Yeah the sequels better...BUT

This is a trash take, but with the Kingdom Hearts games. I feel like it has to be out of pure nostalgia because 2 is obviously and objectively a better game, but given the option Id rather play 1 over 2.
I actually don't like Kingdom Hearts II. I think a lot of the worlds are really poorly designed and I hate the greater emphasis on action over adventure/platforming. It's also the game where the plot became completely convoluted and screwed everything up. I'd go as far as to say I hate KH2, but love KH1.

So in a way I suppose this could be my answer to the thread? But since I really don't consider it better... probably not.

For a more appropriate answer... Mortal Kombat 9. I'm aware that on a technical and objective level, MKX is just a vastly superior game and one of the best games in the series purely from a mechanical standpoint... but I really don't care for it. Hate the artistic direction it took, the general tone, the roster for the most part, and I just don't really care for how the game feels. MK9, though? I absolutely love everything about that game, and have put an absurd amount of hours into it. I really don't have any gripes about it, it's the closest thing to a perfect MK game (for what I want out of MK) that exists currently.
 
I actually don't like Kingdom Hearts II. I think a lot of the worlds are really poorly designed and I hate the greater emphasis on action over adventure/platforming. It's also the game where the plot became completely convoluted and screwed everything up. I'd go as far as to say I hate KH2, but love KH1.
Among you and everyone else, I'm starting to think its not such a hot take anymore
 
Kingdom Hearts II is the moment were Nomura changed a nice adventure and growth themed story into a convoluted mess with the Nobodies and Organisation XIII.


And the fact you had to play a spin-off on the GBA to remotely understand why you don't play as Sora in II's beginning was another factor.
 
KH 2's opening hits differently when you have played Chain of Memories and 356/2 Days

MY BOY ROXAS DIDN'T DESERVE THIS!

Again I love KH2:FM to death and I will name my first child after it! But it's kinda heartbreaking how many KH1 World designs were lost! Like KH1 is really the perfect adventure game with how much you can interact with the worlds and get rewards from exploring!

More about KH1's designs appreciation, there were so many explorations and world puzzles I miss

To copy paste from this reddit post
I love how many details and hidden areas are in KH1. It's one of its strongest points in comparison to other games from the series.

Since it seems a lot of people didn't know about the bubble being freezable in Hollow Bastion, I've decided to make a list of all the secrets and details of KH 1 (That I know).

Let me know if I missed anything relevant and which ones you didn't know about ;p

Dive to the Heart

  • Your choice of weapon will change Sora's stats and the levels at which you obtain Sora's abilities.
  • Your answers to Tidus, Selphie and Wakka will decide the amount of exp needed to level up in early and late levels.

Destiny Islands

  • There's a hole in a wall that can be reached by carrying a box and throwing it nearby to get to the hole.
  • The paintings in the Secret Place represent characters and future events, such as Donald, Chesire Cat, Maleficent and Pluto finding Sora.

Traverse Town

  • You can weight Sora in the Item Shop's scale.
  • You can lit the Accessory Shop's Chimney.
  • To unlock the chest on the First District's terrace, you have to freeze all the candles.
  • In the Hotel, you can attack the reception's bell 3 times and the receptionist will say "No vacancy."
  • In the Hotel, you can examine the paintings at the sides of the corridor and the receptionist will say "Painitngs are great."
  • In the Hotel's Green Room, you can hit the clock above the door until its set to 7 o'clock and a chest will appear.
  • In the Third District, you can cast thunder to a broken cable. This will activate the Gizmo Shop's elevators.
  • There are 10 postcards to collect in TT, and they are hidden. Examples: Hit the Item Shop's fan and one in the Third District's balcony.
  • After creating all the items possible at the Workshop, a Moogle will give you a "Synthesis Master" title.
  • Geppetto will give you a keychain and some Gummi Ship blueprints. After visiting the house 30 times, Pinoccio will give you the Chocobo blueprint.
  • Upon getting one of each spell, every -ga spell, every Magic Arts and every Summon. Merlin and the Fairy Godmother will give you weapons.

Wonderland

  • You can sit on chairs in the Tea Party room to get items (Or battles)
  • You can get to the Tea Party room's balcony after interacting with some items in the Bizarre Room.
  • The evidence boxes are random, but once the order is set, they hit the ground in that order. Goofy & Donald's box is always the last to fall.
  • You can attack the Queen while battling the Crank Tower and she'll get knocked back, showing her underwear.
  • After completing the world, you can come back to the Rabbit Hole, and defeat some Heartless to get a chest.

Olympus Coliseum

  • You can cast Blizzara to the flames in the gates area to get a chest. Using Blizzaga will spawn an additional chest.
  • After completing Hades Cup, a vase will appear in the gates area that contains an Orichalcum.

Deep Jungle

  • There are 2 minigames with multiple levels of difficulty. Jungle Slider and Vine Swinging.
  • In the Treetop area, infinite Powerwilds will spawn. Casting magic on all the flowers lying around will make them stop spawning.
  • In the Camp, you can cook an item and create another through alchemy.
  • There's a ladder in the back of the tree house to get to its roof.

Agrabah

  • The door between Plaza and Main Street is opened by unlocking a keyhole behind a shelf in Aladin's house.
  • The Peddler will sell you items in Aladin's house at a certain moment in Agrabah's walkthrough.

Atlantica

  • Coloured clams are opened by casting magic on them.
  • The clam in Ursula's Lair is opened by casting fire twice to a nearby urchin (After Ursula's battle)

Halloween Town

  • You can ring a house's doorbell 3 times to get an elixir.
  • There are some chests hidden in high buildings in Guillotine Square.
  • The cages containing chests in Oogie's manor will get to accessible places after hitting the switch in the Evil Playroom.
  • Chest not opened before defeating Oogie will appear under a guillotine in the manor's ruins.

Neverland

  • There are 2 chests above a beam in the ship's Hold.
  • Every hour, a door can be opened in the Clock Tower to obtain an item.

Hollow Bastion

  • After completing HB, you can go back to the library and obtain an Ansem Report and Curaga from Aerith and the Divine Rose from Belle.
  • Floating chests can be lowered by casting gravity on them.
  • The bubbles can be frozen to use as platforms.
  • Near the Castle Chapel, in the High Area, there's a switch to get to a higher platform. You can use the switch there to change the Lift Stop's elevator direction to another room.
  • In the High Area, there's a hidden door below the giant cubic platforms.

End of the World

  • The Final Dimension looks like a sea with invisible walls, however, it's a snowy place with high walls and can be seen when a fight triggers in the area.
  • The Volcanic Area contains parts of the worlds of the Princesses of Heart that don't appear in the game.
  • In Linked Worlds, blue flames represent incompleted worlds.

100 Acre Wood

  • In Pooh's House, you can hit the chimney and an item will fall inside the house. The cabinet contains an item too.
  • In Bouncing Spot, you can collect nuts and hand them to Owl to get items.
  • You can get Sora's Cheer ability by talking to Owl at Pooh's House after getting a certain score (or higher) in every 100 Acre Wood minigame.

Misc

  • You can get extraTech Points by hitting Darkside in the head, but you won't deal more damage.
  • To attract items with the Gummi Ship you have to tilt the right joystick (Given you have equipped the gummi block)
  • Magic damage scales with MP, the more MP the character has, the stronger the magic. Example: Casting Gravira ([(Max MP x 5) + 55]%) with 10 MP will deal 105% of the enemy's HP (If the enemy doesn't resist gravity)
  • There are some alternative scenes throughout the game, like Snow White getting kidnapped instead of Alice or Pinocchio appearing at Traverse Town's Item Shop.
  • Mushrooms will grant you special items if you defeat them correctly.

White Mushroom: <Magic> Arts. Hit 3 times with the same spell.

Black Fungus: Mystery Mold. 3.8% chance if defeated by a critical hit.

Rare Truffle: Shiitake/Matsutake Rank. 50/100 Hits

Pink Agaricus: Prime Cap. 100 Hits

Some summons have unique skills.
  • Tinker Bell: Restores Sora's HP if he faints.
  • Dumbo: Can fly a little by holding the circle button.
  • Bambi: Drops world-related items every 6 enemies defeated.

  • You can skip Olympus Coliseum and Atlantica, Monstro or Halloween Town.
  • Only Proud Mode will show the Battle Report at the game's end.
  • Large Bodies can be hit in frontward if hit in the head.
  • Donald is a magician, not a healer, learn how to customize his AI.
 
Metal Gear Solid.

As good as the second game was, the change in playable character was met with a lot of fan criticism at the time. I enjoyed the game, but I did feel some disappointment at not being able to play most of the game as Snake.

I would have liked more games with Solid Snake in his prime as the main character. After MGS1, we never do.
 
This happens to me with SH2 and Fatal Frame II, no doubt technically they are better but I prefer the previous installment, although in fatal frame I prefer the third and fourth installment.
 
I think this happens with a lot of games actually. The sequel has better execution (or just "more stuff"), but the original has better ideas. Sometimes each has their merits. Some people act like sequels are always automatically superior.
 
mainly daggerfall and the later elder scrolls games come to mind
 
This is a trash take, but with the Kingdom Hearts games. I feel like it has to be out of pure nostalgia because 2 is obviously and objectively a better game, but given the option Id rather play 1 over 2.
I agree with you. 1 has the best ending sequence and the worlds feel more like "worlds" you can run and jump through but in 2 they more feel like combat arenas.

For my personal feelings, I think there is a nice sense of melancholy that the series moved away from, and more towards melodrama. The combat feels more janky, but also less scripted. I also prefer there being platforming than not, even if a lot of the platforming does suck.
 
YESSS! I don't have nostalgia for KH1, that I do have for the second one. And when I finished KH1FM for the first time last year, I decided to play KH2FM (I played the vanilla one in my childhood not FM) I found myself being annoyed by KH2.

And I feel like It's the small(ish) things that annoy me. The Ultima Weapon being a bit harder and more tedious to achieve (but also not as useful in my opinion)

The maps being FAR less interesing with way less puzzles and hidden stuff to find. And I think the maps are that way because they wanted less clutter for the advanced and more flowy combat system.

The party members feeling better in KH1(idk how to explain it) I just feel like they are not as useful in KH2 as they are in 1.
Basically,
KH1 - alongside Sora
KH2 - extension of Sora.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I always hear people say that the sequel is an improvement in every way. I get the feeling that they haven't played the first one, because people say that "the combat in this one is the best of all the KH games" and that makes me sad, if all other aspects don't matter that much then it's not as big of an improvement.
i think kh1 and kh2's combat have enough differences that i can't say 2 is just an upgrade over 1. kh1's skill progression and dream weapon choice make sora really feel as if specializing in that area. while in kh2 it doesn't feel as impactful and he comes off as more of a generalist with a slight preference. kh2's combat feels way more execution focused. everything has a right place and time for you to use it. kh1 offers more freedom.
 
I prefer the first Lufia to the second. For all the jank I still love it just a bit more.
 
Mega Man Legends

Compare to the first game, MML2 has better controls and graphics. The control improvements should've made it a easy win cause tank controls suck, but it decided to complement the better controls with a lot more challenge, and the controls were still not great, so it ends up being harder to play. They also introduced status effects which annoy the player while they're trying to fight and do platforming. Also the underwater dungeon. What were they thinking!? It also leaves the story in a less satisfying cliffhanger.

Half-life

I actually don't like the first one better. Every Half-life game annoys me to rage in some point or another. I have patience issues and Valve's patented blue-balling design technique isn't kind to it. However, I do enjoy the HL1 campaign more than 2's. Also, always running and controls more similar to Quake.

Quake

Being a mostly console, Japanese game loving youth, I didn't hear much from the Quake series or shooters in general growing up. Only getting into them by playing Duke Nukem 3D in 2017. However, the few people I heard praise the Quakes, it was II that was their favourite.

I tried playing it and got through it over the course of a month or so. Only later I got to the first Quake. And on paper, it is the worse of the two games: it has no bosses, no inventory system, the narrative is barely there, its elements aren't as cohesive, it has more and more powerful guns. A more various enemy roster with pain skins and more complex behaviours. However, I can't trust the gaming opinions of anyone who feels this way.

The second game took away air control, it makes several guns either have a wind-up time or do recoil, changing between them takes ages, the game's roster is filled with hitscanners and HP walls, and a few of them take pot shots at the player after death! It introduced backtracking and getting lost into a series whose previous entry was easily navigable without area maps. It's also more cohesive because all areas and enemies share the same themes [tech bases, cyborgs], so everything blends together enough to become indistinguishable.
 

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