Contested Sequel: Difference between revisions

 

== Literature ==

** Larry Niven had originally intended it to be a one-off novel, but many fans wrote in to point out scientific or practical errors such as the fact that the Ringworld is unstable and the question of why its builders didn't build lots of small rings (a la [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks']] ''[[The Culture|Culture]]'' novels) instead, which would be much easier to defend. Niven decided to write ''The Ringworld Engineers'' to address these questions. Whether this addition improved the Ringworld or merely diluted its premise is a matter of debate among fans.

** Other fans are okay with ''The Ringworld Engineers'', but feel that the ''last'' two books in the series were where [[Sequelitis]] started setting in.

* The ''[[Street Fighter III]]'' series is a big hot point among many fans, particularly "old-schoolers" who are more familiar with the ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' and ''[[Street Fighter Alpha|Alpha]]'' games, who claim that parries (the ability to counter an attack without being stuck in block stun) kill the flow of the game, while its fans say that parries are what make the game great.

** ''[[Street Fighter IV]]'' tries to find a middle ground; while parries are absent, the Focus mechanic allows something relatively similar in that you can absorb one hit (or, in special cases, two) and exploit the advantage. The original arcade release focused on the 12 original World Warrior and Boss characters (plus Akuma) with 4 new characters. The original home release, and then [[Capcom Sequel Stagnation|Super and AE editions]]added more characters from ''III'' and ''Alpha''. However, this brings ''new'' complaints, in that the hodgepodge of old gameplay elements and characters are accused of being shallow shells of their former incarnations, with little of what made them fun or interesting.

* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]: Defender of the Future'', mainly due to completely abandoning the older games' storyline for a story written by someone who'd never played them. [[Internet Backdraft|Fierce wars have been fought]], but at this point the fandom seems to have more or less agreed to disagree.

* Depending on what mood Wikipedia is in on a given week, ''[[Vandal Hearts]] II'' is either "vastly superior" or "vastly inferior" to ''[[Vandal Hearts]] I.'' If you bought the second game after playing through the first expecting more of the same (at least semi-)realistic looking characters, nasty-looking animated monsters, and floating backgrounds, as well as gore, character classes, intriguing narration and CGI cut scenes, you're definitely going to be disappointed to find that all the characters in the second game are now animeish, with tiny bodies, over-sized heads and no mouths, the first monsters you encounter are now just cartoonish snakes, no cut scenes, and character classes are now based on equipment along with enemies that can dodge attacks.

* Regarding ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'', most fans agree that the [[Left Hanging|lack of an ending]] (due to [[Executive Meddling|LucasArts wanting the game out for Christmas]]) sucks. Beyond that? Good luck.

** Truthfully, putting a [[Karma Meter]] in any game will almost assuredly give you a [[Broken Base]]. [[Knight in Shining Armor]], or [[Complete Monster]]? And ''Deity of choice goes here'' help you if in a world with [[Grey and Grey Morality]]...

** While not the first direct sequel to a [[Tales (series)]] game, is probably the most well-known, given that it continues the events of [[Tales of Symphonia|the game that made the series popular and well-known to Western audiences.]] Some people enjoyed new characters Emil and Marta, the [[Deconstruction]] of what happens after the goals of the previous game were achieved, and seeing their old favorite characters come back to kick ass. Some ''other'' people hate it for Emil and Marta, the reuse of the first game's locations, the [[Mons]] system, and [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|their old favorite characters not getting enough screen time]]. [[Love It or Hate It|There is no middle ground.]]

** DOTNW also gets a lot of hate for the fact that the old characters stop gaining levels at certain point, much earlier then Emil and Marta, pretty much forcing you to always rely on Emil and Marta and the monsters you recruit.

* Although definitions of sequel may differ here, ''[[Xenosaga]]'' is often contested when it's remembered that it was meant to be a spiritual successor to ''[[Xenogears]]''. Although set to be done under a new company, ''Xenosaga'' was originally toted to be the beginning of a massive multi-episode story only hinted to in ''Xenogears''--done the way it was meant to be. Exciting prospects of fleshing out the massive back story of 'gears in such an epic fashion, and a possible remake of ''Xenogears'' itself somewhere down the line enticed many fans who were enthralled with the cultish appeal of ''Xenogears'' but found it less than completely...[[Department of Redundancy Department|complete]]. However, a variety of problems from internal screw-ups and bitter feelings between the staff--as well as what some would consider awful execution of the first ''Xenosaga'' game eventually led to the series almost completely changing direction and staff by the second chapter. By the third and final ''Xenosaga'' game, any notion of it being a spiritual prequel to ''Xenogears'' had been scrapped (aside from the occasional nod), as the series--originally meant to span generations with each game--concluded in the third as one generation with most of the original story threads tied up in a hurried fashion. As expected, fans are still split to this day. Though most were let down by this lost potential, some accepted ''Xenosaga'' as its own entity and defend it as its own entity--while others see it as one of the biggest botch-ups in video game history when comparing what it became to what it could have become. Some say perhaps the original vision in general was just too ambitious to begin with as well, we'll never know for certain.

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]''. Some love it for its realism, rich characters, production values and gritty nature, while others chastise it for those very things, preferring the zany, cartoony, over the top style of San Andreas and Vice City. Thankfully, the ''[[Saints Row]]'' series offers that experience, leaving everyone happy in the end.

** It may have been adored by critics and the general public, but is a contested sequel for fans of ''Morrowind''. Not only do many claim that it was [[It's Easy, So It Sucks|dumbed down]] for console users and casual players, but it took on a far more generic art style than the previous game. The expansion pack ''Shivering Isles'' fixes the latter, at least.

** This used to be a problem early on for ''Morrowind'' with ''Daggerfall'' fans, but it's died down a little since ''Morrowind's'' release. In this vein, a lot of old-school [[The Elder Scrolls|Elder Scrolls]] fans in general have complained about one or the other facet of Oblivion's gameplay. ''Oblivion'' did shake things up.

* The ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]]'' series doesn't have this problem as bad as most long running series, but ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'', with its very different direction from ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', is certainly one of the most divisive titles in the series.

** ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]''. Was it better than the first, or didn't live up to the excellence of the first?

* [[Duke Nukem Forever]] is considered this for several factors, such as not living up to the previous game, playing like the old game it was based on, [[Follow the Leader]], and several controversial issues [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|that we don't need to go into here.]]

* ''[[Rayman]]'' 3: Hoodlum Havoc'', half the fanbase thinks it was the last good ''Rayman'' game, others think this was the game that made the series go downhill, and preferred the large, exploration-based levels of ''[[Rayman 2 (Video Game)]]''.