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Opposite of the sequels thread, which game series got it perfect the first time and never recaptured that glory with further installments?
I hear Bioshock tossed around on this one but I've never played it. Same with Dragon Age.
I honestly can't think of a game series I played where I didn't find ANY of the sequels better than the original.
Dragon Age by far. The story was so much better and the gameplay too. Although I know there's some that'll disagree with me on gameplay.
Mario 1 was definitely better than 2.
Ghost Recon and all it's expansions are better than the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series. Haven't played the most recent game in the series so I'm not sure about that.
I'd say that Valkyria Chronicles 1 is better than 2 simply because it was on a console instead of handheld. :x Never actually played 2 so no idea how it is story/gameplay-wise.
Kingdom Hearts 1
Dino Crisis 1
Portal
Deus Ex
You should play Dragon Age: Origins. The ultimate edition's like twenty bucks now. I think you'll like it.
Off the top of my head:
Portal
Chrono Trigger
Valkyrie Profile
Perfect Dark
Katamari Damacy
God of War
???????
NiGHTS. Definitely.
Chrono Trigger! That's a good one. I also forget Perfect Dark had a sequel and that's a good example too.
I'm playing God of War III and so far I think it's better than the first two. I also think Portal 2 pretty much blew Portal 1 out of the water in terms of gameplay. Maybe story of Portal 2 isn't as good and the innovation isn't as profound since it is a sequel, but I thought it was an overall better game.
Not really the same. What I am is asking is for games where the original was better than all sequels, not just the immediate sequel. So if you want to say Mario 1 was the best Mario then you are saying it is also better than Mario 3, Mario World, Mario 64, etc. which I hope no one actually thinks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Cim
I just came up with another great one. Tetris. No matter how many times Nintendo tries to improve it they cannot beat the original game.
wow. really? poor subject matter.
Honestly, what game hasn't there been where the sequels were not considered better. If the original game was so good it warranted a sequel, what are the odds honestly that the sequel would live up? The most common sequels to outrate the originals are those made of games that weren't originally all that good but decided to make the sequel anyway for whatever reason. Those were good days. They don't really do that much anymore.
Metal Gear Solid came to mind but then I realized this wasn't the first Metal Gear at all. This is a tough question!
Edit: Oh wait, Driver of course.
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Dragon Age: Origins, of course. While I think Mass Effect 2 was technically better, I very much preferred the first. Halo: CE. Perfect Dark.
There was a 2nd Perfect Dark? I kid I kid.
I can't actually speak on that because I never played the sequel. Out of all the franchises I've played I can't think of a single one where the original was the best.
I have fonder memories of Super Mario Kart than I do of Double Dash and the Wii version, but Double Dash was a good game and I had spent way less time with it than Super Mario Kart because I was playing it on someone else's console. Double Dash might've been better.
I completely forgot Perfect Dark had a sequel. Yeah, I'd say the game which was better than Goldeneye and set the bar for console multiplayer in terms of options qualifies with such a mediocre sequel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Del Murder
I would actually fall in the God of War was better than the sequels camp I think. The gameplay definitely became more polished in 2 and 3, but I think the pacing and story of the first more than make up for it. In the first game, while Kratos was still an ultra-violent dick, he was more sympathetic than in the later games, and the plot and his development, in particular the twist at the end, felt much more in line with the feel of greek mythology and being something of a tragedy. The later games really never captured that for me.Quote:
I'm playing God of War III and so far I think it's better than the first two.
I liked the new game mechanics Portal 2 introduced, and I actually did like the story as well, but I do think Portal was slightly better. And not because it innovated as much as it did. I mean, that was impressive, but even ignoring that, it was a game which gave you a few simple game mechanics, mixed them as perfectly as I could imagine any game doing, and topped it off with the closest thing to perfect pacing I've ever seen in a game. The game never feels like it's dragging on, never feels like it's repeating itself, or getting you to perform tedious and obvious tasks for the sake of it, even when it's simply teaching you the basics. The entire journey is one of discovery and the careful and thoughtful application of the players explorations of the mechanics.Quote:
I also think Portal 2 pretty much blew Portal 1 out of the water in terms of gameplay. Maybe story of Portal 2 isn't as good and the innovation isn't as profound since it is a sequel, but I thought it was an overall better game.
And, perhaps the biggest thing for me, I think Portal 2 occasionally devolved into a case of find the one white patch where you need to throw a Portal to advance. Granted, the original sometimes had puzzles with one solution that works (or one solution that 99% of people will find and some game breaking thing most people never see), but they usually did a better job of letting the player experiment to find it. Now, it's not all of Portal 2 that's like that by any stretch, just a moment here and there, but it plays a big part in why I felt that every moment in Portal just felt so much better. It just seemed to do a lot more to push the player to experiment. Something I don't think was as much the case. And maybe it's just me, but being made to basically undergo another tutorial of sorts for the various gels midway through the game is a bit weird after being basically cut loose in the facility part way through. It's almost like starting a new game half way through. I know why it has to happen that way of course, and I'm not saying it's not still fun of course. It just means that this brilliant structure that Portal had where it constantly builds on what came before from the moment you step out of the bed chamber doesn't happen as smoothly in Portal 2 if I've made any sense.
Now for the really weird part, I think I would say I like Portal 2 more overall because I love the new mechanics and I'm a bit of a gameplay whore, but if we're talking which is the better experience overall from start to finish, I think I have to admit that Portal wins by simply being as close to perfect as I think I'll ever see a game come.
Anyway, as for some others, I think I'll have to agree with Crop about Kingdom Hearts and Dino Crisis. Couldn't stand Dino Crisis 2, and granted, I've only played Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, but KH2 was a pretty terrible sequel in a lot of ways. Developers would do well to not assume all of their players to have knowledge of events that occurred in spin-off title on a handheld console that takes place between two numbered entries on the same home console. I have never been as confused trying to figure out what the hell I was going on in a game simply because I didn't own a GBA at the time.
EDIT: I post and then see while I was typing that Depression Moon brings up Mario Kart. I'll admit that I'm a bit torn between deciding whether or not Mario Kart is better than MK64, so I'll go the cop out route and call them a tie. Aside from those, I've played every console iteration and the DS version, and I don't think I'd call any of them better than the original. MKDS comes closest to being as good, but Double Dash and MKWii are both terrible games.
Mass Effect.
Mario Kart 64 was the best Mario Kart. I'm surprised people prefer the original to it!
One word: Feather.Quote:
Originally Posted by Del Murder
Two words: Suck it.