Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Difference between revisions

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

 

* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' 1 and 2 were bashed by reviews and many gamers alike, but from the 3rd game onwards, the line was well received for a while. Recently, it's become mocked by reviewers (but still maintains a base of hardcore fans) [[It's the Same, Now It Sucks|because it remains a similar game in every incarnation]].

** As a note, ''Dynasty Warriors 1'' is not part of the same series, which is why the Japanese series numbers are one less than the NA series numbers.

* Similarly, ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' was quite an improvement on ''Soul Blade/Soul Edge'' (most people think the series began with ''Soul Calibur'').

* Several [[Dating Sim]] series (such as ''X-Change'') start with a [[Porn Without Plot]] game with shallow characters that exist almost solely for the main character to have sex with and little interaction with the player (who's assumed to be too busy interacting with themselves) beyond them clicking to the next scene. Then a sequel adds things like actual plot, characters, branching stories, and the sorts of things that separate porn from a story that happens to involve sex. They also often get improved budgets allowing things like better art, more CG pics for scenes, and voice acting. In fact, ever so often a series gets so improved, they'll make a ''non''-hentai version, which have a habit of [[Adaptation Displacement|completely overshadowing the original]].

* The first ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' game was a so-so spinoff with some occasional bright spots. Its sequel, ''Explorers of Time and Darkness'' streamlines a few things, adds Wi-fi compatibility, {{spoiler|adds much better plot twists}}, and generally has a grander and more entertaining plotline with genuine emotion.

** The same can be said of the ''[[Pokémon Ranger]]'' games. The first game was different, and it was neat to play as something other than a trainer, but many gameplay elements were hard (must not slip off edge of disgustingly slimy floor!) to nearly impossible (hold still, Pokémon, so I can draw twenty loops around you without lifting my stylus!). The second game, ''Shadows of Almia'', had a better and longer plot, let you explore your world more, made it so you didn't have to draw twenty loops in one go, and actually had adults that were worth something besides giving you your initial equipment. Much more fun. The third game was arguably even ''better'', taking all that good stuff and expanding it.

* [[Rockstar Games]] as a whole are very good at this. ''[[Red Dead Revolver]]'' was a regular game at best. ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' is basically ''Revolver'' plus the ''GTA'' formula, with next generation graphics and a much richer plot.

* ''[[Metal Gear Acid|Metal Gear AC!D]]'' was ambitious, but very unrefined, with potentially broken gameplay. ''AC!D 2'' sharpened the graphics, tidied up the engine, and added a lot of depth and spontaneity to the gameplay. Also, the story made sense this time around.

* By many accounts, the second ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' (''[[Dark Cloud|Dark Chronicle]]'' overseas) is an immense improvement over the original. One area is the fact that the weapon system was fixed. In both games, [[Breakable Weapons|weapons break if you use them too much without repairing them]]. In the second game you could fix broken weapons, but in the first they'd be gone forever. Several other things were fixed as well.

* ''[[Sonic Storybook Series|Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'' and ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]''. While people disagree about whether they are ''[[Sonic Adventure 2|Adventure 2]]'' or ''[[Sonic Heroes|Heroes]]'' quality (former being "better"), they generally agree that they surpass ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (video game)|Sonic '06]]''.

** ''[[Sonic Generations]]'', being basically a love letter to the best levels of Sonic games past, is also excellent fun.

* The first ''[[Fable]]'' game had an infamous amount of hype during development. When it was finally released in 2004, it received mostly positive reviews, but it ultimately failed to live up to it's hype, as others were disappointed by the lack of many promised features, a somewhat small, restrictive game world and other flaws. Along comes ''Fable II'' in 2008, with more refined gameplay, a larger, more detailed world with more quests, and deeper sandbox gameplay that implemented many promised features from ''Fable''. It received better reviews from all.

** ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'s'' second game was hard to take even for the people who liked the first one, but the third game made up for it in incredibly unexpected ways, to a degree that some consider it the best in the entirety of the ''Battle Network/Star Force'' continuity.

** The ''[[Mega Man (video game)|original]]'' is regarded as good, but noticeably flawed, and had relatively low sales for a Mega Man game. Then came ''[[Mega Man 2]]'' and the series was quickly established as one of Capcom's mainstays.

** And then, the relatively few flaws and lack of depth found in ''Legacy of Goku II'' were completely gone in ''Buu's Fury''.

* ''Astonishia Story'' was an RPG originally made for PCs in the mid-1990s and remained exclusively a Korean property until 2006, when the game was remade for the PSP and distributed worldwide. The port hadn't aged well at all, and the lackluster localization effort by [[Ubisoft]] didn't help. Three years later, ''Astonishia Story 2'' (titled ''[[Crimson Gem Saga]]'' in non-Asian countries) was released to a much warmer reception, with tighter character development, a retooled battle and skill system that emphasizes [[Combination Attack|combination attacks]], much less [[Forced Level Grinding]], and a better translation by the team at [[Atlus]].

* ''[[Thunder Force]] III'' was a huge improvement over its rather average predecessor ''[[Thunder Force]] II'', they got rid of the annoying overhead scrolling stages, improved the graphics and [[Awesome Music|music]], and made the gameplay a lot better. ''[[Thunder Force]] IV'' and ''[[Thunder Force]] V'' continued on the tradition of awesomeness and were pretty much the peak of the franchise. Unfortunately, [[Sequelitis]] took effect after that.

* ''[[Assassin's Creed (video game)|Assassin's Creed I]]'' had really good [[Le Parkour]] gameplay and the beginnings of an interesting [[Ancient Conspiracy]] story, but was burdened with boring characters and levels, padding, and repetitive side quests and assassinations. ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' had a likable main character, levels that were memorable, and missions that were actually fun.

* ''[[Dementium the Ward]]'', although enjoyable, had a number of flaws. The most known one being that when you die, you go ALL the way back to the beginning of the chapter. ''Dementium II'' had numerous improvements, like an omnipresent minimap, the ability to crouch and jump, the ability to save up health-restoring items, more fluid controls and more balanced and varied levels.

* The original ''[[Shining Force]]'', while still a fun Strategy RPG, was riddled with [[Good Bad Bugs|exploitable]] [[Artificial Stupidity|bugs]] and [[Fake Balance|poor class balance]], while having too gradual a difficulty curve. Later entries have not only fixed these problems, but also introduced new concepts, such as [[Summon Magic|summoning]] and weapon skill levels, to add to the variety of the gameplay.

* The original ''[[Sacred]]'', while a decent hack n slash ARPG in its own right, was brought down by [[Obvious Beta|loads of glitches and bugs]], simplistic gameplay, and some amount of [[Fake Difficulty]]. ''Sacred 2'', however, had much fewer bugs and glitches (though it still has a few), improved gameplay mechanics, and was generally much more polished and inviting. Oh, and the fan community it formed is one of the best around, giving rise to the somewhat famous ''Sacred 2 Community Patch''. And now that the series license has been picked up by Deep Silver after Ascaron's sudden bankruptcy, things are continuing to look up for the franchise.

* ''[[Lego Island]] 2'' is mostly a [[Contested Sequel]], but the most common opinion on it is that it was killed by [[Loads and Loads of Loading|long load times,]] dull and lifeless voice acting, poor animation, glitchy physics, low replay value, and [[Guide Dang It|poorly explained]] minigames. ''Lego Island Xtreme Stunts'' on the other hand fixes nearly all of these problems, mostly by adding far more replay value, shortening the load times, explaining the minigames better, and having far less glitches.