160°

Top 10 Sequels that Completely Changed Their Franchise

Jose from Bit Cultures writes: "It’s strange when we look back at a series, a franchise that we’re so used to, yet we fail to notice the massive leaps one entry took to revolutionize the entirety of the series. This list is for those games, the titles that looked at its predecessor and blew it, and our expectations, completely out of the water. Some of these games even managed to revolutionize a genre on top of their own franchise, which is just a testament to how important some of these sequels actually were."

Read Full Story >>
bitcultures.com
eyoung253012d ago

Damn, I didn't even think of that one. Crazy how that sequel propelled the series into professional gaming.

eyoung253012d ago

While many games on this list I agree with, I will start the discussion of a few I think should have been on the list.

Final Fantasy VII:
While it is no where near my favorite entry, it did so much to change the series and the developers have not looked back with their main entries. It brought the series into the 3D world and introduced the awe inspiring summon animations. It also was the first entry Nomura directed and while he has done both good and bad for the series, he brought it into the spotlight and increased the audience for the series. And expanded the idea of mini games in the series with chocobo racing, snow boarding and casino games with the Gold Saucer.

Mass Effect 2:
I liked the first one immensely., but there is no doubt that the series grew in popularity with it's second entry. It took the Bioware Formula and perfected it. What it lost in it's RPG elements, it made up in it's action and personal relations with your companions.

Uncharted 2:
The first Uncharted was awesome in it's beautiful graphics, charismatic characters and film like qualities. Uncharted 2 though, help the series ascend into a AAA game series as it gave purpose to the characters and increased the grandeur and epicness of Nathan Drake's adventures. It also tightened up the combat and somehow had even more beautiful graphics.

Kallisti3011d ago

Good list and unlike some websites, I didn't have to click through 10 pages just to read it

TheCommentator3011d ago

Resident Evil 4 threw the franchise into the gutter. It was like the first step off the edge of a cliff... the freefall was enjoyable, but the sudden stop at the bottom really hurt. Capcom should have listened to Mikami and let him make Resident Evil 3 the way he'd wanted to. If that'd happened, it would have had the Devil May Cry gameplay style and a protagonist like Alice from the films. In hindsight, this would have been better in the long run for the franchise than RE4's changes were.

3010d ago Replies(1)
120°

Capcom Keeps Bringing Resident Evil To VR – Here's How And Why

This is how the Resident Evil 4 remake was reinvented again for VR.

Read Full Story >>
gameinformer.com
Babadook721d ago

This hints at continued support for the VR versions of Resident Evil.

Nerdmaster21d ago

And Capcom, being Capcom, chooses to keep the VR versions limited to certain headsets in a niche that is already small.

Babadook721d ago (Edited 21d ago )

They wouldn’t work well on Quest. Not the PlayStation versions at least. Also Sony seems to have helped fund these.

StoriedGamer20d ago

... Maybe not quest standalone due to power limitations, but you do know that all of the modern resident evil games including 2 and 3 remake (which dont have even have official VR versions) are available on PC and are arguably better in almost every way...

The porting process to VR with VR capable engines is so incredibly easy that the cost is negligible really. What's worse is having played the games on psvr and psvr2, the developers did a pretty shoddy job whereas the PC versions are better as the community tackled a lot of the issues in a matter of a few weeks...

Babadook720d ago (Edited 20d ago )

@above.

This is simply not true. Compare RE8 praydog vs the native port to psvr2. The native port is an amazing experience. You’d never want to actually play the pc mod. It’s no where near as good. The performance is not good and is nauseating.

StoriedGamer20d ago

... In what ways is it nowhere near as good? On a decent system it runs incredibly well and even better if you have something good, pushing it way beyond what you get on the psvr2. I've literally played both, and on PC it not only looks better, but runs much better overall on pc. Additionally, you get even more games than the 3 official games over both psvr and psvr2 offered by Capcom (4, 7 which is only psvr compatible, and 8).

Babadook720d ago (Edited 20d ago )

@above

It doesn't actually run better on the PC though. I've heard from many PC gamers who will flat out disagree with you. I've seen top end Nvidia cards drop to below 60 fps (no reprojection either). Hopefully you know the effect that Foveated Rendering has on VR performance.

How far did you make it in the story? If you really claim that the PC can compete on performance show me a professional reviewer who claims that who actually tested a large portion of the game. On top of the performance not being in PCs favour you've got a completely inferior level of interactivity.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 20d ago
Profchaos20d ago

Pretty sure it's because they were very well paid to do so in the past I'm sure there's a deal going because Sony sure isn't in a rush to produce games for their own headset
Plus the re games are fantastic in VR

talocaca20d ago

RE4 is absolutely stellar on PSVR2.

Hoping their next title supports it too 👏👏👏

Babadook720d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Indeed. One of the guys seemed to be a big fan of VR.

And this bit pretty confirms there're plans for more RE VR projects.

Once they wrapped up the project, they realized VR was well-suited to the franchise. While they didn’t discuss specifics, Kumazawa says they “plan to undertake more challenges in the future.”

Profchaos20d ago

Was amazing I thought re8 was also just as good to.

SmortBoie20d ago

I'd give my left nipple for an official RE2R VR mode. Praydogs was good but the real deal would be incredible.
Shame they don't seem to have any interest going back to these releases. RE7VR even already exists just tweak it and pop it on PSVR2. Nnngggg.

sammichosaurus18d ago

Gotta get some VR experience soon.

130°

The Decline of Stealth Games Has Been Sad To See

Salman From Tech4Gamers writes "Once a big deal in gaming, stealth gaming, all about sneaking around, planning, and staying cool under pressure, seems to have faded away."

Read Full Story >>
tech4gamers.com
DaReapa24d ago

"The decline of the stealth genre can be traced back to several factors. One big problem is that many games today sacrifice stealth for more action-packed scenes.

Even titles labelled as “stealth” often turn into loud shootouts soon after starting. The emphasis has shifted from sneaky strategies to just charging in and shooting, with stealth almost forgotten."

And that's what disappointed me the most about MGS4. While still a good game, it largely abandoned it's stealth roots that made the series so compelling. Since, I've gotten my stealth fix from the likes of TLOU, Hitman, and less popular tiles like Shadow Tactics.

Lexreborn224d ago

Hmm, MGS4 had the same liberties as all prior MGS games. You could do a complete stealth no kill run in mgs4 with no issue. While also giving a large array of gameplay variations that enhanced the experience.

No MG game except Revengeance has not been able to have complete stealth runs.

DaReapa24d ago

@Lexreborn2
True, there were indeed non lethal runs in MGS4. Perhaps I used the wrong wording, but I was more so referring to the 'guns blazing' aspect of the gameplay. This was something that wasn't easily accomplished in the prior games of the series. One reason being that you had limited ammo. In MGS4, you had virtually all the arsenal and ammo you'd ever need early on in the game by way of Drebin points. This alone made stealth all but unnecessary, and resulted in a much easier game than previous entries. That's what the article's alluding to.

BISHOP-BRASIL24d ago

@DaReapa

You could go guns blazing even in MGS1, I know 'cause I sucked at stealth at the time and I still beat that game by simply going gung ho on the lowest difficulty and replaying multiple parts over and over 'till I eventually made it.. And it was never the case that the games simply allowed you to just play Rambo instead of a spy with no punishment, you always had a much harder time trying to be a one man army on higher difficulties than just being furtive, so it was always very much stealth first and foremost, the supposed appeal to action in MGS4 was never an issue, they added more weapons and tactics which made all out war a more viable option in some parts but not all of the game and never the ideal course of action. In fact MGS4 have, just like all other MGS games (even the open world unfinished mess that was MGS5), a score system which will rank your run and the point system, like always, favored stealth, non-lethal approaches... Not only the rank/emblem is tied to playing stealth, the game had multiple item unlocks and trophies which you could only ever get by playing it furtively... Hardly anything required you to play guns blazing.

So can we please stop making bullshit up about MGS4 already? I don't know if you were mad the game skipped your platform of choice in favor of the PS3 or if it devalued your life achievement of beating a silly game by being a little more accessible or whatever else was the issue, but it was some 15 years ago, it's time to let go of this whole they abandoned stealth bullshit, they never did that, in fact, it was the second best stealth mechanics in the entire franchise, behind only MGSV, which allowed an even more complex stealth system (and even more open combat too if you wished, because that's what the increasing technology of different generations allowed) but I would argue MGS4 still took more advantage of their stealth mechanics than MGSV ever realized (largely because of open world vs linear structure, but still...). Yes, you could play like a normal shooter action adventure, but you could even more easily had played it like one of the best stealth action games ever. If you choose not to, that's on you.

Snookies1224d ago (Edited 24d ago )

MGS 4 most certainly did not abandon its stealth roots. As someone who got pretty much every rank you could achieve in that game. I can assure you, that is not the case.

cloganart24d ago

Should play MGSV - great stealth mechanics.

PrecursorOrb24d ago

In my opinion as far as modern stealth mechanics and freedom of approach I think V is the best we’ve had so far

BlackCountryBob24d ago

Interesting, I would however add that I think part of the decline in interest in many recent stealth games, Assassin’s Creed as a prime example, has been that instead of the stealth play being the fun, it’s been RPG’d as a character choice akin to playing as a mage or a thief with all the same drawbacks and things which turns many players away (upgrade grinding, obscure overly complex skill and equipment upgrade trees). One thing about MGS, Splinter Cell, early Hitman and early Assassin's Creed etc was that they were games you picked up and played with the game the feature, not supplemental to homework hidden in the pause menu.

Fist4achin24d ago

There out there. You just never hear about them.

anast24d ago (Edited 24d ago )

The novelty has worn off for 'pure' stealth games. They are too tedious. I personally like a good mix.

tombfan24d ago

Cyberpunk 2077 can be a stealth game if you want to... a pretty decent one too.

Show all comments (15)
110°

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: How to Unlock the Best Items in MGS1

If you're replaying MGS1 in any of its available forms, you'll want to know how to unlock all the best items in the game!