actually - strong start with the first product, second one may be better or worse usually not by much but just noticeable and finally the third product would either get the series back on track (if the second one was weak) or break it. It's a common pattern.

I can't actually speak for Spider Man 3 and dark Knight Rises - I never watched any of them. I didn't even hear people complain. But you're wrong if you think people decry Mass Effect 3 - the actual feelings people have expressed are that the game itself is good - at least not way worse or way better than the other two. It's the ending that people take an issue with. I don't need to go into it - it has been explained to death.

He's not wrong. You haven't been listening. People have been shitting all over ME3 since release. The people defending it, who you seem to be referring to, often end up being the ones getting flamed for daring defend the blatant "betrayal" of the fanbase everyone sTILL claims the third installment was.

People were shitting all over ME3 since before the release, in fact, but pretty much none of it was "this game is bad" it was very specific elements - the on disc DLC and the ending. I've seen very few people say the whole game is bad in its entirety.

 

[Astoria]

I think it's because the third part is (usually) the ending and everyone has a different idea of what a perfect ending is. Obviously the movie/game ect can never please everyone so a majority of people are disappointed and that translates to 'it was crap'. I seem to like many movies people don't, Matrix Revolution and Spiderman 3 for example. There are plenty of liked third entries in series though, like Return of the King, Return of the Jedi and Dark Knight Rises.

 

[BleedingPride]

Loved Dark Knight Rises, ME3 was my favorite, and I enjoyed Spiderman 3 if not only for the topher grace venom. But i think that it's only recently that the third installment of anything has become mainstream to hate.

maybe its not even that. maybe its just that the people who are angry for something are heard more because they yell more, you know? there could be only 20 people that dislike something, but they yell so loud that it seems like everyone hates it. like with the new DmC game. more people liked it than disliked it, but the angry fans keep on shouting.

 

[The White Hunter]

Title says it all. I never really understood why a lot of people seem to despise the third installment of a trilogy so much. From Spider-Man 3, to the Dark Knight Rises, to Mass Effect 3, audiences really seem to think that no matter what happens, the third installment of something a lot. Maybe I'm just starting to notice this or I haven't thought of a reason why, I just want to know why a lot of people seem to hate the third installment of something, weather it's the final installment or the next installment of a series.

Um, I found DKR to be the best movie out of them.

Mass Effect 3 was an excellent game.

Final Fantasy III (US) was also superb.


I don't see the hate.

The real Final Fantasy 3 is really damn good too.

Also, Super Mario Bros 3, Sonic 3, Metal Gear Solid 3, Resistance 3, Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story, Metroid Prime 3, Sly 3.

So yeah it's not always the third game that sucks, or is inferior to others in the series.

 

[Epicspoon]

Oh you think the third sequel is bad, try the fourth.

wouldn't the third sequel be the fourth movie anyways?

 

[his1nightmare]

No one shall raise Metroid Prime Corruption in this void of worthlessness. There are, indeed, positive examples. None where #3 kills #1 by its quality, but still, positive.

 

[Legion]

Speaking from my own observations of trilogies/series I like it seems to go:

- First one they have an original and new idea, it is well liked, if a little unpolished.

- Second time around they learn from the mistakes of the first one, and expand and improve upon it.

- Third one they decide that as the fans of the second one will no doubt want the third due to being fans, they can concentrate instead on trying to bring in people who didn't experience or like the second one. So they try and appeal to people who are not already fans rather than attempting to please those who already are.

This tends to mean that the fans of the series before buy it due to them being fans, and at this point are wondering what the hell is going on, while those who didn't like or didn't experience the second one are left wondering what the issue is as this new one appeals to them.

 

[Mistermixmaster]

I have no idea what you are on about. In my experience, the third ones seem to be among the best.
Examples:
- Super Mario Bros 3
- Metal Gear Solid 3
- Persona 3
- Valkyria Chronicles 3
- FarCry 3
- Fallout 3 (which I still find more enjoyable than New Vegas)
- Max Payne 3

But then again, different strokes for different folks, eh?

 

[sXeth]

#1 is the proof of concept. #2 they usually get it done right. #3 they tend to start milking the franchise.

Though there's plenty of exceptions.
Super Mario Bros 3. Last Crusade. Link to the Past. Ultima 3 : Exodus. All would see fairly regular use as the best of their trilogies, and usually even detractors would still list them fairly high.

 

[BrotherRool]

This is just selection fallacy probably. You're picking up on a pattern purely because there are so many third games out there, that some are bound to bad.

The third Metal Gear game is Metal Gear Solid, one of the most famous and influential games of all time. The third game in the Solid series of Metal Gear is Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, the least controversial of the whole series and widely beloved by most.

The third Warcraft is one of the best RTS' of all time. The third World of Warcraft expansion (Cataclysm) was the fast selling PC game ever until the newest Diablo.

Final Fantasy III got voted the 8th best game of all time by the Famitsu readership. Final Fantasy III (by which I mean VI) is widely proclaimed by many to be a franchise best.

Grand Theft Auto III (3D) was called a landmark in the gaming industry. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the 3rd 3D GTA game and the third GTA PS2 game and the third GTA in the Grand Theft Auto III series, is the best selling game of all time
-----------------------------------------------------
It looks like 3 is a lucky number =D Can anyone think of more to add to this by the way? Videogames are numbered so weirdly

Morrowind
Halo 3
Fallout 3
Wing Commander 3
Saints Row 3
Civilization 3

And so on.

That's not what I was going for =D There are a lot of good third games out there. I meant multiple games in a series that could all be considered 'the third' and have high acclaim.

(For example if Assassins Creed 3 was undeniably good, you could say that AC3 was a great game and Assassins Creed Brotherhood, the 3rd game in the series, was even better than 1 and 2)

 

[MammothBlade]

Title says it all. I never really understood why a lot of people seem to despise the third installment of a trilogy so much. From Spider-Man 3, to the Dark Knight Rises, to Mass Effect 3, audiences really seem to think that no matter what happens, the third installment of something a lot. Maybe I'm just starting to notice this or I haven't thought of a reason why, I just want to know why a lot of people seem to hate the third installment of something, weather it's the final installment or the next installment of a series.
Edit: Just wanted to make a quick clarification, I'm just using The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man 3, and ME 3 as examples. I don't think they're bad, although I admit I could of used better examples .

A lot of third installments are hated because the franchise either fails to reinvent itself or casualises.

Yet there are some which or great or at least which I enjoy and that's the only thing that matters, for instance DEUS EX HUMAN REVOLUTION GREAT MOTHER, EUROPA UNIVERSALIS III which was/is AWESOME, and plenty of others that roxxor my soxxors.

And another predictor, if the second is good the third will be mediocre/shit. If the second sucks, the third will be great.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

A lot of the times the third installment is about the time all the best ideas have been run into the ground. Or, if it's a trilogy set out to be a trilogy, it'll use the third episode to wrap up loose ends - which, while certainly great for bookkeeping, is less entertaining.

I don't think people go out of their way to hate the third part in a series, I think it's just that, on average, the third installment of a trilogy is utter hogwash. That said, it's really only applicable to story-driven media - videogames, perhaps the only purely mechanically iterative creative medium, needn't suffer from such trifles. Grand Theft Auto 3 is the classic it is because it built on top of a foundation laid down by its predecessors and did things with it that hadn't been done before. A book trilogy doesn't have that sort of leverage - it has to continue from its previous installments, not build on top of its previous installments.

 

[wrightguy0]

What about Grand Theft Auto III? The game that spawned or solidified the trend of sandbox games that still runs stronger, and in fact stronger, today?

and let's not forget San Andreas was also the third game in the III era of GTA and is adored by all

 

[Thoff09]

I'd say its because the third installment is generally the final one, and no one is ever fully satisfied with the ending to their favorite anything.

The final bite of cake is always the most dissapointing.

 

[Sexy Devil]

But spider man was pretty bad...

Spoiler: Spider man 3

That says it all for spiderman, seriously why is that scene even there...

As for Dark Knight Rises I thought it was a decent movie, sans the weird voice for Bane which made him sound like a stuffy gentleman and a few plot holes it was decent. Not great and certainly not the best end to the trilogy but decent.

Mass effect 3 is strange to talk about, it wasn't a bad game per say, it was actually pretty good (ignoring the ending). But the thing is it was hyped to hell and back and full of dlc and other money-grubbing features that caused a lot of community outcry. So basically it was a pretty good game, but was put in a bad light for the community because of a few crappy and useless features, oh and a poorly made ending (which has been fixed now, though that just goes to show how bad it was, they needed a whole new dlc to fix that up).

I don't understand why that scene gets so much shit. It's supposed to be laughably cringe-worthy because Peter's an awkward guy trying to be cool. No excuse for Venom, the other emo scenes, and pretty much everything else in the movie besides Sandman though.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Sipder man 3 sucked, Mass effect 3 was so so and Dead Space 3 is not Dead space. For gaming they water stuff down so much to sell to the mindless hordes more effeinactly.