Assassin’s Creed II was the perfect sequel; it took the creative risk of relocating the action to a new location. Ubisoft believes that the only way to surpass it would be to continue adding content. Consequently, subsequent Assassin’s Creed games have been chastised for having an excessive amount of everything. Far Cry 3 solidified the franchise’s formula and contributed to its stagnation. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the final revolutionary game in the Call of Duty series.
Final Fantasy VII established a new standard for JRPGs, which numerous imitators have attempted to emulate. The only game that counts is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which failed upon release in 1997. Even Final Fantasy’s remake is constantly compared to the original. Metroid Prime marked the franchise’s entrance into the three-dimensional environment and shooter genres. The game is widely considered a co-inventor of the “Metroidvania” subgenre, having established such lofty criteria for the genre that subsequent rounds struggled to live up to them.
While some successors, such as Aria of Sorrow, received widespread acclaim, they could never escape Symphony of the Night’s shadow. Silent Hill 2’s popularity and impact are nothing short of miraculous. Everything following Silent Hill 3 was a study in decreasing results, notably when Team Silent departed. Duke Nukem 3D was so good that it almost single-handedly wrecked forever. The Line sold fewer than 250,000 copies, persuading 2K to call it quits.
