Sometimes, when franchises become so popular and continue, they kind of get cut off from where they started. A creator's original vision could end in a trilogy, but if that trilogy is successful, publishers usually don't want to leave money on the table. Sometimes the stories can get lost with sequels, and sometimes the mechanics just get out of hand when developers try to chase trends.
Major video game franchises that never recovered from a bad game
These were once popular video game franchises, but thanks to a bad game, we may never see them again.
Be that as it may, the following games went through some wild transitions, which doesn't mean they're inherently bad. In some cases, fans may have liked the development. However, it cannot be denied that all these examples lost their identity over time.
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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Assassin's Creed
I would walk a thousand Desmond Miles
Assassin's Creed was first advertised as a historical stealth game set in the Middle East, but as it got closer to launch it was revealed to be a simulation. The first game's plot followed a courier named Desmond Miles who was taken in by a company called Abstergo Industries. Because of his bloodline, a special machine called the Animus was able to recreate the past in Desmond's mind so he could experience the life of his ancestor, Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, who was part of an assassin guild. Abstergo's real purpose was to track down a mythical object called the Apple of Eden, as the company itself was part of a rival organization, the Templars, that the Assassins have been fighting for decades.
Maybe it was a convoluted plot, but fans bought into it with sequels involving Desmond escaping Abstergo and trying to find answers through other ancestors in Assassin's Creed 2 trilogy, and it concluded in Assassin's Creed 3. When that game ended, it heavily implied that the end of the world was coming, but then there were sequels that released Desmond, and the game's finale was swept under the rug. Ubisoft tried to keep adding other real-life character plots into the assassins' past lives, but none of them ever felt as impactful as Desmond's mission. Thankfully, most are Assassin's Creed game that follows Assassin's Creed 3 At least it's been good, sort of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, although the real aspects have fallen flat.
Parasite Eve
From police to time traveller
Parasite Eve began as a PS1 RPG set in New York City and followed a detective named Aya Brea. After witnessing an opera massacre by a monster, Eve, Aya tracks down answers throughout the city, leading to a park, a hospital, a warehouse, and so on. Around town, people melted into dirt when contacted by Eve, and animals mutated as well. As an aside, the game was a good mix of turn-based and real-time combat as players could run around during encounters, with time pausing as players selected abilities or weapons.
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For the sequel, Aya joined a special branch of the FBI to fight mutant creatures, which led her to investigate a secret underground base in the Mojave Desert. The combat was now completely real-time, and that game switch, along with this secret test area, almost screamed Resident Evil clone. It was still fun, but the gameplay wasn't as unique, and the plot was a bit more generic. Finally last game, 3rd birthdaybrought things back to New York City but completely jumped the shark. Aya changed in character and acted more timidly, and she was now able to travel back in time to help prevent a disaster in the city, possessing past humans to fight monsters in real-time combat. The development between the first two Parasite Eve game made some sense, but the last game was a complete mistake.
Saints Row
Calls into the matrix
Saints Row started as a simple Grand Theft Auto clone, which was very popular to do in the 2000s since Rockstar made bank between the PS2 trilogy. The first one Saints Row the game was certainly silly, with its weird characters and different missions, but overall it was nothing Grand Theft Auto series had not tried before. All this changed with Saints Row: The Thirdwhich took a complete left turn from Grand Theft Autoand it was for the better. The crazy levels were cranked up to eleven, with missions that broke the fourth wall like jumping into a state that resembles The matrixwhere players literally became a toilet that could double as a machine gun.
This change helped to differentiate Saints Row from Grand Theft Auto more, as Rockstar tried to do more dramatic stories and steered away from the truly bizarre. Virtually Saints Row: The Third where, the developer, Volition, was a bit bent on outdoing the previous game, and in the process they kind of went too far. Players started out as the President of the United States, who was then given superpowers to fight back against alien invaders. Also, Johnny Gat, a mainstay of the series, literally went to hell in the DLC. Fans wanted more, but after development issues and rights issues, only the next game was called Saints Rowand there was a reboot in 2022. It went back to a more grounded experience, but not in a good way.
Dino crisis
Never go to space
Hot on the success of Resident EvilCapcom was more experimental with their horror games going forward, which led to Dino crisis. Also, Capcom was already used to making dinosaur based games, like with Cadillacs and dinosaurs. The first one Dino crisis was essentially Resident Evil combined with Jurassic Parkwith a special squad sent to an island to check why communication has stopped. Players took on the role of Regina and her team discovered that the facility was experimenting with dinosaurs, which were now on the loose.
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The sequel was more action oriented but still featured groups fighting dinosaurs. Technically speaking, Dino Stalker is also part of the series, which took characters back in time to when dinosaurs actually lived, which was a huge leap in logic. Apart from the third game, Dino Crisis 3was set far in the future and featured characters battling a dinosaur outbreak in a space station. Why would dinosaurs be in space? It made as much sense as when they took Jason to space in Friday the 13th movies, which was zero. Just imagine if Capcom decided to include Resident Evil into space, and how it would have ruined the franchise.
Dead Space
Straight to Necromorph Moon
Dead Space was a spiritual successor in many ways Resident Evil 4. This is a game that broke out in a small place, with engineer Isaac Clarke, who was brought in with a team to check why the USG Ishimura was stationary. Inside, they found humans turning into creatures known as Necromorphs, which were rabid mutated zombies. This happened because of a giant stone pillar called The Marker, which contained a deadly disease.
The sequel found Isaac on another space station, leading to more of the same shenanigans, but it was still a good space survival horror game. That said, the third game definitely felt like it was a bit of a mess. The first act took place on another station and featured a co-op character joining Isaac on his mission to fight the cultists who worshiped The Marker, named John Carver. In singleplayer, John only appeared in cutscenes, creating a disconnect. The ending also featured Isaac fighting a moon that had essentially become a Necromorph, and while that was cool as a final boss, it took things too far from the logical side of things.
Gaming franchises that may have already peaked
While still great, these franchises have probably already released their milestone games.
