Did sequelitis get the better of the EXE series?

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Offline Waifu

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on: February 19, 2011, 05:43:29 PM
One thing always bothered me, how and why did Pokemon manage to Pokemon manage to outlast this series and any other series? The games themseleves aren't that bad but I was kind of expecting some more out of it and I was kind of expecting some more improvement, not just more restrictions. Why did Pokemon end up more successful in the regards to the sales and the Nintendo systems they had? Did sequelitis get the better of the EXE series?



Offline The Great Gonzo

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Reply #1 on: February 19, 2011, 08:34:20 PM
For starters, I think Pokemon had a larger fanbase...



Offline Blackhook

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Reply #2 on: February 19, 2011, 08:38:40 PM
And Pokémon had cute little creatures you could enslave and train :D ...In EXE, you were stuck with Rock... Also I think that some people didn't like the Redesigned Robot Master (Though I do think that some of those redesigns are flippin' awesome, Like Tengu Man and Quick MAn)


Offline The Great Gonzo

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Reply #3 on: February 19, 2011, 08:56:39 PM
And reviewers kept rating the .EXE games lower and lower despite logic dictating that if a sequel is about the same as the previous game, it should objectively receive a similar score.

Though, only specific instance if this that I can remember is IGN giving a low score to MMSF1 solely because it was similar to the last .EXE game.



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Reply #4 on: February 19, 2011, 09:02:49 PM
And the fact some people didin't know how to properly review games back then (some missed a few facts during the first playthrough, they were playing a goddamn prototype, etc). I think that's what also happened with Mega Man Legends, as it was possibly didin't meet intrests to it's consumers and died off of the main second game.. until now.


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Offline Protoman Blues

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Reply #5 on: February 19, 2011, 09:36:37 PM
One thing always bothered me, how and why did Pokemon manage to Pokemon manage to outlast this series and any other series?

Because Pokemon is [tornado fang]ing addicting and a whole lot of fun. It appeals to so many different aspect of gaming & life. Lets take a look.

Essentially, it offers so much as a game:
-A kiddish but overall fun RPG type experience, except raising cute adorable monsters instead of Bishie Fanservice Characters.
-Pet raising. You get to name them, feed them, give them shiny stones, groom them, enter them in beauty contests, and make them more POWERFUL!
-A fighting experience in which you take your wuvable army to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women, both in the game and against your friends.
-A chance to trade with said friends, thus building up your collection.
-Collecting, as some essentially 'Gotta Catch Em' All'

Pokemon offers so much in one package, plus essentially has one of the most brilliant marketing schemes ever with its cartoon show & movies. Kids love em, and it pretty much serves it's SOLE purpose: to get people to buy the product. It's the same thing with Yu-Gi-Oh, only less sinister cause Yu-Gi-Oh cards are more expensive. But also, Pokemon has a trading card game, one that has seemingly stood the test of time. There's no comparing MM.EXE with Pokemon, because Pokemon is pretty much an empire onto itself. It can last FOREVER. I mean, if Nintendo ever really wanted to just break the market WIDE open, all they'd really have to do with their next system, cause I don't think the Wii could handle it, is make a Pokemon MMO. It'd make an untold of amount of money for them.

The EXE series, from what I saw, did pretty well for itself. But you can't compare it to Pokemon, cause really no game can be compared to Pokemon.



Offline Hypershell

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Reply #6 on: February 20, 2011, 12:20:23 AM
For me, personally, it was when they knocked off Pokemon that I lost interest.  Pulling the whole "multiple versions" thing gave the impression that they were more concerned with the collection aspect than the actual adventure.

And reviewers kept rating the .EXE games lower and lower despite logic dictating that if a sequel is about the same as the previous game, it should objectively receive a similar score.

Though, only specific instance if this that I can remember is IGN giving a low score to MMSF1 solely because it was similar to the last .EXE game.
IGN ratings will often radically differ over time due to varying tolerance of the exact same "flaws" that previous games had.  Sonic games are a great example: Heroes somehow scored ridiculously high compared to its followers (although they weren't kind to the Adventure ports that preceded it, either).  "Waggle" in Wii games is another one; at launch nobody cared and as the years went by it became justification to slash the game's score in half.

There is a lot of "sequelphobia" among them, as well.  Metroid Prime 3 for example, scored lower than the first *ONLY* because it was not the first.  That's it.  Because, not being the original, the experience is no longer fresh.  Truthfully that is a very selective criticism, since there's no guarantee that every gamer has played every previous entry and shares the reviewer's tolerances for recurring trends, so no it's not a practice I agree with.  At the same time, if a franchise is clearly milked, it is worth mentioning, right?  Drawing that line is pretty tough.

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Offline Protoman Blues

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Reply #7 on: February 20, 2011, 12:27:33 AM
There is a lot of "sequelphobia" among them, as well.  Metroid Prime 3 for example, scored lower than the first *ONLY* because it was not the first.  That's it.  Because, not being the original, the experience is no longer fresh.  Truthfully that is a very selective criticism, since there's no guarantee that every gamer has played every previous entry and shares the reviewer's tolerances for recurring trends, so no it's not a practice I agree with.  At the same time, if a franchise is clearly milked, it is worth mentioning, right?  Drawing that line is pretty tough.

I don't agree with that type of criticism as well. A game should be judged by its own merits, regardless of whether it's a sequel or not. I mean sure, you can mention that this type of thing has been done before, but that fact should not take away from the game itself. I mean, I think EXE4 is a far worse game than EXE3, but not because it's a sequel.



Offline Hiryu

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Reply #8 on: February 20, 2011, 04:18:05 AM
Pokemon has only had 5 or so mainstream games in the past decade and a half. We went through all 7/8 games in a few years, which is typically seen by capcom for any megaman game. I would say sequelitis got it.

Also,

Quote
For starters, I think Pokemon had a larger fanbase...

You're damn right about that. Megaman has it's fanbase, but it's not even half as big as pokemon's imo.



Offline Mirby

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Reply #9 on: February 20, 2011, 04:22:53 AM
And not even a fifth as rabid as some DBZ fans.

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Offline Solar

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Reply #10 on: February 20, 2011, 04:26:56 AM
But you can't compare it to Pokemon, cause really no game can be compared to Pokemon.

You said it better than I would've.

For me, personally, it was when they knocked off Pokemon that I lost interest.  Pulling the whole "multiple versions" thing gave the impression that they were more concerned with the collection aspect than the actual adventure.

You've got to admit that, besides 3, EXE's versions have more differences than the Pokemon games though, specially 4.

And reviewers kept rating the .EXE games lower and lower despite logic dictating that if a sequel is about the same as the previous game, it should objectively receive a similar score.

Though, only specific instance if this that I can remember is IGN giving a low score to MMSF1 solely because it was similar to the last .EXE game.

Yeah, as a fan of the games it really annoyed me when a magazine here kept giving them scores of <5 because of that.


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Offline Hypershell

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Reply #11 on: February 20, 2011, 06:29:44 AM
You've got to admit that, besides 3, EXE's versions have more differences than the Pokemon games though, specially 4.
True, but to me that only made matters worse.  I minded "trading" on the GBA due to lack of fellow local gamers (that and the generational cutoff demanded sharking my Pokemon during 3rd gen); don't mind it now that we have wi-fi.  But in Battle Network, the vast majority of the version differences are completely severed from the game's trading mechanics, and as such, you wind up feeling like you don't have the complete game.

That's the difference.  In Pokemon versions, the gameplay is the same, and the versions exist simply to create variety so as to encourage the trade mechanics.  In BN, it's pretty much two different quests to the same story, with powers and scenarios completely overhauled, all having pretty much nothing to do with the chip-trading.  And of the few chips that actually are version-exclusive, you're not even allowed to trade the most powerful ones anyway.

FYI, my firsthand experience with this is BN6 Falzar (I have a soft spot for beasts, plus it has Iris).  Was REALLY REALLY hoping they'd give that one the "Double Team" treatment, but no such luck.



The above is more my personal opinion than it is marketing influence, though.  As far as that goes, yeah, dish out 2 quests a year and people will get tired of it sooner or later.  Even the greatest franchises in the world need an occasional break, and that goes for virtually all forms of scripted entertainment.

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Offline Reaperoid

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Reply #12 on: February 21, 2011, 11:38:47 AM
They just couldn't make any more, as innovation and 1ups'manship took preference over quality.
Operate Shooting Star bombed because it brought nothing more to the table, other than a nostalgia trip.

I mean, I think EXE4 is a far worse game than EXE3, but not because it's a sequel.
Aside from those playthroughs being so damned cruel, I have nothing against EXE4.
And although there was a regressing trend internationally, EXE4 was still the most popular and most-selling of Capcom's entire GBA arsenal in Japan.

I guess all I can really say is it isn't exactly what I'd expect out of a $4.4M game

It doesn't even have mouth animations


Offline Ekaje

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Reply #13 on: February 22, 2011, 04:02:02 AM
And although there was a regressing trend internationally, EXE4 was still the most popular and most-selling of Capcom's entire GBA arsenal in Japan.

Though BN4's high sales probably have less to do with it's own quality than people buying because they liked BN3 and wanted a sequel.



Offline Fxeni

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Reply #14 on: February 22, 2011, 08:36:23 AM
There is a lot of "sequelphobia" among them, as well. ... Because, not being the original, the experience is no longer fresh.  Truthfully that is a very selective criticism, since there's no guarantee that every gamer has played every previous entry and shares the reviewer's tolerances for recurring trends, so no it's not a practice I agree with.  At the same time, if a franchise is clearly milked, it is worth mentioning, right?  Drawing that line is pretty tough.
I agree with this, and I find reviewers tend to be very hypocritical. They condemn one game of being more of the same, yet praise another although it's more of the same as well. I just leave it as people don't know what they want, which is an everlasting truth I notice on a regular basis.

Metroid Prime 3 for example, scored lower than the first *ONLY* because it was not the first.  That's it.
This, however, I don't agree with. The game certainly felt more flawed than the original to me, and I'm not saying this purely out of nostalgia. There were definitely some design decisions I take issue with in that game.

Then again, this is coming from someone who finds OoT to be more flawed than almost anyone else would readily admit. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.



Offline Blackhook

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Reply #15 on: February 22, 2011, 03:26:10 PM
Well..I am certainly one of those people who don't think OOT is the greatest thing ever (Together with SMB3 and 64)