The lights are on
Based on tons of hype, magazine covers, and positive reviews, I bought the original Tomb Raider in 1996. I wanted to love it, but just couldn't get into its gameplay for some reason. Despite trying each subsequent title and reviewing a few back in college, I continuously struggled with enjoying the Crystal Dynamics franchise. When I heard about the reboot the series would be receiving this year, I immediately became interested. Maybe this would be the one that finally got me on board. Sure enough, I'm several hours in and absolutely loving the new game.
Do you have a similar experience with a franchise? Was there a series that you couldn't enjoy until one particular sequel or reboot turned you around? Or did the opposite happen...you loved a franchise, only to be turned off by a disappointing installment?
Sound off in the comments below.
As a kid I had given the earlier Resident Evil games multiple tries (namely 2, 3 and Code Veronica). Each of them scared and frustrated me enough to the point where I disregarded the entire series. Then 4 came out and changed the way I played video games. I was sold on any new RE game after then.
Then 6 came out and removed everything that I loved about the new RE games. I enjoyed the game as a standalone title but felt betrayed as a RE fan. Now I find myself playing the original RE games and enjoying them to no end. Resident Evil and I have a very unstable relationship it seems.
I used to love the Final Fantasy series but everything after X has just been horrible.
Ashamed to admit, but Mass Effect. My roommate had the first one back when it came out and I tried it, but couldn't get into it. Mass Effect 2 came out and he was still telling me to try it again but I didn't listen. Finally, I gave Mass Effect 1 another chance at the end of 2011 and played ME2 immediately after. Then I pre-ordered ME3. Glad I gave it another chance!
I adored AC 1 and 2, but since then I have yet to finish any of the AC games, despite buying them all. The novelty of being this ultra-assassin wore off, and they really didn't add all that much to keep me entertained.
Dead Space 3. Never really tried the others but I was interested in this as soon as I heard of the co-op. Well since theres no split screen and I had no one to play online with I nearly abandoned it but gave the single player a try anyways. Absolutely love the game. Deus Ex Human Revolution also opened my eyes to the series. It is one of the best games I ever played but it took me three failed attempts to get into it. The beginning just didn't grab me for some reason.
Hitman absolution. That is the game that changes my mind. I don't know if it because I didn't understand the originals if the game was just bad. I was very hesitant about absolution, but reading the reviews made me want to get into it. I was very intimidated about the game. But after playing the first couple of chapters, I was hooked. The story could have been better, but the game play is incredible.
Splinter Cell Conviction turned me off the Splinter Cell series. I've replayed some of the earlier ones more than ten times too.
AC3....loved the series, but could not get into AC3.
DMC Devil May Cry, I never liked any of the other DMC games until I played the new one. Now I'm really getting into the old ones.
Man, this is going to be one hell of a list.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - the ORIGINAL Modern Warfare did a lot to turn me on to this series. I was never very captivated by the previous WWII entries (WWII games simply aren't my thing). Yes, subsequent entries were a bit convoluted and try-hard and I may have fallen out of love with the series since then, but my first play-through of the original was an adrenaline shot that, at the time, was only outmatched by Resident Evil 4. Which brings me to...
Resident Evil 4 - I have been a huge Resident Evil fan since I was 14, so I was disappointed when I heard that Resident Evil 4 would only be available for GameCube. I was also pretty upset about the whole "no zombies" thing, but I was sixteen so...myeh. My interest was certainly piqued though and when the game finally released I went out of my way to borrow my friend's GameCube to play it. I beat the game in what were easily two of the best nights I've ever spent with a game. Almost everything about it was revolutionary, reinvigorating: the over-the-shoulder perspective worked better than I could have ever imagined; the CS sequences took me completely off-guard and offered some of the most incredible action sequences I had ever encountered (it's still pretty hard to measure up to RE4's CS sequences even today, though the God of War series does a pretty awesome job). The perfect word to describe it at the time would have been "fresh." Truly, genuinely fresh...and intense.
Halo 4 - I feel like there really is no need to explain this one. I never thought a Halo game could surpass Halo 2, but Halo 4 proved me wrong in every way. The story is so much more layered and there was a personally affecting element that was near-absent in previous entries. For the first time, I could actually FEEL Master Chief and Cortana. A lot of games talk about how their story is more "emotional, deep, bleh bleh bleh, I'm a *** (Gears of War)," but Halo 4 actually did it right because NONE of it felt forced. The emotional effect on me was beautifully subtle. It was just so natural that I couldn't help but replay it more times than I've ever played a Halo game.
Tomb Raider - Anyone who has been a Tomb Raider fan and has played this new entry knows that there's really nothing more to say here. It's just...it's just fantastic.
Prabably the newest Tomb Raider. I liked nothing more than the box art for the older games. Blocky everything, muddy textures, confusing as f$%&* gameplay.... I just hated them.
For me it was MW 2. Loved the Call of Duty franchise until that one came out. They greatly decreased the length of the campaign and made it into a boring franchise for me.
Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3
for me it has been far cry 3
Mass Effect 3 and Assassin's Creed 3. I enjoyed both franchises until these games came out.
It's always the second option, "loved a franchise, only to be turned off by a disappointing installment". Examples: Assassin Creed 3 and Diablo 3.
I really don't ever remember a time when I didn't like a series and a reboot or sequel turned me around.
Assassin's Creed Revelations.
After forcing myself through about the first two hours of the game, i realized how bored i had become with the series. I loved AC 2 and Brotherhood, but the disappointment of Revelations, combined with the yearly release of each new installment has completely turned me off the Assassin's Creed franchise.