Published on October 24th, 2023

Have you ever had a disappointing experience with a game sequel? Well, of course, you have.

Games frequently disappoint us and games far more frequently bring out Sequels rather than original works, like we beg.

But has a sequel ever been so bad that it taints the rest of the franchise for you? Sometimes it’s the case, sometimes not.

Take a look at the factors we think separate the good sequels from the bad sequels and how developers can avoid tainting a whole franchise with one bad egg.

It Depends On The Franchise

If you were to ask fans if the sequel to The Last of Us (The Last of Us Part II) ruined the original game, well, you’d probably get a yes/no split down the middle.

However, those who say “yes” and therefore didn’t like the Plot of the controversial sequel, would probably say so because the sequel’s plot is so intrinsically linked to the original.

It was a deeply emotional and thought-provoking plot, and its gameplay was only mildly improved upon.

The radical changes were kept to the narrative. Being one of the most realistic video games, at least when it comes to the character development, less so the zombies, it tends to leave an emotional scar.

Therefore, the original is in your mind while you’re playing the sequel and vice versa.

However, if you were to ask a casual Assassins Creed fan if they thought the sequels affected the original, you might get the response “Which one is that again?” Assassins Creed is the Fast and Furious of the gaming world, in that there is a new one every year or so.

They’re not bad (most of the time), but they’re a dime a dozen. There is a much thinner plot throughline that is designed to allow the player to visit lots of worlds and situations, so one bad game doesn’t tend to taint the rest.

It Depends On The Plot

But while we’re talking about video game plots, like Game of Thrones, so many of them do not know how to stick the landing.

Mass Effect, Dead Space, Bioshock, and lots of other franchises have a bad case of “We had a jumping-off point, we know how to develop it, but bringing it home is lost on us”.

More often than not, this manifests in sprawling narratives that cover gaming trilogies.

Mass Effect has a notoriously disappointing ending despite two previous games and the franchise’s character all receiving glowing reviews.

So, unfortunately, since a story is usually split into three acts, Act 3 is likely to affect, or ruin, Act 1 just because you know what’s coming.

It Depends On The Gameplay

Then again, sometimes franchises like to “upgrade” their gameplay in the sequel and end up making a game unplayable.

Rock Band 4 comes to mind, which was ultimately the same game with new songs added, but also Duke Nukem Forever, which languished in development hell for years before being released as a disappointing sequel.

The action-packed gameplay was replaced with cringe humour that you would expect from a Red Pill podcast, leading to mass despair.

It Depends On The Frequency

However, to get back to the Assassin’s Creed example, and tossing Call of Duty, Halo, Final Fantasy, and Resident Evil, there is a lesson in scarcity.

These are all beloved franchises but they’re also the most likely suspects for hearing the phrase “No one asked for this” in their trailer comments.

Re-releases remasters, and spin-offs into expanded universes (Marvel, we’re looking at you), mean the numbers go up but the hype doesn’t.

When was the last time you heard real fanfare for a Final Fantasy game? Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis was released earlier this year.

We’re big believers that there is such a thing as “too much”. We’re not quite saying any of these franchises are there yet, but when games take years to be developed and released, it should feel like a treat. Getting so many in such quick succession diminishes the excitement around it quickly.

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