9 Video Game Franchises That Never Beat Their First Instalment

8. Bioshock

Bioshock's trajectory is fascinating. You have what is now commonly thought of as one of the most influential games of all time; a boundary-shattering fourth wall-breaking first-person action adventure that uprooted the very notion of how to tell stories in games... that then had nowhere left to go.

With lead creative Ken Levine passing on Bioshock 2, it left that game fleshing out existing parts of the fiction; incapable of moving them forward. Levine returned in the much-maligned Bioshock Infinite, a game that went through development hell, showcasing various versions of mechanics we never got, and feeling way less cohesive narrative and gameplay-wise as a result.

Infinite ended on an insanely overblown finale, throwing everything at the wall in an attempt to blow your mind all over again. Sadly, the multi-verse reveal felt like Levine destroying his own creation on the way out, as business interests were already governing an "infinite number of lighthouses, men and cities" in real life, and it was time to move on.