History Sequelitis / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' is generally considered to be far inferior to the original, what with its lousy story, bland combat, and greatly lowered difficulty level.
** ''VideoGame/DmCDevilMayCry'' is despised by fans due to its "Westernized" approach, overly simplified combat system, and Dante's new immature and unfunny characterization. The negative reaction to ''[=DmC=]'' led Capcom to shelve the reboot continuity altogether and eventually release [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 a new game]] set in the original continuity, to considerable acclaim.

* In spite of being the most story-driven of the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series, ''YON'' and ''7'' are often seen as this due to its usage of {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s.

* A very divisive example is the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series after ''VideoGame/StarFox64''. There's so much FanMyopia that it has led to one of the most [[BrokenBase broken]] fanbases of all time. Creator/{{Nintendo}} themselves have caught on to the decrease in sales, and though Miyamoto joked about it, it took the series ''almost a decade'' to get a new game (''Star Fox 64 3D'' notwithstanding), and even THAT game was controversial, mainly due to it's control scheme and being yet another ContinuityReboot of the Lylat Wars.

* ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' was a decent little Gamecube-original platformer-adventure game hybrid, known for its large open world and charming concept of being able to explore a house as a tiny robot. It sold satisfactorily, got good reviews, and developed a small but devoted fanbase. However, the franchise seemed to have an odd aversion to just making a newer installment, with most of the results being small-budget spinoffs that failed to impress. It all culminated in ''Chibi-Robo: Zip Dash'', which pretty much ditched the franchise's entire aesthetic and most of its gimmicks in favor of a depressingly bog-standard and mediocre 2D sidescroller, with the baffling gimmick of requiring the player to ''[[LuckBasedMission roll a roulette wheel]]'' to determine whether or not they could advance to the next stage after beating a level. Paradoxically, despite the massive overhaul, the producers essentially said that if the game failed, the franchise would probably never see another entry. [[FranchiseKiller It did,]] receiving poor reviews, alienating what little fanbase the franchise had left, and having copies marked down to clearance levels.

** ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' has run into this too, with its launch being even worse than previous ''Battlefield'' games, being suffering from tonal issues of soldiers cracking jokes and wearing silly outfits despite the bleak dystopian setting, and having many controversial changes to the formula like the Specialist system replacing classes.

* The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series is widely agreed to have peaked at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', with ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' facing criticism over [[ScrappyMechanic X-Factor]] and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks switch to 3D graphics]]. While ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s gameplay was applauded, it quickly became infamous for [[UncannyValley poor attempts at realistic graphics]], a ham-fisted story and numerous instances of ExecutiveMeddling.

* The ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheMovie'' games demonstrated much the same path as the movies: the first one is good, the second is ''awesome'', then things go a bit downhill. Fortunately, ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows Web of Shadows]]'' was there to fix matters after ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManFriendOrFoe Friend or Foe]]'', which we [[FanonDiscontinuity do not talk about]].

** The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series is filled to the brim with this trope. Every sequel has had a few new gimmicks and mini-games to stand out from the game before it, but eventually, the games started to rehash older mini-games/boards/gimmicks with a slight tweak to them. Fan-favorite Donkey Kong was quickly shunted to the side as an NPC after being a playable character in a few games and has even completely vanished from some of the party games as well. Other characters kept coming and going like a revolving door; characters like Toad and Blooper would appear in only one or two games while others like Birdo and Dry Bones only appeared in certain other games. Since the party games kept being released every year or every other year, fans started to notice just how stale the series was getting, which may explain why ''Mario Party 9'' came out four years after the eighth party and revamped the basics of the game. It was poorly received by the fanbase, viewed as neither interesting ''nor'' unique. That being said, even detractors preferred it over ''10'', thanks to Bowser Mode being weighed ''heavily'' in Bowser's favor, to the point where it's almost impossible for the other players to win. It wouldn't be until ''Super Mario Party'' was released on the Nintendo Switch that a ''Mario Party'' installment would be generally warmly received by the fanbase.

* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV''. Over time, many fans came to view it as weakest installment in the mainline ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games (''1942'', ''2142'', ''Vietnam'' and the 5 numbered titles) with much criticism aimed at its historically inaccurate aesthetic, botched launch and weak post-launch support. Upon release in November 2018, the game had game-breaking bugs, deviated from the realistic look of previous games, and lacked advertised features like the much-touted battle royale mode. While past ''Battlefield'' games improved with updates, ''[=BFV=]'' was riddled with problems throughout its lifecycle and whatever updates it received took too long to implement[[note]]Most glaringly, tank customization was advertised before release yet didn't appear in the base game until February 2020, more than ''15 months'' after launch.[[/note]]. Many fans have compared the game unfavorably to its predecessor ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' as that game was released in a functioning state and improved over time whereas ''Battlefield V'' lingered in mediocrity for its entire lifespan. It's widely accepted as a very missed opportunity as DICE & EA took what was a highly anticipated game that was going back to the series' World War II roots, and instead created a buggy, controversial mess.
** ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' has run into this too, with its launch being even worse than previous ''Battlefield'' games, being extremely tonally confused between its marketing, story and character dialogue, lack of single player, poor weapon variety, and having many controversial changes to the formula like the Specialist system replacing classes which, among other things, makes it impossible to determine at a glance [[FriendOrFoe who's on your team and who isn't]].

* A very divisive example is the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series after ''VideoGame/StarFox64''. There's so much FanMyopia that it has led to one of the most [[BrokenBase broken]] fanbases of all time. Creator/{{Nintendo}} themselves have caught on to the decrease in sales, and though Miyamoto joked about it, it took the series ''almost a decade'' to get a new game (''Star Fox 64 3D'' notwithstanding).

** The [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2 second game]] is generally seen as one of the worst in the series, due to a combination of rushing it out to try and capitalize on the original's success (the director later acknowledged in an interview that they knew the game was buggy and unbalanced but weren't concerned about the quality) and [[ActionizedSequel attempting to cash in on Wolfenstein 3D's success.]] The end result is it's essentially a shooter, but it made no attempt to change the base gameplay (you'll often end up getting shot at from offscreen, and in the unlikely event that you do manage to get an enemy in your view, good luck aiming at him) and ends up borderline unplayable. The entire "horror" thing is also completely absent, with it taking the little moments of silliness that were common in contemporary horror games and cranking them up to eleven until the game became a self-parody. It really says something when the most famous part of a "survival horror" game involves bludgeoning zombie dwarf cooks to death with a frying pan while wearing a Santa outfit. Fortunately, the third game reintroduced the adventure elements from the original and took itself a bit more seriously.

* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV''. Over time, many fans came to view the ''[=BFV=]'' entry as weakest installment in the mainline ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games (1942, 2142, Vietnam and the 5 numbered titles) with much criticism aimed at its historically inaccurate aesthetic, botched launch and weak post-launch support. Upon release in November 2018, the game had game-breaking bugs, deviated from the realistic look of previous games, and lacked advertised features like the much-touted battle royale mode. While past ''Battlefield'' games improved with updates, ''[=BFV=]'' was riddled with problems throughout its lifecycle and whatever updates it received took too long to implement[[note]]Most glaringly, tank customization was advertised before release yet didn't appear in the base game until February 2020, more than ''15 months'' after launch.[[/note]]. Many fans have compared the game unfavorably to its predecessor ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' as that game was released in a functioning state and improved over time whereas ''Battlefield V'' lingered in mediocrity for its entire lifespan. It's widely accepted as a very missed opportunity as DICE & EA took what was a highly anticipated game that was going back to its World War 2 roots, and instead created a buggy, controversial mess.
** ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' has run into this too, with it's launch being even worse than previous Battlefield games, being extremely tonally confused between it's marketing, story and character dialogue, lack of single player, poor weapon variety, and having many controversial changes to the formula like the Specialist system replacing classes.

** ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' has run into this too, with it's launch being even worse than previous Battlefield games, being extremely tonally confused between it's story and the character dialogue, lack of single player, poor weapon variety, and having many controversial changes to the formula like the Specialist system replacing classes.

** While not a direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAllTheBravest'' was poorly received by critics and fans alike due to its shallow gameplay and lack of story, consisting of little more than watching sprites fight sprites while being hounded by {{Freemium Wait Timer}}s and predatory {{microtransaction}}s. The game scored an infamous 25/100 on Metacritic, the lowest of the franchise.

* The first two episodes of ''VideoGame/EyeOfTheBeholder'', while not revolutionary, were excellent dungeon crawlers and the second is recognized as an EvenBetterSequel. Then Westwood went on to work on VideoGame/LandsOfLore but SSI decided to make another sequel anyway. The result was a game that brought back many of the flaws of the original and amplified them, with absurd mazes and frustrating difficulty, and suffered from a mediocrely programmed engine too.

** The first release of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' was universally considered to be subpar upon release. The reception for the game was so bad that many of the staff working on it were laid off, and Square Enix had to make the game free to play in order to keep fans around. Because of this, the game underwent [[AuthorsSavingThrow a complete overhaul]] in order to fix the many problems that were addressed by reviewers. It divided people but was better at least.
** While not a direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAllTheBravest'' was poorly received by critics and fans alike due to its shallow gameplay and lack of story. The game scored an infamous "25/100" in ''Metacritic'', the lowest of the franchise.

-->'''Review:''' Worst Super Weasel Kid game ever. WTF [=GameFuna=]. WTF Lionel. [[SymbolSwearing ***.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheHex'' has this as an InUniverse plot point. The game ''Super Weasel Kid'' was a platforming classic, regarded fondly by players and made by a young prodigy. The TotallyRadical sequel ''Super Weasel Kid: Radical Road'' recieved harsher criticism by people believing it not to be as good as the original. The final nail in the coffin was the third installment, ''Super Weasel Kid '09: Super Redux'', an ObviousBeta with missing textures and buggy enemies. Fans disparaged it.

-->'''Review:''' its a buggy mess. i feel like I've been robbed.\\
'''Review:''' How do I get a refund? Cuz this game is a scam.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has an in-universe example. Alphys, the geeky royal scientist, spends a great deal of her social media posts ranting about how terrible ''Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2'' (seemingly a direct parody of the above ''Tokyo Mew Mew a la mode'') is compared to the original. One of the signs that things are very different in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' is that she considers ''2'' to be a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel instead.

* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV''. Over time, many fans came to view the ''[=BFV=]'' entry as weakest installment in the mainline ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games (1942, 2142, Vietnam and the 5 numbered titles) with much criticism aimed at its botched launch and weak post-launch support. Upon release in November 2018, the game had game-breaking bugs, deviated from the realistic look of previous games, and lacked advertised features like the much-touted battle royale mode. While past ''Battlefield'' games improved with updates, ''[=BFV=]'' was riddled with problems throughout its lifecycle and whatever updates it received took too long to implement[[note]]Most glaringly, tank customization was advertised before release yet didn't appear in the base game until February 2020, more than ''15 months'' after launch.[[/note]]. The game couldn't even support double XP events or having more than 4 game modes at a time even though these features have been in every prior ''Battlefield'' game. Many fans have compared the game unfavorably to its predecessor ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' as that game was released in a solid state and improved over time whereas ''Battlefield V'' lingered in mediocrity for its entire lifespan. It's widely accepted as a very missed opportunity as DICE & EA took what was a highly anticipated game that was going back to its World War 2 roots, and instead created a buggy, controversial mess.

* For being such a guilty pleasure, ''VideoGame/HuniePop'' still had a rock-solid puzzle gameplay and a nice {{animesque}} visual style. When the pseudo-sequel ''VideoGame/HunieCamStudio'' came out, many disliked how it ditched all of its most popular features. The puzzle/DatingSim hybrid was substituted by a shallow and repetitive Tycoon-style management game, the animesque style replaced by a more cartoony "Western" style that clashed with the game's erotic themes and, while the offensive humor abounded and in some cases was turned UpToEleven, the actual explicit content was reduced to a minimum. The girls received little to no characterization outside of the fetishes they embody, unlike the previous game. And, all in all, HCS is really not that different from the browser and Facebook games it's meant to parody. Thankfully, at the time of this writing (2018), the devs are working on an actual ''[=HuniePop 2=]'' that will be much closer to the predecessor.

* Poor, poor ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''. The first game in the series was a major cult hit and is still often considered the best shooter to ever run on the Build Engine. However, the second game hit major TroubledProduction woes and was given a mandate to be programmed in under a year--even the game's director told the publisher that the game was simply not finished. They shipped it anyway, [[ObviousBeta and it showed]], [[FranchiseKiller leaving the franchise strangled in the cradle.]]

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' got into this with its business model of new games getting released yearly, resulting in ten-plus games so far. People[[note]]though not its teenage target audience[[/note]] started to realize they were paying $60 for games very similar to each other every year, as ''Ghosts'' has sold less than many of the previous ''Call of Duty'' games before it.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' is generally considered the worst game in the franchise due to its terrible gameplay in the 3D stages, awful English voice acting, and for Axl being a whiny ReplacementScrappy to X. Thankfully, the [[VideoGame/MegaManX8'' sequel]] improves matter by taking out the 3d stages and making Axl more tolerable.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' is generally considered the worst game in the franchise due to its terrible gameplay in the 3D stages, awful voice acting, and for Axl being a whiny ReplacementScrappy to X.

* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' averted this, barely, with 'standalone expansion' ''Cataclysm'', despite it being a literal MissionPackSequel. It caught some flak for the dramatic shift in narrative tone and the new tech and ship designs were a bit hit-or-miss, but it did some pretty cool stuff with the existing graphics engine and generally came across like the development team at sub-contractee Barking Dog had at least ''played'' the original. ''Homeworld 2'' was a bit less fortunate, however; a lot of the original creative team had moved on in the interim, and Relic massively over-extended themselves trying to create game environments with 'megastructures' straight out of the best kind of SpaceOpera and generally go SerialEscalation, and much of the more CrazyAwesome stuff failed to make the final cut. The end result was by no means ''bad'' -the graphics stand up quite well six years later and it's a ''lot'' more [[GameMod mod-friendly]] than the previous two- but the finished product had several minor but annoying bugs and balance issues and generally felt rushed. The gulf between Relic's original vision and the final release version didn't help.

* Sony's former two [=PS1=]-era platformer franchises, ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'', share a similar fate of both being franchises that started out with a solid [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996 first]] [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 game]], [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack followed]] [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped by]] [[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage two]] [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon sequels]] that were [[EvenBetterSequel better than the first]], and then afterwards succumbing to FranchiseZombie territory after being mishandled by the same parent company (Universal Interactive Studios/Vivendi Games). Crash's first outing without Creator/NaughtyDog, ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex The Wrath of Cortex]]'', was considered to be [[SoOkayItsAverage average]] at best, but it was more playable compared to ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'', Spyro's first outing without Creator/InsomniacGames. An ObviousBeta that suffered from uninspired level design, LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading (they even had loading screens ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment for the loading-screens!]]''), terrible graphics, terrible voice acting (which shows how much they cared, almost the entire voice cast didn't reprise their roles), and being so glitchy in the PS2 version that achieving HundredPercentCompletion was near impossible.

** [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2008 The 2008 reboot]] received fairly mediocre reviews, but many suggested the game's main problems owed more to trying to do too much and being an ObviousBeta; the common line was "it has a lot of interesting ideas but they aren't well-realized." It was followed years down the line by ''Alone in The Dark: Illumination'', regarded as a fifteenth-rate ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' knockoff with impressively broken combat and a metric load of bugs.

* ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' was a decent little Gamecube-original platformer-adventure game hybrid, known for its large open world and charming concept of being able to explore a house as a tiny robot. It sold satisfactorily, got good reviews, and developed a small but devoted fanbase. However, the franchise seemed to have an odd aversion to just making a newer installment, with most of the results being small-budget spinoffs that failed to impress. It all culminated in ''Chibi-Robo: Zip Dash'', which pretty much ditched the franchise's entire aesthetic and most of its gimmicks in favor of a depressingly bog-standard and mediocre 2D sidescroller, with the baffling gimmick of requiring the player to ''[[LuckBasedMission roll a roulette wheel]]'' to determine whether or not they could advance to the next stage after beating a level. Paradoxically, despite the massive overhaul, the producers essentially said that if the game failed, the franchise would probably never see another entry. It did, receiving poor reviews, alienating what little fanbase the franchise had left, and having copies marked down to clearance levels.

** [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2008 The 2008 reboot]] received fairly mediocre reviews, but many suggested the game's main problems owed more to trying to do too much and being an ObviousBeta; the common line was "it has a lot of interesting ideas but they aren't well-realized." It was followed years down the line by ''Alone in The Dark: Illumination'', regarded as a fifteenth-rate ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' knockoff with impressively broken combat and a metric load of bugs. The poor reception may [[FranchiseKiller finally put the franchise to rest.]]

* ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' was a decent little Gamecube-original platformer-adventure game hybrid, known for its large open world and charming concept of being able to explore a house as a tiny robot. It sold satisfactorily, got good reviews, and developed a small but devoted fanbase. However, the franchise seemed to have an odd aversion to just making a newer installment, with most of the results being small-budget spinoffs that failed to impress. It all culminated in ''Chibi-Robo: Zip Dash'', which pretty much ditched the franchise's entire aesthetic and most of its gimmicks in favor of a depressingly bog-standard and mediocre 2D sidescroller, with the baffling gimmick of requiring the player to ''[[LuckBasedMission roll a roulette wheel]]'' to determine whether or not they could advance to the next stage after beating a level. Paradoxically, despite the massive overhaul, the producers essentially said that if the game failed, the franchise would probably never see another entry. [[FranchiseKiller It did,]] receiving poor reviews, alienating what little fanbase the franchise had left, and having copies marked down to clearance levels.

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII'' is considered a serious step-down from its [[VideoGame/DawnOfWarII celebrated predecessor]], downgrading to only three playable factions in the base game instead of the traditional four, and adopting a cartoonish, exaggerated art and gameplay style that drew plenty of {{Narm}} and [[FollowTheLeader unfavorable comparisons]] to ''VideoGame/StarCraft''. Few of the returning characters from previous games had their original voice actors, and the campaign's bare-bones plot and GenericDoomsdayVillain left a sour taste in a lot of mouths. The backlash and lack of sales that were generated by these factors caused Relic to announce ten months later that support was ending for ''DOW III'', and all planned content for the game was cancelled, making it likely that this game [[FranchiseKiller killed]] the ''Dawn of War'' franchise entirely.

* The ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' franchise. It started off with a well-liked game set in the 1950s, followed this up with a decent game set in the 1960s, and then two games set in the 1970s, ''Big Willy Unleashed!'' and ''Path of the Furon'', that received such bad reviews (this was mostly due to them not only being rushed to release but suffering from many signs of ObviousBeta and {{Flanderization}} of the main characters) they [[FranchiseKiller shot the franchise down with a seeker missile]]. However, the current owners of the series (THQ Nordic) have said of their plans to revive the series, starting by porting the first two games to the Playstation 4.

* The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series is widely agreed to have peaked at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', with ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' facing criticism over [[ScrappyMechanic X-Factor]] and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks switch to 3D graphics]]. While ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s gameplay was applauded, it quickly became infamous for [[UncannyValley poor attempts at realistic graphics]], a ham-fisted story and numerous instances of ExecutiveMeddling, leading to it becoming the FranchiseKiller.

* The ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' series started off as a unique concept to the industry and garnered hundreds of fans, with the [=PS2=] port of the third installment being one of the most critically-acclaimed games of its time. As the series progressed through the Underground titles, however, the changes became minimal and predictable, the over-the-top tone got stale really quickly and the series declined in overall quality, with the peripheral-based ''RIDE'' and ''SHRED'' installments getting intense lashings from critics and fans alike. It didn't help that EA's ''VideoGame/{{Skate}}'' had stolen the market from Activision, too. Like the hip-hop examples, they tried to rekindle interest with a ''Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5'', which was [[ObviousBeta very incomplete]], slammed hard by fans and critics alike, and [[FranchiseKiller effectively put the final nail in the series' coffin]].