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J 0 E

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,250
There's a lot of great #2 sequels, games with great improvements over the first one. For me these are the best

Metalgear2boxart.jpg


MGS1 is one my favorite games ever, so topping it wasn't an easy task. MGS2 is a huge leap in presentation / gameplay mechanics / enemy AI and behavior / Storytelling, I still can't believe that intro was made on a PS2 hardware. Sure Raiden is no Snake but the game succeeded in making me like him throughout the game and we saw Snake from a different, more interesting angle which is something I like very much (the same happened with Dante in DMC4 & 5).

Every MGS game has it's own vibe which make it special even compared to the ones after it and MGS2 is a great example.

Bravo Kojima and team for this remarkable sequel which still holds to this day.

NTSC_Resident_Evil_2_Cover.png


What I personally liked about RE2, apart from its great gameplay, is the fact that the game completely replaced the entire cast of the original RE with a totally brand new cast members as well as having a totally different setting yet the game maintained the identity of the series and what it is like to be a resident evil game and we still loved it. I had never encountered such a thing in gaming up until that point. It was a pretty bold move for a narratively connected series to do and it worked!

Critically and commercially, the game was even better than the original.

RE2 is better than the first one in everything imo but they didn't stop there. I loved the idea if playing different scenarios for each character which gave the game a bigger scale and depth. Plus the increase of gore is fitting for a game like this (they lowered it in later classic REs) + Leon & Clair are still my best characters in the series.

Shinji Mikami made the right call for giving Hideki Kamiya the lead in this and it shows.

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ND tested the waters with the first Uncharted and nailed it with the 2nd one, Uncharted 2 is an example of how to make a cinematic / bombastic game while making the player in control all the time. Huge improvements in pacing, shooting, encounters design, scale, storytelling and of course technology.

Uncharted 4 is my best in the series but I can't deny the big impact of Uncharted 2.

And recently

The_Last_of_Us_2_capa.png


TLOU was and still a masterpiece, ND exceeded my already high expectations in TLOU2.

Without making a mini review: I love everything about this game

A bold story and events with great characters
The best AI in the industry (along with MGS5)
A huge step up in encounter design
The best animation ever in a game (still can't believe the GIFs I see)
An achievement in Graphics / Physics / Sound / Accessibility


This is the sequel TLOU deserves. Simply: My Game of the Generation

What I particularly liked about The Last of Us Part II and Metal Gear Solid 2 is the fact that both were AAA productions yet they still made some extremely bold decisions the likes of which you could only see in Indie games. And both games delivered on their messages that they were trying to say big-time.

What's your picks and why?

Side note: Any first sequel counts (Soulcalibur for example) not just games with #2.
 
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carlos

Member
Oct 25, 2017
429
mega man 2 comes to mind quickly
street fighter 2, obviously
mario galaxy 2 I wouldn't say because the original was already so good
 
May 15, 2019
2,448
Yakuza 2 on the PS2 was an incredible improvement over its predecessor in every possible way. Still my number 2 game in the series only behind 0.
 

AIan

Member
Oct 20, 2019
4,845
Dark Cloud 2
Wario Land 2
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
NieR: Automata
Bloodborne 2
 

Tatsu91

Banned
Apr 7, 2019
3,147
Yakuza 2 is one of the best in the series TBH i have played 0 -6 and Top 3 are 2, 0 and 6
 

vixolus

Prophet of Truth
Member
Sep 22, 2020
54,299
Kingdom Hearts 2
Team Fortress 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Portal 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
RuneScape 2 (2007scape style Runescape, unofficial title though)
 

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,789
USA
Resident Evil 2 in its new and original forms has consistently occupied my mind as one of my favorite games ever made so probably that one.

A little more ambiguous but A Link Between Worlds as a sequel to A Link to the Past (though no 2 in the title) was truly excellent in my eyes. I'm hanging into my 3DS mostly because of that game.
 

Deleted member 1839

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,625
forgot one more!

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I know some on here might not agree but damn I loved a lot better than the original.
 

Equanimity

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,991
London
Rayman Legends - It's sequel to Origins but without the 2 in its title.

Uncharted 2
Mass Effect 2
Dead Space 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
Resident Evil 2 Remake
 

SammyJ9

Member
Dec 22, 2019
3,956
It's hard for me to think of a sequel that improved on the first game more than this one:

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MrFox

VFX Rendering Pipeline Developer
Verified
Jun 8, 2020
1,435
Street Fighter 2
Quake 2
Knack 2
Arkanoid 2
Portal 2
Half-Life 2
Super Smash Melee
Sly Cooper 2
Diablo 2
 

souppboy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
393
Spelunky 2 for sure.

Takes a phenomenal game and elevated it. Love the sequel and all the secrets known so far.

Edit:phenobarbital is not a synonym for phenomenal
 
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Archduke Kong

Member
Feb 2, 2019
2,309
Super Smash Bros. Melee is probably one of the best gaming part twos ever made. I'm not a personal fan of it nowadays (I'm actually thinking of selling my copy) but nearly every element of the first game is expanded upon in significant ways, and it's the game that cemented what the Smash Bros series is all about. The fact that people are still primarily playing it nowadays, 20 years later, while a game that basically contains a remake of most of its content is currently on the market speaks for itself I think.

As for me personally, I'm going to go with Star Wars Rogue Squadron II. The first game may have been more original AND had more content, but Rogue Leader FEELS more like the movies than the first game does (partly because multiple story missions happen during the movies, and the first game was already pretty great at it, but I still think the second game gets the tone right even better than the first). Plus the gameplay is more polished, the sound design is perfect and the graphics hold up better. It's my favorite Star Wars game, and one of my favorite sequels.
 

Paroni

Member
Dec 17, 2020
3,408
444799-worms-2-windows-front-cover.jpg


Series peaked with Worms Armageddon, which was pretty much just definitive version of Worms 2.
 

RomanticHeroX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,884
Suikoden II, now and forever. It's been my favorite game since launch and I don't imagine that will ever change. It's not without its flaws but I wouldn't change a thing about it.
 

AbsoluteZ3R0

Member
Feb 5, 2019
885
Baldurs Gate 2 and Divinity Original Sin 2. Both games made massive massive improvements over there predecessor and are top games of all time.
 

RedOnePunch

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,628
Street Fighter 2
Mega Man 2
Streets of Rage 2
Earthbound (Im Assuming due to popularity. Haven't played mother 1 or 3)
Infamous 2
Mass Effect 2
DKC 2

I prefer MGS1 over MGS2. I love the characters in MGS1.
 
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