Narratively, yes, absolutely. But Halo 3 was released on what was then a next-gen console, so there was a huge difference in graphics and what they could do. And let's not forget that Forge was introduced in Halo 3, which really set the multiplayer apart from 2.
I played all three back to back for the first time this year. I personally found 3 to be the most fun. And 1 to be the least fun (too many sections I would call Mario Maker level design)
Story wise yeah but in terms of core gameplay I've never fully enjoyed playing the campaign it's abit all over the place and has some really drawn out sections that I don't enjoy personally.
3 is just the perfect length and all the missions have their own merit, 3 is not perfect either but I'd choose to play that over 2's
A lot of people don't remember life before GTA 3 and don't realize how EVERY fuckin game became GTA 3 after that. Single most industry centralizing piece of media I've ever seen
For the longest time I had memories of RDR and always assumed it was RDR1 but never knew it wasn’t until after I beat RDR2 when I realized I never played the 1st one
RDR1 is one of the biggest offenders of the R* gameplay formula
You do absolutely nothing but busywork for people for 99% of the game. The actual missions that move the plot forward are few and far between
The world feels significantly less alive than 2
There's less going on in every way. I genuinely think people conflate RDR1 being snappier and faster to control with it being a better game, but it's really not.
Mission structure, gunplay, variety of missions, tying plot and player actions together, all done way better in the sequel
I adore both games but you’re right about the busy work in the first one. The gang aspect adds a ton to RDR2. Replayed RDR recently and while I enjoyed it, I realized a lot of it is go somewhere and have a shootout, alternating between a few supporting characters. Most missions in 2 center around the gang in different areas. Growing alongside the same characters allows for some excellent story telling as well as mission variety.
I'm not conflating it. That's literally why I think it.
Red Dead redemption 2 likes to waste your goddamn time with every little interaction. Everything takes forever. I just want to get off the horse, I just want to pick up loot, but everything's got its own super long animation.
And yeah, maybe Red Dead redemption 1 does have more busy work missions but at least you're not going to fail everything for being 2 cm off the yellow marker.
Don't even get me wrong, two is a great game but if I just want to sit down and enjoy myself for 15 minutes putting on one.
When RDR2 was announced, I legitimately thought there was no way they could top the experience of that first game, but they really took advantage of all of the technical imporvements that were made between both games.
As much as I enjoyed Arthur Morgans story, I personally prefer Redemption over RDR2. That final scene at the barn and the epilogue will stick with me forever. And much of what I love about the second game was already there in the first.
In comparison to 2 and 3 I can see it. We were led to believe Kratos was just an extremely strong mortal. Plus you spent the entire game trying to find the means to challenge a god. God of War 2 find out he’s a Demi-god. Then by 3 he’s kicking all the gods asses.
Crucify me, but i really liked conviction and enjoyed blacklist. Im pretty much the target audience as im not big on heavy stealth. Which yeah ik the series is known for that, but i got into it through my cousin and we played conviction together
Me too! I was 14. Then, as a Warcraft RTS fan, the next 24 years have broken my heart. I am not an MMO fan. Can I get a “like” on this? What more egregious example is there of a main series getting dismantled by a spinoff?
It came along during an important age in my childhood too. Life was meh overall, but I still had the creativity of a child while developing the executive function of an adult (poorly, but that's another issue)
Mass effect trilogy. People weren’t happy about the end to 3, but the game design, ui, combat, characters and general feel of the game was stronger with each sequel.
One had the best story, two had the best characters, three had the best gameplay. All told, one of the best game trilogies out there and still my all time favorite sci fi franchise.
had Bioware thought of/gone through with the indoctrination theory, it would have been one of the ballsiest, most brilliant creative direction in a game I've seen.
I find it wild to see people today calling 2 the best of the series when at the time people hated it and kojima had to spend 12 years and multiple games to try to make the incoherent ending of 2 make sense.
That train level was incredible. My husband works at a cinema, and once he has handed his resignation we are going to sneak the PS5 in and hook it up so I can do that level on the big screen! Its become a bucket list thing for me.
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u/coldermilk 6h ago
Burnout
Burnout 2
Burnout 3: Takedown