31-Day Mage Challenge: Day Fifteen “A Disappointing Sequel”
4 min read
Ever hyped for an upcoming sequel only to have your hopes dashed like so many little pieces of your mother’s china? Today’s question is…
“What was a Disappointing Video Game Sequel?“
The Timely Mage
Final Fantasy X-2, XIII-2, Lightning Returns, Mortal Kombat 4, Wipeout Fusion, and Assassin’s Creed III come to mind but if I had to pick one I’d say Assassin’s Creed III. It wasn’t a horrible game but what made it so disappointing was that it didn’t meet the expectations that it set for itself as a series. Since the first game, the whole series was leading up to the 2012 doomsday date. Up until then the series had continuously improved in both gameplay and storytelling and was notorious for ending each chapter with a big twist and cliffhanger. Then came the promised moment which was brilliantly released in 2012 to make it even more relevant but rather than providing an intelligent polished experience I was left feeling let down and underwhelmed.
The Black Humor Mage
I loved playing Super Marios Bros. like crazy back in the day. So I got Super Mario Bros. 2, and to this day I don’t think I’ve ever been this disappointed by a sequel. It was nothing like the original, and I found it so boring. I played it like twice, and never played it again. That’s the only game I’ve ever done that with, so this game definitely deserves this spot.
The Rage Mage
I’m not going to sound like some pretentious purist like that Self-Righteous Red Mage and say “Every sequel after the first Final Fantasy suuuuuucked…!” *pushes up glasses*
Instead, I’ll say Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. What a self-important piece of musty colon-gibblets. The voice acting sounds like it was recorded at the Transylvania Kindergarten for children who do poor impressions of adults. The gameplay seems like it was invented by a Vogon committee. The graphics look like they were dredged up from the armpit of Michael Keaton in the late 80’s. It’s a worse vampire story than Dracula: Dead and Loving It (though just as laughable). Even the shock value is low. Watch a Michael Bay movie and learn what real soul-crushing horror is, Castlevania! Konami should keep making pachinkos just so they never have the chance to ever release anything close to this ever again.
The Green Screen Mage
Halo 5. So it’s the fifth sequel, but I was really looking forward to it and it just… Now I’m not a multiplayer person. I just don’t do it. I play Halo for the storyline, which might sound weird to some. I played this game since it first came out and read all the books on it. Halo 4 had me crying for 20 minutes straight after I beat it, so I was considerably excited for Halo 5. It wasn’t bad. But when you’re that big of a fan and you love the characters as much as I do and you get a story that just doesn’t hold up, it can be a bit upsetting. I’m already planning out a set of Halo reviews for each game, so I’ll get more into it then. Maybe replaying I’ll find that I enjoy it more. All I can say is that it at least gave us that new Arbiter armor. That’s one good mark in my book.
The White Out Mage
Look, I’m the editor around here. I don’t think of myself as a “gamer”. I’ve played a few games and a few sequels but none of them have really disappointed me. That’s a good thing!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtmI–F8Zmo&w=200&h=200]
The Well-Red Mage
I may get hate mail for this (please send me mail of any kind) but my choice is Kingdom Hearts II. When I played it, I was not expecting a sequel which somehow felt and appeared like an underdeveloped and hollowed-out version of the original, inferior in almost every way. Not sure what’s going on with the camera and its Hitchcock zooms, or the Raiden-esque switch to Roxas, but there’s also a confusing storyline which makes little sense, a final boss fight that’s anti-climactic, the introduction of lame, hyper-anime, two-dimensional, pandering villains in Organization XIII, constant Quick Time eventing, a lack of focus and tension, and far poorer level design where almost every area is either a simple hallway or a large circular area where you fight baddies and move on (seriously, what happened to the layered level design from the first game like the Cave of Wonders or Hollow Bastion?).
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That need for speed thing does sound pretty shitty tbh… But anyways…
I own KH2, & you’ve jus made me not want to play it (govment bs notwithstandin) Why, Well-Red, Why? *Sobs Uncontrollably*
Although, having jus thought about it for a second seriously, I’ll say destroy all humans 2 as I keep friggin dyin on a ship side mission… A SIDE Mission Dammit, not even plot related *Growls* also having moved from Smash Bros Melee onto Brawl, I was literally unprepared for the level ramp up, I mean I own the guide for it, but I am nowhere near elite (I’m barely capable!) level & even easy is a bad**** now, I can still b****-slap with Yoshi & Bowser obvs, but my Ness & Ice Climbers/Peach etc game has suffered… *Sighs* on a related note, Smash Wii-U not having Bowser as a playable character? Not Cool Dammit! Baby Bowser is gonna suck, I already Know!
I nominate Tomb Raider Underworld on the Playstation 2. I enjoyed Tomb Raider Legend, with it’s fluid gameplay, involving story, interesting settings and use of banter to lighten the mood. I was looking forward to the next game and the completion of the story. Instead, the game was very easy, the game was less spectacular to play, the story felt less developed, the graphics had a lesser quality and the levels felt empty. The game also had a guide which basically showed the difficult puzzles and challenging enemies that were in the better quality versions of the game on the Playstation 4 and X-Box 360.
*giving death glares to The Well-Red Mage*
I agree with The Timely Mage, I love the Assassin’s Creed series but after Ezio’s story was done the whole game was done to me. Nothing can top Ezio’s story so far
Now accepting angry mail!
SMB2 USA was actually my favorite of the NES trilogy, probably because it was so different. I was 4 or 5 when the first SMB came out, so I wasn’t familiar with sequels. I guess I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I really liked its more vibrant aesthetic — the eventually explained dream-like visuals — along with actual boss fights and the ability to play as four characters with their own unique play-style.
I do totally agree with Halo 5 and Kingdom Hearts 2. I love Halo, really I do, but not for the same reason as most of its player base; I love (and only play) the campaigns. 5’s was paper-thin, pointless, repetitive, and, most of all, disappointing.
I also really liked the original Kingdom Hearts, but 2 just never, ever connected with me. Maybe it’s how slow the opening hours were, doing boring jobs to ride the Disney train — that kind of thing is best saved to break up heavily digested dialogue segments. It was lost on me and I never went back to give it another shot. Maybe some day.
I’m surprised to not see Zelda 2: Adventures of Link or Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest on this list, but for the same reasons I gave for liking SMB2 USA, I really enjoyed both of those games.
As a diehard Final Fantasy fan back then, I think FFXI is my most disappointing sequel. Having a numbered entry be an MMO felt like a slap in the face — my PC sucked and couldn’t run it, and by the time it came out on PS2 and 360 I was already soured and vowed to avoid it completely. Then again, I think FFXIV has the best FF story since IX’s (I really do love XIV), so my reasoning may have been different had I actually been able to play it.
I remember being disappointed in Mega Man 8, but as I grew older I started to like it a bit more. I was also stubborn and felt Zelda had no business moving in to the realm of 3D with Ocarina of Time, but that ended up being one of my favorite games of all time.
Sorry for the wall of text!
Woo! Thanks for the sizeable comment! SMB2 and I get along just fine. It doesn’t hold a candle to SMB3 in my opinion but it is unique and enjoyable nonetheless.
KH2 didn’t resonate with me either. Even with the HD remake. Seemed like a chore.
I’d guess Zelda II didn’t rear it’s ugly head because none of us mages have ever completed it. I was working on it and then…
I’ve still never played the MMO FF’s. I dislike MMO’s.
SMB3 has more in common with the original game, plus it’s easily one of the best games/platformers ever. The transition from SMB3 to Super Mario World felt so natural.
Dirge of Cerberus on PS2. Ugh…
I can second that. What a weird game.
I gave up and just watched the cutscenes on YouTube. Even those were tedious and bland. The story had some good ideas (and I loved a post-Advent Children Cloud) but boy… what a drag overall. At least we got into Vincent’s character deeply, which was cool.
I loved Kingdom Hearts 2 more than the original for the gameplay. The story got much worse and convoluted, however. I was most disappointed by Apollo Justice: Ace Atrorney, the sequel to the Phoenix Wright trilogy of games. The game was more or less similar, except had a worse story that ruined some of the original’s canon. And the original trilogy represents some of my favorite games, so I was upset when they ruined it.
I haven’t played any of the Phoenix Wright games but I’d like to. In what way was the gameplay in KH2 superior to KH1’s in your view?
Sora was more agile in KH2. His jumps weren’t as awkward as they were in KH1. I liked the worlds in KH2 more too, and it translated to some interesting scenes, like the battle on the mountain in Mulan, Tron mini challenges, and all 4s lion cub Sora action. Just about the only thing I disliked about the game besides the convoluted story was the overly long tutorial with Roxas (although I like Roxas’ character).
I liked the Tron and Mulan worlds, with Steam Boat Willies’ being my favorite. I just didn’t like that there wasn’t much to do in these worlds. Like I remember Agrabah in the first game having numerous different floors and mazelike branching rooms and secret rooms. In KH2, it just seemed flat, like a handful of connected areas, and a Cave of Wonders that was a series of hallways. Idk maybe just me.
Three words: Parasite Eve 2.
In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the player’s motivated to rise through the ranks of the Blacklist in order to win back his car (BMW M3) from the Most Wanted, Razor, who won it through dishonest showmanship. So there’s a lost honour that needs to be reclaimed. But the M3 is also, therefore, the most powerful vehicle in the game. Once it’s reacquired, there’s a chase sequence out of the city, which sets-up the opportunity for a sequel…
And that’s where we get Need for Speed: Carbon. Given that we just spent the previous game working to win something, that very thing is destroyed at the beginning, forcing us to choose between some crappier cars. It was EA’s way of saying that they didn’t know how to raise the stakes from previously, so they’d rather just knock us back down again. Come on, EA, the reason I was interested in that sequel is to see where the story went next, the least you can do is validate me.