Summary
Reason states that a game series should only get better with every new entry released for it. After all, the developers have already created a successful entry, and making a better sequel should be fairly easy. Plus, the developers have feedback on the older game and should be able to incorporate it into the sequel.
However, more often than not, thesequels drop the ball by creating an objectively worse gamedespite everything. Thankfully, some developers don’t let their fans down and strive to create bigger and better sequels.
Starting in 2005 exclusively on the PS2, Santa Monica studios releasedGod of War, the first entry into a series that would become one of the most influential video game series of all time.
Sticking with the same protagonist for all their six mainline entries, the games introduce players to Kratos, a demi-god who later claims the position of the God of War from Ares, and follows him on his journey of fighting Greek and Norse Gods, facingmonsters ten times his size, and eventually fathering a son he didn’t know how to raise.
With every new title, Santa Monica added new gameplay mechanics, made the story more coherent and relatable, and wasn’t afraid to try new things. The series peaked with the latestGod of War Ragnarok, receiving critical acclaim and multiple 10/10 ratings.
The firstPersonagame, officially calledRevelations: Personawas released back in 1996 on the PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. This JRPG mostly went under the radar at the time, and due to its dated gameplay mechanics, it’s very difficult to get into it today. Still, it started one of thebest JRPG seriesof all time, and every sequel only made the game better and created more fans.
WithPersona 3, the games picked up thanks to the game mechanics getting more user-friendly for beginners, and it even got a remake recently. It was followed byPersona 4and then the critically acclaimedPersona 5, where the series reached its peak.
Arguably thebest Batman video gameseries of all time, it all started withBatman Arkham Asylumin 2009. Rocksteady achieved what seemed impossible at that time by creating a good Batman game that incorporated his gadgets, skills, characters, and lore well into the gameplay. With the sequel,Batman Arkham City,they ramped everything up to eleven by adding a fully explorable open-world city-turned-prison.
While some people didn’t welcomeBatman Arkham Knightwith open arms, it’s safe to say that this entry expanded upon the previous game in every way, and evened the odds by adding the Batmobile. It also hadsome of the best villains, and their side quests were the highlight of the game.
Starting with the very firstGrand Theft Autoreleased back in 1997, it possessed the same core concept that was retained in the newerGTAtitles: steal cars, shoot people, and do missions.
Both the first and second games in this series were pretty well received by fans and critics, but it garnered mainstream attention with the release ofGTA 3, arguably one of the first good 3Dopen-world sandbox games. The sequels after this,GTA Vice CityandSan Andreaswere both masterpieces and incrementally expanded upon character-building, world, environments, graphics, story, and gameplay mechanics.
WithGTA 4, Rockstar garnered multiple Game Of The Year awards, even though it was a bit rough around the edges. A few years later, Rockstar effectively put itself in the hall of fame by releasingGTA 5, one of the most polished, well-optimized games that still graphically holds up today. The game got multiple 10/10 reviews, and it was so good that only time will tell if Rockstar will ever be able to create anything so big and spectacular again.
5The Uncharted Series
Sic Parvis Magna
Taking a leaf out of Lara Croft’s life, Naughty Dog created theUnchartedfranchise exclusively for the PlayStation, featuring Nathan Drake as he tries to scratch his itch for exploration and treasure hunting.
With every successive entry in the series, the games get bigger, and more spectacular, with the stakes getting higher and the rewards getting shinier. The first game takes Nathan to the Amazon and an uncharted island off the coast of South America. InUncharted 2: Among Thieves,players see him explore the snow-capped mountain landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau in southernmost China. The third entry takes him to the Rub’ al Khali desert.
The fourth and final entry creates a fitting end to Nathan Drake’s adventurous lifestyle and finally sees him settling down and having a kid who has the same spirit for a treasure hunt as her father. This is arguably the best game in the series and shows what an action-adventure game with a good story should be like.
Bethesda’s name may not be as revered today as it was a couple of decades ago. Pioneering the action-RPG genre with some of the biggest and most varied worlds, deepest lore, and extremely enjoyable gameplay was theElder Scrollsseries, with its first game gracing the TV screens of fans back in 1994.
With every entry, Bethesda poured more hard work and love into the games, and the series really hit the ceiling withElder Scrolls 3: Morrowindbut somehow managed to improve on it in every way imaginable inOblivionand then even more inSkyrim,which is still regarded as the best RPG ever released, with people clocking hours in multiples of thousands, just so they can spend more time in it’s world.
No other game series is a more obvious contender to this list than theWitcherseries. The firstWitcherwas released only on the PC and Mac, and it was very janky. CD Projekt Red was still a new studio but they had created a very good first title for a new IP. This was followed byWitcher 2: Assassins of Kings, where the studio focused more on the quality of the game, especially the story, characters, and the world.
WithTheWitcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red hit the jackpot and created one of the best RPG games, emphasizing especially the side quests. The game was praised for its world and characters, the exceptional writing, and even though the combat mechanics weren’t anything to write home about, it won Game Of The Year Awards, creating a massive fan following that still holdsWitcher 3as thepinnacle of RPGstorytelling.
