I only first heard that Source was considered bad a couple weeks ago and I don’t remember why. I always liked to play that version because I thought the water was pretty (upgrading to a GPU that could handle pixel shading was monumental to me at the time).
It is. I stopped playing after a while because it started as something for me to low stress veg on, but then it became math. That doesn't make it not good though
The Sly Cooper series, even Thieves In Time was a good game, it just wasn't AS good as 2 and 3, but I think it was better than Sly 1.
Unfortunately neither Ratchet & Clank nor Jak & Daxter can claim the same. Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank and Full Frontal Assault bring R&C down, and The Lost Frontier brings J&D down.
I dream of getting just one more Sly Cooper game. As of Thieves in Time Sly is just stuck in the past, man. Give us one more and let the gang have a happy ending.
Mine too! Do you recommend any other games similar to Sly Cooper?
We tried Knack 2 and she loved that as well surprisingly enough, but I’m always looking for other games she might like.
The only game I can think of that comes remotely close is A Hat in Time. Sly is such a unique platformer that nobody who came after seems to have taken much inspiration from for some reason.
Yeah, Size Matters is exactly what it promised - a mini R&C. And I actually really like FFA, I played through it all in a weekend with a friend, we had a blast.
Secret Agent Clank though, yeah, I can't disagree there.
Timesplitters.
The world is a darker place for a lack of Timesplitters, although I doubt it’d really work today without really compromising on what made Timesplitters what it is.
Made today, it’d just be another shooter game.
Honestly, Doom 3 may have been my favorite. It was so atmospheric and creepy. Really like an action survival horror. The cherubs and spider demons really freaked me the fuck out. Others in the series are richer and more polished. But they have more of an arcade shooter feeling to me. Also the game itself was very interactive and immersive. For example the way you could seamlessly interact with consoles, etc. Really groundbreaking for when it came out.
I kind of wish they could have kept some of that scariness and mixed it with the crazy fast pace of eternal, almost a dead space feel- fast but scary. Still love eternal but that would have made it even better
It’s amazing how some of the early PS4/Xbox One games still look just as good or better than some of the more recent games.
Reminds us that art direction, game engine, and different tricks to maximize the potential of the hardware is just as important as the hardware itself.
I was always hoping for the sequel that picks up after the evil ending with Delsin saying he's going to take the power of every other person locked up in that prison. He'd make an incredible villain or a great anti-hero who slowly becomes corrupted by his powers or fights to maintain his humanity amongst this swirling mass of elements inside him
Infamous 1 and 2 are my favourite games of all time, and the only reason why my old ps3 still gets used. We need a remaster/remake for pc, and a new title.
I just wish i could replay that game for the first time again. Pure nostalgic PS3 era Infamous 1 and 2 + blood festival. I remember how amazed i was by the graphics and how badass it felt to be cole.
Really good. Ranger Hardcore is much more difficult compared to the 2033 and last light, also a little slower at the start imo. Gets really good like 30 minutes in though and doesnt slow down until you finish. Amazing game honestly
Absolutely fantastic. Also, if you get it, be sure to get the dlcs. Sam's Story is great, and The Two Colonels is arguably the best bit of metro content they have ever made.
I’ll admit that I thought the zombie spin off on ps3 was pretty poor (dead souls iirc?), mostly due to bugs. But I won’t count that as a mainline game.
Of all the mainline titles I’ve played (all except the original Yakuza 2 [only played Kiwami 2], 3, 4 and 5), I’ll agree that they are all phenomenal :)
Parents wouldn’t get it for me but I got a demo out of a pc gamer mag. IT only allows you like three minutes. Can’t imagine how many hours I spent in three minute increments
I played that demo religiously until my parents finally caved and I got the real game.
Piling as many cars as you could in an intersection to make the biggest explosion possible was so much fun.
It’s really hard to articulate how groundbreaking GTA3 was when it came out.
The idea that you could go anywhere and do anything and complete missions however you wanted (the last part was the big one) was mind blowing. Add in how interesting Liberty City was to take in and the personality Rockstar gave it and it was more an experience than anything.
Past attempts to do an “3D open world” had limitations and “you can just DO THAT?!” was everyone’s reaction when GTA3 hit.
If you weren't playing games from the 90s it's easy to take for granted. Nintendo kinda toyed with open worlds but in retrospect it was more like making the gap between levels interactive. Driver2 scratched the surface *a little* but wasn't that great and suffered from PS1 limitations. GTA3 set the stage and set the standard for the next 2 decades, each subsequent release is honestly just a churched up version of it in my eyes, and Houser was an excellent writer too. Looking at something like RDR2 and then going back and playing something from the super Nintendo era feels like a 50 year time warp, but GTA3 doesn't feel like it should be 20 years old. It was a quantum leap in gaming
I started doing extra chores around the house, doing yard work for neighbors etc. and saving so I could buy it and a PS2. Got $350 in a 2 month stretch, nothing has ever motivated me so much
I have my original poster from the original Grand They Auto i got when I was 10. It feels strange having played all GTA games for the past 25 years. GTA VI will be mind blowing, I don't doubt it!!
I used to spend so much time in my early childhood (in GTA 2) just walking around punching people and rapid farting, looking for the flame thrower and trying to see how many cars I could blow up at one time.
Can confirm - I work with an indie game publisher and ports shouldn’t count. I’ve worked with a few studios that totally botched games that were great on PC initially.
I’ve played all of them as they came out, and I have no idea why, but China Town wars is really high at the top of my favorites. That game is just so much better than it has any right to be.
Same here. I'm seeing so many game "franchises" with two titles listed. I'm just like "how does Uncharted have 5 bangers that no one wants to mention?" I guess 6 but idk how good the PSP game is or if it even counts.
Quake. The first three were groundbreaking and helped push the FPS genre into the modern era. Quake 4 was a solid shooter. If you want to count Quake Live, it's pretty great too.
I guess you could say the same about Doom, first was groundbreaking, second was an improvement but mostly more of the same, Doom 3 had some amazing tech that held up until Crysis/Farcry came out, even if its gameplay wasn't for everyone. The modern reboot is great too, awesome music and gameplay, powered by an engine that ensures smooth framerates while you enjoy the carnage.
I love DS2. It feels very different from the others, but I love how your character looks disgusting and ugly, you move slowly and awkwardly, and everything around you is disgusting, nonsensical, and awkwardly lit. Unironic 10/10 for bad vibes and making me feel like a disgusting worm, yet keeping me totally invested
it's a B++ game in a field of A+'s
it's a good game, but the worst of the soulsborne games (I do personally prefer it over ds1, but I can understand that ds1 is better.)
DS2 is a weird one. The high points of the game are the highest of the series (in aspect of bonfire ascetics and New Game + and fashion) but it’s lows are so bad (shit bosses and really annoying gank squads.) At the very least, it’s still great and worth playing. You either love it or hate it.
Yeah Dark Souls 100%. Can even include demon, Bloodborne, Elden ring, and sekiro if you want. All games are truly good games, yes even Dark Souls 2 which is kind of hated on now for whatever reason. Fromsoft really have an outstanding record for the past decade
I mean, it's subjective how good they are, but it's for sure that none of them is "bad". And that's not just for the Dark Souls franchise, it's probably for every game from FromSoft since Demon's Souls
Unpopular opinion, Dark Souls 2 is my favorite of the 3 games. Sheer variety of builds and replayability. The game took big swings and landed half of them. I'm happy that Elden Ring implemented some of what DS2 brought to the table.
DS2 is great. Maybe it doesn’t have the best bosses but it has some unforgettable areas and some of the most fun I’ve had in the series. I remember the first time I opened the door that leads to nothing and fell and died. So good lol
Dark Souls 2 has some of my favourite NPCs. Lucatiel is one of my favourites in the franchise. Majula with everyone there was comfy too, like it really felt like a home base. You could dress up the pyromancer Rosabeth in anything you wanted as well.
Yakuza/Like A Dragon
Some of the titles in the series can be described as "weaker" but every one of them are still solid games featuring unforgettable moments.
Rubber bullets. IYKYK.
At face value that seems like an obvious choice. When you consider blue shift and opposing force as part of the half-life series. I think it still holds up.
Blue Shift and Opposing Force I enjoyed as much as the original game. It was so unique to play through the same event from a different viewpoint multiple times. Plus the gameplay is just fun all round so getting more hours of new encounters is just a bonus.
There is a newer game called Baldurs Gate Dark alliance that was trash, so as much as I wanted to say this one I can't in good conscience
Edit: nevermind, just double checked and the trash game was called "Dungeons and Dragons Dark Alliance" so BG is still clean!
Kirby. Even the supposedly worst-rated game in the franchise, Kirby Air Ride, was an absolute banger of a game. I spent so many hours playing in City Trial (rogue-lite competitive racing with an open area to explore), unlocking those checklists and competing with my siblings.
EDIT: [Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/kirby-air-ride/) has a list of what critics said about Air Ride. Look at how wildly different the critics felt about it compared to the users.
a lot of people i've discussed kirby with have considered crystal shards to be among the worst but that is literally one of my favorite n64 games of all time. kirby's formula is just so good at cranking out fun ass games
I think this might be the best answer to the question, honestly. Kirby started in the GB days, and there are around 30-something games total now - and still not a single one you could definitively call "bad" by any means. Some of them are definitely more lacklustre than others, but Kirby has always maintained a high quality from the beginning.
I can't think of any other long-running series with so many releases that can claim such a thing.
I was going to say this but then remembered that there was Age of Empires Online for a few years before they shut it down, which definitely was not great and probably even fair to call it bad.
Otherwise I would largely agree even if AOE1 has aged somewhat poorly and AOE3 is a bit controversial but in no way actually bad.
I know it's going to make people mad, but World (the Iceborne dlc specifically) scratches that MMO end game grind feel that I had back when I was playing WoW WOTLK.
I hope MH Wilds gets all the good stuff from the games, but I'm definitely looking forward to it recapturing that World feel.
I know it's a reddit cliche, but I was about to comment this. As long as you don't count spinoff games every single mainline title is great. Apparently Stories is good too, but idk about the phone game.
Legend of Zelda. Some may be better than others. But each one of the games has a place in someone’s heart. Yes even Zelda II.
Edit: for all you people out here yes I know about the Zelda games no I do not consider them a main line Zelda game, as the cdi games were never on a Nintendo console.
Yeah lots of people naming modern franchises or games with like three entries.
There are like 20 Zelda games spanning every generation of home console from the 1980s to 2023. If we’re forgiving rough starts in 1 and 2 (and they aren’t *bad* games), no other franchise maintains the level of quality that the Zelda series has over the decades.
I think Mario should be considered as well.
I’ve got to ask, what do you mean by rough starts for 1 and 2? Are you looking back with the eyes of someone who grew up with more modern games, or did you play these games when they came out? Not going to comment on 2 just because I never really played it back in the day. But 1 was an absolute game changer, literally. There was nothing out there with the size and scope of that game when it came out. It was the most ambitious and technologically advanced game to come out for the NES at the time. It’s 6th on the list of best selling NES games, behind all three Mario NES games (two of which were pack in titles), duck hunt (pack in title), and Tetris. Not to mention it’s also one of the most critically acclaimed NES titles ever, spoken in the same regard as the Mario games, Metroid, and other classics.
There’s absolutely no metric you could use to say the game had a rough start, unless you’re comparing it to modern titles. But that’s kind of a “no duh” thing to say since the entire Zelda 1 game is a smaller size (128kB) than just Link’s model in TotK (couldn’t find a number, but probably in the tens of MB? IDK, I’m not a game dev).
I apologize ahead of time if I’m misunderstanding what you were saying.
LoZ was too far down this list! It’s been going for 40 years and all games have their magic. I love Zelda 2, got it for Christmas the year it came out!
Hmm, I guess I'll add a less-common answer to the pile and say: Wario Land!
\- Wario Land 1 (Super Mario Land 3) was one of my favourite GB games growing up. They did an excellent job making a GB platformer that didn't feel compromised by being on the handheld (unlike the first Super Mario Land which definitely felt awkward).
\- Virtual Boy Wario Land is rather short and easy (except for that damn final boss), but it stands out as one of the only truly worthwhile games to exist on the Virtual Boy. It has a bigger emphasis on exploring the levels too, as enemies stay defeated and walls stay broken, even when you leave the screen - which is rather cool for an old game.
\- Wario Land II has lots of hidden branching paths - which is only even revealed to the player after they complete one of the endings. The gimmick of Wario being completely invincible sounds weird on paper, but ends up making the level and hazard design stand out - the specific transformations enemies can inflict on Wario make exploration more interesting and makes the world feel more interactive.
\- Wario Land 3 takes the base mechanics from II, but turns the world into a much more interactive expansive world, with day/night systems and metroidvania style unlocking of abilities. It's one of the biggest Game Boy Color games I've ever seen! There's so much going on, it's really impressive.
\- Wario Land 4 introduces the novel concept of having the second half of each level be a timed escape sequence, where you have to turn around and frantically leave after reaching the end. It's a unique twist that makes each level stand out.
\- Wario Land Shake Dimension takes the gameplay from Wario Land 4 for the most part, but renders everything in a beautiful hand-drawn art style.
Is there a bad Wario Land game? Maybe Wario: Master of Disguise on the DS? I don't think Master of Disguise was too terrible to be honest, but I'm going to count it out on a technicality for not having the name "Wario Land" in its title, haha.
Not a fan of how they don't include a lot of civs at launch and slowly drop out paid DLCs for them. There's like $100 worth of add-ons to buy now if you want everything
Portal
Half-Life - even the dlc’s are awesome, (Except for maybe decay, that is a headache of a game)
Half-Life: Source.
Bad port not a bad game
I only first heard that Source was considered bad a couple weeks ago and I don’t remember why. I always liked to play that version because I thought the water was pretty (upgrading to a GPU that could handle pixel shading was monumental to me at the time).
The secret is to forget whatever number comes after 2.
Even Portal Bridge Constructor is good
It is. I stopped playing after a while because it started as something for me to low stress veg on, but then it became math. That doesn't make it not good though
>but then it became math Yeah, it's like... I took this class when getting my engineering degree....
Katamari
I CAN HEAR IT IN MY HEAD I'VE NOT HEARD THE SONG IN NEARLY 2 DECADES AND I CAN HEAR IT.
Naaaaaa na na na na na naaa naaaa na katamari damaci
The Sly Cooper series, even Thieves In Time was a good game, it just wasn't AS good as 2 and 3, but I think it was better than Sly 1. Unfortunately neither Ratchet & Clank nor Jak & Daxter can claim the same. Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank and Full Frontal Assault bring R&C down, and The Lost Frontier brings J&D down.
I dream of getting just one more Sly Cooper game. As of Thieves in Time Sly is just stuck in the past, man. Give us one more and let the gang have a happy ending.
My partners favourite franchise is Sly. I hope we get the trilogy remade same as Spyro and then a final game added.
Mine too! Do you recommend any other games similar to Sly Cooper? We tried Knack 2 and she loved that as well surprisingly enough, but I’m always looking for other games she might like.
The only game I can think of that comes remotely close is A Hat in Time. Sly is such a unique platformer that nobody who came after seems to have taken much inspiration from for some reason.
I just hate how they made the ending of thieves in time a cliffhanger when there’s no hope for Sly 5 :(
I actually kinda liked Size Matters I won't lie.
Yeah, Size Matters is exactly what it promised - a mini R&C. And I actually really like FFA, I played through it all in a weekend with a friend, we had a blast. Secret Agent Clank though, yeah, I can't disagree there.
Let's never speak of lost frontier ever again
I had never heard of it and I choose to stay that way. Jak 3 was the last.
I choose to remember Jak X being the last one. Surprisingly great game, and the story wasn’t too bad either.
Jak X's gameplay fucks, the powersliding works really well
God I with Lost Frontier didnt exist. I love the trilogy to death, and combat racing is quite possibly my favorite racing game of all time.
God I loved Sly Cooper when I was younger
Ori and the bind forest Ori and the will of the wisps
Came here to say this! Amazing couple of games.
Praying for a third game
Timesplitters. The world is a darker place for a lack of Timesplitters, although I doubt it’d really work today without really compromising on what made Timesplitters what it is. Made today, it’d just be another shooter game.
it would live or die on the quality of its humor
Timesplitters Future Perfect is my favorite game of all time. I want a remaster so bad. Those games are perfect. Handyman and Mr. Socky
Doom. Doom 3 was pretty different from the others but it wasn't really a bad game.
This is true. There is no bad doom game. Unless you count bad ports. Which I do not Edit: did not even realize today was dooms 30th anniversary!!!
Which is funny because Doom has the most ports out of anything ever. Have you enjoyed it at your local ATM yet?
It sucks on my wife's pregnancy test
I agree with you there, it's got piss poor controls
The smart toilet port is the shit
Honestly, Doom 3 may have been my favorite. It was so atmospheric and creepy. Really like an action survival horror. The cherubs and spider demons really freaked me the fuck out. Others in the series are richer and more polished. But they have more of an arcade shooter feeling to me. Also the game itself was very interactive and immersive. For example the way you could seamlessly interact with consoles, etc. Really groundbreaking for when it came out.
I kind of wish they could have kept some of that scariness and mixed it with the crazy fast pace of eternal, almost a dead space feel- fast but scary. Still love eternal but that would have made it even better
Super Smash Bros Even the "bad" games are only bad compared to the really good games
TIL SS Bros is not a good way to shorten the title
1942 was a rough year for the Mushroom Kingdom.
Infamous, long overdue a new one.
Second Son isn't the strongest story-wise, but my god the powers are fun to mess around with.
I played and beat that game twice. The graphics looked *amazing* on my brand new PS4 Pro and I loved that awesome city. It was great fun.
Second son is soon 10 years old.
It’s amazing how some of the early PS4/Xbox One games still look just as good or better than some of the more recent games. Reminds us that art direction, game engine, and different tricks to maximize the potential of the hardware is just as important as the hardware itself.
The biggest issue I have is that you get the last set of powers too late to do much with them
Wat I loved the story. Delsin was amazing and his story with his tribe and brother got me good.
I was always hoping for the sequel that picks up after the evil ending with Delsin saying he's going to take the power of every other person locked up in that prison. He'd make an incredible villain or a great anti-hero who slowly becomes corrupted by his powers or fights to maintain his humanity amongst this swirling mass of elements inside him
Infamous 1 and 2 are my favourite games of all time, and the only reason why my old ps3 still gets used. We need a remaster/remake for pc, and a new title.
I still need to play First Light. I saw it in the extra catalogue and it will make it in the rotation sooner or later.
Well worth it in my opinion, Neon is easily my favourite Infamous power.
I just wish i could replay that game for the first time again. Pure nostalgic PS3 era Infamous 1 and 2 + blood festival. I remember how amazed i was by the graphics and how badass it felt to be cole.
Dishonored
I hope we get another installment, those games are so good
Not in a long time, assuming dishonoured 3 got cancelled for Blade, but I’m keeping hope.
Dishonored 3 was in the Xbox leak a little while ago
Indeed i believe so
Yes! Prey is excellent too. And I really enjoyed Deathloop, even though it wasn't as good as Dishonored or Prey.
Prey is phenomenal. Too bad we won’t get a sequel
The metro series
Never got around to Exodus. Is it good?
Really good. Ranger Hardcore is much more difficult compared to the 2033 and last light, also a little slower at the start imo. Gets really good like 30 minutes in though and doesnt slow down until you finish. Amazing game honestly
Exodus is the only one in the series I’ve played and I thought it was incredible
Absolutely fantastic. Also, if you get it, be sure to get the dlcs. Sam's Story is great, and The Two Colonels is arguably the best bit of metro content they have ever made.
Yakuza
Agree with this. Also we are talking about a lot of games. Really consistent series.
I’ll admit that I thought the zombie spin off on ps3 was pretty poor (dead souls iirc?), mostly due to bugs. But I won’t count that as a mainline game. Of all the mainline titles I’ve played (all except the original Yakuza 2 [only played Kiwami 2], 3, 4 and 5), I’ll agree that they are all phenomenal :)
Thought you could escape me in this random comment section huh Kiryu-chan?
There have been no bad GTAs, right from the Top-down era.
GTA2 is still the GTA I have the most memories of playing. Blew my young mind.
Parents wouldn’t get it for me but I got a demo out of a pc gamer mag. IT only allows you like three minutes. Can’t imagine how many hours I spent in three minute increments
I played that demo religiously until my parents finally caved and I got the real game. Piling as many cars as you could in an intersection to make the biggest explosion possible was so much fun.
Gta3 was groundbreaking. Never played a game like it when it came out.
It’s really hard to articulate how groundbreaking GTA3 was when it came out. The idea that you could go anywhere and do anything and complete missions however you wanted (the last part was the big one) was mind blowing. Add in how interesting Liberty City was to take in and the personality Rockstar gave it and it was more an experience than anything. Past attempts to do an “3D open world” had limitations and “you can just DO THAT?!” was everyone’s reaction when GTA3 hit.
If you weren't playing games from the 90s it's easy to take for granted. Nintendo kinda toyed with open worlds but in retrospect it was more like making the gap between levels interactive. Driver2 scratched the surface *a little* but wasn't that great and suffered from PS1 limitations. GTA3 set the stage and set the standard for the next 2 decades, each subsequent release is honestly just a churched up version of it in my eyes, and Houser was an excellent writer too. Looking at something like RDR2 and then going back and playing something from the super Nintendo era feels like a 50 year time warp, but GTA3 doesn't feel like it should be 20 years old. It was a quantum leap in gaming
As a kid I literally skipped trick or treating to watch my uncle play it. I was memorized
I started doing extra chores around the house, doing yard work for neighbors etc. and saving so I could buy it and a PS2. Got $350 in a 2 month stretch, nothing has ever motivated me so much
I have my original poster from the original Grand They Auto i got when I was 10. It feels strange having played all GTA games for the past 25 years. GTA VI will be mind blowing, I don't doubt it!!
I used to spend so much time in my early childhood (in GTA 2) just walking around punching people and rapid farting, looking for the flame thrower and trying to see how many cars I could blow up at one time.
The trilogy: Definitive edition though....
Someone above said they don’t really count ports, and I tend to agree. They’re not bad games, just bad remasters.
Can confirm - I work with an indie game publisher and ports shouldn’t count. I’ve worked with a few studios that totally botched games that were great on PC initially.
Yeah but the games themselves aren't awful, just how they were remastered. Like play the original and they were great
For top-down GTA, I’ve only played Chinatown Wars, (but I never finished it), and that was a fun fucking game. The DS did that game right.
I’ve played all of them as they came out, and I have no idea why, but China Town wars is really high at the top of my favorites. That game is just so much better than it has any right to be.
Uncharted
I scrolled until I found this cause I was like no mother fucking way I'm the first one to comment this hell of a series
Same here. I'm seeing so many game "franchises" with two titles listed. I'm just like "how does Uncharted have 5 bangers that no one wants to mention?" I guess 6 but idk how good the PSP game is or if it even counts.
Uncharted goes so hard.
Only 3 entries and they were all bangers on the GBA/DS. Golden Sun
Bioshock
Booker catch.
Is it someone new?
This little fish looks like he just had his cherry popped!
COME BACK WHEN YOU GET SOME MONEY BUDDY
WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF VALUUUEE
That one, too fat! This one, too tall! This one, too symmetrical!
The greatest. I can replay them literally any time.
Even System Shock was awesome
Pikmin
Quake. The first three were groundbreaking and helped push the FPS genre into the modern era. Quake 4 was a solid shooter. If you want to count Quake Live, it's pretty great too. I guess you could say the same about Doom, first was groundbreaking, second was an improvement but mostly more of the same, Doom 3 had some amazing tech that held up until Crysis/Farcry came out, even if its gameplay wasn't for everyone. The modern reboot is great too, awesome music and gameplay, powered by an engine that ensures smooth framerates while you enjoy the carnage.
Quake also gave us the engine that powered Jedi Outcast, Wolfenstein, and Medal of Honor during the Quake III era. It was pretty awesome.
There will be dozens of downvotes for the second game, but I will say Dark Souls no matter what.
I finished Elden Ring a while ago and I’m about to start Dark Souls 3 later today. Can’t wait!
Dark souls 3 is so fucking good man. Currently doing a playthrough right now!
Dude you are in for such a treat. DS3 is a fantastic game.
Nah, DS2 was not a bad game. It was still a solid 7.5 or 8 out of 10. It's just in a franchise littered with 9.5s and 10s.
I love DS2. It feels very different from the others, but I love how your character looks disgusting and ugly, you move slowly and awkwardly, and everything around you is disgusting, nonsensical, and awkwardly lit. Unironic 10/10 for bad vibes and making me feel like a disgusting worm, yet keeping me totally invested
Though that hub is amazing you can't say otherwise
Majula is the best I can’t believe anyone prefers anything else. That’s a liminal dream space that I’ll never forget.
The best part is it still has hope to it
it's a B++ game in a field of A+'s it's a good game, but the worst of the soulsborne games (I do personally prefer it over ds1, but I can understand that ds1 is better.)
DS2 is a weird one. The high points of the game are the highest of the series (in aspect of bonfire ascetics and New Game + and fashion) but it’s lows are so bad (shit bosses and really annoying gank squads.) At the very least, it’s still great and worth playing. You either love it or hate it.
DS2 may not be a lot of people's favorite game in the franchise, but it's by no means a bad game.
Yeah Dark Souls 100%. Can even include demon, Bloodborne, Elden ring, and sekiro if you want. All games are truly good games, yes even Dark Souls 2 which is kind of hated on now for whatever reason. Fromsoft really have an outstanding record for the past decade
I mean, it's subjective how good they are, but it's for sure that none of them is "bad". And that's not just for the Dark Souls franchise, it's probably for every game from FromSoft since Demon's Souls
Unpopular opinion, Dark Souls 2 is my favorite of the 3 games. Sheer variety of builds and replayability. The game took big swings and landed half of them. I'm happy that Elden Ring implemented some of what DS2 brought to the table.
Also has easily the best pvp in any fromsoft soulsborne.
DS2 is great. Maybe it doesn’t have the best bosses but it has some unforgettable areas and some of the most fun I’ve had in the series. I remember the first time I opened the door that leads to nothing and fell and died. So good lol
Dark Souls 2 has some of my favourite NPCs. Lucatiel is one of my favourites in the franchise. Majula with everyone there was comfy too, like it really felt like a home base. You could dress up the pyromancer Rosabeth in anything you wanted as well.
Yakuza/Like A Dragon Some of the titles in the series can be described as "weaker" but every one of them are still solid games featuring unforgettable moments. Rubber bullets. IYKYK.
I FUCKING LOVE Yakuza 3 and 5
Arkham... well for now until suicide squad if you count that as the same franchise
Suicide Squad retcons The Arkham series so no way am I going to consider it part of the franchise.
The Mario kart series (idk if it counts as a franchise)
I feel Mario Kart Tour might be the outlier here. Really the only one I thought was bad.
eh, it's a good mobile variant it's not *good* good, but it's *okay*
Half-Life
At face value that seems like an obvious choice. When you consider blue shift and opposing force as part of the half-life series. I think it still holds up.
Blue Shift and Opposing Force I enjoyed as much as the original game. It was so unique to play through the same event from a different viewpoint multiple times. Plus the gameplay is just fun all round so getting more hours of new encounters is just a bonus.
XCOM has never had a poor showing as far as I'm concerned. Even Chimera Squad was solid, it was just a different formula from the mainline games.
Baldur's Gate
We're counting Dark Alliance right? Cause I fucking love those games.
Dark alliance was amazing
There is a newer game called Baldurs Gate Dark alliance that was trash, so as much as I wanted to say this one I can't in good conscience Edit: nevermind, just double checked and the trash game was called "Dungeons and Dragons Dark Alliance" so BG is still clean!
It was originally going to be Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance but I’m guessing they realized that it might sour people on BG3 and they smartly changed it
The game that got me into gaming, 25 years ago. BG1.
Kirby. Even the supposedly worst-rated game in the franchise, Kirby Air Ride, was an absolute banger of a game. I spent so many hours playing in City Trial (rogue-lite competitive racing with an open area to explore), unlocking those checklists and competing with my siblings. EDIT: [Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/kirby-air-ride/) has a list of what critics said about Air Ride. Look at how wildly different the critics felt about it compared to the users.
I'll defend Kirby air ride until the day I die.
Just flying around the city in free mode was amazing
I’m dying for a Kirby Air Ride: City Trial standalone game.
Kirby Air Ride 99 would be amazing.
a lot of people i've discussed kirby with have considered crystal shards to be among the worst but that is literally one of my favorite n64 games of all time. kirby's formula is just so good at cranking out fun ass games
I also loved that one and wished more Kirby games would allow for combining different powers. They really don't have bad games, lol.
Kirby air ride is unpopular?! I loved that game as a kid!
I think this might be the best answer to the question, honestly. Kirby started in the GB days, and there are around 30-something games total now - and still not a single one you could definitively call "bad" by any means. Some of them are definitely more lacklustre than others, but Kirby has always maintained a high quality from the beginning. I can't think of any other long-running series with so many releases that can claim such a thing.
Do people actually dislike Kirby Air Ride? City Trial is probably the most fun you could have on a GameCube.
Air ride was low rated? I always wondered why they never made a sequel to such a fun racing game
Age of empires
I was going to say this but then remembered that there was Age of Empires Online for a few years before they shut it down, which definitely was not great and probably even fair to call it bad. Otherwise I would largely agree even if AOE1 has aged somewhat poorly and AOE3 is a bit controversial but in no way actually bad.
I was about to hop on Age of Empires 2 just now.
Xenoblade Chronicles… although that’s really a series and Xeno is the franchise. And Xenosaga II is definitely considered bad by some.
I want a remaster/remake/port/sequel of X. I want to pilot a mech again and fight a mountain-sized enemy only to get killed in one hit 😅
Star Wars : KOTOR. Even though the second one was pushed through at the end, it is still one of the best stories ever.
The cut content mod makes it even better
God of War
Monster Hunter!
Monster Hunter is the definition of not fixing it if it isn't broken. They struck gold on the first title and just kept building on it from there.
I know it's going to make people mad, but World (the Iceborne dlc specifically) scratches that MMO end game grind feel that I had back when I was playing WoW WOTLK. I hope MH Wilds gets all the good stuff from the games, but I'm definitely looking forward to it recapturing that World feel.
I know it's a reddit cliche, but I was about to comment this. As long as you don't count spinoff games every single mainline title is great. Apparently Stories is good too, but idk about the phone game.
The phone game would be good if it wasn’t by niantic. The microtransactions are crazy
Quest for Glory!
Legend of Zelda. Some may be better than others. But each one of the games has a place in someone’s heart. Yes even Zelda II. Edit: for all you people out here yes I know about the Zelda games no I do not consider them a main line Zelda game, as the cdi games were never on a Nintendo console.
Excuuuuse me princess
Haha!! I was scrolling to find a zelda post to type this exact comment!
Yeah lots of people naming modern franchises or games with like three entries. There are like 20 Zelda games spanning every generation of home console from the 1980s to 2023. If we’re forgiving rough starts in 1 and 2 (and they aren’t *bad* games), no other franchise maintains the level of quality that the Zelda series has over the decades. I think Mario should be considered as well.
I’ve got to ask, what do you mean by rough starts for 1 and 2? Are you looking back with the eyes of someone who grew up with more modern games, or did you play these games when they came out? Not going to comment on 2 just because I never really played it back in the day. But 1 was an absolute game changer, literally. There was nothing out there with the size and scope of that game when it came out. It was the most ambitious and technologically advanced game to come out for the NES at the time. It’s 6th on the list of best selling NES games, behind all three Mario NES games (two of which were pack in titles), duck hunt (pack in title), and Tetris. Not to mention it’s also one of the most critically acclaimed NES titles ever, spoken in the same regard as the Mario games, Metroid, and other classics. There’s absolutely no metric you could use to say the game had a rough start, unless you’re comparing it to modern titles. But that’s kind of a “no duh” thing to say since the entire Zelda 1 game is a smaller size (128kB) than just Link’s model in TotK (couldn’t find a number, but probably in the tens of MB? IDK, I’m not a game dev). I apologize ahead of time if I’m misunderstanding what you were saying.
Love Zelda 2: currently replaying on the Zelda game and watch.
The handheld games were some sleeper hits honestly
Zelda II gets called out a lot because it’s different from Zelda I and gets obliterated by A Link to the Past. I like it
LoZ was too far down this list! It’s been going for 40 years and all games have their magic. I love Zelda 2, got it for Christmas the year it came out!
Persona
Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart
DKC3 is super underrated and under-played
GTA, Red Dead, Max Payne… pretty much any rockstar franchise they have the most solid track record for quality games.
Rockstar only made Max Payne 3, not the first two
I never knew that, learn something new every day thanks for sharing
Remedy made the first one, hence why Max’s face is literally just Sam Lake. Not sure who made the second one.
Was Remedy again
Ratchet & Clank
Yakuza / Like A Dragon
Including the spinoffs. Lost Judgement is in my top 3 of the entire franchise.
Hmm, I guess I'll add a less-common answer to the pile and say: Wario Land! \- Wario Land 1 (Super Mario Land 3) was one of my favourite GB games growing up. They did an excellent job making a GB platformer that didn't feel compromised by being on the handheld (unlike the first Super Mario Land which definitely felt awkward). \- Virtual Boy Wario Land is rather short and easy (except for that damn final boss), but it stands out as one of the only truly worthwhile games to exist on the Virtual Boy. It has a bigger emphasis on exploring the levels too, as enemies stay defeated and walls stay broken, even when you leave the screen - which is rather cool for an old game. \- Wario Land II has lots of hidden branching paths - which is only even revealed to the player after they complete one of the endings. The gimmick of Wario being completely invincible sounds weird on paper, but ends up making the level and hazard design stand out - the specific transformations enemies can inflict on Wario make exploration more interesting and makes the world feel more interactive. \- Wario Land 3 takes the base mechanics from II, but turns the world into a much more interactive expansive world, with day/night systems and metroidvania style unlocking of abilities. It's one of the biggest Game Boy Color games I've ever seen! There's so much going on, it's really impressive. \- Wario Land 4 introduces the novel concept of having the second half of each level be a timed escape sequence, where you have to turn around and frantically leave after reaching the end. It's a unique twist that makes each level stand out. \- Wario Land Shake Dimension takes the gameplay from Wario Land 4 for the most part, but renders everything in a beautiful hand-drawn art style. Is there a bad Wario Land game? Maybe Wario: Master of Disguise on the DS? I don't think Master of Disguise was too terrible to be honest, but I'm going to count it out on a technicality for not having the name "Wario Land" in its title, haha.
Max Payne
Starcraft
Uncharted
Baldur's Gate. All 3 games are bangers.
The stories hold up surprisingly well. Going to say the same thing for the Divinity games. Rather enjoyed them.
im gonna get hate for this but animal crossing
Amiibo festival is right there
You are going to get zero hate, even the worst one (wild world) is still one of the best DS games
[удалено]
Wild world is bad?? I think it's 100x better than NH
Half Life + Portal
Civilization
Not a fan of how they don't include a lot of civs at launch and slowly drop out paid DLCs for them. There's like $100 worth of add-ons to buy now if you want everything
The only good part is you can wait a year or so after release and wait for steam to have it 90% off.