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[Kydd BlaZe]

Titanfall 1 to 2 (Campaign was leaps and bounds better than the first. Multiplayer not so much though).

 

[drganon]

Not an unpopular opinion bro bro. I love the original one the most as well.

Same. I used to like 2 more, but after playing the remastered trilogy, 1 is now my favorite.

 

[NeonDelta]

Fallout 2 to fallout 3
GTA 2 to gta 3
Doom 64 to doom 3

 

[lordarchaon666]

FFVII Remake to Rebirth was gargantuan.

Just in the wrong direction

 

[Chuck Berry]

Same. I used to like 2 more, but after playing the remastered trilogy, 1 is now my favorite.

The atmosphere in the first is just umatched. It's dirtier and darker. The excessive film grain is awesome. Shit I even love the Mako.

 

[touchfuzzy]

Super Smash Bros. (64) to Melee will always be the craziest one for me, in all facets it blows the previous out of the water. And only released 2.5 years apart!

 

[mayham2199]

Xenoblade Chronicles to Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Man no joke with this one. Loved XBC2. Seriously a must have game for me on the switch. Tried the XBCDE and couldn't get through it. Even put it on easy to just try and blast through it and I still gave up.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The atmosphere in the first is just umatched.

The planets are much more developed imo. Sure, in ME2 you visit way more places, but you spend way less time in those so they end up being way less memorable.

Hell, I'm currently playing ME2 and I remember more about Feros and Noveria than anything I've played in 2.

 

[Madserb2023]

Nothing comes close to DMC2 to DMC3. Assassins Creed 1 to Assassin's Creed 2 is probably the next closest. Actually, I don't see Mass Effect 2 as a definitive improvement over the first. It did many things better but it was less of an RPG.

 

[N30RYU]

If anything they casualized and turned a Kotor kinda game to a cover shooter with Mass Effect 2

 

[drganon]

The atmosphere in the first is just umatched. It's dirtier and darker. The excessive film grain is awesome. Shit I even love the Mako.

The soundtrack to 1 is also cooler. It's got this moody synth vibe that was lost in 2 and 3.

 

[Chuck Berry]

The planets are much more developed imo. Sure, in ME2 you visit way more places, but you spend way less time in those so they end up being way less memorable.

It's because you can land on so many more of them in 1. The universe just feels larger and more alive because of it. In 2, it felt like 70% of the planets you arrived at were just meant for probe launches to gather resources, which lets all be honest, is boring as shit.

 

[TintoConCasera]

It's because you can land on so many more of them in 1. The universe just feels larger and more alive because of it. In 2, it felt like 70% of the planets you arrived at were just meant for probe launches to gather resources, which lets all be honest, is boring as shit.

Yeah I'm sick of launching probes, space exploration was much faster on ME1.

But hey it's not all bad with ME2. Gameplay improvements aside, I also feel like the writting is better. Overall story kinda feels like a padding episode, but the character development and characterization is much better imo. Also, being able to interrupt NPCs to do a paragon or renegade action is fun, can lead to some cool moments and adds a little bit to the role playing.

Man, I can't wait for Exodus. Might do a LTTP thread once I'm done with ME3.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

Also, TimeSplitters 1 to 2. Tremendous increase in quality.

 

[PatientGamer]

AC1 to AC2 and UC1 to UC2 have to be some of the biggest leaps in quality for a sequel if I've ever seen one. Literally every aspect of those games are 10x better than their predecessors.

I don't count games that came after a generational leap, like Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2— games with an almost decade long release window difference shouldn't count imho.

 

[Warspite]

Lots of good ones in here, as I never liked ME2 and always liked 1 more. (I think I understand what they were trying to do with ME2 it just never stuck the landing for me)

Mario 2 (Lost levels) to 3
Street Fighter 1 to 2
Uncharted 1 to 2
Code Veronica to RE4

I don t know how fair some of the generational ones are like Sunshine to Galaxy (Given the power difference I think this is OK for the list)

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) to Seiken Densetsu 3

How about Seiken Densetsu 1 to 2, then?
A Game Boy game (admittedly way too good considering the hardware, I love it) vs a SNES game with amazing spritework, a sprawling world, and 3-player action.

Interesting.

I didn't think it was that much better. Pretty similar overall with some more variation in enemies and the best sprite animated explosion in videogames.

But the slowdowns on original hardware drag it back.

MS2 ups the ante from the very first level. The background artwork is insane, the spritework is jaw-dropping, and you get some vertical gameplay that blows that short vertical session from MS1 out of the water in a matter of minutes. Sure, it’s not a generational leap, but it immediately improves on everything that was already good in the first game, right from the start.

 

[hemo memo]

Devil May Cry 1 to 2

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Street Fighter 1 to 2.

This has to be the most objectively correct answer. A lot of other answers have merit but what can you say...it's Street Fighter II

 

[Bond007]

Alot of great games mentioned. Outside of that:

Socom 1 - Socom 2 was a big one for me.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Man no joke with this one. Loved XBC2. Seriously a must have game for me on the switch. Tried the XBCDE and couldn't get through it. Even put it on easy to just try and blast through it and I still gave up.

People give that game shit but despite there being issues with the graphics running at times on Switch, the game still has the best cast, story etc of the franchise. I still remember everything about the plot and cast. I love the gameplay too despite it's flaws

As for the first Xenoblade, I ended up loving that one but it had a less memorable story and cast. The gameplay was great though. But the game was nothing special and at the time was only raved about due to the game being one of the few JRPGs on Wii. And funny enough when I beat the game which I played after finishing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, two weeks later they announced a Switch Port of the game. I ended up getting the Switch Port due to the DLC Content. I played through the DLC Content and it was nothing special. Overall, I might have my issues with Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I consider that better than the first one too

For me

XC2 > XC3 Future Redeemed > XC3 > XC2 Torna The Golden Country > XC > XC Future Connected

 

[MayauMiao]

Diablo I to Diablo II, everything from gameplay to graphics too.

 

[Ikutachi]

Kirby's Dream Land 2 with its enemy power-ups, companions, and SGB enhancement.

 

[AgatonSax]

The game that turned a grand rpg space opera into a cover shooter where nothing ends up mattering? I’d like to think so?

 

[Yoboman]

Surprised it took so long for someone to say GTA2 to GTA3 because it's not even close

 

[Edder1]

People already provided many examples, but if we're talking about during same generation then Uncharted 1-2, Gears of War 1-2 and Assassin's Creed 1-2 come to mind. All sequels were head and shoulders above the initial entries.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

Not a huge jump in quality, but I thought the difference in Dishonored 1 and 2 was significant. 2 looks remarkably better in my opinion.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

I was gonna say the jump to Metroid Prime but not a direct number sequel. Shit blew me away to see Metroid like that back then.

Me too! Nintendo used to deliver the goods back then. How long we waited and dreamed of Zelda and Metroid going to 3D and they give us Ocarina and Metroid Prime. I've never been in more gaming bliss than playing those two games.

 

[Prekk]

Burnout 2 -> Burnout 3

 

[Unknown?]

Sonic 3D Blast 1996 to Sonic Adventure 1998.

 

[Taur007]

State of Decay to State of Decay 2

And the jump from 2 to 3 will be even bigger

 

[Pimpbaa]

I liked the first game better. Series got worse with each sequel.

 

[PurePlatinum]

Mass Effect 1 is great in its own way but I know what you mean.

Uncharted 2 was my first thought. Massive jump in quality and I like Drakes Fortune a lot.

 

[Bojanglez]

Has anybody mentioned Killzone to Killzone 2 yet?

This was my first thought

 

[DragoonKain]

FFVII Remake to Rebirth was huge.

Red Dead Redemption 1 to 2.

Witcher 2 to Witcher 3.

 

[AndrewRyan]

Starcraft 1 -> 2
RAGE 1 -> 2
Dead Space -> 2
Risk of Rain -> 2
Devil Daggers -> Hyper Demon
Aragami -> 2 (gameplay)
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood -> Wolfenstein 2 The New Colossus

 

[hyperbertha]

There are so many series with much bigger jumps. To me, ac1 to 2 is a standout. Baldur's gate 2 to 3. Witcher 2 to 3 is also way bigger than me.

 

[hyperbertha]

A lot of users seem to confuse the gap in quality between sequels with simple generational/technological leaps.

MGS1 to MGS2 is only a generational leap. But both games are equally good. Some would even argue the first one is a better game.
Street Fighter 1 to 2 is a gap in quality between a pretty bad game and a sequel that not only was better, it revolutionized fighting games.

Pretty sure the topic is about the later example.

Me1 to me2 is not a jump in quality whatsoever. The gameplay polish was barely perceivable, and came at the expense of many good things.

 

[Muddy]

Correct answer is Street Fighter 1 to 2.

Tekken 2 to Tekken 3 was a big jump.

Uncharted 1 to 2.

Soul Blade/Edge to Soul Calibur.

 

[hyperbertha]

Hitman absolution to hitman 2016 is also an incredible jump. Bad game to an all time best hitman game.

 

[Neff]

Street Fighter 1 to 2.

And we're done. There is nothing remotely close.

 

[xenosys]

FFVII Remake to Rebirth.

Remake feels like a 30 hour tech demo compared to Rebirth.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

ME1 is a masterpiece.

ME2 is horrible.

 

[Black_Stride]

Just Cause was a mediocre game, dare I say it kinda sucked.

Just Cause 2 is Avalanches best game. and endlessly fun.....literally Just Cause 3 and 4 are a regression.

Honorable Mention, go play Mad Max.....it goes on sale every few months for like 5 bucks.

 

[duck_sauce]

For me mass effect was the better game. Mass effect 2 was a dump down from an rpg point of view. More action oriented and the story was all over the place.

 

[Codes 208]

CoD3 to CoD4

The switch to modern times absolutely changed the game and the series become the absolute juggernaut it is

 

[_Idea_of_Evil_]

Yakuza Kiwami to Kiwami 2.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Silent Hill 1 to Silent Hill 2 was a huge jump.

 

[thekillergreece]

Mafia to Mafia 2.

 

[nkarafo]

Me1 to me2 is not a jump in quality whatsoever. The gameplay polish was barely perceivable, and came at the expense of many good things.

Im not familiar with the Me series so i can't tell.