Johnw1104 said:
There's a number I've been fairly impressed by... I'm not listing Uncharted as I haven't played them, in case you're wondering.
-Warcraft: I know the MMO isn't everyone's cup of tea but it's hard to deny the franchise (RTS and MMO alike) has generally been stellar, and they're so protective of it that they cancelled a virtually complete point and click game years ago (still bitter about that) as they didn't think it was up to the standards they set for themselves.
For that matter, I'd just say Blizzard's three main franchises in general. Even in some of the newer installments that people are iffy on, it's hard to call any of them "bad". I think perhaps Diablo III is the most divisive, but I still enjoyed it despite been obsessed with the first two. Otherwise, the new Starcrafts have been good as well.
-Super Mario (main console series): When you consider just how many installments it has had over that long a stretch of time, it's really rather astonishing how consistently great they've maintained a franchise that is composed entirely of platformers. Really, when the "black sheep" of your franchise is Super Mario Sunshine (a game that I loved), you're definitely doing something right.
-Legend of Zelda: I suppose one can say they've had a misstep or two on their handhelds, but the main series on the consoles have always been among the greatest games of their respective gens.
-Final Fantasy (?): I'm not sure about this one as they've recently had a couple of installments I didn't care for (12 and 13), but they were strong for so long that I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here and hope 15 wins me over.
-Grand Theft Auto (since III): Ever since GTA III I'd say that franchise has been about as consistently great as any you'll find.
-Rayman: Always seems to be a superb, fun game.
-Pokemon (main series): It may be a little stale for me, but I've never come across a "bad" main series Pokemon game. They've certainly had some terrible spinoffs (though i liked Pokemon Snap), but I'm not including those here.
-Elder Scrolls: I missed the first two, but they were solid in their time and everything since (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) has been anything from great to superb. I suppose the MMO was iffy, but I'm speaking about the main series
-Fallout: While the difference between the Interplay and Bethesda versions of the franchise are night and day, both were great for what they were trying to create. I always know it'll be a fun and unique experience.
-Civilization: If I had to pick a typical 4x game that has largely delivered with each installment, I think I'd inevitably have to go with Civilization. I'm looking forward to Civ VI, to be sure! :)
-Europa Universalis: I wasn't sure if I should include this one as there haven't been many installments, but I just think it's a wonderfully crafted grand strategy game that really stands out. Once there's a third Crusader Kings I'll almost certainly be adding them to this list.
-Mario Kart: I'm not sure there's been a truly weak installment yet, with the Wii version probably being my least favorite but still a quality game. MK8 is just fantastic and, if it had even a semblance of a battle mode, it'd be the greatest MK yet.
-Super Smash Bros: The other of the two great Mario spinoffs, we've thus far received four excellent titles.
-Gears of War: I've just always loved that franchise and its cover-focused approach to combat
-Halo: While I haven't played Halo 5, I enjoyed all of the main series titles up to that point.
-Donkey Kong: Really, anything called "Donkey Kong" has generally been excellent. The Arcade is a classic as was its first sequel (the third being a notable exception), and the Donkey Kong Country series has been absolutely marvelous so far. Really, the only ones that people aren't all on board with are DK 64 (still a good game) and the bongo game (actually a lot of fun).
I'm starting to struggle to think of any more... there's a few I'd like to add but they've either had bad installments early on or sort of tapered off since a strong start. Here's a couple of honorable mentions that don't quite make the list:
-Batman Arkham: The first two were great and the recent installment was also superb, but its PC port was among the worst ever to be released and the third (origins) was merely OK.
-Quake: Man did I love Quake up through III, but IV was somewhat disappointing and it has since disappeared.
-Age of Empires: Big fan of I-III, but it's been long dormant outside of a crappy mobile game.
-Assassin's Creed: It's had a few hiccups and I personally think their insistence on remaining within the same 150 year span over the last four main titles is disappointing and stale. That said, it's still a rather unique franchise that I love to explore (though they basically lifted the Ancient Aliens nonsensical mythos to serve as their lore) and, even when released buggy (as Ubisoft was maintaining absurd release schedules), it's clear they put a huge amount of work into each main installment.
-Mario Party: For obvious reasons this one cannot be included as 9 & 10 were big letdowns for someone (like myself) who has always loved the series. Really though, it's silly how much fun I've had with family and friends playing the installments up through 8. Why they decided we needed to share a car, I'll never know, but it can't get on the list for that reason. Currently putting this franchise in timeout.
There must be a number I'm forgetting, but it's actually hard to find franchises of any real length that haven't had missteps along the way. All of the above are superb, but if I had to pick the ones I'm most impressed by its the main console series of both Super Mario and Zelda. When one considers how long they've been making them and how many installments they've had, it's hard to believe there's really nothing that isn't at least "good" among the group.
Otherwise, Rockstar (with GTA) and Blizzard (with their three primary franchises) really hold themselves to a quality standard that most don't. That's just my impression, anyway.
|
