10 Video Game Sequels That Look WORSE Than What Came Before

What went wrong?!

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Bioware

Much like we all do, as years progress, gaming technology evolves. Once upon a time we had games limited by how many colors the 8-bit processor could handle, chiptune music and a two-button controller. But now we have games with Hollywood actors convincingly motion-capped, next-level voice acting, orchestral music arrangements and more buttons than ever before.

We're no longer in a world where Mega Man has to be blue, because the palette is limited. Nay, I say! We are in a world where sometimes you watch a cut scene and say to yourself, "Is this cut scene live action or just a really good pre-render?"

But for every leap and bound in gaming, there is a misstep and a fall.

For every Quantum Break there is a Ghostbusters - both from 2016, mind you - that fails to hit a few boxes on the 'evolution is a good thing' checklist. Or in the case of the studio-bankrupting Ghostbusters, hitting any boxes whatsoever.

Bring your rose-tinted glasses for this list, because some of these titles are real disasters to look at.

10. Penny Arcade: Episode 3

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Penny Arcade

Penny Arcade is a long-running webcomic run by the iconic duo Gabe and Tycho (real names Jerry Hokiens and Mike Krahulic) which specialize in gaming humor with a touch of the dark, offensive tone that everything had back in 1998.

In 2008 the PA crew teamed up with newly formed studio, Hothead Games, to develop Penny Arcade Adventures: One the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Which, if you were a fan of the comic, was chock full of references and writing that fit the namesake perfectly. The game utilized an art style similar to the comic at the time and allowed for a created character to play as.

And then came Episode 3, after Hothead Games stepped away from the series and was replaced by Zeboyd Games. This moved the series from a cell-shaded artistic style like the comics into a 16-bit spritely JRPG style.

Don't take this the wrong way - Zeboyd's game still look fine, but the move to a 'retro' style is a downgrade - especially with the feature loss of your original created character no longer being in the game.

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Contributor

Author of Escort (Eternal Press, 2015), co-founder of Nic3Ntertainment, and developer behind The Sickle Upon Sekigahara (2020). Currently freelancing as a game developer and history consultant. Also tends to travel the eastern U.S. doing courses on History, Writing, and Japanese Poetry. You can find his portfolio at www.richardcshaffer.com.