• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

Unnecessary Sequels

Do you ever feel like developers are pointlessly continuing a plot line in order to cash in? This is the thread where you can call out these unnecessary sequels and explain why they contributed little to the series.

One such title which comes to mind is Bioshock II. Bioshock is a gorgeous game and one of the most original concepts of the generation. Rapture is eerie, haunting, and unpredictable. While the second game is great, it fails to blow away the player like its predecessor giving the sense it was filler. I don't condone Bioshock as a franchise but it from a creative standpoint it would have been better to switch settings immediately for a second game as Bioshock Infinite is doing for the trequel.

Several PS Vita sequels to successful franchises have been disappointing as well. Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a major regression for a successful franchise lacking visually appealing cut scenes and contenting itself with a cliche plot. Resistance Burning Skies is a title which should have never seen the light of day. The game is poorly executed with improper aiming controls and brainless AI.

The 3D Castlevania games are all misses. Castlevania 64 is a train wreck whose flaws were highlighted with the release of the Symphony of the Night-one of the best Castlevania vampire hunts. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow isn't a bad game but it feels like a mundane Action-Adventure game, not a continuation of the Castlevania arc.

Are there any sequels you loathe for not pitching forth enough effort and going the extra mile to logically continue or a franchise or abandoning series structure completely?
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
No. I think that producing sequels is a great sales venture in most cases, as it brings in more cash for companies to make more [non-sequel] games. Fans wouldn't buy the sequels if they were that terrible, bar, of course, the ones that are legitimately awful. When I detect a downward trend in the way sequels are released, I tend to be wary not to purchase them. Silly, I know, but it works for some reason...

More sequels please...
 
Joined
Jun 14, 2011
I think Super Mario Galaxy 2 was unnecessary, it was pretty much the same as the first one with more levels and Yoshi. Although I did enjoy the game I still think it didn't have to be made, I was satisfied with just Super Mario Galaxy.
 
Joined
Nov 24, 2012
Location
Probably roleplaying
Somebody's going to post about PH or ST now, right? Any second now...

Well, it depends. Some pointless sequels are actually pretty good, but they are never as awesome as the original, especially in video games. Sometimes, a sequel after a game that left questions unanswered is a good thing, but not often. If we got a miniplot, I'll enjoy my miniplot, thanks. For the most part, I dislike sequels...

But you get that one title, every once in a while, that blows you away. Spirit tracks. Hate me or no, that was kinda pointless, following WW and PH as a continuation of a finished legacy, but not tightly. It was just... great. Haters, come at me.
 

Castle

Ch!ld0fV!si0n
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Location
Crisis? What Crisis?
Gender
Pan-decepticon-transdeliberate-selfidentifying-sodiumbased-extraexistential-temporal anomaly
What a silly question! Of course they do!! Even to the point of horribly mismanaging their characters or offering horrendous non-conclusions to their plots. The "sequel hook" aka the ending cliffhanger has become one of the most expected and dreaded feature of every video game release.

Some developers fear writing themselves into an ending they cannot continue from. Resident Evil 6 is an example of this. Wexler is dead Umbrella is gone so who are we fighting now? Other series just try to find ways to force a cliffhanger at the end, often thinly disguised as some "ingenious" twist. Final Fantasy XIII-2 for instance.

This is one of many reasons I am now thoroughly against any sort of detailed narrative in video games anymore. I used to like the idea. Video games used to tell great stories and I thought video games were the place for a new form of storytelling. But as it turns out video games have become more about how they read rather than how they play. Video "games" have become gameplay wrapped up in their story and the gameplay is smothered as a result. This unhealthy reliance on sequels is to blame, since developers have found that the story, not the way the game plays is the preferable common thread to string across a series.

But game writers have either created characters no one cares about to begin with or misused them so horribly in the narrative that it disgusts people. Mass Effect 3 is an example of that. Sometimes characters are likable enough but just get dragged through the figurative mud for so long they lose their appeal. Tomb Raider, for instance (although in her case she has also been literally dragged through mud :P) was an interesting enough character to begin with but a whole series later and she's become so dull someone think's the whole series merits another "re-boot" to make her fashionable again. Final Fantasy XIII as well. I thought the character drama in the first game to be extremely compelling. A game later and another on its way and I'm just wishing they'd all die and get it over with.
 
I could rhyme off quite a few for this thread but right now i'm just going to mention one- Silent Hill: Book of Memories, its a classic example of slapping a title on something to sell it. Irony is that Silent Hill has sucked since 4. Maybe i'll rage post here later with more.
 

Fede-hime

All about the treasure
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Location
The S.S. Linebeck
They're not sequels, per say, but every addition to Final Fantasy 7 that got made is just to make money. What more do you want to add to the original game? FF 7 wasn't even that good anyway.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom