A great video game can be like lightning in a bottle. That one perfect game that comes out at the right time and place. A breakthrough title that rewrites the script and shatters expectations.

Then comes the sequel. With a publisher breathing down your neck and fan expectations sky-high, can any sequel really live up to that first legendary title?

Even the most revered video game studios have put out a blunder or misstep when it comes to their flagship franchises. Whether it's rushing a title to cash in on a lucrative holiday season or simply a limited budget or an unrealistic deadline - many video game sequels have left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths, either by missing the mark completely to just being "okay".

Obvious disappointing video game sequels include Duke Nukem Forever - a game that took 14 years to release to a triumphant "humph"; Nintendo's Metroid: Other M - a game with a laughably bad story and frustrating controls; Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link - a game that upended its predecessor and lost a lot of what made the first game so esteemed in the first place.

But, what are your most disappointing video game sequels? Did a sequel to a game ever resonate so poorly with you that you lost interest in the franchise altogether?

Let us know your most disappointing video game sequel in the comments below.

 

[b2p1mp]

Assasin's Creed III Liberation on the Vita. I tried hard to get into it but I was let down.

 

[Tsukiru]

Xenoblade 2. It has very little additions to the gameplay formula compared to X, and what it does add is really fucking bad or just nonsense. It feels like it's made of duct tape with its menus and game design. Worst of all? I beat it twice and realized it brought out no emotions out of me. I think anything that leaves me purely apathetic is the worst feeling to have about any media, but especially a sequel to a game that had pretty consistent quality.

 

[Arolandis]

Final Fantasy XV. Most boring world you could make with that graphics engine. Needed MOAR fantasy, amongst other things.

Not even FFXIII was as bad to me.

 

[SonowRaevius]

Final Fantasy 2 is pretty awful, if not for the wonky leveling/stat system, the fact that there is no borders between you and certain death at the start of the game just takes the cake to it all.

Having some powerful or difficult encounters in a game is fine, but making it so you can literally bump into enemies far above your level/stats at the beginning of the game is just bad design.

 

[Tweaker_Modding]

How come? I haven't played it yet but I'm looking forward to it. Played the first one through co-op with friends and it was great.

i didn’t make it far in dying light 2 because they royally screwed up the movement system by adding a terrible stamina feature that drains that fast if makes the parkour useless.

the first game however i loved to the point where i completed the whole story in one sitting from start to finish

 

[Valwinz]

Rune Factory 5
a woke mess

 

[sys64738]

Donkey Kong Jungle Climber
Silent Hill Book Of Memories
Shadow Of War
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

 

[vincentx77]

One of the first game sequels to absolutely break my heart is Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom. It was rushed out the door, basically unfinished. It's just not a good game, at least compared to the other three in the original series.

While I don't hate the game, Grandia 3 never got to where Grandia 2 did in terms of story and gameplay.

Here's the big one. Final Fantasy VII was a colossal letdown. Final Fantasy VI was better in every way, and frankly so was IV. Sorry fanboys. At least IX made up for it.

Square is dead, thank the deities that the Demi-Fiend has yet to murder for SMT.

 

[Taleweaver]

Easy...
C&C tiberian sun. I had hoped it'd take the red alert additions and make it more light sci-fi, but instead it was all corny neon light, unbalanced gameplay (mammoth tank is just stupidly good) and strange decisions.
On hindsight, original c&c (tiberian dawn) was sort of campy and unbalanced as well, but still...

Strong runner-up: unreal 2. This is so much a 'wtf we're they thinking?' that i didn't buy it. No more exploration, not on the same planet, nearly all different enemies and weapons... Heck, the title is almost the ONLY thing they kept.
I think I've got it legally in a pack now(unreal and UT are so good i got multiple copies), but never played more than a couple levels.

 

[City]

Starfox Command (NDS). Spoilers ahead.

How could you:

- Make it a “Touch! Generation” game
- Downgrade the characters’ designs
- Make Krystal a bitch
- Make multiple endings with everyone having offsprings except Falco. One of them even has the “new” Star Fox with the kids of the previous members, except for Falco. He’s just there. And he isn’t even the captain


It wasn’t a TERRIBLE game, it’s just… Starfox Assault was really nice and I just wanted something similar. This game didn’t even have any mission outside flying the airwing, unlike literally any other game of the series except the very first one. Though it’s weird that Nintendo never released this game on mobile, considering the (mostly) touch-only controls and the fact that it was made by a mobile devs.

Post automatically merged: Oct 23, 2022

Oh! Also Half-Life 2 Episode 2.

I hate cliffhangers.

I fucking hate cliffhangers without a sequel.

 

[vincentx77]

Easy...
C&C tiberian sun. I had hoped it'd take the red alert additions and make it more light sci-fi, but instead it was all corny neon light, unbalanced gameplay (mammoth tank is just stupidly good) and strange decisions.
On hindsight, original c&c (tiberian dawn) was sort of campy and unbalanced as well, but still...

Strong runner-up: unreal 2. This is so much a 'wtf we're they thinking?' that i didn't buy it. No more exploration, not on the same planet, nearly all different enemies and weapons... Heck, the title is almost the ONLY thing they kept.
I think I've got it legally in a pack now(unreal and UT are so good i got multiple copies), but never played more than a couple levels.

Ooh. Now I’m not a big FPS guy, but I tend to forget about Unreal 2. I’ve tried a couple of times to get into that one. It’s one thing to have a hate boner for a game, but it’s on a whole new level when it’s so bad you keep consistently forgetting it exists.

 

[godreborn]

My second date with @JuanBaNaNa

 

[lordelan]

Prince of Persia 3D.
Loved the first two DOS games and would have killed to get a beautiful 2D Prince of Persia especially since Prince 2 ended with a cliffhanger credit scene image.

 

[Zero2kXp]

For Me almost every game sequel disappointed me - I know you all will tell me I am wrong - but let's be real - whatever made you fall for the game is the first place, wont effect you the same in the sequel.

 

[temptemp]

I mean what's worse than Final Fantasy X-2 as a sequel?

 

[Payne]

last of us 2

 

[SDA]

Mega Man: Dr Wily's Revenge was good. But Mega Man II was developed by a company that didn't know much about the series (Japan System House) and it resulted in a mediocre game with high-pitched music, too.

Fortunately Capcom went back on hiring Minakuchi Engineering since then. They knew how to make good Mega Man stuff.

 

[RedColoredStars]

the story is awful, and there's a lot of.... really questionable gameplay changes, like only being able to climb for a limited amount of time thanks to a new energy system. as well as a tutorial at the beginning that gives a really really bad first impression of the combat.

the game also goes for a weird mix of graphics over gameplay, without looking particularly good. there's a section at the beginning where there's a forced fight with an overpowered zombie and half of the time you can't see anything because there's both lens flares blinding you as well as an over emphasis on darkness

So I played the boring ass game for around 4-5 hrs and didn't have any trouble with the limited climbing. It anything, it adds more of a sense of panic and is more realistic. Maybe it just doesn't bother me because I'm used to it from BotW. I personally didn't come across anything during the time I played where I couldn't see what was going on because of lens flares. Can you link to a YouTube video of the section you're speaking of?

 

[HelpTheWretched]

King's Quest 7.

 

[Latiodile]

So I played the boring ass game for around 4-5 hrs and didn't have any trouble with the limited climbing. It anything, it adds more of a sense of panic and is more realistic. Maybe it just doesn't bother me because I'm used to it from BotW. I personally didn't come across anything during the time I played where I couldn't see what was going on because of lens flares. Can you link to a YouTube video of the section you're speaking of?

i only played during launch so i have no clue if they patched it or not, but it should be near the beginning when they make you fight some zombie next to that house with the garage you have to go into to turn something on. there's also the segment shortly after where you have to navigate a near pitch black train station to... something i forget