Franchises that have been bad longer than they have been good

[Spirit]

Are therr any franchises you can think of that you used to like that have been bad for a lot longer than they were ever good?

An example for me would be The Simpsons, many people accept seasons 1-11 and then turn away from the franchise.

Perhaps Zelda fits this notion for you, perhaps Final Fantasy or the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Which franchises do you think have been bad longer than they were ever good?

 

[Doc]

American Horror Story.

The first few seasons were good enough. The anthology format was pretty revolutionary for its time and provided several entertaining moments. It's hard to discern where exactly the show became bad, some people say it was season 4 and some say season 5. Regardless, I think the show has been downright unbearable these past several seasons and is just bad television.

 

[A Link In Time]

Star Fox: The SNES original and 64 are the only really good games in the franchise for their time with the other games being okay to mediocre.

The Simpsons: I agree with you there. It was good in the 90s but has stuck around too long.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Loads of bad games after the Genesis era with only a brief return to form with Mania.

Family Guy: Similar problem to The Simpsons except it was good in the 2000s and dropped off this decade.

 

[Castle]

I'll second StarFox. Ninty never really did know what to do with this franchise. While most of the games in the series are "good" even Assault and Adventure and ... what was the DS one? Anyway - there is considerable debate as to whether most of them constitute "StarFox" games.

I'll also second Sonic.

And yeah, Final Fantasy is a series that has been by now mostly garbo. FF's I-VI are solid. But by VII the series began skidding into the trash pile. Now, FFVII isn't "bad" per se but it is by far the most overrated video game ever. Yes, even more overrated than Metal Gear (pick one). VII was not revolutionary. It was exactly the same Final Fantasy game as before with crude rudimentary 3D models on mostly 2D backdrops and Playstation's FMV scenes. Guys, this might come as somewhat of a shock to some but a movie is not a game.

From then on with the exception of IX, which has trash gameplay but a good story, and XII which has a great story lamentably weakened by executive meddling and garbo gameplay until the Zodiac version happened, the Final Fantasy series has been unmitigated slop and that includes the MMOs as well. The trashiness peaks with the XIII series. Although I actually rather admire XIII-2 on its own. VIII isn't far behind and X is the kernel of a good idea quickly turned into a pathetic joke. XV is just lame. Lazy. Unimaginative. Derivative. Disappointing. Dull.

For Final Fantasy you'll have somewhat better fortune with the spinoff series. Tactics remains solid but everything having to do with VII are just shameless cash grabs. Why Chronicles is still not a thing anymore is sad but while that series had potential it could have been so much more and is thus highly overrated.

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Spoiler

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[Kerest]

I'll second Star Fox and Sonic.

And Star Wars... ugh. The original three were good for their era, but the Special Editions of those ruined them. The prequel trilogy was absolute garbage by the standards of the original trilogy, and Episode 5 was just a terrible movie by any standard; it was basically a live-action pilot for the Clone Wars cartoon. 7 was good, but 8 gave me an idea there's no reason to even bother to see 9.

Battlestar Galactica. I hated the original run. The remake was good for most seasons, but ruined by the ending. And the spinoffs were terrible.

Saturday Night Live, the SImpsons, and Family Guy all share the same problem. Comedy long-runners that cross decades like that tend not to do very well for most of their run. A comedy series really should be kept to 8 years or less.

StarGate franchise. The original movie was okayish. SG1 started to slide downhill when they started making spaceships. Atlantis was good for the first half. Universe never found its footing. The movies that were not the original showed the fatigue the entire crew was feeling of doing the entire series. And whoever came up with the idea for Origins should be burned at the stake for heresy.

Assassin's Creed. I think that series only recently found its footing, so it's improving. Strange for an Ubisoft game.

Call of Duty. I think they've had something like two games that are decent. It's not a series you play if you have high expectations, though the latest entry showed they might actually be seeing a possibility of going farther with it.

Dragon Age. I liked the original, but the ones that came after struck me as going downhill rapidly.