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Games that have a great start but then get worse and worse

Oscarzx n

Oscarzx n

Member
May 24, 2018
2,992
Santiago, Chile
Have you played a game that made a really good first impression but then it kinda fall apart the more you play them? That kinda happened to me with Turok 2, the first level is awesome for the most part and it also has a solid second and third level, but after that the levels become either too long and repetitive or a nightmare to navegate, and that's not even mentioning how hard is to get the secret artifacts to finish the game without using a guide, a shame since in Turok 1 I think they did a much better balance, even if the levels could be somewhat repetitive at times, and the artifacts were much easier to get just exploring.
 
GreenMamba

GreenMamba

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,379
Maybe "great" is too strong of a term but the first two levels of Sonic Heroes--Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace--are relatively playable in comparison to the misery that follows and it just gets worse and worse.

And a little bit of a stretch to include here, but: if you can actually get into Star Fox Zero's controls, the first playthrough actually leaves a pretty good impression. But then subsequent playthroughs reveal that actually that's basically all there is to the game, the branching paths are mostly an illusion built out of tiny challenge missions that reuse assets from the main game. Really disappointing.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

Member
Nov 8, 2017
15,737
Sonic Heroes, Lost World, and honestly even Sonic 1 are good examples of this.

People will say Persona 5, but I actually think that game hits its highest point in Futaba's arc, though the end or so of the game is the weakest bit (in vanilla at least, haven't played Royal yet).
 
Kiro

Kiro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,945
Ottawa, Canada
A lot of older games come to mind.

Joe and Mac, Battle Toads, Cool Spot.

Resident Evil 4 also, but not because any part is bad but the beginning is perfect, the middle is amazing, and the end is great.
 
Beebeard

Beebeard

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,151
Kotor 2.

It's amazing until the point where it starts to feel rushed and unfinished. Data miners have all but confirmed that's exactly what happened.
 

Xaz

Member
Jun 22, 2022
41
Metal Gear Solid 5
I thought Ground Zeroes was a great prologue and was excited for what came next. I know people poke fun at the Metal Gear's saga convoluted story but Phantom Pain just lacked any semblance of good plot but still somehow got worse as the game went on. The twist fell incredibly forced and was an answer to a question that no one was asking about, and then the game just ended with no conclusion. I get that some of that falls on Konami for pushing it out the door but some blame must also fall on Kojima for what plot there was because it was NOT good. You can like the gameplay all you want but I played MGS for the story as well as gameplay.
 
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NightShift

NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,075
Australia
Persona 5 gets progressively worse with each palace IMO. The first is like a 10/10 video game but from there it drops down a point each dungeon to put it as simply as I can. Literally the only aspect of that game I think gets better is the music.
 
Yoshimitsu126

Yoshimitsu126

The Fallen
Nov 11, 2017
14,851
United States
GreenMamba said:
Maybe "great" is too strong of a term but the first two levels of Sonic Heroes--Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace--are relatively playable in comparison to the misery that follows and it just gets worse and worse.

And a little bit of a stretch to include here, but: if you can actually get into Star Fox Zero's controls, the first playthrough actually leaves a pretty good impression. But then subsequent playthroughs reveal that actually that's basically all there is to the game, the branching paths are mostly an illusion built out of tiny challenge missions that reuse assets from the main game. Really disappointing.
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Sonic Heroes starts off so good. Even the metro area wasn't too bad. Casino was annoying but cool. But then you got the auto rails, fucked up auto ghost targeting for Sonic's route, janky Jungle.... I will say the first egg fleet stage was kinda cool though.

But it was my first sonic game so I kept trying to beat it and eventually got Super Sonic and beat the underwhelming boss lol
 
Bigg

Bigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,665
I feel like BLACK is the classic example of this. Great first level, and then it just keeps getting more and more boring with every level.
 
Dogui

Dogui

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,867
Brazil
Dragon Quest XI has a great first half of act 1, and gets progressively worse after the party is complete, aside some casual highs here and there.

Tales of Destiny has a really good first half, but gets kind of meh in the second one.

Feel the same with the first Grandia. First disc is super epic and adventurous, second disc jumps the shark and gets derivative and boring instead.

The messenger is great at the 2D linear platformer part, but feels like a chore when it turns into a metroidvania.
 
Pancracio17

Pancracio17

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
18,989
MGSV, FFXV and the Sonic games people listed of are good shouts. I can vouch for all of them. They all get pretty bad sooner or later. At least MGSV is still and overall amazing game though.
 
LiK

LiK

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,161
Brutal Legend - Was fine as a hack and slasher but then they introduced the janky RTS part outta no where. Ruined the game.
 
AIan

AIan

Member
Oct 20, 2019
4,925
Tomb Raider The Last Revelation is an old but great example of this. The game starts off fairly straightforward with a bunch of side routes. But the more you push on, the more complicated the levels and puzzles become. The level design starts becoming unclear for guiding you on where to go next, and its puzzles become more obtuse which leads to a ton of backtracking to areas with unkillable enemies that basically force you to take health. Then the last few stages have a lot of trial-and-error and just poor or repetitive design.
 

Deleted member 117798

Account closed at user request
Banned
Jun 8, 2022
252
AI: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative. Starts off strong with an interesting hook, I had my reservations about Ryuki as main protagonist but he and Tama were excellent. His routes are mostly good and the mystery surrounding the main killer only gets stronger as you progress, then you switch to Mizuki and things take a turn for the worse. The pacing in particular takes a huge hit as you spend most of your time spinning your wheels just wandering around the city looking for the weakest clues, then the plot twists you find just cheapen the overall experience. I won't go into them, but almost all of them didn't land for me. I also wasn't a massive fan of most of the Somnium's either, which didn't help with my enjoyment of the game.

That being said, I still thought the first 12 hours or so were great. But the rest was a miss for me.
 
kurahador

kurahador

Member
Oct 28, 2017
17,648
Wild Arms 3 starts off great with all those prologues. But after you defeated the early villain in the first half, the story meanders into one of the most whimper ending ever. Feels like the budget took a hit as they were trying to finish making the game.
 
AstralSphere

AstralSphere

Member
Feb 10, 2021
9,279
Agreed with both Tales of Arise and RE7. The latter half of RE7 was such a disappointment to me, with the ship in particular being Code Veronica-tier boring.

Elden Ring was this for me as well, but is a little unfair as the 'worse and worse' parts are still better than most games.
 
Salty Catfish

Salty Catfish

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,789
Florida
I wouldn't call it great or even good, but the first level of Duke Nukem Forever is a masterpiece compared to everything that comes after it.
 
DorkLord54

DorkLord54

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,469
Michigan
Pretty much every Souls game sans Demon's Souls, DS3 and Sekiro is like this, w/ dlc compensating for the lackluster back-half.

Halo: CE is also like this since it's clear they were rushing to finish the game, so reused the odd-numbered levels from the first half as the last three missions (tho it's somewhat redeemed by The Maw, due to it feeling appropriate to return to the Autumn for the finale and it just being a good level despite the reuse).
 
Mikch85

Mikch85

Member
May 12, 2018
3,499
Tales of Arise. I mean, I wasn't blown away by the first half but it was a solid JRPG and then... it went from mediocre to absolutely terrible (that last dungeon, Jesus.) I had to force myself to beat it.
 
Dr_Pow

Dr_Pow

Member
Oct 30, 2017
130
Dead Island had a really good trailer and after that it went from ok, to boring, to atrocious.
 
Izanagi89

Izanagi89

"This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,829
Honestly? Metal Gear Solid V. Tail end of that game was absolute ass but the reasons for that are I guess well documented.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,701
Call_of_Duty_Modern_Warfare_3_box_art.png
 
Patitoloco

Patitoloco

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
23,714
Pretty much all Resident Evils.

But 4 is especially bad in my mind, with the horrible Island act, that is even worse given how people love to think that game is perfect.

Dark Souls 1 is another example, and Elden Ring in my opinion is also awful in its second half.
 
HellofaMouse

HellofaMouse

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,255
Mafia 3 comes to mind, but it doesnt exactly fit because the bigger missions in the game are all as good as the beginning.
 
CJCW?

CJCW?

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,008
This might be a hot take (or not, idk) but this is how I feel about Outlast. It has a really impressive first hour or so where it throws some really intense stuff at you before slowing down and letting you explore for a bit, but once you learn how to avoid the enemies it feels like the game doesn't have anything else to show you. It also doesn't help that as you get into the story it makes less sense the more it shows you. I remember getting to the end and just kinda being grateful that it was over.
 
Ashes of Dreams

Ashes of Dreams

Fallen Guardian of Unshakable Resolve
Member
May 22, 2020
14,737
Kiro said:
Resident Evil 4 also, but not because any part is bad but the beginning is perfect, the middle is amazing, and the end is great.
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GameShowPresident said:
Resident Evil 0 peaks during the train and then keeps sliding.
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CloseTalker said:
Resident Evil VII. The house is incredible, then the game gets pretty mediocre pretty quick
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The answer is Every Resident Evil. I don't think any of the listed games ever get bad (I even love the second half of VII, yes) but historically with that series the first area is always the best one. The mansion in RE1, the police station in RE2, the city streets in RE3. 5 and 8 maybe break the cycle a little bit but even then idk.

CloudCircus said:
Indigo Prophecy the thread
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Actually the best answer.
 

Gunman

Member
Aug 19, 2020
1,687
Ashes of Dreams said:
The answer is Every Resident Evil. I don't think any of the listed games ever get bad (I even love the second half of VII, yes) but historically with that series the first area is always the best one. The mansion in RE1, the police station in RE2, the city streets in RE3. 5 and 8 maybe break the cycle a little bit but even then idk.
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5 definitely doesn't break the cycle. The shanty towns are best.
 
Zeal543

Zeal543

Next Level Seer
Member
May 15, 2020
5,851
applies to the three RE games I've played (REmake, REmake 2, RE4), each major area is worse than the last (still fun though).
 
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