Jump to content
Awoo.

Disappointing Sequels


Boomer

Recommended Posts

We've all been there, we find a film or game that captures both our hearts and our interests. The story is captivating, the characters are memorable and it's an enthralling experience that you wonder how they'll ever manage to top it... except they don't. It may be due to a misdirection or they simply have lost track of what made their earlies successes well a success.

Now a bit of backstory for my choice - Assassin's Creed 3. (contains spoilers)

I was a fan of the series since I first saw the E3 trailer for the first game back in about 2006. It looked truly next-gen, it was my first real example of how immersive the next generation of gaming could be. I overlooked the repetition as I felt like an assassin, I could plan my hits and there was an intriguing story that had one of the greatest cliffhangers I have ever seen.

Skip a few years and Assassin's Creed 2 is coming out, I've followed this one intently and I am simply in awe of the Renaissance setting. It was magical, everywhere I looked it was like a work of art and the soundtrack was mindblowing. Ezio had so much more personality than Altair had and they had improved the gameplay dramatically. The only let down was them removing content to sell as DLC but the worst had to come as suddenly...

We had a sequel only a year later! Luckily Brotherhood still had a lot of charm as the rot hadn't set in yet, Rome was huge and it was a joy to simply explore. They added in multiplayer too which was surprisingly decent, it seems like they're actually trying to add some variety in terms of the gameplay.

And then Revelations came along, I felt like it gave good closure to both Ezio and Altair even though the rot had begun to set. Constantinople simply wasn't fun to explore, everywhere looked the same and the multiplayer was far too similar to Brotherhood's (especially the reuse of maps.)

But oh no they weren't done yet, far from it in fact!

My problems with Assassin's Creed 3:

I am not a fan of American history, I knew that going in. I was going to play it for the end of Desmond's story since I had been following it for the past 6 years or so. I started to play and I was confused "Why aren't I playing as Connor? Who is this burke?" only to find out that they thought it would be useful to give us a god damn 4 hour tutorial at the beginning of the game! But I digress. I found Edward to be quite a fun character actually, he had charm and it was nice to actually see an 18th century Englishman portrayed as a gentlemen.... oh no wait, he's actually a Templar! Now that was a good plot twist however it is a bit of a kick in the nads to be told that the person you've been playing as for 4 god damn hours was actually a villain.

Ok cool we're now actually playing as Connor.... ok we're playing hide and seek in a forest. When can I start assassinating people? A few more hours? Seriously? Well he gets his house burnt down by Mr. Charles Lee with his moustache twirling firmly intact. I know I'm dragging on but I really REALLY was let down by this game.

  • Why do we have to have a 4 hour tutorial?
  • Why are the buildings so short and free running nearly impossible due to the width of the buildings?
  • Why have the controls been overly simplified?
  • Why is Connor such a wet blanket? He just obeys anyone and everyone. Yet sometimes he shouts at them when it ISN'T appropriate.
  • Why does he disobey the creed? There's a side mission where you agree a dude to a race for a piece of a map. He wins yet Connor kills him, HE SLAYS AN INNOCENT!
  • All of the talk about taxes.
  • Altair was born an Assassin, Ezio was forced to become one due to his family being killed, Connor was... because a glowing ball told him to as he flew like an eagle.
  • There is barely any story, it just goes from Battle to battle which he just so happens to be at. He still chases Lee even after being told that it was Washington who burnt his village down.
  • There is no stealth in the few assassinations they actually have. One involves you charging across a freakin' battlefield.
  • And finally... the ending. THE ACTUAL FUCK? They killed off Desmond, the character that we've been with for the past 5 games. They don't even build up to it. He just walks up, touches a ball that appears and he just falls down dead. That is just bullshit I'm sorry.

    I would type more coherently but I just had to write what was in my head. I am not buying AC4 on launch even though I love the setting I still feel it should've been a new IP, pirates are not stealthy and they seem to have forgotten about the creed.

    Apologies for how long winded this is and I also apologise if it is in the wrong section. This isn't meant to just be for disappoint sequels in gaming though, I'm sure there'll be a few mentions of the Star Wars prequels.

    Anyway I'm interested in what you guys have to say! smile.png

Edited by Lord Farquaad
  • Thumbs Up 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

uncharted3_standard_t.jpg

 

 

god fucking damn it

 

 

This is probably the third time I've posted about how much of a fucking disappointment this game was, but GOD DAMN IT.

 

Where do I begin? The story is....pretty awful. Yeah, I hate to say that after how engaging Uncharted 2's story was, but pretty much everything was either pulled out of the writer's asses to justify another "setpiece"(Some random bullshit location you end up going to that breaks the flow of the plot and ultimately has no meaning but justifies more cinematic bullshit). Everything that wasn't was some pale imitation of something that was done better in Uncharted 2. The villain is so unbelievably one dimensional and boring. Not saying Uncharted 2's villain was much better in the character department, but at least I knew what the fuck his motives were. I can't even tell if this bitch wants me dead or not. It does have it's moments (Nate and Sully's first meeting was something I'm convinced was done by an entirely different team.) It's ultimately really disappointing. 

 

The gameplay is even worse. While Uncharted 2 generally balanced the platforming sections and the shoot out sections pretty well, Uncharted 3 goes for shoot outs all the time. Especially in the latter half. Not to mention they're just nowhere near as fun to play just because how how fucking hard the enemies are to kill this time around. You're also often put into situations when you're completely surrounded and have to find a way to overcome the game's bullshit and win by pure luck. 

 

The only thing I'd say is really an improvement is the multiplayer. Anything else? Fuck no.

 

THEY TOOK OUT THE SKINS. WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME NAUGHTY DOG?

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

AC feels like a milk now, making a bunch of yearly titles. AC3 fell short of what we're use to, so did revelations. and I don't know if AC4 will be any better, but if its not  let the AC GAMING die. 

 

I only pay attention to AC now because of its interesting story, as for gameplay: Its getting old and they seem to be running out of fun ideas.

It wouldn't be that bad to continue AC as a comic or something, seeing as they have several comics.

BUT, just like every other gaming series that popular, there going to milk the money out of us until it does not sell sell anymore. Thats become obvious. ESPECIALLY because AC was meant to be a TRILOGY with some games in between. 

 

Besides that I'd go with jak 3 or halo 4. jak 3 didn't bring much but light jak. and while halo 4 had new things that got old after 2-3 missions. another reason being microsoft is over due when it comes to have a new TRUE IP exclusive.


uncharted3_standard_t.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait a minute..... Do all of naughty dogs 3's suck???? (or atleast not meet expectations.)

Edited by Insane121
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ToS-R_Cover.jpg

 

The original Tales of Symphonia, while not a perfect game, was a cute little J-RPG with a surprising wealth of emotional depth, unpredictable story, really good acting for its time, and just really good writing.  Not to mention, its gameplay was incredibly fun, being a pleasant combination of real time combat and simulated strategy.  Not to mention the plot was very open-ended, but I guess I can't really praise that particular aspect since I only ever went for one ending.

 

Dawn of the New World threw all that out the window, recruiting only half of the original voice cast, and not even allowing you to play as the main characters of the first game.  Those characters don't even make an appearance until close to the second half of the game, and when they do, they're mostly not nearly as pleasant or likable.  The plot is just a mish-mash of whining and complaining, and all the relatability from the first game is now gone.  Plus, the stupid fighting system that tries to capitalize on a subpar Pokémon rip-off that was just unbearable, not to mention completely unnecessary.  The music also was a step down, but eh, it's not Sonic Chornicles level of bad or anything.  Overall, I don't think I've ever been more disappointed by such a lousy sequel.  Well, except maybe for...

 

Secretofnimh2.jpg

Good god.  How horrifying.

  • Thumbs Up 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okamiden-title.jpg

 

"Ma, I wanna be like you one day"

 

"Too bad everything you did was wrong honey, >:U"

 

So that's my feelings on Okamiden. I often place Okami on a pretty damn high and shiny personal pedestal for one of, if not, my favorite games. Naturally when Okamiden was announced and what not, I had some pretty high excitement and expectations for it. I mean I got to play as a cutesy Ammy basically in some more awesome Okami action. What's not to like!?

 

Everything, >:U.

 

I'll start off saying I never finished it, so for all I know it could have this twist awesome part at the end, but everything leading up to it (and for the long time I did play it) was massively disappointing for me and just left me drifting my eyes toward my shelf of other games where the original Okami is held on occasion as I played. I understand it's for the DS and needs to be scaled down for it to handle being a game trying to be like Okami, but that's probably why it's just not working and maybe should've been saved for the 3DS or just not made at all.

 

The map is largely the map of the original Okami with occasionally "remixing" areas if I recall correctly. The shitty thing is that this once beautiful open areas you were used to on the console are divided up in obnoxious loading screens that really break up the flow and wonder the original held. This is of course the DS's limitations again, but still. Secondly the gimmick of having multiple people ride you through out the game got old with me fast, completing puzzles that you go draw some stupid ass line across the map to make them go places to fetch things for you (funny it's not the dog's job to do this). The only thing I did like about the game was a new power involving magnets, but that's about it. Lastly (if I recall correctly, it's been awhile, so excuse if I mix anything up), I'm pretty sure it had some plot holes and inconsistencies.

 

Everything about this game just felt like a few pegs down from the original and left a really bad taste in my mouth. I hope if a new one were to arise, it'd at least wouldn't be this yucky.

 

EDIT: I take that back, it wasn't all bad, I got a really cute Chibiterasu keychain plush out of this

  • Thumbs Up 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Paul Verhoeven is a genius, I think. He takes the most absurdly heavy-handed and blatant bullshit subtext, and turns it into brilliant film by pushing it to the extent that it makes it all clever again. He overplays everything so incredibly far that it lapses back into being clever. He does subtlety by making things so extremely unsubtle that you start catching little things buried under explosions and body parts flying off just because you've become desensitized. Starship Troopers was a shitty book glorifying facism. So he took one look at it, and turned it into a (admittedly shitty) movie openly mocking fascism while barely changing anything about it. Total Recall was the same way, but I'm not talking about the remake of that movie here; which was complete shit, but who really expected any different?

 

I'm talking about Robocop and (amazingly not the almost certainly awful remake of that planned, but instead) Robocop 2. Irvin Kirshner is not the auteur that I consider Verhoeven to be, but he has a steady hand when given a good script. For example, Empire. Or that Bond Movie That is Thunderball but Connery is All Old and Shit. And holy shit, FRANK FUCKING MILLER! And in the days before that just meant whoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhores. Literally 1980s Frank Miller.

 

Look at this:

 

 

Ignore the dubstep. That's one of the most famous scenes in movie history, and it perfectly encapsulates the tone and spirit of the film. The guy is dead, but he is so extremely dead that you can't help but get a chuckle out of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So consider me surprised just how vicious and hateful the sequel is. Robocop knew it was silly, and played everything with a sly wink to still come off as being clever and enjoyable. It was similar to GTA Vice City in just how perfectly it captures the time period and setting that was the latter half of the Reagan presidency. It pokes fun at what was happening and the ultra violent mindset of the time, but it never crosses over to actual mockery. The movie has the level of self-awareness that Verhoeven movies tended to have.

 

Robocop 2, on the other hand, knows that it is silly, but it doesn't give a shit. It instead pushes everything to be so fucking gritty and serious anyway. There are no laughs. There is no real fun. This movie wants to make you feel bad for liking it. The tone is so downbeat and grim and mean spirited that it almost seems like a hateful parody of the original, similar to Frank Miller's creative output of the past decade or so. It's particularly evident in how it reuses the same types of gags that the original movie used, but structures them differently. The famous news cutaways for example. In the original, they would jovially interrupt the movie to give a lighthearted, thinly veiled reference to some contemporary event of the time; presented almost exactly in the irreverent "who gives a shit" attitude really present in the Reagan years towards international occurrences. In 2, those same gags pop up, but now they just say how bad things are. The first one is about a high profile assassination, and it just... presents it straightforward. No fun context. No aside. And it even ties directly into the plot.

 

 

 

The characters are even morphed. Most of the themes about what it is to be human from the original are abandoned. Robocop and Murphy basically become side characters in their own movie, since they have no real goal besides stopping the bad guys. The company of OCP and the executives go from "criminally negligent but theoretically altruistic" to "Captian Planet Villains." And the bad guys are so horrifically ruthlessly evil that when the movie switches gears and attempts to make one of them sympathetic for no other reason than because he's a kid, you just kinda sit there in shock.

 

 

This is the tone the second movie had. The original movie used over the top violence as a punchline to a joke, and everyone who lived in the decade caught it. The sequel used more realistic violence blown off as no big deal just to be spiteful. Robocop 1 has an ass-kissing executive get shot so many times it probably doubles his body weight, and it is laughed off by the characters basically stating outright "oops." Robocop 2 has dozens of wholly innocent people killed on screen in a similar but much more chilling way, and the movie basically just ends there with a "doesn't that suck?"

 

 

 

 

 

Ironically, Robocop 3, for all of it's problems (and there are a lot), at least understood the tone of the original movie. It has Stupid Jetpack Robocop and the not!Pepsi Girl being an amazing hacker who is more competent than anyone else in the film, but it knew what it was and it worked from there and updated it with the times and concepts that were around in the early 90s. The original film is incredibly enjoyable. The 3rd film can be fun to sit through when it's on in spite of the really cringeworthy moments that pop up far too frequently, because the way it presents itself can make it so you can skip through those pieces.

 

Robocop 2 is completely unwatchable. The most similar parallel I can draw to how an original film full of wonder and lightheartedness is followed up by a mean spirited sequel would be the original Jurassic Park to The Lost World.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johnny English Reborn was a big one for me recently.

 

Johnny English was such a wonderfully upbeat and clever James Bond spoof with a ton of hilarious jokes, and perfectly self-contained.

 

Reborn was just a totally unnecessary sequel in all regards.  The problem was the whole point of the first film was that Johnny English just had a desk job at M16 and always dreamed of being a secret agent, then is accidentally forced to be one due to all the others being killed.  Despite his success at saving the country being completely bumbling and mostly luck on his part, the second film just sees him remaining a secret agent... because.  Thing is the first film's storyline was also delightfully campy - French guy tries to steal the throne.  The English have a long-running (partially true) joke of hating the French, so it was a perfect villain.

 

But in the newer film, despite it being still fairly ridiculous (mind control gas and other things being involved), the villain is actually more of a generally typical threat.  The whole movie sort of feels like a legit spy movie but with jokes (and honestly very forced ones that resulted in nowhere near the same amount of classic scenes as the first movie) as oppose to being an all out comedy spoof of spy films.  Finally, the locations and such were a lot more drab compared to the first film, so the upbeat mood was kinda lost too.

 

In my head, Reborn is totally non-canon and while it was okay enough, I have no plans to watch it again.

  • Thumbs Up 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Official_cover_art_for_Bioshock_Infinite

 

So.... where to start.

 

Bioshock Infinite is one of the most over-hyped games of this generation, it is also a piss poor sequel in that it is only a sequel in name and nothing more.

 

Even if you leave aside those awesome trailers which came out in yearly intervals which showed so many combat choices, destructable environments, a scary and threattening city full of people who might turn on you at any second...

 

What we get...

 

An out of place mess. Nothing in the game feels like it belongs there. Lets go over it shall we.

 

Bioshock 1 & 2 has you scavenging trashcans and abandoned luggage for food and cash after society has broken down and resources are running dry. From the moment you arrive and see whats ahead of you, you quickly come to the conclusion 'I'm in danger!" and "I'm going to need to look scavenge for equipment" Even the spicers are scavenging for goods!

 

Infinite howevr... is the opposite. The citizens are living in an age of prosperity you are welcome with open arms before discovering 'you are the one.' and even then in later scenes your treated with dignity by the 'upper classes' who pracically offer you food and items for free... so... wait... why am I rumaging in bins again? Oh because the original Bioshock had that. Why am I stealing money from people? Well the original had that.

 

Had this been a good game and a sequel with thought, had I done any of those actions then the NPC's would have reacted, no doubt about it. But they don't. Despite the fact I'm robbing a desperate family at the factories, they don't even budge or react. Why aren't they? I'm robbing them blind in front of them.

 

Oh look a policeman, let me just rumage in this bin and not raise suspicion. Oh another policeman in an area full of the upper class, don't mind me, I'm just the guy who 5 min ago murdered about a hundred cops and random people... it's not like you need to arrest me or something.

 

The 'powers' are out of place and just don't belong. In the original, they were there as a result of experimentation and abuse, kinda like a drug, here they're just... there... they're clearly established in the world and are given out for free at public events... yet only 3 people in the whole game use them? Most of them do the same thing, theres barely any locations you can use them to generate special effects/attacks in combat... so why do I have them... . ... oh wait... the first 2 had them in.

 

The handymen... seriously... what where the point of these again? They feel out of place, contribute nothing to the story at all. In fact if it were not for 'that particular audio file' why are they in the game? Aside from the completely random fights, they do nothing in the city. We're told they're supposed to act like the ultimate labour-men at the start, so like the Big Daddy's we should see them doing something right? Nope, don't appear, except for certain enemy arena segments. Totally pointless. So why are they he...... Oh... the first 2 games had the Big Daddy's, so the handy men have these...

 

That bird... oh god... that bird... The whole game... this bird, this giant robot bird who was even part of the huge collectors edition... is built up, and up, and up, we're led to believe we'll fight it... and... Nope, it's good now. Carry on. Even in the early trailers theres suggestions you'll fight him. But nope, doesn't happen. You'll fight blimps instead, well actually, you'll do our version of a QTE to make the bird fight the blimps... enemy soldiers for you.

 

Hey this game has racism, that means it's smart and provoking... No it doesn't. treating people who are not white or who are from a certain nation does not mean you are clever or provoking or even challenging, especially when it contradicts with what Rapture was and when you place it in the context of the game. In Rapture, everyone was welcome so long as they were smart and contributed. In Columbia, Everyone is welcome so long as they're white and don't speak with certain accents... This does not make your game or city stand out, instead it just becomes a commentary at the year the game is set in (and not a very good one) and not the society/religion created as being a microcasm for other religions.

 

Look, you want to say 'well this city in the game represents all religions/cities/peoples because...' it doesn't work, because we see a pre-equal rights city acting like a pre-equal rights era, we don't see how it reflects modern society since racism and segreagation in America is certainly not at the levels deonstrated in this game.

 

Heres an example, at the start of the game you are shown the white guy and the black lady with all the racist slurs and imagery from the city and it's citizens being thrown at them. What are you trying to show here game? That the city is racist? Well done you did it... now why have you done this? How does it help enforce what you game is telling us so far? ... ... ... it doesn't... everything about the people/person who runs the city suggests that provided you follow the 'prophet' you'll be welcome and accepted, even Booker, and outsider who robs people and scavenges in the trash is welcome.

 

But the lady is cast out because of the colour of her skin, the white guy? Because he loves her.

 

Game... .. .... would it not make your city more sinister, would it not make it show that the cult is really crazy... if both of them were white? That way, we don't know why they're being abused or mocked, we don't jump to the conclusion of it being racist? That as we explore the city, the museums, the culture the people you present us with... it might be because they questioned the leaders or didn't quite agree? You can show all nationalities and cultures on both sides of the argument, it helps enforce the ideal of the leader of the city and sticks with the original concept of Bioshock, that anyone was welcome to the city... so long as they contributed/followed the leader/obeyed. Even in Bioshock 2, when that woman climbs to power, it's because the people begin to become divided, some want the guy, some want her... In Infinite it just boils down to 'well they're not white.'

 

Combat = Enter room with enemies... shoot them all... go through door. So much for planning and setting traps that the first 2 did so well eh?

 

The hand holding the game does....

 

The hand holding goes back to the racism at the start, you are given a choice as to who you throw the ball at. With it comes 2 sets of dialogue, one clearly is anti racist, the other is less so, but doesn't imply that booker is a racist. So why then as a player do I even have a choice? In that segment, you are forced into that scene, there is no way around it, YOU are forced to the front of the crowd and you have to throw the ball... so why not remove the QTE and the countdown? Make the player be in Bookers shoes, force the player right there to decide based on his or hers own beliefs and stance what they'll do. Spec Ops the line have 'choice' moments, but there are multiple options and most are not easilly spelled out for the player, the player is forced to make a decision or look for an alternative, here it's "Be bad" or "Be good."

 

What do I have to do before people are afraid of me? How the hell am I able to walk through a beach and a city after just killing hundreds of people?

 

And for PS3 owners... ... .. gee... don't you just love how the game makes a new save file after EVERY SINGLE CHECKPOINT!?

 

Bioshock Infinite is not a good game, even if you took away the title it's still a game which has out of place objects, game mechanics and elements which feel like they're only there because theres an expectation for them to be there. Everything in the original Bioshock had a clear cut reason to be there... in Infinite... there isn't, it results in people acting completely out of character with their setting and enemies/elements (handymen/vigors) being included for no reason other than expectations.

 

 

 

=====

 

Think I might do a comic book, movie, book, tv show or something else next.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shrek the Third and Shrek 4. The first was a hilarious romp through pop culture and fairy tales. The second was an entertaining sequel expanding upon Shrek's world. The last two were just...milking the franchise for all it was worth, and smashing it into the ground until there was no more lucrative prospects to come out of it.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Official_cover_art_for_Bioshock_Infinite

 

So.... where to start.

 

Bioshock Infinite is one of the most over-hyped games of this generation, it is also a piss poor sequel in that it is only a sequel in name and nothing more.

 

Even if you leave aside those awesome trailers which came out in yearly intervals which showed so many combat choices, destructable environments, a scary and threattening city full of people who might turn on you at any second...

 

What we get...

 

An out of place mess. Nothing in the game feels like it belongs there. Lets go over it shall we.

 

I agree with quite a lot of stuff here, though I think you've looked into a couple of things a bit too much:

 

For example I was never bothered that we never get to fight Songbird.  The story was cleverer than just making you fight a boss for the sake of it, especially considering Songbird was portrayed as an enemy with next to no weaknesses.  It also felt more thematically appropriate to me that Elizabeth is the one to finally bring down her abusive guardian at the end.

 

As for the racism... while it was a central theme of the story, I thought it was more just a sort of "people were racist in the time and world that we've set this game in so... we should probably accurately portray that".  I don't think it was meant to be a commentary on anything.  It was just a story were racism was handled as the situation was in those days.

 

But yeah due to barely looking at the game during development to keep it a surprise I was shocked at how different it was to BioShock 1 in all regards.  Thematically it is most certainly a successor to BioShock 1, but BioShock 2 will always be the true sequel to me, even if it was handled by a different team and wasn't anywhere near as clever or original story-wise as Infinite is.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because I'm totally original:

 

Sonic_Adventure_2_cover.png

 

For quite a while, this game was really thought fondly of by a lot of people, and often said to be the last good Sonic game. So I picked it up a few years ago.

 

...ehhhhh... I can't agree with that sentiment.

 

Since I'm writing from memory, I'll be brief.

 

It seems like, light dash aside, SA2 took everything Adventure 1 did, and made it worse. For one, over half the game is made of hunting stages and shooting stages, neither of which are particularly fun.

 

The shooting stages I find are plagued with either annoying platforming, bad enemy placement, bad level design, or any combination of the three.

 

The hunting stages start out tolerable, but slowly get worse as the game progresses. The areas just get too big to conveniently and quickly find three little pieces of emerald in. Plus, the botched radar that only lets you find one emerald at a time doesn't help. Compare this to in SA1 where the areas were more confined and the radar let you find any emerald you wanted.

 

The Sonic/Shadow levels are the best part of the game, but even they're subpar. The controls feel way more loose than in Adventure 1. I especially noticed this in Green Forest when I ran across the inside of a log and Sonic jerked around everywhere. It was so unwieldy.

 

With all of the above, needless to say, I was a bit let down. Not quite what I expected from what was once known as the greatest 3D Sonic game of all-time, especially when compared to the far superior (for the most part) SA1.

 

 

 

Also, I'll chime in with Infinite here and say I liked it, but it really annoyed me how the game throws EVERYTHING at you at once during shooting sequences, and thought it was silly how the game tries to be all grand with its story, but you can find pretty much anything you need laying on the corpses of various NPCs (Cereal? Popcorn? Really?)

 

I'm also not sure how I felt about the ending. Not to give anything away, but it was like I was watching one of them 2deep4u animes or something.

 

I will agree with it not being worthy of Game of the Year, a title which I wonder why we even need.

 

(Keep in mind I haven't played the original Bioshock, and didn't pay much attention to all the hype for Infinite.)

Edited by Dizcrybe
  • Thumbs Up 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm also not sure how I felt about the ending. Not to give anything away, but it was like I was watching one of them 2deep4u animes or something.

 

I felt this way too at first but read a timeline of events and watch the ending again and it does make complete sense.  While I'm usually not a fan of endings that require supplementary reading to understand, I conceded after reading stuff that everything you need to know IS in the game, it just becomes a lot easier to take in when you're able to read up on the correct order it all happened in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if this counts as a sequel, but whatever:

 

LogoDBGTFUNimation.jpg

 

Biggest shitfuckery of lameshit fanservice that makes no fucking sense that every fucking arc is forced as shit.

 

Black Star Dragonballs? Where did this shit come from and why was it never mentioned before?

 

Super 17? "After the evil Baby is killed by Goku, peace is thought to have been finally restored. However, in the depths of Hell, two masterminds work on a horrific plot: Dr. Gero (the evil, but brilliant, scientist responsible for all of the Red Ribbon Androids) and Dr. Myuu (who is responsible for the completion of Baby) team up to create the ultimate being. They decide that by merging the normal Android 17 on Earth, with a Machine Mutant that they create in Hell, they can create the ultimate android killing machine." Who comes up with this shit?

 

None of it made sense and it was painfully stretched. Fuck GT.

  • Thumbs Up 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

33ok.jpg

 

Eleven fucking years.

 

Eleven fucking years waiting for the sequel to the greatest, most unique, most beautifully mysterious thing to come out of Sega or Sonic Team ever. And we got "COR BLOIMEY WOT'S AWCTOPAW DOING HEEEEEEEEAR".

 

It was made by Sonic Team USA, also known for such amazing works as Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. This game was such an astounding disappointment on all fronts (besides, surprisingly enough, the soundtrack). To make matters worse, the utter half-assed job on the game, combined with NiGHTS' obscurity, made it sell like ass, guaranteeing that we won't be seeing another NiGHTS any time soon.

 

Or, you know, ever.

 

The gameplay sucks the life and soul out of the original, making NiGHTS have all the momentum of Sonic 4; the momentum gained from the Drill Dash was perhaps the most important part of the physics. So flying's botched almost entirely. The different forms NiGHTS took in the first one have been transferred over in the form of transforming masks called Personas. You use the D-Pad to select NiGHTS' form and get to playin'. Of course, they're entirely useless outside of a few key points and the final boss.

 

The story is painful, full of plotholes and bad voice-acting. Not quite Sonic '06 bad, but bad. The kids' faked accents are cringe-worthy. Reala's voice is as if Frieza and a classic Disney villain had a baby. NiGHTS sounds like he's had a recent lobotomy. Wizeman, surprisingly, came out unscathed, sounding badass and intimidating when he...stands there and doesn't do anything. Ever, besides conjure a cyclone at the beginning of Helen's story.

 

The new Nightmaren are, for the most part, uninspired and have about 1/1,000th of the character of the originals. Three of them are shameless reskins of older bosses (Girania/Gulpo, Chamelon/Jackle, Donbalon/Puffy). Queen Bella, the giant spider that lives in TotallyNotHalloweenTown is kinda cool, I guess.

 

The graphics are kinda pretty (for the Wii, I guess, although Mario Galaxy and other games outshine it), and the stages do evoke the original NiGHTS feeling, albeit on a much less significant level. The music is beautiful and is perhaps the only redeeming part of the game, the only part that lives up to the legacy of the original. Dreams Dreams, as per Sonic Team protocol, is remixed about sixteen-thousand times in this game. They're all pretty good and, personally, I believe that the Sweet Snow version surpasses the original.

 

All in all, disappointing and nothing but a nail in NiGHTS', tiny, baby-sized coffin. It's sad that a series so wonderful and mystical got only one truly amazing entry to its name, then failed the test a decade later and was wiped off the map. Odds are, NiGHTS will remain in the Dead Sega IP Bin, along with its siblings, JSR, Billy Hatcher, and Space Channel 5.

Edited by NOPE
  • Thumbs Up 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Epic_Mickey_2_The_Power_of_Two_(Wii)_(NA

 

This one is definitely going to need some explanation. The original was met with a lukewarm reception but as a Disney fan and a longtime fan of Mickey Mouse and someone who gained an interest in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit I enjoyed it, despite the major flaws it had. It had an interesting premise, a neat dark setting, a simple yet good storyline, and likable obscure characters. Was it the comeback Oswald deserved? Ehhh, it could have been better. But for what it was, I thought it was fun.

 

The sequel however... Was just lackluster. I ended up getting the Wii version of the game, since it was supposedly the best version of it... Aside from a couple of new features, It really felt like I was playing a watered down version of the original.

 

For one, the advertisements really put emphasis on the musical numbers. In the end, the musical numbers were kinda forgettable, and every one was only sung by one character in the entire game. The story also doesn't feel as... "Epic?" I mean, I really liked the story they had going for the first game, but I remember when I beat this one, I sitting through the credits thinking, "That's it?" It definitely was missing something the first one had.

 

Another problem I had was the voice acting. Now don't get me wrong, the voice actors do their jobs well in this game... however there are segments in the gameplay where the NPCs just won't shut up. It can get graiting when an NPC is telling you to hurry up every few seconds. Not to mention sometimes Oswald outright quotes Scrappy Doo in some parts of the game and considering his voice actor, Frank Welker, uses a similar voice as Scrappy, it can get pretty annoying.

 

Finally, it all comes down to the gameplay... how is it? Well, it's pretty much exactly the same as the first Epic Mickey, down to the flaws. First off, I've heard various times that half the staff working on the game were trying their best to fix the camera, possibly the most criticized part of the game. With that many people you'd think that would be fixed, right? Well, not exactly. The camera is only slightly improved from the last game, and that's not even saying much. The levels feel like rehashes in certain parts of the game, there is still a lack of "Mercy invincibility," which could really screw you up if you're surrounded by enemies, and... Well, in the end It really feels like the same game with with the same flaws, but with different somewhat less interesting level design.

 

I remember reading an article somewhere comparing this game to one of Disney's direct to video sequels, and I honestly can see what they mean by it. It's pretty much just a rehash of the original with a few different changes. Due to my love for Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, I can't really bring myself to hate the game, but I can acknowledge that it's very inferior.

 

And considering the first Epic Mickey had quite a bit of glaring flaws, that's not a good thing.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was genuinely excited for Okamiden because I felt that the touch screen would be a perfect complement to Okami's brush-based gameplay. Too bad it turned out to be a load of complete, uninspired horse shit.

I can't believe that this game got the praise that it did because even on its own it's a painfully mediocre game hampered by its system's limitations. Battles are clumsy as fuck. You never get the satisfying feedback you did from the first Okami because Chibi fights like shit. And don't give me that "he's just a child, he's learning!" excuse, because that doesn't excuse shitty controls and shoddily programmed hit detection. I hate all of the bosses since they're the generic "do a minigame with the boss to expose its weak point" formula that I hate so much in video games. Only the final bosses actually revert back to the formula of the first Okami's boss battles. Oh, and the dungeons are full of gimmicky, one-trick bullshit mostly involving guiding your partner to another switch, and it gets old the very first time you do it.

The story is awful, and they retcon a lot of things from the first Okami for no good reason. How the fuck are Amaterasu and Shiranui two separate characters all of a sudden? Why did they change the nature of Shiranui's death? Why did they design a villain who apparently was in control of Yami from the first game the entire time? Exactly why was it important to have Chibi play any role in the first game's flashback sequences? Why can the Water Dragon suddenly transform without the orb which was such a big plot point in Okami's Ninetails story arc? Why are there more brush gods?

All of the new characters are downright awful. I hated every single one of my partner characters, especially the actress brat and the blonde idiot. I utterly hated how the majority of the game was backtracking through areas from the first Okami, except not nearly as fun because everything is blocked off via invisible walls, or certain areas "used to be there" but aren't anymore for absolutely no reason other than that the developers just didn't feel like putting everything from the first game into the second - the revisited areas' purpose amounted to nothing more than "Hey remember when this was in the first game?"

And for good measure, the one aspect I was excited for the most, the touch screen controls, was just as bad as the rest of the game. Drawing a cherry bomb was fucking impossible.

Okamiden was developed by an entirely different team, and it shows. To BioShock 2's credit, at least the developers knew better than to revisit the same areas from the first game and put the effort into designing entirely new corners of Rapture. Whoever was responsible for this game clearly didn't understand what made Okami so great. Okami's praise included but was not limited to its vast, open world, the depth it instills into even its most minor characters, and perhaps most importantly, nigh perfectly capturing the feeling of being in direct control of a physical god in a video game. So why the fuck should I enjoy playing as a tater tot who's "not yet matured" enough to reach the power of the first game's protagonist for absolutely no story-related reason?

If you've only played the first Okami, or you've played neither but wanted to check the series out, don't bother with this travesty of a follow-up.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could just scream FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 at the top of my lungs, but hey, that's too obvious. Instead, how about this:

 

256px-Max_Payne_3_Cover.jpg

 

MAX FACKING PAYNE 3

 

So, on a whim, I decided to play through the entire Max Payne trilogy this summer. Being a fan of Alan Wake, I wanted to check out Remedy Entertainment's earlier work and see if it had the same magic. All in all? I was pretty damn impressed. The first two games weren't quite masterpieces on the level of Wake, but they had the heart and soul to match, had an awesome main character, and were a hell of a lot of fun too. Naturally, the next logical step seemed to be playing Max Payne 3. Now, I had been aware beforehand that Remedy didn't develop this game. And I was also aware that the fan reaction had been...polarized, to say the least. It was different. But, hey, might as well give it a try, I thought. Critics liked it anyway.

 

And this is the first thing I saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB1tmeYOFgA

 

OKAY

 

WELL THEN

 

LET'S START HERE

 

You know, I don't think Sam Lake's a perfect writer. Sometimes, he sticks some pretty ham-fisted lines in his work. The original Max Payne, in fact, might very well be one of the most unintentionally hilarious games I've ever played - not that it's any worse off for it, but you know, that's a thing. Max Payne 2, I'd say, was much better in that regard. But you know what he was most certainly good at? He knew how to write a fantastic leading hero - a deep, well-developed, witty, poetic, tragic yet decidedly badass guy despite his hilarious name. And you know what he also had? A sense of taste.

 

NOW HERE WE HAVE MAX PAYNE 3 MMHMM YEAH and now we get extended montages of Max Payne downing liquor because we're supposed to sympathize with him I guess and he hates himself GOOD LORD DOES HE HATE HIMSELF DID I REMIND YOU THAT HE HATES HIMSELF BY THE WAY HE HATES HIMSELF AND ALSO HE LOVES ALCOHOL

 

HE REALLY REALLY LOVES ALCOHOL

 

tumblr_md5egvGgxz1rjpf3yo1_400.gif

 

SO ASIDE FROM THE SELF-LOATHING AND BOTTLE-LOVING WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER LIKE

 

Well, the writer so lovingly ditched all the poetic monologues and snark to turn him into pretty much every boring Hollywood stereotype imaginable. "Too old for this crap"? Check. Sarcastic antihero? Check. Washed-up alcoholic who needs to find himself? CHECK. Wangsty douchebag? CHE-HE-HE-HECK. It's like Dan Houser did literally everything in his power to make the character as loathesome and unlikable as possible.

 

As for the rest of the story? It's just really, really boring. The pacing is terrible and it doesn't give you a reason to care until the very end. All of the characters beside Max Payne are either annoying or just there. I hardly even remember who the villain was, let alone what he did. And then there's the egregious lack of any sort of stylization, you know, like the really cool graphic novel cutscenes in the first two games. Instead, we get some incredibly pointless and baffling seizure strobe light effects with text flashing on the screen for no apparent reason. It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life.

 

But you know what? The gameplay, I have to admit, is pretty good. It's more or less a solid cover shooter with a fun Bullet Time mechanic. Disposable and not terribly innovative, but it's good fun.

 

Is that anything like it should be?

 

HAHAHA

 

NO

 

See, what made the first two games so addictive and fun was the fact that you couldn't use cover. The only asset you had was Bullet Time, so you could never just sit down and relax in the middle of a gunfight. You always had to keep your head in the game. You always had to be ready to react, and most of all, you had to keep moving. It was challenging and it was a lot of fun. Max Payne 3's gameplay doesn't do anything wrong, per se - aside from some very, very poorly designed moments here and there - but a sequel is supposed to expand upon what made its predecessors unique, rather than simply assimilate it into the ever-growing pantheon of vapid mainstream shooters.

 

That is exactly what Max Payne 3 did, 100%, across the board. I can't say this is legitimately a bad game. By it's own right, it's slightly above average, but as a sequel, it's just awful.

 

Bravo, Rockstar.

 

Just.

 

Clap.

 

Clap.

 

Clap.

 

Oh hey, I almost forgot to mention that you have to pay extra for the multiplayer.

 

I am not kidding. That's a thing.

 

YEAH.

Edited by T-Man
  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if this counts as a sequel, but whatever:

 

LogoDBGTFUNimation.jpg

 

Biggest shitfuckery of lameshit fanservice that makes no fucking sense that every fucking arc is forced as shit.

 

Black Star Dragonballs? Where did this shit come from and why was it never mentioned before?

 

Super 17? "After the evil Baby is killed by Goku, peace is thought to have been finally restored. However, in the depths of Hell, two masterminds work on a horrific plot: Dr. Gero (the evil, but brilliant, scientist responsible for all of the Red Ribbon Androids) and Dr. Myuu (who is responsible for the completion of Baby) team up to create the ultimate being. They decide that by merging the normal Android 17 on Earth, with a Machine Mutant that they create in Hell, they can create the ultimate android killing machine." Who comes up with this shit?

 

None of it made sense and it was painfully stretched. Fuck GT.

 

This.

Also, no Super Sayian Pan and an awful adult version of Goten. Great job.

 

 

 

And personally, because it's an overeasy target:

 

1295108882-00.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Film examples: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3.

 

The first film was an unexpected swashbuckler, telling a simple plot very well. Characters were bold, set pieces were fun, and the unexpected delight of Jack Sparrow!

 

Films 2 and 3 decided we needed a great big epic plot that went on too long, serious faces all around, and forced Jack Sparrow craziness. Set pieces became over the top, constantly trying to outdo the last for sheer bombasticness, nevermind if it doesn't work! Compare the initial swordfight between Jack and Will in the first film to Jack, Will and Norrington in the second. First film makes good use of the scenery, feels natural and has cheeky dialogue. The second has crazy Sparrow face running along a massive whel, and it goes on far too long. Not to mention the Kraken, built up to be a huge menacing threat in 2, and in 3 is just...dead. Killed off-screen, because stupid businessman villain asked for it.

 

I actuallly quite liked the fourth film though, it seemed closer to the original's film tone for me (mermaids aside...).

 

 

 

Game example:

 

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly.

 

I love the 3 Insomniac Spyros, and was actually devasted when I thought that was the end of the Series. I was hyped for this PS2 sequel, imagine the possibilities!

 

Massive loading times, hardly improved graphics, empty spaces in levels with nothing to them, Moneybags appearing in the first level ONLY, boss battles due randomly, new flame powers didn't add anything, and just nine levels! Ugh, terrible game, and it turned me off any future installments forever.

 

I'll always have Year of the Dragon...*sob*

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've already torn Sonic the Hedgehog 4 several new assholes on why it's a bad sequel, so instead I'll talk about the (aforementioned) Sonic Adventure 2. If only because of the change of how the gameplay genre roulette worked and other changes done to it, that makes the game worse in my eyes.

 

For Sonic's/Shadow's gameplay, I think there was less stuff to do in the levels compared to Adventure 1, and it's more linear in terms of level design as well. That and they are severely outnumbered by the other two gameplay styles, thus what's arguably the best/least offensive aspect of the game is in short spurts as you grind through the other stuff. The number of levels Shadow has -just four in the entire storyline- compared to Eggman and Rouge is particularly damning (not a Shadow the Hedgehog reference, shut up >:V).

For Tails's/Eggman's gameplay, the controls were slippery (thus leading to some at times rather cheap deaths), and the camera at some angles can really screw you up at times by positioning itself at specific sections so you can't really see where you're going when advancing through the level. That and they put Tails in a mech. Just why.

For Knuckles's/Rouge's gameplay, they made the levels twice as large as the levels in the previous game. That wouldn't be so bad if the emerald radar wasn't neutered so that finding emerald shards was a lot harder than Adventure 1 and the hints weren't cryptic most of the time so you had no idea where the hell you could find the shards.

Finally, they made it so that playing through/with the Chao (Gardens) were necessary to 100% the game. Ugh.

 

OK, let's go to something NOT Sonic related for once.

 

220px-Cars_2_Poster.jpg

 

Cars 2. What else needs to be said? An unnecessary sequel created purely to make more money off a IP that sells a fuckton of merch. Especially annoying considering they could had used other ways to cash in on the film-DTV sequels, an animated TV (mini)series a la Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, even the occasional shorts like the Toy Story Toons would had worked (and btw yes I know the Mater's Tall Tales shorts exist).

 

It's really a damn shame they went with making another film instead and thus broke Pixar's "invincibility" streak, because I think (aspects of) the premise could had actually worked as a standalone film. I sure as hell would love to see a film from Pixar based on the world of espionage. But not like this... ._.

  • Thumbs Up 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.