Gamers can be an unforgiving group of people. Everyone has that one series that released one too many sequels or spin-offs and destroyed our enthusiasm and love for it forever. The Tony Hawk series comes to mind, but my own personal disappointment was the Devil May Cry series. The first game was almost flawless, but the second was too easy and the third too hard. I was devastated by Capcom’s destruction of what I thought was going to be a stellar franchise.
But, hope (and my wallet) sprang eternal, as Devil May Cry 4 put the series back on track and made me remember how much I enjoyed killing demons with Dante. Which leads me to my question: what series did you write off, but a subsequent sequel made you love it again? Do you tend to give up after one bad entry or does it take a few for your trust to be lost? Go!
It takes a few entries for me to give up on a series. Right now Final Fantasy is teetering on the edge for me. I actually liked FF XIII, but it did seem like a step backwards after XII, and I wasn’t very fond of X either.
Another franchise I wanted to write off was Metal Gear Solid after 2, but then 3 blew me away. 4, however… we’ll just leave that for another time.
I was so hoping that Splinter Cell: Conviction would bring the series back to the days of yore…alas, it did not. Maybe next time?
I’ve pretty much written of The Force Unleashed series, if my review was any indication. That game was made out of obligation more than anything else. Truth be told, I’ve been tempted to play through the first one again. Compared to 2, it’s a master class in how to make a fun Star Wars game.
Far Cry would be my best example. While I was waiting on Far Cry 2 I decided to pick up the original on PC. It almost put me off Far Cry 2, but I reasoned that it was entirely different from the original and gave it a chance. I’m glad I did because Far Cry 2 was a great game IMO (I know there are many on this site who will diagree, but there you go).
Ratchet: Gladiator was also a disappointment but Tools of Destruction really went above and beyond the call to rejuvenate the series, so much so that I think it raised the bar too high for A Crack in Time.
Finally I will say that World at War made me loathe Treyarch so much that I gave up the multiplayer after 2 weeks (if you say MW2 is unbalanced, play W@W’s multiplayer). And that campaign? Ugh. It’s a good thing Black Ops looks REALLY good otherwise I wouldn’t have paid attention to it.
Also, FFX is awesome!!!
Halo Reach made me appreciate Halo again after I was just not very impressed with Halo 3. Bungie really put a lot of effort into sending off Halo with a bang.
Also, we’ll see if Black Ops can make me like Call of Duty again after it was brutally raped by MW2.