OP
OP
I agree that Spyro 1 has a different feel, but I wouldnt call it desolate or the world "harsh." Spyro 2 and 3 are like straight up saturday morning cartoons, where as 1 is like more of an old Don Bluth-ish kinda thing.
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Series where the first game has a different feel/vibe
- Thread starter elbageluno
- Start date
I agree that Spyro 1 has a different feel, but I wouldnt call it desolate or the world "harsh." Spyro 2 and 3 are like straight up saturday morning cartoons, where as 1 is like more of an old Don Bluth-ish kinda thing.
OP
OP
I played Spyro 1 recently and loved it but couldn't get through Spyro 2. The simplicity of the first game really worked in its favor.
DMC is the first one that came to mind. It's such a cool game because you can still see a lot of the traces from when it was an RE game earlier in development. In a way, it's kind of a missing link from RE to what the DMC series ultimately became with DMC3.
Jak & Daxter and Quake are two other pretty obvious ones. In both cases, I much preferred the respective styles of the original games.
Jak & Daxter and Quake are two other pretty obvious ones. In both cases, I much preferred the respective styles of the original games.
I like this as well, good call. The original very much has its own feel apart from the others, and I think it does owe to the small scale that you touched on. There's also a thoughtfulness to the design of the first game's stages that isn't as prevalent in the later games, where they often lean towards being either too straightforward or too over-the-top and busy. I'm always a little extra excited when playing w/ random stage selection and a Smash 64 stage comes up.
This is a good call too. ND really "figured out" Uncharted with the second game (tbh, it's kinda why I would have much rather seen them remake Uncharted 1 than TLOU1, but it is what it is...).
Unreal. The first one has a legit and lengthy single player campaign with sci-fi, horror and exploration elements. It's not Half-Life but it's waaaay different from its multiplayer focused sequels.
It's hard to articulate exactly how, but the first WarioWare game feels incredibly different to every other game in the series to me except MAYBE the GameCube one (which barely counts).
They all do weird and funny shit but something about the first game still stands out to me, in a good way. Love the whole series though.
They all do weird and funny shit but something about the first game still stands out to me, in a good way. Love the whole series though.
OP
OP
Yes, Quake 1 is definitely my favorite as well. I hope a potential new Quake game (by Machine Games? please) will give us a current gen version of the Quake 1 aesthetic, that would be insane.
Mario Party 1 felt especially brutal compared to any of the sequels. The sense of absolute dread when you're chosen for Bash n' Cash.. There's no limit to how many coins they can take from you. Or getting grabbed in Crane Game and desperately mashing A so they don't steal 1/3 of your coins. In the sequels you don't lose coins in minigames. (and then there's the palm-eroding stick spinning mini-games.)
Yeah... I'll say it:
Pokemon.
I know Gen Wunner's is a thing, but it's gotta be a stereotype for a reason.
Gen 1 for Pokemon had a ton of problems. Type Balance, Type Combos, Pokemon Diversity, just straight up bugs in the code that broke the game.
And yet, something about that game really feels like the easiest to go back and play multiple times.
I try to replay Gen 2, but the XP grind is such a pain, and the Dark type is scarce AF.
I try to replay Gen 3, but then seeing all these different pokemon with new stat combos that work in direct contradiction to their type attack type. Not to mention the stupid amount of HMs you need to move about the map.
I try to replay Gen 4, but the available pokemon pre-e4 feels like such a small pool that I use the same team every time and get bored.
I try to replay Gen 5... and this one works pretty well actually, somehow Black and White AND Black2 and White2 are enjoyable experiences. I have little to comlpain about here.
I try to replay Gen 6... and I actually feel like I'm restricted to only looking for pokemon who can mega evolve, which cuts the options down to like 5% of the pokedex.
I try to replay Gen 7... and honestly, the cheesy nonstop dialogue just keeps me from playing the game so much that I struggle to keep motivation.
I try to replay Gen 8... Well... I'll be honest, I never finished Gen 8. After all this time, I'm finally admitting that pokemon just doesn't seem to work for me any more.
Pokemon.
I know Gen Wunner's is a thing, but it's gotta be a stereotype for a reason.
Gen 1 for Pokemon had a ton of problems. Type Balance, Type Combos, Pokemon Diversity, just straight up bugs in the code that broke the game.
And yet, something about that game really feels like the easiest to go back and play multiple times.
I try to replay Gen 2, but the XP grind is such a pain, and the Dark type is scarce AF.
I try to replay Gen 3, but then seeing all these different pokemon with new stat combos that work in direct contradiction to their type attack type. Not to mention the stupid amount of HMs you need to move about the map.
I try to replay Gen 4, but the available pokemon pre-e4 feels like such a small pool that I use the same team every time and get bored.
I try to replay Gen 5... and this one works pretty well actually, somehow Black and White AND Black2 and White2 are enjoyable experiences. I have little to comlpain about here.
I try to replay Gen 6... and I actually feel like I'm restricted to only looking for pokemon who can mega evolve, which cuts the options down to like 5% of the pokedex.
I try to replay Gen 7... and honestly, the cheesy nonstop dialogue just keeps me from playing the game so much that I struggle to keep motivation.
I try to replay Gen 8... Well... I'll be honest, I never finished Gen 8. After all this time, I'm finally admitting that pokemon just doesn't seem to work for me any more.
Mario Party 1 definitely had an air of nastiness to it that the sequels didn't have. At the end of every game, there would be a clip of the losers getting their asses kicked in some way.Mario Party 1 felt especially brutal compared to any of the sequels. The sense of absolute dread when you're chosen for Bash n' Cash.. There's no limit to how many coins they can take from you. Or getting grabbed in Crane Game and desperately mashing A so they don't steal 1/3 of your coins. In the sequels you don't lose coins in minigames. (and then there's the palm-eroding stick spinning mini-games.)
I actually kinda liked the tone
I haven't played any games in the series beyond the first game of the reboot, but from what I've played no other game in the series has captured the desolate atmosphere of the original Tomb Raider game.
The prime example. Dynasty Warriors went from a fighting game to creating a whole new genre with Musou games with the other titles after the first one.Dynasty Warriors
It's a fighting game
It was so weird to go from working class guy in a world of fungus and dragons and rusty pipes, especially when that was the vibe a lot of the tie in merch connected with, to basically the wholesome Mickey Mouse of video games.
Came here to post this.
I'd also argue Castlevania a bit since I feel like it was a horror movie monster party rather than a gothic cheese fest (and I love both versions dearly).
The Fable series. The transition from RPG to Action-Adventure is pretty noticeable as the series goes on.
Weirdly enough, I think this also applies to the reboot trilogy. Neither Rise nor Shadow managed to fully capture (or seem to understand) what made the 2013 game good. They built off all the wrong elements.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the DKC games considering your avatar, OP. :p
DKC1 was a pretty different feeling game than 2 or 3. The first one had a more naturalistic vibe to it while DKC2 had the whole pirate motif thing going on.
DKC3 was a bit closer to the vibe DKC1 was going for, but it still wasn't quite the same. It was a very weird game. I love how all the games differed so much from each other. Made each game stand out more and kept the series from feeling stagnant.
DKC1 was a pretty different feeling game than 2 or 3. The first one had a more naturalistic vibe to it while DKC2 had the whole pirate motif thing going on.
DKC3 was a bit closer to the vibe DKC1 was going for, but it still wasn't quite the same. It was a very weird game. I love how all the games differed so much from each other. Made each game stand out more and kept the series from feeling stagnant.
I'm surprised Prince of Persia has yet to come up, especially the sharp change in tone between playful The Sands of Time and grimdark Warrior Within.
Holy smokes - those games are almost 20 years old! :-/
Holy smokes - those games are almost 20 years old! :-/
Oddly enough, I felt the tone that made the first Tomb Raider so great change to a far more action-y vibe during Tomb Raider 2. The change was so noticeable and disappointing I never did play Tomb Raider 3, etc.
Pikmin to Pikmin 2. Went from a game of survival and strategic planning and encouraged replays to a game where you take your time and explore at your leisure, also here are these repetitive, boring caves made to stress me out and waste my time! I vastly prefer Pikmin 1, but the Piklopedia was a good idea.
Luigi's Mansion to Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon. Explore a single big mansion vs. run in and out of smaller mansions multiple times in separate "stages" as if they're worlds in a traditional Mario game. I prefer LM1, but I liked the multiplayer in LM2.
Luigi's Mansion to Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon. Explore a single big mansion vs. run in and out of smaller mansions multiple times in separate "stages" as if they're worlds in a traditional Mario game. I prefer LM1, but I liked the multiplayer in LM2.
Persona
Even the PSP remake has a different tone:
As you can assume, the PSP remake came out after the success of P3 and P4. I personally prefer the more modern tone of 3, 4, and 5.
Even the PSP remake has a different tone:
As you can assume, the PSP remake came out after the success of P3 and P4. I personally prefer the more modern tone of 3, 4, and 5.
An addition to LM1 is that it felt at least a little scary. The portrait ghosts, the dust and cobwebs, the decay, everything seeming lived in, plus the secrets, all gave it a dirty edge that I don't think the sequels pulled off. They second and third game feel too clean.
I like this answer.
I think it's obvious. The atmosphere surrounding DKC2 was very sinister. Once you got past the first world on the ship, things started getting creepy. There were a few creepy things in the latter stages of DKC1, but DKC2 was on another level. I was legitimately scared to play the game as a kid.
Super Mario Land 1 and 2 are like night and day. As a 5-year old kid with Super Mario World as my only frame of reference, I didn't believe SML1 was actually a Mario game and that feeling never left. I always felt like some kind of cheap knock-off. Even the goombas and koopas looked weird.
Whereas SML2 felt like a Mario game the moment I started it.
Whereas SML2 felt like a Mario game the moment I started it.
Wolfenstein, the Apple 2 games have nothing to do with the rest.
Even Wolf 3D has a different vibe to the following games, More cartoony
Even Wolf 3D has a different vibe to the following games, More cartoony
Yeah, I forgot to mention the portrait ghosts. Went from literally having deceased humans, or close to human, to having only cartoon blob ghosts.
I loved SML1, but yeah, same here. Koopas replaced with exploding turtles, worlds with bouncing vampires, submarines, airplanes, even back then when Mario's identity wasn't quite as pronounced in the brand, it still felt like an outlier.
Soundtrack was a banger, though. That song from the above-water levels is just free serotonin.
i dunno if it particularly "qualifies" since the 2013 game was a reboot but Shadow Warrior had the strange journey of being a 90s shooter in the vein of duke nukem where it was a good game but terribly problematic.
and then the 2013 game was (rightfully so) much different, then the second game was a take on the loot shooter craze, then the third some budget store knockoff of doom eternal that kind of ignores what came before, though you can argue it is the true successor to the 2013 game i guess
and then the 2013 game was (rightfully so) much different, then the second game was a take on the loot shooter craze, then the third some budget store knockoff of doom eternal that kind of ignores what came before, though you can argue it is the true successor to the 2013 game i guess
Mass Effect 3 almost got there, but the sense of real scale had been lost for years at that point and the game's own flaws did a lot of damage to the aforementioned vibe that the game did reasonably try at least to build.
I'll always appreciate Mass Effect 2 and 3, but my playthrough of the entire trilogy last year was the first time I had ever played Mass Effect past Eden Prime, and I was kind of shocked to find that, in the end, Mass Effect 1 is my favorite game of the three. It just scratches that immersive sci fi RPG itch in so many ways that its sequels do not, even if the sequels are interesting in their own right and definitely have their own unique and cool identities.
Yep. BO was a Zelda clone with a dark gothic atmosphere and loads of horror and gore.
Soul reaver was a 3D action adventure.
The series was more or less kitbashed together by converting entirely different games into the various entries.
Soul reaver was originally shifter
Blood omen 2 was Chakan the forver man (Dreamcast).
You only had to mention that song to get it stuck in my head again, sound effects included, haha. Bad first impression aside, I still played the shit out of that game. Looking back on it now I can definitely appreciate it more. The areas themselves were quite atmospheric and unique.
Side note, hearing Smooth McGroove's take on it is one of the most satisfying nostalgic experiences I can remember. The fact that this was posted 9 years ago is slightly unnerving, however.
