What gaming franchises would you say didn’t have “safe” sequels?

[Gizmo_Duck]

Massive changes to level structure and the core gameplay.

Yeah, what games massive changed its gameplay structure in a sequel?

 

[Moose_Greyjoy]

Yeah, what games massive changed its gameplay structure in a sequel?

Dragon Age 1 to 2…..prob gained more casual fans $$$

 

[5n0man]

From a design perspective it's safe, if you talking narrative I'd agree they made some choices I wasn't a fan of myself. But when people dicuss iterative they talking design.I expect most sequels to pretty much not take huge leaps going forward unfortunately, game design has gotten more difficult.

I feel like tlou2 was a pretty big upgrade design wise compared to the first. It's atleast comparable to the changes from mgs to mgs 2 gameplay wise.

The gameplay mechanics are still similar, but the freedom of movement is far superior, it makes the tlou remake feel stiff and limited in comparison.

 

[Kidd Dibiase]

Smackdown vs Raw series.

Prior to WWE PS games were largely arcade style. SvR made it more simulation

 

[5n0man]

Darkest dungeon 2

They changed the mechanics from the first game into pure garbage.

 

[TheWiseWon]

Not necessarily a sequel, but there is continuity in Zelda.



This had people losing their minds

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

People hate that game till this day, People who vow to never play it.

It's actually insane because from a gameplay perspective, the game is amazing. From a story perspective, I dont even think the game was that controversial with the changes from the first.

I swear after the ending of the first game, most people were in agreement that what Joel did was fukked up and that the sequel would likely see him pay consequences for what he did. Even before the second game released, the most popular speculation was that Joel was dead and we'd be playing as ellie seeking revenge.

I guess the unexpected part was playing as the character that killed Joel. Personally I think the game was a victim of that bullshyt anti woke movement from a few years ago. If Abby was a generic white man, the backlash wouldn't have been nearly as bad as it was.

Before i was even done reading your response i was gonna reply with this.

The biggest issue those people have with the game is that a brolic woman was the one who killed Joel. Anything even remotely perceived as “pandering” is met with the fury of 1000’s Cheeto dusted fingers on keyboards

You’re partially right. I got the platinum for last of us part 2 and took very little joy in anything the game did. From a technical standpoint it’s amazing. It’s accessible in ways most games (especially in 2020) would never have thought to try to be.


The problem is that its narrative is unsatisfying in every way. The previous game didn’t have amazing gameplay, but its narrative felt like a natural progression in regards to where it went and we absolutely should’ve gotten a game where we see things gradually deteriorate between Ellie and Joel as he tries to keep what he did in the hospital buried in an effort to keep her safe only for her to eventually call him out probably when they’re a long way from Jackson because at this point keeping the truth hidden would be putting her in more danger. Instead the main character is killed off an hour into the game by a character that I don’t think we even get the name of before he’s killed in a super contrived manner, reducing him to a plot device like the puppy in John Wick.


We spend tons of time as Ellie by herself too, which is just dull. What made part 1 so interesting is watching her bond with Joel grow. The marketing for the game straight up lied to us about Joel’s role in the game (blatant false advertising is also a valid reason to be mad at a studio) only for new characters to be put in the role we were suggested he’d be in and then when things look like they’re getting good, they get sidelined and Ellie is alone now.


Then spending half the game as Abby while she never really comes full circle and makes any effort to make amends for traveling halfway across a post apocalyptic country to torture a man to death in front of his family really didn’t help. Then her dumbass is shocked that his family would come back to get revenge for such an act. I didn’t find any of her friends to be the least bit likable either and they spent so much time with this fight with the Seraphites who get no depth beyond “stereotypical religious fundamentalist cult” which is a massive letdown compared to how the previous game gives you varying shades of gray with the fireflies. It felt a whole lot like the game wants to only paint Ellie as the villain and wrong while wanting us to like Abby while never really giving us a real reason to or a natural change for her into a better person.

I should also note that the pacing of the game is utterly horrible. Just as the tension reaches its peak in the theater it cuts back to 3 days earlier and we do all that meaningless bullshyt with Abby just to get back there only for the theater to not be the end either.


In short it’s a game that was too ambitious for its own good. Neil Druckmann had a bunch of ideas he was committed to without thinking about how they’d all fit together in a well structured and paced story and once again, blatantly false advertising that was arguably even worse than how halo 5’s marketing had nothing to do with the story we got in that game.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Yeah, what games massive changed its gameplay structure in a sequel?

God of war 3 to God of war 2018 comes to mind. Legend of Zelda going from a link to the past to Ocarina of time to Mjaora’s mask to windwaker are also examples I would use to mention games where the sequel wasn’t afraid to make major changes.

 

[Jaguar93]

You’re partially right. I got the platinum for last of us part 2 and took very little joy in anything the game did. From a technical standpoint it’s amazing. It’s accessible in ways most games (especially in 2020) would never have thought to try to be.


The problem is that its narrative is unsatisfying in every way. The previous game didn’t have amazing gameplay, but its narrative felt like a natural progression in regards to where it went and we absolutely should’ve gotten a game where we see things gradually deteriorate between Ellie and Joel as he tries to keep what he did in the hospital buried in an effort to keep her safe only for her to eventually call him out probably when they’re a long way from Jackson because at this point keeping the truth hidden would be putting her in more danger. Instead the main character is killed off an hour into the game by a character that I don’t think we even get the name of before he’s killed in a super contrived manner, reducing him to a plot device like the puppy in John Wick.


We spend tons of time as Ellie by herself too, which is just dull. What made part 1 so interesting is watching her bond with Joel grow. The marketing for the game straight up lied to us about Joel’s role in the game (blatant false advertising is also a valid reason to be mad at a studio) only for new characters to be put in the role we were suggested he’d be in and then when things look like they’re getting good, they get sidelined and Ellie is alone now.


Then spending half the game as Abby while she never really comes full circle and makes any effort to make amends for traveling halfway across a post apocalyptic country to torture a man to death in front of his family really didn’t help. Then her dumbass is shocked that his family would come back to get revenge for such an act. I didn’t find any of her friends to be the least bit likable either and they spent so much time with this fight with the Seraphites who get no depth beyond “stereotypical religious fundamentalist cult” which is a massive letdown compared to how the previous game gives you varying shades of gray with the fireflies. It felt a whole lot like the game wants to only paint Ellie as the villain and wrong while wanting us to like Abby while never really giving us a real reason to or a natural change for her into a better person.

I should also note that the pacing of the game is utterly horrible. Just as the tension reaches its peak in the theater it cuts back to 3 days earlier and we do all that meaningless bullshyt with Abby just to get back there only for the theater to not be the end either.


In short it’s a game that was too ambitious for its own good. Neil Druckmann had a bunch of ideas he was committed to without thinking about how they’d all fit together in a well structured and paced story and once again, blatantly false advertising that was arguably even worse than how halo 5’s marketing had nothing to do with the story we got in that game.

I have no problem with the advertisement. Kojima, Marvel, hell movie trailers for years been doing it. What I do agree with you on is the pacing, and I’ll add the length of the game too. Other than that I love this game.

 

[MrLogic]

Still one of the dopest box arts for a game

I was so pissed after the first act when you started playing Raiden

 

[5n0man]

You’re partially right. I got the platinum for last of us part 2 and took very little joy in anything the game did. From a technical standpoint it’s amazing. It’s accessible in ways most games (especially in 2020) would never have thought to try to be.


The problem is that its narrative is unsatisfying in every way. The previous game didn’t have amazing gameplay, but its narrative felt like a natural progression in regards to where it went and we absolutely should’ve gotten a game where we see things gradually deteriorate between Ellie and Joel as he tries to keep what he did in the hospital buried in an effort to keep her safe only for her to eventually call him out probably when they’re a long way from Jackson because at this point keeping the truth hidden would be putting her in more danger. Instead the main character is killed off an hour into the game by a character that I don’t think we even get the name of before he’s killed in a super contrived manner, reducing him to a plot device like the puppy in John Wick.


We spend tons of time as Ellie by herself too, which is just dull. What made part 1 so interesting is watching her bond with Joel grow. The marketing for the game straight up lied to us about Joel’s role in the game (blatant false advertising is also a valid reason to be mad at a studio) only for new characters to be put in the role we were suggested he’d be in and then when things look like they’re getting good, they get sidelined and Ellie is alone now.


Then spending half the game as Abby while she never really comes full circle and makes any effort to make amends for traveling halfway across a post apocalyptic country to torture a man to death in front of his family really didn’t help. Then her dumbass is shocked that his family would come back to get revenge for such an act. I didn’t find any of her friends to be the least bit likable either and they spent so much time with this fight with the Seraphites who get no depth beyond “stereotypical religious fundamentalist cult” which is a massive letdown compared to how the previous game gives you varying shades of gray with the fireflies. It felt a whole lot like the game wants to only paint Ellie as the villain and wrong while wanting us to like Abby while never really giving us a real reason to or a natural change for her into a better person.

I should also note that the pacing of the game is utterly horrible. Just as the tension reaches its peak in the theater it cuts back to 3 days earlier and we do all that meaningless bullshyt with Abby just to get back there only for the theater to not be the end either.


In short it’s a game that was too ambitious for its own good. Neil Druckmann had a bunch of ideas he was committed to without thinking about how they’d all fit together in a well structured and paced story and once again, blatantly false advertising that was arguably even worse than how halo 5’s marketing had nothing to do with the story we got in that game.

The only part I agree with is that the pacing wasn't as good as the first.

My biggest issue with the game was the order you play as each character. I feel the the game should have started with Abby, and her section should've been the journey to find Joel. Kill Joel and switch to Ellie at the halfway point.

I think the entire story would have hit harder if you got to learn Abby's background before Joel's death. Would've made hunting her down feel more tragic.



I actually don't care about the misleading trailer, that's nothing new and it's not false advertisement. I feel like they should've went further with the misleading trailers by promoting the game as a new story with Abby as the lead character.

 

[Adeptus Astartes]

Max Payne 3 - ditched the noir aesthetic

Super Mario 2 - no explaination needed

Zelda 2 - top down rpg to side scroller with levelling mechanics

Burnout Paradise - arcade style racer becomes open world

Doom 3 - run and gun fps turns to plodding survival horror with jumpscares

 

[ForeverLurking]

AC Black Flag?

 

[The Mad Titan]

Saints row (series in general)
GTA 2 to 3
FF 16
Resident evil 4/5/6
Breath of Fire 5
Mega man x7
World of Warcraft
Sonic adventures
Yakuza like a dragon (RPG)
Metroid prime
Zelda 2
Mask of majora
Breath of the wild
Super Mario 2
Mario kart
Super smash bros
Star fox adventures
The marvel vs Capcom series
God of war series

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

TLOU Part 2, i would not describe as safe considering the outrage. They killed off a fan favorite character and theres an entire subreddit dedicated to hating the game and its creator until this day

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

I just looked and theres still dozens of ‘cuckmann’ post being made daily

Not even fan favorite... The main character of the first game and they did it 1 mission in... Then have you play as the bytch who killed him


That was absolutely crazy