Franchises with wasted potential
- Thread starter JaxJag
- Start date
Epic Mickey is one of the kings of this for sure. I've said it before, but for a game based on fanservice it doesn't really scratch the right itch or have the gameplay to make up for it. You have a ton of Disney Parks history and barely make significant use of it, especially in the forgettable, and downright boring soundtrack.
i also didn't think the game needed zombies, and it was dumb that you were weren't allowed to go anywhere you wanted in the city from the start
educator
Member
L.A. Noire was groundbreaking in facial animation. But I guess you mean gameplay?
I've barely played LA Noire but Alan Wake is one of the best games of this generation. Alan Wake 2 should be even better.
As for me, I still don't understand how/why Sega hasn't made sequels to their fan favorite games Skies of Arcadia, Jet Set Radio (yes, there was Future but two games in this franchise simply isn't enough) and Chu Chu Rocket.
educator
Member
I agree, but Alan Wake was originally supposed to be an open-world game. It worked out fine though, but it never became what Remedy first visioned it to be.
OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather
Member
This is what I came to say. The second one was absolutely terrible. Wish I could at least comment on the third. Thankfully Yazuka is still getting proper treatment.
Chrono Trigger - take one of the best RPGs of all time, follow it up with a divisive sequel, and then... nothing but a few ports of the original (some of which are crap). The whole premise of time travel is such a perfect fit for RPGs (look at Radiant Historia and DQ7, which don't run with time travel as much as CT does but are still pretty fun).
Valkyria Chronicles - going from a PS3 visual tour-de-force to a PSP game that divided the fanbase, then following that PSP game up with a sequel that never came to the US.
Lunar - release 2 great classic games, then follow it up with constant rehashes of the original of varying quality, a Japanese only Game Gear/Saturn game, and a horrible DS game that bears little resemblance to the classic Lunars.
Skies of Arcadia - majestic world with tons of great exploration, tied to tried-and-true mechanics and great characters. Would have loved to see those amazing environments come to life on HD platforms.
Valkyria Chronicles - going from a PS3 visual tour-de-force to a PSP game that divided the fanbase, then following that PSP game up with a sequel that never came to the US.
Lunar - release 2 great classic games, then follow it up with constant rehashes of the original of varying quality, a Japanese only Game Gear/Saturn game, and a horrible DS game that bears little resemblance to the classic Lunars.
Skies of Arcadia - majestic world with tons of great exploration, tied to tried-and-true mechanics and great characters. Would have loved to see those amazing environments come to life on HD platforms.
Valkyrie Profile had two fantastic games with very exciting battle systems, then tri-Ace started pedalling air with a portable side-story/sequel with a not-so-bad plot that takes a clear tangent away from its predecessors.
Four years later, we still have no Valkyrie Profile: Hrist because I guess nobody likes Hrist.
tri-Ace is still alive, though.
Unlike tri-Ace, Sacnoth/Nautilus has been long-dead and my other favorite JRPG franchise (Shadow Hearts) is dead with no chance of revival. It too had great gameplay and story before another I-guess-it-counts-as-a-trilogy-curse set in with a third game that was basically a pastiche of the second game with virtually nothing new and a less-interesting and unrelated story.
At least I still have Way of the Samurai...
Four years later, we still have no Valkyrie Profile: Hrist because I guess nobody likes Hrist.
tri-Ace is still alive, though.
Unlike tri-Ace, Sacnoth/Nautilus has been long-dead and my other favorite JRPG franchise (Shadow Hearts) is dead with no chance of revival. It too had great gameplay and story before another I-guess-it-counts-as-a-trilogy-curse set in with a third game that was basically a pastiche of the second game with virtually nothing new and a less-interesting and unrelated story.
At least I still have Way of the Samurai...
Burgess_101
Member
I know its just come out but Omerta : City of Gansters had the potential to be amazing. They kept it conservative though didn't do anything good with the interesting setting.
All they needed to do was make it a crime syndicate manager not this weird scenario based thing they have going on.
All they needed to do was make it a crime syndicate manager not this weird scenario based thing they have going on.
JimmyRustler
Member
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
Halo
This.
Byronic Hero
Member
Banjo Kazooie while in the hands of Microsoft. Hell, all of Rare's IPs in while in the hands of Microsoft.
atomic moth
Member
Blasto.
They only needed a competent game built around Phil Hartman. What we got was frustrating, generic, graphically limited shooter with Hartman its only saving grace.
RIP
They only needed a competent game built around Phil Hartman. What we got was frustrating, generic, graphically limited shooter with Hartman its only saving grace.
RIP
TheJollyCorner
Member
Like others have said: Parasite Eve.
Square had an instant hit and a main character who immediately became recognizable in gaming.
Even though PE2 went with more action, it was still a quality sequel IMO. PlayStation 2 would have been a great system to put out a Parasite Eve 3 (likely in-between FFX and FFXII release) and keep the franchise rolling. I think sales would have been pretty damn good.
Nope.
Fans finally got a new game with 'The 3rd Birthday', but not only is it wasted potential by not being a big-deal console game (originally going to be a cell-phone game, for fuck sake!), but it also had Toriyama's shit-stained fingerprints all over it.
I would imagine Square-Enix really doesn't have a desire to continue the series thanks to The 3rd Birthday's taint.
I'm also going to say Silent Hill.
Toyama and KCET made a truly unique horror game with SH1. That continued via Imamura and his team with SH2, albeit thematically quite a bit different from the first one.
After SH2, it all went downhill (even though SH3 is still excellent technically) in the way of KCET Corporate wanting more control regarding the direction of the series to maximize sales.
Imamura had the idea that Silent Hill could be a 'Twilight Zone'-type series, i.e. every game being a completely different story/theme, but the only connecting threads would be the town itself and various aesthetic connections (mostly through Ito's art direction). He was even a bit ahead of his time by suggesting episodic releases at various points in the year telling a variety of creepy shorter stories. Unfortunately there just wasn't a means to distribute these kinds of smaller, discounted episodes at the time and these ideas were shot down, as one of the original stories was adapted to be an 'add on' to SH2 (Born from a Wish), one converted to be a direct sequel to SH1 (SH3), and another original IP was retooled to fit into the series (SH4).
After that, KCET simply didn't want to put the resources into the series, yet still wanted to profit from it. Their brilliantly talented in-house artists/designers/programmers were dumped into oblivion and Konami started outsourcing.
The series still has a small spark of life, but not much.
Regardless, the potential the series had back in the early 2000's was completely pissed away, IMO.
Square had an instant hit and a main character who immediately became recognizable in gaming.
Even though PE2 went with more action, it was still a quality sequel IMO. PlayStation 2 would have been a great system to put out a Parasite Eve 3 (likely in-between FFX and FFXII release) and keep the franchise rolling. I think sales would have been pretty damn good.
Nope.
Fans finally got a new game with 'The 3rd Birthday', but not only is it wasted potential by not being a big-deal console game (originally going to be a cell-phone game, for fuck sake!), but it also had Toriyama's shit-stained fingerprints all over it.
I would imagine Square-Enix really doesn't have a desire to continue the series thanks to The 3rd Birthday's taint.
I'm also going to say Silent Hill.
Toyama and KCET made a truly unique horror game with SH1. That continued via Imamura and his team with SH2, albeit thematically quite a bit different from the first one.
After SH2, it all went downhill (even though SH3 is still excellent technically) in the way of KCET Corporate wanting more control regarding the direction of the series to maximize sales.
Imamura had the idea that Silent Hill could be a 'Twilight Zone'-type series, i.e. every game being a completely different story/theme, but the only connecting threads would be the town itself and various aesthetic connections (mostly through Ito's art direction). He was even a bit ahead of his time by suggesting episodic releases at various points in the year telling a variety of creepy shorter stories. Unfortunately there just wasn't a means to distribute these kinds of smaller, discounted episodes at the time and these ideas were shot down, as one of the original stories was adapted to be an 'add on' to SH2 (Born from a Wish), one converted to be a direct sequel to SH1 (SH3), and another original IP was retooled to fit into the series (SH4).
After that, KCET simply didn't want to put the resources into the series, yet still wanted to profit from it. Their brilliantly talented in-house artists/designers/programmers were dumped into oblivion and Konami started outsourcing.
The series still has a small spark of life, but not much.
Regardless, the potential the series had back in the early 2000's was completely pissed away, IMO.