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.

 

[TheTravManN]

Jak 2. I had the Ps3 trilogy. Jak and Daxter was a fantastic platformer. Right up there with Mario and Banjo and Kazooie. Then the series took a drastic, seemly desperate, direction acting more like a GTA clone with objectives and a more edgier tone. I didn't get much enjoyment from it at all but I still managed to finish it. Went right into Jak 3 and noticed it being mostly the same, so I barely started it.

 

[Ampersound]

Maybe Smash4

 

[tpax]

TLoU2. Absolute garbage and the death of Naughty Dog for me.

 

[Obveron]

Perfect Dark Zero

 

[LeNoobio]

Duke Nukem Forever
The Doctor Who Cloned Me - DLC fortunately redeemed the purchase for me

 

[HtheB]

Croc 2.
I can't believe how they f-ed the controls so badly. It was just ok in Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.

 

[Neyek]

Lost Planet 2, the first game blew me away

 

[Frankbel]

Red dead redemption 2
I have not played it yet.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Fable II is the first time I really got hurt. The first time I fell for hype (and not just any hype, Peter Molyneux hype) only to have the perfect game I'd been dreaming of explode in my face.

Also Dawn of War: Soulstorm, what a load of shit that was after the majesty that is Dark Crusade.

 

[ArgoRV]

Uncommon opinion here:
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
After Ocarina of Time, this was my reaction

 

[V800]

I likes better both Zelda 2 and Majora's Mask. The game which I hated and totally detest is Kingdom Hearts 2. It's not that the story or the gameplay are bad, but the long-ass cinematics. As a teen, I didn't have the time to sit through then (I had permission for an 1 hour a day). Correct me if I'm wrong but, weren't all videos unskipable?

 

[Jayro]

The original PC release for Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2008 version on DVD)

It's installer on the "Install Disc" was broken due to a mistake in the config file. So you had to rip the disc, fix the config parameters, then burn the disc back to a DVD-R in order to install the game. (It also didn't like ISO mounting tools at the time, for whatever reason.) Pain in the ass... More trouble than it's worth, tbh. Hardly matters now that the remake came out anyways, superseding it.

 

[some1whodeletedhisaccount]

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. The game was completely different to the first two Paper Mario games. I was so disappointed I didn't even give the game a chance.

 

[Jayro]

Uncommon opinion here:
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
After Ocarina of Time, this was my reaction
View attachment 333350

That was my same reaction when we got "Link's Muddy Easter Adventure" Skyward Sword, right after we had a great dark and gritty Zelda game (Twilight Princess). It moved in the opposite direction where Zelda games should have been going. We need to bring back the darker Zelda games, and I'm hoping Breath of the Wild 2 does just that.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. The game was completely different to the first two Paper Mario games. I was so disappointed I didn't even give the game a chance.

Thousand Year Door IS the 2nd game...

 

[wartutor]

LittleBigPlanet 3 for me.

It was outsourced to Sumo Digital instead of being developed by the team at Media Molecule, and it really shows. Feels super unpolished compared to the first two and the improvements in the engine were nowhere near as significant compared to the leap from 1 to 2.

I always preferred the PS Vita game as a successor to the OG games.

And then sackboy: a big adventure was even worse. Just couldn't get into that game at all

 

[ArgoRV]

That was my same reaction when we got "Link's Muddy Easter Adventure" Skyward Sword, right after we had a great dark and gritty Zelda game (Twilight Princess). It moved in the opposite direction where Zelda games should have been going. We need to bring back the darker Zelda games, and I'm hoping Breath of the Wild 2 does just that.

I thought the same of Skywards, however after i playing it. It became one of my favorite games of the Saga.
But I agree. the went from amazing dark graphics in Twilight Princess to cartoonish PG-3 graphics in Skyward.

 

[Jayro]

I thought the same of Skywards, however after i playing it. It became one of my favorite games of the Saga.
But I agree. the went from amazing dark graphics in Twilight Princess to cartoonish PG-3 graphics in Skyward.

And I get that they were trying to do it as an artistic thing, but it just came off as "smeary", since the Wii was too underpowered to pull it off right. Hopefully the Switch version looks better with better textures.

 

[Chary]

Assasins' Creed 3--it was meant to cap off all those really good early AC games, and totally dropped the ball, both in terms of gameplay, glitches, and story. This is really where Ubisoft started that downward slope that imo they still haven't recovered from.

Sonic 4 also gets a huge shoutout, that game was meh at best, and was NOT the true 2D Sonic return to form that we deserved. I'm glad we all eventually got Mania.

Although now that I think about it, Paper Mario: Sticker Star was probably the most disappointing, and the biggest drop off in quality I've ever seen between two games. Yeah, definitely that one.

 

[Jayro]

Assasins' Creed 3--it was meant to cap off all those really good early AC games, and totally dropped the ball, both in terms of gameplay, glitches, and story. This is really where Ubisoft started that downward slope that imo they still haven't recovered from.

Sonic 4 also gets a huge shoutout, that game was meh at best, and was NOT the true 2D Sonic return to form that we deserved. I'm glad we all eventually got Mania.

Although now that I think about it, Paper Mario: Sticker Star was probably the most disappointing, and the biggest drop off in quality I've ever seen between two games. Yeah, definitely that one.

Sonic 4 for SURE. Didn't deserve to be a mainline numbered game at all, especially being episodic.

 

[pustal]

Final Fantasy X-2, wanting to do fan service did the first one a major disservice. I could say a lot worse of more modern FF, but technically not sequels so I'll stick to that.