Game series you feel started to lose their roots?

[Pirate_Higemaru]

Game series that have lost their way.....I didn't like the way the WarioWare series went after the first game. They were all really gimmicky and none of the mini-games were all that fun.

As for game series that still feel close to their roots? Metal Slug. It's been following the same basic formula since the first game with some innovations here and there.

[sabrage]

I also wouldn't call Pokemon a complex game, natures and evs or not, it's extremely simple in design.

I think it's the worst entry in the series solely because of Fi.

Master, there's a 100% chance I need to shut the **** up.

I'd be interested in hearing your defense for shitty sidekicks. They add literally nothing to the series except a mommy for little children.

Edit: Oh wait, you're agreeing with me Misread your post so I'll leave my shame here for posterity.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

I disagree about Castlevania. I think, especially from the p.o.v of handhelds, they have always stuck to the dungeon-crawling style.

Huh..? Castlevania started out with NOTHING to do with dungeon-crawling.. it was a straight forward platformer..

Later on came the robust customization options of magic, armor, weapon infusion, etc.

see - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest [NES] It technically started there with the second game in the series way back in 1988; about 8 years before SotN.

On the other hand, every console release since SOTN has been utter garbage. Shitty controls, wonky camera angles, and boring storylines.

Really? Castlevania64 took a really bad rap for said wonky camera problems and gameplay, but that deosn't mean the PS2/Xbox games were 'garbage'. Lament of Innocence replaced Castlevania Legends' place in the series canon as the origin story for the Belmont legacy. The gameplay itself was nothing to write home about, but given other similar action games of the time, it was more than competant.. Curse of Darkness was a bit of a let-down, but incorporated more RPG-like elements like those found in SotN in a more 3D environment.. Not great, but also not terrible either.. Give it a try before bashing it.

Lords of Shadow was impressive as I thought it did a good job of conveying a compelling story, and had crisp, addictive gameplay; although it did lack in the exploration department, since it was a rather linear game.

I'll agree with you here - it was definitely impressive for what it tried to do - make a truly traditional Castlevania game 3D. There is a lack of exploration for the same reasons the original Castlevania on the NES lacked it - it's a platformer, not an RPG.

But even with Order of Ecclesia, they still stuck with the tried-and-true formula.

OoE probably strayed furthest from the series as any of the games. Gameplay-wise, yeah, it's like SotN and every portable from Circle of the Moon on. But the story depicted a universe without Belmonts to combat an upcoming Dracula Resurrection. Very smart on Konami's part to do this, as it wasn't the same ol' thing. Plus, the ability to directly steal enemies abilities and weapons and dual-wield them was new and awesome!

Oh yeah, Judgment sucked sweaty fat guy ass through a straw.

Have you actually given the game more than a half an hour? It's not nearly as bad as it seems. Just try not to read into it too much..

Has anyone else played the Castlevania Adventure Rebirth on Virtual Console? I think it's worth the couple of bucks to play it.

Absolutely agree with this! It's a damn shame the Rebirth series of games weren't promoted better by Nintendo! They're awesome games that meld the best of the old games with new tech! This is a solid example of how Castlevania can start to return to it's roots!!

[Goregasm]

crash bandicoot lost its way big time. resident evil 4 and 5 (more so 5) although great action games have lost there roots. those are the first two games that come to mind. i would kill to see crash make a comeback like rayman did. naughty dog did a great job on the first 3 games. i think he is dead gone for good though.

[ZeroAX]

crash bandicoot lost its way big time. resident evil 4 and 5 (more so 5) although great action games have lost there roots. those are the first two games that come to mind. i would kill to see crash make a comeback like rayman did. naughty dog did a great job on the first 3 games. i think he is dead gone for good though.

I think the biggest problem with Crash isn't that it lost its roots, it's that is lost its quality way before losing its roots.

[GigaPepsiMan]

Crash lost its quality and roots when naughty dog sold the franchise.

[AmishSamurai]

The last good Crash game IMO was Warped. I think he's probably better off staying in the ground though. No need to ruin the franchise even more by digging up his corpse and tying new strings to it, and gaming has long since moved past "animal mascot with attitude".

[ZeroAX]

The last good Crash game IMO was Warped. I think he's probably better off staying in the ground though. No need to ruin the franchise even more by digging up his corpse and tying new strings to it, and gaming has long since moved past "animal mascot with attitude".

Since Activision has the rights you can be sure they will try to do something with it. Mind you I've heard their Spyro game is actually decent, so perhaps they can pull another semi-miracle?

[AmishSamurai]

The last good Crash game IMO was Warped. I think he's probably better off staying in the ground though. No need to ruin the franchise even more by digging up his corpse and tying new strings to it, and gaming has long since moved past "animal mascot with attitude".

Since Activision has the rights you can be sure they will try to do something with it. Mind you I've heard their Spyro game is actually decent, so perhaps they can pull another semi-miracle?

I've heard a lot of good about Skylanders, but I don't see that working with Crash.

[ZeroAX]

I've heard a lot of good about Skylanders, but I don't see that working with Crash.

I'm not saying they should make the same exact game with Crash, but I believe the series has been dead for so long that it's worth trying something completely different to bring it back. Think Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country.....but seeing this is Activision they might do an X-COM and make a Crash Bandicoot FPS game......