8 Video Game Sequels That Changed EVERYTHING

Like the tides and the rising of the sun, a video game sequel seems like the end goal for many first-timers.

After all, when you're taking a project that has had literally years of effort, love and money poured into it, of course, you want that story and characters to continue on in adventures new.

It's why we get a lot of cliffhangers and open-ended narratives in video games nowadays, as the developers attempt to sink their hooks deep into the player and drag a portion of them into new experiences down the line, and because sequels tend to play it safe, it's less of a risk for publishers looking to make back their investments. A few tweaks here and there addressing the bugs and boom you've got a new adventure ready to go, hell in the case of annualized sports franchise titles you don't even need to fix the bugs and instead just hit the reset button on player progress and they'll pay you to do it all over again!

However, these video games didn't take the paved and flat route of "the sequel", daring instead to change just about EVERYTHING in order to offer something different. Sometimes it worked and other times not so much, but by God did these games refuse to rest on their laurels.

The Darksiders franchise has never been shy about wearing its influences on its sleeves, and across its surprisingly lengthy tenure, has swapped gameplay styles and mechanics a staggering amount of times.

From its humble beginnings as a God Of War clone, Darksiders looked to enter the market as safely as possible, and while the original didn't make an incredible impact on the industry, it didn't rock the boat enough to capsize it.

That's what Darksiders 2 was all about. Cutting the fat and doubling down on the action, this sequel ramped up the sheer fun factor by making players feel truly like they were Death incarnate, which provided the stepping stone for Darksiders 3 to move into a more souls-like experience, with bigger bosses and a focus on challenging combat.

However, just when the series seemed to be running on full steam, the devs decided to change direction and turned Darksiders Genesis into a Diablo-like experience.

Equally as shocking was just how ready this game was to poke fun at itself, routinely mocking the previous player protagonists and making light of the world-ending situation they found themselves in.

When comparing the first outing to this it's night and day.