Franchises that failed to "evolve"

[ZeroAX]

Um...I would say Pokemon, but X and Y seems to be really evolving the series enough to be the first actual sequel since Gold and Silver.

Other than that, Megaman Battle Network springs to mind, but that series died out exactly because all the changes it made over 6 games would have been what other companies would have put in a single sequel.

ooooooooooooooooooooh, I'V GOT ONE. A BIG one.

The Legend of Zelda. Specifically the 3D console games. OOT Brought the series to 3D, Major'as Mask was an interesting experiment, Windwaker brought on the sense of exploration in the seas, and amazing graphics and the most lovable iterations of the series and after that......both Wii games were super safe and that made them quite boring for me. Twilight Princess was Zelda OOT meets the LotR films and Skyward Sword seems so underwhelming (desclaimer I haven't played that one after finding that not even the trailers could get me excited about it).

I want to see the series go back to its roots. And when I say roots, I MEAN it. Total open exploration map with multiple options open to you at all times and just small hints spread randomly through the game's world. oh, and a "it's dangerous to go alone, take this" guy at the start

Lastly, we need some new items and puzzles. It's really boring when I can remember the same puzzles in other games. And I'm tired of pushing blocks.

[oxymoron]

So they change the scenery, some of the tools etc while retaining the core gameplay mechanics. How does that make it different from any of thousands of others video game sequels? The stories might be rehashed, I wouldn't know because I haven't played any of the recent COD games, but I don't see how that is relevant in a game like COD where the story is poorly written and irrelevant anyways. And many other games pull the same thing, like Zelda. I don't see any one saying that every new Mario and Mega Man game is the same old shit because Bowser kidnapped the princess AGAIN or Dr Wily is being evil AGAIN. Although with Mario you could make the legitimate argument that most new Mario games are kind of uninspired and feel like rehashes (while the new game that launches the new console generation is often innovative in some way).

Fair enough. Someone should make a thread for "over-evolved" franchises.

[Menegrothx]

I thought we were talking mostly gameplay mechanics, which is why I brought up COD. As I said, yes the setting changes, but the core gameplay and game engine has not altered since the second game, just been touched up a bit here and there. That is not evolution as far as what I understand the OP to be getting at.

And honestly, I am one of those people who feel that you need two at best versions of Bomberman (although in the B-man's favour he did try to be a 3D platform hero for a while there).

I agree that the COD series is playing it very safe and is incredibly stale. No engine evolution in 5 or 6 years, so lazy. But the games have different settings and weapons atleast, so from that point of view I think that there are game series that are worse offenders in this regard.

And yeah, Bomberman 64 was kinda fun. I think there's also a similiar game in the Puyo series.

[Sload Soap]

I can sort of agree on the zelda front, but Majora's Mask and Wind Waker do enough to change things up. So, even while Majora's mask lifts characters directly from OOT, the three day time limit introduces a time management aspect we hadn't had in the series before. And while WW has some similar puzzles to OOT (really fucking similar) the cel-shaded graphics change the entire tone of the game, making it a bit more light and humorous. Also the sailing tends to focus exploration to defined points of interest rather than a open field with nothing in it but rocks and shrubs.

So they both altered the core mechanics of Zelda while remaining familiar I feel.

so from that point of view I think that there are game series that are worse offenders in this regard.

Other well know contemporaries of COD?

[ZeroAX]

/facepalm

How could I forget about Assasin's Creed? After 2 (the best in the series imo) we have 2 very similar expansion packs that bloated the game with needless extras and a "3rd" game in the series that was just dull and uninteresting.

I'm done with this series and it's a shame. I fell in love with AC2 (one of my 3-4 platinum trophies are from this game) and I went crazy for the series, but quickly my enthusiasm died down.

Now, I'll just watch all the cut-scenes from AC4 on youtube and be done with it.

[Flake]

I hate to be the guy who ever defends Call of Duty but it's going to happen, right here and right now:

Call of Duty is the Megaman of this generation. Vastly popular, ubiquitous with the majority of gamers, and subject to near yearly releases with tiny changes and tweaks between iterations. And look at those sales!

All I'm going to say is that Megaman went down hill really, really fast when Capcom began to "innovate".

[ZeroAX]

Call of Duty is the Megaman of this generation. Vastly popular, ubiquitous with the majority of gamers, and subject to near yearly releases with tiny changes and tweaks between iterations. And look at those sales!

All I'm going to say is that Megaman went down hill really, really fast when Capcom began to "innovate".

I think CoD should just be compared to the likes of sports games or LoL. It only exists for the yearly multiplayer updates. If it's not broken they shouldn't fix it, and if we don't like that type of game we should just not buy it.

As for Megaman.....come on mate, Megaman X was the most innovative and by far best Megaman game ever.

Unless you are talking about how the NES sequels evolved, which I can't talk about cause I have only played Megaman 2.

[Flake]

I think CoD should just be compared to the likes of sports games or LoL. It only exists for the yearly multiplayer updates. If it's not broken they shouldn't fix it, and if we don't like that type of game we should just not buy it.

As for Megaman.....come on mate, Megaman X was the most innovative and by far best Megaman game ever.

Unless you are talking about how the NES sequels evolved, which I can't talk about cause I have only played Megaman 2.

I'm scarcely an expert on CoD having played all of three minutes of multiplayer back when the games were about WWII but what I have observed indicates a game that is definitely more diverse than sports games.

Even Megaman X (holy among the holy in the SNES library) was just an incremental improvement over Megaman 5 (6 was, I believe, released AFTER Megaman X). If you look past the graphics (which were repeated for two more games), the only real changes in terms of gameplay are the emergency dash, wall jump, and charging special weapons (and that last one doesn't count since you have been able to do that occasionally since Megaman 2). Everything else is firmly rooted in a previous game.

[Menegrothx]

Except that emergency dash and wall jump completely changed the way the games play so your point is invalid

[Flake]

Except that emergency dash and wall jump completely changed the way the games play so your point is invalid

Not really. In Megaman 3 you got the slide and that changed the game...briefly. Then it was built into every single boss pattern. And the emergency dash is really just the slide in a different form, so I really shouldn't have even mentioned it. So the only real change is the wall jump and that, like the slide, was built into every single boss pattern after that.

Just one more increment. But here's the thing: I'm not bashing Megaman. I loved Megaman UNTIL they started innovating. Megaman X was great...until Megaman X5 when they started adding random shit for the sake of adding random shit. Classing Megaman was great all the way through to Megaman 10 because they never strayed far from the original premise. But the rest? At best you have a game like Megaman Legends which did well because it's really not a Megaman game at all. At worst you have the Battle Network series which felt like the hollowest take on the Megaman formula possible.

Sometimes change is not good and Megaman is an example of that. I think CoD shares the same distinction.