When Does a (Gaming) Duology/Trilogy Hit Its “Peak”?

[BraLoD]

Games hardly peak on their first entry if they become a franchise, I can't think about many definitive examples.

TLoU1 is perceived as clearly the best online, but I personally don't think so, TLoU2 is at the same level and I consider it higher than 1 nowdays.

Best games in some franchises:

Sonic: 2
Spyro: 2
Crash: 3
God of War: Ragnarok
The Last of Us: 2
Uncharted: 4
Gran Turismo: 7
Ace Combat: 2
Tekken: 3
Resident Evil: 4
Metal Gear Solid: 3
Final Fantasy: 12/9
Persona: 3
Disgaea: 2
Zelda 2D: Link's Awakening
Mario 2D: World/3
Pokemon: Crystal (gen 2)
Digimon: World 3
Age of Empires: 2

Horizon Zero Dawn is an example, Forbidden West is better as a game in every way but Zero Dawn story is just so unmatched I can't rank 2 over it.
Ghost of Tsushima pretty much the same scenario, Yotei is better in everything as a game but Tsushima story is better enough to rank it higher to me.

Diablo 2 is widely considered the best game in the series but for me 1 is the best.
Marvel vs Capcom is pretty much the same too, 2 is considered the best by nearly everyone, I like 1 more.

If we consider Souls as a whole as a series, then yes, Demon's Souls in the best. Dark Souls 2 has grown on me more than 1 if we consider only the Dark Souls actually franchise tho.

The pattern is that games usually peak at their 2nd or 3rd game for me, with a few franchises having the newest games if they are incremental like Gran Turismo, Ace Combat (even as I pick 2, 7 is the best to play today), Tekken (same, I pick 3, but 8 is the best to play today).

The franchise peaking in the first game is very rare, both for me and for most people online too, as I pointed, even some of the ones I picked the 1st myself most people online pick the 2nd as the best