The Hot Topic Returns

[DANGERMAN]

The one I've gone back to the most often is Resident Evil 4. It's not exactly the best horror game ever, but it's a fun game even if the tension of the siege sections goes on a 2nd play through. 

 

Gone Home was good, as have been mentioned. D2 is a personal favourite, but it's not especially scary, it's just weird 

 

I thought the Siren games were really creepy. Fatal Frame too, for the first couple at least 

 

I also loved the Starship Damrey on the 3ds, that was cool. And The House Abandon, that was really well done 

[radiofloyd]

A game that probably fits this week and last week’s question is Outer Wilds, a game that will definitely stand the test of time as a modern classic and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Not to mention, the DLC is straight up terrifying.

[Nag]

 

Quote

@Maf says... "what in your opinion is the series or sequel of games that has experienced the greatest fall off in terms of quality? Doesn't have to be the very next game from the first... it could be the forth in a long line of classics that suffered a huge drop off for whatever reason"

 

[shinymcshine]

Easy pickings in the RPG arena, where Dragon Age and Mass Effect both removed parts of the game that I enjoyed with each successive sequel (and added more of an action focus).

 

And I certainly did not enjoy BG3 as much as BG & BG2.

 

However they aren't necessarily a 'drop off' as others enjoyed the change of direction.

[one-armed dwarf]

Boring answer but for me it would be DMC2, where the previous game established a whole genre for action and its sequel was just this average hack and slash that wouldn't stand out but for the fact Dante was in it. Sorta felt like the series having its Matrix Reloaded moment and is the reason why despite having my mind blown by DMC1 I did not buy DMC3 for several weeks cause I thought the reviews were making things up

 

Another potential good answer here is the original version of FFXIV, which dealt such an existential blow to the prestige of that brand that they had to make it all over again, which was unprecedented for a game of that size

[mfnick]

This is tough as there’s a difference between sequels which actually drop in quality and ones which haven’t technically dropped in quality but have dropped for me personally. In the original sense it’s the ones we all know about - DMC 2, Driver 3, Resi 6, Paper Mario series etc. so a bit of a dull, well known answer pool. However I do have a couple to add.
 

Super Meat Boy Forever is possibly the biggest drop in quality for a sequel for me ever. To go from what is my favourite game ever with the best most precise controls and level design to an auto runner which feels bad and has boring badly stitched together level design just killed me. 
 

Forza Motorsport 5 - After 4 which is one of the greatest and most fully featured console simulation racers came this shit. Basically had no content and was just dull in comparison. I bought a One for this and it couldn’t have been worse.
 

 

 

But if we cast a wider net for games which didn’t really drop in quality technically but dropped for me personally - as in they’re still liked and well made games but not for me - there’s a lot! Remember this is my opinion and I know most don’t agree  

 

God of War 2018 and Ragnarok - in particular Ragnarok. I just don’t like the direction they’ve taken it at all and the open world shit is so boring. The Atreus sections are shit. 2018 is still decent enough but nothing compared to 2 & 3 for me. 
 

Zelda Majoras Mask & Wind Waker. OoT is one of the greatest games of all time. To be followed up by these 2 was a huge miss step for me. I detested the time mechanic in MM & I detested the sailing and boring open water bullshit in WW. 
 

Burnout Paradise - Open world just didn’t work for me at all in this series. Burnout 3 is still to me the greatest arcade racer ever. This is I give 5/10. 

FFVII Rebirth - Another killed by filler and open worlds/zones for me. Remake is sensational IMO. Just a brilliant fun filled time with little filler. This is all filler with the awesome set pieces and character moments of Remake spread so thin it lost all excitement for me. 

 

Most, if not all of these went from 9-10/10s to 5-6/10s. So huge drops personally. I’ve got loads more too but I’ll leave it at that for now. 

[HandsomeDead]

I think I'm just a bad fan because I've been happy to nonchalantly drop a series if it doesn't meet my preferences anymore without it affecting me and sticking in my mind much.  Resident Evil 6 is one that sticks out I guess, and RE5 to an extent but I got something of a kick out of it.  I could maybe say Battlefield 4 too but I think it was more me wanting something different from online shooters than that game falling off.

 

But any others I've found something else in another series that scratches that itch.  Like going from a PS1 Final Fantasy guy to Persona 3, to then Xenoblade as an example. 

[one-armed dwarf]

Apparently Gothic 3 is diabolical and Mary said it was like Germany's Cyberpunk 2077 at the time, tho without the refurbishment to save it

[Maryokutai]

Yeah, that was a minor catastrophe back then. I agree with the mention of Burnout, never could get into Paradise either whereas Takedown (and to a lesser extent Revenge) were excellent racing games.

 

For Final Fantasy I'd say for me personally the drop from XII to XIII was mind-boggling. The former being my favourite of the series, the latter probably being closer to the bottom of my list. Basically everything bar its visuals went downhill, and even then I'd argue XII has a significantly more appealing art direction. I'm a bit less of a XIII hater now than back then but the gulf is still enormous IMO.

 

Another one would be Fable II to Fable III. I still don't quite understand what Fable III wanted to be except a mix of every genre Molyneux ever worked on or wanted to work on, but it did not form a coherent whole at all. It's not horrible or anything, but a far cry from the other two (though in fairness none of them have held up particularly well).

 

And one that maybe isn't reflected in its sales numbers or reviews, but Fire Emblem has become utter nonsense since Awakening in my opinion. The old games were built around simple easy-to-grasp mechanics that nonetheless offer some immense depth, but more recently it's become a bucket full of anime tropes with micro- and macromanagment of equipment and skillsets and it's just an absolute chore to play. I tried the most recent one, Engage, after people said it would be 'a return to the classic template', but I spent more time looking at menus and talking to large-chested teenage girls than actually playing the game and called it quits after a few hours.

[DANGERMAN]

I feel like there's probably some really good examples of games that were once successful and have then just been sold on nothing but name recognition, but nothing is com...

Silent Hill! I know the remake is well regarded, it certainly looks like it tells the story well, but Silent Hill was a joke prior to it

 

Alone in the Dark too. It invented survival horror as we know it, but it really did get to a low point. It's a shame the studio that made the new one got shut down, because while it's not an amazing game, it's good enough that it deserved a sequel

 

Playing COD the other day reminded me of Medal of Honour (or Medal of Honor, I forget how it was spelt). That was the de facto war shooter in the PS2 era, it started to lose its way, but it was Modern Warfare that eventually killed it off

[HandsomeDead]

I could have sworn the older MoH games had the U in it (in places the U is still used) but it was dropped for the post CoD4 contemporary war game but no, it was always Medal of Honor in all regions.  TDL I guess.

[shinymcshine]

I'm sure there's a spot here for the Saints Row series (which IMHO peaked at SR2) and whilst I got some enjoyment out of the recent 'reboot' it wasn't really doing much new or impressive.

 

Likewise, and maybe a bit more controversially, I feel I had the most fun, as a single player game, with GTA VC and SA rather than IV and V (which stripped out some of the challenge missions) so it'll be interesting to see what they do with VI.

 

Mafia 3 suffered from poor gameplay design, with unengaging territory battles (a la GTA SA) and really poor enemy AI (whistle, then pile up those bodies around the door and no-one notices), but I liked the overall character theme & setting. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the next release.

[Maf]

Zelda 1 > Zelda 2

Mario World > Yoshi’s Island

Dead Space 2 > Dead Space 3

TLoU 1 > TLoU 2

Max Payne 2 > Max Payne 3

Bayonetta > Bayonetta 2 >>> Bayonetta 3 

[Sly Reflex]

Command & Conquer took a real dive.

The Elder Scrolls got worse in ways that is not easy to describe.

Same for Fallout.

Gears of War didn't even take it's trousers off before shitting itself.

Same for Halo.

Forza felt more soulless the more games it released.

Gran Turismo gave the same energy a B&Q has, it become so dull.

[Maryokutai]

10 hours ago, Maf said:

Mario World > Yoshi’s Island

TLoU 1 > TLoU 2

 

Now those are some scorching takes.

[one-armed dwarf]

I'm not a huge Elder Scrolls head but it's frustrating how mindblowing I found Morrowind but I couldn't even get close to the same feeling with Skyrim. It's sorta like going from Jodorowsky's Dune to just generic fantasy or something.

[DANGERMAN]

3 hours ago, Maryokutai said:

 

Now those are some scorching takes.

Mfnick has slagged off Burnout Paradise and the 2 modern God of War games 

[Maf]

38 minutes ago, DANGERMAN said:

Mfnick has slagged off Burnout Paradise and the 2 modern God of War games 

In fairness he is correct 

[Nag]

There's quite a few games mentioned so far that I disagree with... as I knew there would be. I'm keeping my gob shut though, it's easier that way.😂

[DANGERMAN]

Just so you know, I can see who has liked Mafs reply and am very disappointed