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.

 

[x65943]

I will totally defend Zelda 2. If it was called something else like "Elf Quest", it would have been a classic. It just changed the formula of what people were expecting, and they couldn't accept it. Still was an amazing game.

Many of the games people are mentioning here are not great, but still playable mostly. There are lots out there which were just completely garbage.
-Castlevania 64 (And most of their 3d games).
-Adventures of Sonic (Dreamcast)
-FF14 (The first version)

Those are all unplayable.

Sonic Adventure unplayable?

Those games are still fun to go back to today

 

[sombrerosonic]

Guilty Gear Strive - Pure trash after Rev. 2. They crapped all over character designs, character story, plot, motivation and last but not least of all, the freaking mechanics. Can't get much worse than that.

I will never touch that game

Post automatically merged: Oct 22, 2022

Sonic Adventure unplayable?

Those games are still fun to go back to today

Those games are awesome

 

[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

Now I have to play it to see the things you're referring to.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Digimon World 4

 

[gohan123]

Castlevania Lords of Shadows 2, damn I loved the first one.

 

[elm]

Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (NES)

 

[slaphappygamer]

Contra III: The Alien Wars
This game might be popular, but it sucks compared to the original.

Agreed! It was a hard ass game. The Sir Mix-A-Lot remix was funny though. I just couldn’t take that game as serious as the previous ones. The Konami code didn’t help much either.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Donkey Kong Jr. I know what a fluke Donkey Kong was to begin with, but seeing a new Donkey Kong game in the arcades and then seeing how bad it was left a mark that 40 years on it is the first thing I think about when anyone mentions poor video game sequels. I still haven't played another DK game since, even though I own a NOS set of DK Bongos.

 

[MariArch]

Zelda 2 is a good game fuck y’all

 

[Anjuk]

• 8/10 Dark Souls.
• 7/10 Super Smash Bros. Melee.
• 6/10 Mass Effect 2.
• 5/10 Dead Space 2.
• 4/10 Kingdom Hearts II.
• 3/10 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
• 2/10 Portal 2.
• 1/10 Psychonauts 2.

 

[JonArbuckle28]

I'm tempted to say Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but I still played that game to the end. It wasn't so much bad as it was worse than FFT for stupid reasons

If remakes/reboots count as sequels, the most pissed off I've ever been about a game was when I bought EA Dice's Star Wars Battlefront. I was a huge fan of the originals, so I bought it blind, and I will never buy another EA game in my life

 

[Wolfy]

Honestly going from Civ V to Civ VI was a bit jarring, like I barely have touched it because it gave me such whiplash expecting more of the same great game to which it is not.

Honorable mention: Sonic Adventure 3. Because it does not exist.

 

[andeers]

Golden Sun 3. It wass too easy, and the majority of the main quest is somewhat lackluster. Then at the end a lot of mysteries ala Golden Sun 1 and 2 were presented but the game ends abruptly and the worst is that Golden Sun 4 doesn't exist to fix it.

 

[wolf-snake]

I will never touch that game

Post automatically merged: Oct 22, 2022

Those games are awesome

Actually no. You can trace what went wrong with the franchise down to the Adventure Games.

 

[The Catboy]

Yoshi's New Island. It was absolute soulless trash that didn't need to exist.

 

[Guacaholey]

Kingdom Hearts 3

Agreed. I did like that Sora beats Xehanort though. Redemption for him failing in DDD, though I wish there weren't so many characters with a role in the game. Killing off side characters only to revive them later is really lazy writing, and what were they thinking bringing Xion who felt unimportant even in 358/2 Days where the entire ending of the story revolves around her.

 

[VartioArtel]

Think this game called GBATemp is amongst my least favorites.
The HUD update was a disgrace.
Hitting the backspace key will also delete the PRIOR linebreak forcing things to crunch up like this post recently.
The skin isn't as entertaining.
The EXP Grind is hard and long.
Some titles are absolutely ridiculous ("Not Exactly Spotless", really?)

And I still haven't figured out where to input the Konami Code!

But in all seriousness, my least favorite sequal thus far has probably been Mega Man Battle Network 4. If you know, you know. And god, do the fans know.

 

[WG481]

Peggle Blast. Yuck.

 

[DKAngel]

Overwatch 2 if that counts lol

yeah ill agree, dissapointed in it also

 

[GeigerCouncilmanX]

Dead Rising 4; killed the franchise.