This is the opposite of the "black sheep" games thread. Which games do you disagree with that are generally considered peaks in their series by most of the gaming public, and why?

As an example, I would give Final Fantasy X. I enjoyed it, and I liked the visuals. But it was the first time for me a Final Fantasy title felt like a definitive step back from its predecessors, despite the visuals, as the entire world was basically a hallway, and I felt that the story was all over the place (and I enjoyed the same general theme of the sacrificial maiden more in another game that came out a couple of years earlier - that will probably be its own thread). I also much preferred FFXII on PS2, which addressed most of what I felt were the shortcomings of 10. 

Other possible examples (which I am not saying I agree with) might include Ocarina of Time, MGS 3, Resident Evil 4, Mass Effect 2, Super Mario World/Galaxy, etc. 

A lot of people seem to consider BotW the peak of Zelda, I find it lacking in almost every regard. As a Zelda game it doesn't give me any of the things I want from it and if I separate it and look at it as just an open world game without the "Zelda" label, it's just empty and bland compared to others in the genre.

I think I might like Uncharted more than Uncharted 2. At least I didn't feel the second game was a gigantic increase in quality that the internet gives me the impression it was.

Equally I really like the first Mass Effect where a lot online seem to think the second was again a huge improvement. I hold all 3 to a pretty similar level.

Halo 3 / Reach, while better than everything that came after, I again wouldn't say they were that much better than what came before (at least in terms of the single player).

Arkham City, I didn't particularly enjoy the open world of this game, Knight streamlined it more, and overall I think Asylum is the best in the series.

I agree with virtually everything here  

I do think Uncharted 2 is the best entry in the series, but I don’t think it was a monumental leap over the first game. I would certainly rank 1 over 3.

And while I think Halo 3 has the best multiplayer in the franchise, I prefer the campaigns in 1 & 2.

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone else who thinks Knight improved upon the open world formula of City. I remember feeling quite disappointed by City, especially after the superior Asylum.

I think Arkham City is a good game for sure and I appreciate how well they incorporated several Batman villains in it, but the more claustrophobic experience and linear nature of Arkham Asylum made for a much, much better game so I definitely agree. 

This is a little bit of a negative topic…but to answer the question: Up until recently, my go-to answer would’ve been Mario Galaxy. The linear gameplay approach felt like a massive downgrade when compared to the more open-ended SM64 and SMSunshine; the controls felt far less comfortable; etc. It just wasn’t for me.

Though I’m happy to say that this is no longer my perspective: I’ve grown to really appreciate the simplicity of Mario’s feel in Galaxy; the simplicity that comes from linearity makes for a far less “taxing on the mind” experience (i.e. I’m not needing to devote excess brain power processing the environment, exploring around, etc.), alongside helping each level feel very fresh; the music has and always will be the greatest of any video game ever… with the exception of maaaaybe MKWorld.

If I were to give a game I still feel this way about? TLOU:p2. Gameplay loop felt very same-y and lost a lot of its luster compared to the first game; story was a tremendous step down from the previous game; etc.

I see your example and give back to you FFVII. Good game, but nowhere near the peak to me, that would be FFVI, or XIV if that one counts.
Other examples are gens 4 and 5 of Pokémon, or the "DS era". Gen 4 was always beloved, but gen 5 used to be hated, but the online fanbase nowadays is made mostly of people who started at that generation, so it became the "favorite gen" of the internet. But nah, I still hate it, even though the Switch era got far worse than that. And gen 4 was a step down from gen 3 (the peak) on almost every way too.

I played both last year back to back and I can't pick one. Do I love the more condensed map of Asylum? Yeah. Do I love the open world of City? Yeah. I like the gameplay of both, I like the story of both. This is just a case where both are really good at what they do.

I need to find time to play Knight now that I can play on NS2.

Also @firebush, if you think Mario Galaxy has the best soundtrack ever you really really have to play the Nier series :p

Final Fantasy IX for me. I just can’t stand all the jumping back and forth from character to character. It feels more like I’m playing a movie than a game.

edit…maybe “most” people don’t consider this the peak of the series, but plenty do. Enough that I keep returning to it and trying to get to a place where “I get it.” Maybe that will be one day, but certainly not anytime soon. 

I can only talk of IPs I know and care about, so, with that in mind, BotW is my go to for this kind of thing.