Best answer. Mother is a decent, if grindy, NES RPG, but 2 and 3 are both in my top 5 games of all time.
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Greatest Trilogies in Gaming?
- Thread starter Kevin Shields
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Best answer. Mother is a decent, if grindy, NES RPG, but 2 and 3 are both in my top 5 games of all time.
There aren't many places where the Prime Trilogy would be voted for more than the Halo trilogy. Lol
I went for Halo and Mass Effect, with Mass Effect being THE trilogy that other should aim to be.
I didn't go with MGS bc 3 was such a let down for me.
Dark Souls is barely a trilogy to me. It could have been 4 games or 5 games and it would make no difference bc the story/lore is not good enough to link them together as a "trilogy."
I didn't go with MGS bc 3 was such a let down for me.
Dark Souls is barely a trilogy to me. It could have been 4 games or 5 games and it would make no difference bc the story/lore is not good enough to link them together as a "trilogy."
The fact Mass Effect isn't winning is a disgrace beyond anything ever witnessed in the history, past and future, of the entire human race.
The Uncharted Amy Hennig trilogy.
I've heard someone else dismiss the first game as bad too, which surprises me because it's so good it's one of my all time favourites! It's an excellent graphic adventure that is fun to play and has such great stories and characters it spawned a franchise. Sure the graphics are not as detailed as in the sequels but you get to go on a fully loaded video game adventure.
I've heard someone else dismiss the first game as bad too, which surprises me because it's so good it's one of my all time favourites! It's an excellent graphic adventure that is fun to play and has such great stories and characters it spawned a franchise. Sure the graphics are not as detailed as in the sequels but you get to go on a fully loaded video game adventure.
Where is Silent Hill? Also if the Miyazaki Trifecta is allowed gimme Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, and Bloodborne
When OP listed the Metal Gear trilogy, I'm assuming he means the ones that Fukushima worked on as a writer (MGS 1-3). If that's the case, I wholeheartedly agree. Each new MGS entry was a technical marvel with incredible gameplay options and a stupid memorable plot and characters. After MGS3, there's a certain je ne sais quoi that's missing from the series, likely due to Kojumbo unveiling his final form and removing any sort of grounded storytelling that had been previously present. The gameplay got successively better, but the storytelling become way more drawn out, convoluted, and plain hokey.
Also, I'll throw out the Rogue Squadron trilogy of Star Wars games from Factor 5. These games ran amazingly well on Nintendo hardware (60 FPS on a Gamecube of all things), looked amazing, and were the definitive Star Wars space fighting experience for a good while.
Also, I'll throw out the Rogue Squadron trilogy of Star Wars games from Factor 5. These games ran amazingly well on Nintendo hardware (60 FPS on a Gamecube of all things), looked amazing, and were the definitive Star Wars space fighting experience for a good while.
Old Era, shambling through!
Ultima IV (Quest of the Avatar)
Ultima V (Warriors of Destiny)
Ultima VI (The False Prophet)
(otherwise known as the Age of Enlightenment)
Each game was technically at the top of their game at the time and improved with each entry. Some things, like NPC schedules, are even today rarely done. The graphics and music were top notch (for their time). The impact of these games on both WRPGs and JRPGs is seen through to today.
Beyond all that, though, was the story.
Ultima IV is famous for the main quest consisting of the PC trying to better themselves in eight virtues. There's no Big Bad at the end. After achieving enlightenment in the eight virtues the PC braves the Abyss and raises the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom from its depths and bringing it to the surface for the human citizens of Britannia to learn from.
Ultima V concerns the corruption of the virtues. The removal of the Codex from the Abyss caused collapse within the under surface of the world, forming the Underworld. Lord British (the ruler of Britannia) leads an expedition to the Underworld but goes missing. The regent he left in charge, Lord Blackthorn, corrupts the virtues into eight anti-virtues. The PC must defeat the corruption and rescue Lord British from the Underworld.
Ultima VI concerns xenophobia. Gargoyles (an intelligent demon-looking race) attempt to kill the PC. In response, Lord British sends the PC to deal with them. In the course of the adventure the PC learns that the Gargoyles also were inspired by the Codex and the formation of the Underworld was a terrible cataclysm for them. Rather than exterminating the Gargoyles the PC creates a bridge of understanding between the two races (human and Gargoyle) and the Codex is placed in a neutral place and lenses crafted so that both races can access it. Again, no real Big Bad in this game either.
(Some other notable early trilogies are Bard's Tale I - III, the early Wizardry games, etc.).
Ultima IV (Quest of the Avatar)
Ultima V (Warriors of Destiny)
Ultima VI (The False Prophet)
(otherwise known as the Age of Enlightenment)
Each game was technically at the top of their game at the time and improved with each entry. Some things, like NPC schedules, are even today rarely done. The graphics and music were top notch (for their time). The impact of these games on both WRPGs and JRPGs is seen through to today.
Beyond all that, though, was the story.
Ultima IV is famous for the main quest consisting of the PC trying to better themselves in eight virtues. There's no Big Bad at the end. After achieving enlightenment in the eight virtues the PC braves the Abyss and raises the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom from its depths and bringing it to the surface for the human citizens of Britannia to learn from.
Ultima V concerns the corruption of the virtues. The removal of the Codex from the Abyss caused collapse within the under surface of the world, forming the Underworld. Lord British (the ruler of Britannia) leads an expedition to the Underworld but goes missing. The regent he left in charge, Lord Blackthorn, corrupts the virtues into eight anti-virtues. The PC must defeat the corruption and rescue Lord British from the Underworld.
Ultima VI concerns xenophobia. Gargoyles (an intelligent demon-looking race) attempt to kill the PC. In response, Lord British sends the PC to deal with them. In the course of the adventure the PC learns that the Gargoyles also were inspired by the Codex and the formation of the Underworld was a terrible cataclysm for them. Rather than exterminating the Gargoyles the PC creates a bridge of understanding between the two races (human and Gargoyle) and the Codex is placed in a neutral place and lenses crafted so that both races can access it. Again, no real Big Bad in this game either.
(Some other notable early trilogies are Bard's Tale I - III, the early Wizardry games, etc.).
Super Mario Bros. 1-3 followed by Spyro 1-3 and Monkey Island 1-3
MGS the best of those listed that I've played. But only with a version of MGS3 that has camera control.
Metroid Prime and Dark Souls had weaker second entries.
I didn't play Mass Effect or Halo, and I only played the first Arkham game.
MGS the best of those listed that I've played. But only with a version of MGS3 that has camera control.
Metroid Prime and Dark Souls had weaker second entries.
I didn't play Mass Effect or Halo, and I only played the first Arkham game.
Voted for Other because in my heart of hearts I would've selected any of these options had they been presented:
Super Mario Bros / Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario World - If we're being honest with ourselves, Lost Levels is an expansion pack. You know it in your hearts to be true
EarthBound Beginnings / EarthBound / Mother 3 - The RPG series I hold dear in my heart
Final Fantasy V / Final Fantasy VI / Final Fantasy VII - Pure Squaresoft golden age (and the other RPG series I hold dear)
Heroes of Might & Magic / Heroes of Might & Magic II / Heroes of Might & Magic III - RIP New World Computing you were too good for this world
Mega Man / Mega Man 2 / Mega Man 3 - A great run and constantly evolving the gameplay before everything started to calcify in 4
Legend of Zelda / Adventure of Link / A Link to the Past - As much as it pains me to not include Link's Awakening this is the core of the franchise and everything since is mostly riffing on them
Unreal / Unreal Tournament / Unreal Tournament 2004 - Less popular than Quake or Half-Life but set the stage for Epic becoming the gargantuan they are today
Persona 3 / Persona 4 / Persona 5 - An outstanding reboot of the franchise
EDIT:
Leisure Suit Larry 1 - 3 (because I'm not typing out all the damn subtitles) - I'm mostly kidding here (and wanted to throw a PC adventure series on the list) but yeah it's a low-key and low-brow saga about an aging loser who sets out to get laid, has a one-night stand, realizes there's more to life than sex, sets out to find real romance, and ends with finally having found that after a good deal of hijinks. And then it all goes downhill from there.
SimCity / SimCity 2000 / SimCity 3000 - On a more serious note, this series started simple and kept layering on complexity with subsquent iterations while still remaining to be approachable. And then they threw it all out and started over for 4 and went back to focusing on The Sims because life's not fair sometimes. (I do love The Sims but the fact that EA and Maxis couldn't effectively support both franchises + Spore prototyping at the same time suuuucked)
Ooo that's a good one, although I'd sub the original CoM for Re:CoM because I've heard the combat is a lot more frustrating in 3D
Super Mario Bros / Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario World - If we're being honest with ourselves, Lost Levels is an expansion pack. You know it in your hearts to be true
EarthBound Beginnings / EarthBound / Mother 3 - The RPG series I hold dear in my heart
Final Fantasy V / Final Fantasy VI / Final Fantasy VII - Pure Squaresoft golden age (and the other RPG series I hold dear)
Heroes of Might & Magic / Heroes of Might & Magic II / Heroes of Might & Magic III - RIP New World Computing you were too good for this world
Mega Man / Mega Man 2 / Mega Man 3 - A great run and constantly evolving the gameplay before everything started to calcify in 4
Legend of Zelda / Adventure of Link / A Link to the Past - As much as it pains me to not include Link's Awakening this is the core of the franchise and everything since is mostly riffing on them
Unreal / Unreal Tournament / Unreal Tournament 2004 - Less popular than Quake or Half-Life but set the stage for Epic becoming the gargantuan they are today
Persona 3 / Persona 4 / Persona 5 - An outstanding reboot of the franchise
EDIT:
Leisure Suit Larry 1 - 3 (because I'm not typing out all the damn subtitles) - I'm mostly kidding here (and wanted to throw a PC adventure series on the list) but yeah it's a low-key and low-brow saga about an aging loser who sets out to get laid, has a one-night stand, realizes there's more to life than sex, sets out to find real romance, and ends with finally having found that after a good deal of hijinks. And then it all goes downhill from there.
SimCity / SimCity 2000 / SimCity 3000 - On a more serious note, this series started simple and kept layering on complexity with subsquent iterations while still remaining to be approachable. And then they threw it all out and started over for 4 and went back to focusing on The Sims because life's not fair sometimes. (I do love The Sims but the fact that EA and Maxis couldn't effectively support both franchises + Spore prototyping at the same time suuuucked)
Ooo that's a good one, although I'd sub the original CoM for Re:CoM because I've heard the combat is a lot more frustrating in 3D
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I'm sincerely surprised nobody bought up the three classic Heroes of Might and Magic games as a greatest trilogy. It sure as hell sets the scene as the greatest TRPG trilogy to ever come to the PC.
Granted, the first game isn't fantastic - but with extremely solid gameplay fundamentals that carried through to the next two titles.
II was an instant classic - visually, musically, and in terms of actual gameplay. And set the scene for the following sequel becoming one of the greatest videogames of all time.
Oh, right, did I mention III is one of the greatest games of all time? It's one of the greatest games of all time. It is absolutely top tier, filled with content, and just... nnngh. It's still getting a massive, almost unfathomable mindboggling amount of community support. Nevermind the fact that the base game itself is just absolutely fantastic. The community support just upgrades it from being filled with Gold to also being coated in Platinum.
The only real issue is that the games seem to be basically unrecognized outside of Europe.
EDIT: And shoptroll ninja'd me.
EDIT 2: Removed a duplicate unrecognized.
Granted, the first game isn't fantastic - but with extremely solid gameplay fundamentals that carried through to the next two titles.
II was an instant classic - visually, musically, and in terms of actual gameplay. And set the scene for the following sequel becoming one of the greatest videogames of all time.
Oh, right, did I mention III is one of the greatest games of all time? It's one of the greatest games of all time. It is absolutely top tier, filled with content, and just... nnngh. It's still getting a massive, almost unfathomable mindboggling amount of community support. Nevermind the fact that the base game itself is just absolutely fantastic. The community support just upgrades it from being filled with Gold to also being coated in Platinum.
The only real issue is that the games seem to be basically unrecognized outside of Europe.
EDIT: And shoptroll ninja'd me.
EDIT 2: Removed a duplicate unrecognized.
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I think I've only met two other people in real life who know anything about these games. It's like spotting a unicorn when it happens.
Completely agree about the first game. It's a good proof of concept but the (largely balance) changes that start in II completely elevate the design to an impressive degree. I know people like to dunk on IV but to be honest I don't know how on earth they could've done a follow-up to III without starting over and heading in a different direction. III feels like a definitive statement on that style of game.
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Since we've completely thrown the idea of a trilogy out the window, i would like to write in the endless 'falling sand' series of web games
that trilogy is 100+ perfect games and running
that trilogy is 100+ perfect games and running
Loved HoMM -- and still have my HoMM2 box. I liked 2 more than 3, but it could just be the point in life that I played it.
Compelling, cohesive and complete story is key for me.
Mass Effect 1-3
Ace Attorney 1-3
Assassin's Creed 2/B/R
Dishonored 1, 2 and DotO
Honorable mentions:
Gears of War 1-3
God War 1-3
Mass Effect 1-3
Ace Attorney 1-3
Assassin's Creed 2/B/R
Dishonored 1, 2 and DotO
Honorable mentions:
Gears of War 1-3
God War 1-3
Yes, even with complaints on the direction the series took after 1 and uproar over the ending it's still a standout trilogy within gaming that has yet to be replicated for providing a continuous and complete storyline across three games where your character and actions carry through from one to the next. Even the best games aren't perfect or free of criticism, just because there's a lot of strong opinions about it doesn't change that it's a really great and unique trilogy.
If it makes you feel better, China also loved HoMM (up to 3, then I stopped paying attention)
