Bad franchise games that are good games actually

[destinyduelist]

Let me start this by explaining shortly what I mean:
A game that is terrible in the franchise it's part of, but on its own when taken away from the franchise, is actually a good game.
I'll start with the obvious answer, and I think all of us are old enough to admit it now, DmC: Devil May Cry. Yes we all know what they did to Dante and the rest of the characters is unforgivable, especially turning Vergil into a Redditor with a fedora, but the game on its own is good. The combat feels great, the enemy design is mostly good, and a good bit of the boss fights and action set pieces are awesome and incredibly well designed. If this game had ANY other name, hell, keep the DMC name but make it a spinoff with different characters that aren't the main ones, and you've got a very solid title. It's stupid and it's edgy and it's dialogue tries so hard to be badass that it fails so badly at it and it's one of those things you can't help laugh at and love just for how absurdly stupid it is.
Well, what are other games like this?

 

[diapered]

I think you mean "disappointing" franchise games because if the game is "bad" (even in the context of a franchise) that implies it does have serious issues. Just my opinion.

Good thread. My vote would be Wild Arms 4. I didn't like it, thought it was too different from 2 and 3, but when I looked it up I saw many people like the change in battle system, so I'm sure it is a good game on its own. Also, is there already a thread for this? I remember talking about this before and I can't think of any other reason I would bring up or talk about WA4 Maybe my memory is starting to get bad

 

[Elwiwi]

Metroid other m . I don't think is a bad game per se , it obviously has problem but the game plays and feels good .

 

[destinyduelist]

I think you mean "disappointing" franchise games because if the game is "bad" (even in the context of a franchise) that implies it does have serious issues. Just my opinion.

Good thread. My vote would be Wild Arms 4. I didn't like it, thought it was too different from 2 and 3, but when I looked it up I saw many people like the change in battle system, so I'm sure it is a good game on its own. Also, is there already a thread for this? I remember talking about this before and I can't think of any other reason I would bring up or talk about WA4 Maybe my memory is starting to get bad

Maybe there is a thread? I didn't find it if there is, but I'm sure this will get merged if there is one.
Also, yeah maybe your title would be better, but this grabs attention doesn't it? Lol, just kidding, I just worded it badly

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:30 PM

Metroid other m . I don't think is a bad game per se , it obviously has problem but the game plays and feels good .

As a long time Metroid fan I really have to swallow my pride and agree with you, while Other M is an abysmal Metroid game, if it featured a different protagonist and maybe a significantly altered story it would be a great game. (Yes, I really think the story even without centering around Samus, is just irredeemably bad.)

 

[Elwiwi]

Maybe there is a thread? I didn't find it if there is, but I'm sure this will get merged if there is one.
Also, yeah maybe your title would be better, but this grabs attention doesn't it? Lol, just kidding, I just worded it badly

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:30 PM

As a long time Metroid fan I really have to swallow my pride and agree with you, while Other M is an abysmal Metroid game, if it featured a different protagonist and maybe a significantly altered story it would be a great game. (Yes, I really think the story even without centering around Samus, is just irredeemably bad.)

The story and Samus sucks in other m . I'm glad that Metroid is alive after other m and federation force

 

[diapered]

Lol, just kidding, I just worded it badly

Don't worry about it I can't help myself, it's in my nature to be annoying and precise about things (I work as a scientist).

 

[Asian girls lover]

Even though I don't much about it, I'd say Max Payne 3 is the worst of the trilogy but a good game if taken for what it is. If comapared to the other two it looks like a different game, but if you don't count them then it's pretty enjoyable.

Metroid other m . I don't think is a bad game per se , it obviously has problem but the game plays and feels good .

I remember buying it back then, but couldn't play it because of some issue god only knows what it was, but what I liked what I played.

 

[TotzOnGaming]

Let me start this by explaining shortly what I mean:
A game that is terrible in the franchise it's part of, but on its own when taken away from the franchise, is actually a good game.
I'll start with the obvious answer, and I think all of us are old enough to admit it now, DmC: Devil May Cry. Yes we all know what they did to Dante and the rest of the characters is unforgivable, especially turning Vergil into a Redditor with a fedora, but the game on its own is good. The combat feels great, the enemy design is mostly good, and a good bit of the boss fights and action set pieces are awesome and incredibly well designed. If this game had ANY other name, hell, keep the DMC name but make it a spinoff with different characters that aren't the main ones, and you've got a very solid title. It's stupid and it's edgy and it's dialogue tries so hard to be badass that it fails so badly at it and it's one of those things you can't help laugh at and love just for how absurdly stupid it is.
Well, what are other games like this?
View attachment 40928

I Agree with this one! The Core Gameplay is Actually Really Good. It has it's Cool Moments but I couldn't say the same on the Characters and Story.

 

[Tonyz95]

About DMC, I've read somewhere that Capcom would continue with it, but only if Ninja Theory wanted to make a sequel. Maybe this game is considered a parallel universe just like in comics multiverses.

 

[PhrawzT]

Mass Effect Andromeda, sure it wasn't as good as the previous games, but I'll argue that despite the rushed production and glitchyness it was still a good game worth playing. It didn't deserve the hate that it got.

 

[destinyduelist]

About DMC, I've read somewhere that Capcom would continue with it, but only if Ninja Theory wanted to make a sequel. Maybe this game is considered a parallel universe just like in comics multiverses.

If they got their stuff together, it could be good. Again, even as a parallel universe thing the story just wasn't great. The voice actors are good, but the script they were given was awful. You've got lines that are just so bad it's funny, and not like corny lines in regular DMC games that are meant to sound bad and corny, just straight up poorly written stuff.
Sadly, Ninja Theory are kinda known for making banger gameplay but either mediocre or just outright bad stories.

 

[Eclipse14]

Suikoden IV and Breath of Fire V.

I actually liked playing through the former, even if it does feel a bit empty and short. Gave it enough time to get all 108 Stars and get the extra stuff for Tactics, which I also enjoyed.

Dragon Quarter is an odd duck. I feel like that would been better off as a separate IP, not an attempt to revitalize the series with some ideas that really don't make it as worthwhile. Small wonder the series went dormant. We don't talk about 6. Ever.

I mostly remember these two because when I made what ended up being my most popular video, I caused a shitstorm in the comments with my opening (I was going the route of others' perception rather than my own; being YT comments, it went about as well as you expect. Not like I knew it was gonna blow up like that at the time.). While decent games, they are the weakest links to their respective series.

 

[UnDubious]

Going more old school, Chrono Cross was fine, just not a good Chrono Trigger sequel. The 3rd Birthday is a great third-person shooter, but it's not what Parasite Eve fans expected/wanted (and the story is incoherent). Streets of Rage 3 is good, but people wanted more melodic tracks I guess.

 

[WarpKaiser]

I don't like this argument because is another way of lowering the quality standard of video-games. If DMC reboot had come out with a different IP it would have been forgotten about much like Heavenly Sword or any other GoW/DMC clone.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Metroid other m . I don't think is a bad game per se , it obviously has problem but the game plays and feels good .

I never understood the hate. The controls played great and switching to first person to aim with the missile was never challenging. Is this a skill issue? How can people be bad at motion controls its just pointing at a screen...

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:52 PM

I don't like this argument because is another way of lowering the quality standard of video-games. If DMC reboot had come out with a different IP it would have been forgotten about much like Heavenly Sword or any other GoW/DMC clone.

Are you implying that the quality standard for video games was high to begin with?

 

[Elwiwi]

I never understood the hate. The controls played great and switching to first person to aim with the missile was never challenging. Is this a skill issue? How can people be bad at motion controls its just pointing at a screen...

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:52 PM

Are you implying that the quality standard for video games was high to begin with?

The hate came from the story , how treat Samus and that is not open as super Metroid ( which doesn't make any game bad )

 

[chxshire22]

lots of people (including me) hated pokemon scarlet and violet for how poorly it ran. it was virtually unplayable

here’s the thing tho - it’s a pretty decent game past the dated graphics. sure it felt slow but also if you can get past that it’s rly solid compared to sword and shield and also sun and moon.

i actually took the time to even finish the dex.

i play pokemon for 3 things:

1) pokemon designs
2) sense of adventure
3) dungeon crawling

pokemon designs are always great. this time round we got fantastic ones like tinkaton, corviknight, armarouge, and ceruledge. so edgy so cool so cute.

adventure wise because of how pokemon is set up, like go to x spot and find hidden treasure, go to x spot at x time and you can catch x pokemon, i feel like i was pretty satisfied. it made me explore the entire continent. seriously. i did.

okay dungeon crawling part we have the bad guy camps, the gym, and the last dungeon (fight professor). the bad guy camps are ok, but damn the gyms are pretty good actually. i like the concepts for most gyms. sure we dont have the dungeons like we did back in the older games (elaborate bad guy hideouts) but it was good enough i suppose.

the final boss fight? actually pretty tough. and not only tough, the MUSIC? oh my god toby fox KNOCKED it out of the park with this one

 

[destinyduelist]

The 3rd Birthday

God I completely forgot about this game. It's just not a Parasite Eve game, at least the other examples mentioned so far kept the integrity and soul of their prior games, The 3rd Birthday is just strange put next to the other titles in its series.

 

[Elwiwi]

lots of people (including me) hated pokemon scarlet and violet for how poorly it ran. it was virtually unplayable

here’s the thing tho - it’s a pretty decent game past the dated graphics. sure it felt slow but also if you can get past that it’s rly solid compared to sword and shield and also sun and moon.

i actually took the time to even finish the dex.

i play pokemon for 3 things:

1) pokemon designs
2) sense of adventure
3) dungeon crawling

pokemon designs are always great. this time round we got fantastic ones like tinkaton, corviknight, armarouge, and ceruledge. so edgy so cool so cute.

adventure wise because of how pokemon is set up, like go to x spot and find hidden treasure, go to x spot at x time and you can catch x pokemon, i feel like i was pretty satisfied. it made me explore the entire continent. seriously. i did.

okay dungeon crawling part we have the bad guy camps, the gym, and the last dungeon (fight professor). the bad guy camps are ok, but damn the gyms are pretty good actually. i like the concepts for most gyms. sure we dont have the dungeons like we did back in the older games (elaborate bad guy hideouts) but it was good enough i suppose.

the final boss fight? actually pretty tough. and not only tough, the MUSIC? oh my god toby fox KNOCKED it out of the park with this one

I think sword and shield are worst than scarlet/violet.

 

[UnDubious]

God I completely forgot about this game. It's just not a Parasite Eve game, at least the other examples mentioned so far kept the integrity and soul of their prior games, The 3rd Birthday is just strange put next to the other titles in its series.

When Parasite Eve came out it was criticized because it wasn't like other Square games, it was too short, it was more action-adventure with RPG elements than a true RPG, etc. When Parasite Eve 2 came out it was criticized because it was now a full-on survival horror game with minor RPG elements that barely mattered. It wasn't really all that much like the first game. I didn't like it at the time, but in retrospect, PE2 is great. So The 3rd Birthday being different from expectations is almost series tradition, and it, too, is great. In the end, the only thing they keep from game to game is a girl with guns and strange abilities (normally Aya Brea) and supernatural enemies.

 

[moonbits]

I wouldn't say terrible but Doom 3 is always called out as the black sheep of the franchise but that game was fantastic, the tension and horror elements were outstanding.

 

[WarpKaiser]

When Parasite Eve came out it was criticized because it wasn't like other Square games, it was too short, it was more action-adventure with RPG elements than a true RPG, etc. When Parasite Eve 2 came out it was criticized because it was now a full-on survival horror game with minor RPG elements that barely mattered. It wasn't really all that much like the first game. I didn't like it at the time, but in retrospect, PE2 is great. So The 3rd Birthday being different from expectations is almost series tradition, and it, too, is great. In the end, the only thing they keep from game to game is a girl with guns (normally Aya Brea) and supernatural enemies.

This sounds to me more like a natural evolution from a horror RPG to a survival horror to an action horror game.

 

[chxshire22]

I think sword and shield are worst than scarlet/violet.

yep sword and shield and sun and moon were disappointing imo

 

[peachGummiez]

Mario Party Advance.

 

[Bonkers225]

Shit they turned Dante into Bill Skarsgard