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00:00When you have a hot property, it must be tempting to be precious with it, which is a shame as
00:04those
00:04that dare and succeed are their own biggest reward. These aren't baby steps forward so much as they
00:09are massive jumps. I'm Sy for WhatCulture.com and here are 10 big leaps between video game sequels.
00:16Number 10, Half-Life 1998 to Half-Life 2 2004. The original Half-Life is considered a milestone
00:22for first-person shooters. Its focus on narrative knocked down the boundaries of what was expected
00:27from the genre, creating the most immersive FPS up until that point, which is why it's incredible
00:32that Half-Life 2 put some things about the first game in stark contrast by innovating even further.
00:37It established more of the world for the series outside of the Black Mesa research facility,
00:42giving the franchise an edgier tone that was able to ask grander and more philosophical questions
00:46about evolution and fate. In fact, grander is a good catch-all term for what Half-Life 2 did.
00:52Instead of being a sci-fi corridor shooter, it allowed players to explore large, uninterrupted
00:56environments, go off the beaten path and via a number of vehicles, traverse some really impressive
01:00grimy scenery. Of course, one huge improvement over the original was the depth of gameplay content.
01:06The brand new Havoc physics engine made the game a sandbox in and of itself, and the likes of the
01:10game's gravity gun gave players some incredibly fun tools to take full advantage of it. It's pretty
01:15remarkable that both games have been in a conversation for the best of all time, especially
01:19considering the leaps and bounds Half-Life 2 makes from its predecessor.
01:23Number 9, Jak and Daxter 2001 to Jak 2 2003. Capable of displaying at 480p and 16.9, Jak 2
01:31is part of an
01:32elite crew of PlayStation 2 games that squeezed more out of the console in this way. Whilst the first
01:36game was plenty pretty, this push in the sequel is shown in the great texture work, lighting, and
01:41number of enemies on screen at once. But Jak 2's place on this list isn't about its graphics so much
01:46as the leap it made stylistically. Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy released in 2001 in the months
01:52following the unmatched sea change that was Grand Theft Auto 3's release. Whilst the game is considered
01:57a cult hit, it struggled to find its audience at the time when gaming was changing. Of course,
02:02GTA would have been a great pick for this list if it wasn't so painfully obvious, but it isn't
02:06facetious to say that the impact that game had on the industry came full circle for Naughty Dog when
02:11approaching Jak 2. Whilst the platforming and collect-a-thon elements are still present,
02:15the sequel takes its heroes in a darker direction, giving them firearms, letting them cuss more frequently,
02:20and following a more mature story. It was a divisive choice to be sure as nobody saw it coming,
02:26but it certainly stopped the fledgling franchise from being left in the dust of the industry's change.
02:31Number 8 Red Steel 2006 to Red Steel 2 2010
02:35Remember Red Steel? Most people seem to have forgotten, so subscribe to the channel if you
02:39like people bringing up weird games like this. Red Steel was a logical launch title for the Nintendo Wii.
02:45Set in the Japanese criminal underworld of America, the game was about cutting down enemies
02:49with the sidearm and the katana by using the console's motion controls. Unfortunately its
02:54concept perhaps oversold its execution. Many critics and gamers found the game to be awkward
02:59to play at times with the best sword moves poorly, if at all explained, and the graphics leaving a lot
03:04to be desired. So it's kind of incredible that it got a sequel at all, and in fact that Red
03:09Steel 2
03:10might be one of the best games on the system when it comes to utilising its strengths. The original's
03:14Metacritic score of 63 compared to 80 for the sequel is a good place to start. Red Steel 2 ditches
03:20the
03:20modern day setting for a really stylish samurai cowboy aesthetic. Its cel-shaded graphics mean that
03:26it's aged remarkably well. Most importantly with the arrival of the Wii Motion Plus and the failings
03:30of the first game to learn from, Ubisoft Paris were able to craft a what they called first-person
03:36brawler which is exceedingly rewarding to learn and execute. Whilst the game might be heavy on the
03:41tutorials at first, it's worth it to understand and appreciate the combat of this sequel which
03:45finally reaches the promises of the original. 7. Street Fighter 1987 to Street Fighter 2 1991
03:53If there's ever been a series that has tried its best to make you forget about its awkward first
03:57entry, it's Street Fighter. Most people basically treat the franchise as starting from Street Fighter
04:012 and its many revisions, and for very good reason. The original Street Fighter might have made
04:06plenty of money in the arcade but it was very flawed. Its control system was a mess, the sole
04:11playable character moved horribly slowly and sprite work was all over the place in quality. It had a
04:16spark of potential being the first game to include variable strengths for punches and kicks as well
04:21as hidden special moves but it now lives in a huge shadow. Street Fighter 2 which arrived four years
04:27later out did the original game in every way. Combat was tight, fluid and infinitely more satisfying.
04:33It took the original's worldwide tournament concept where it needed to go by including a variety of
04:38fighters from all over the globe. The artwork and character designs were stunning, introducing players
04:43to the most enduring renditions of some of the most iconic characters in gaming. More than anything,
04:48the shine to perfection execution of Street Fighter 2 is responsible for the beginning of the fighting
04:53genre boom in a way that the first game could never be. 6. Metal Gear Solid 1998 to Metal Gear
04:59Solid 2 2001
05:00No video game better displayed the leap from the 5th to 6th generation consoles than Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons
05:07of Liberty. In 1998 the first Metal Gear Solid game helped to turn the original PlayStation on its head.
05:12Games from the system's first year like Tekken, Jumping Flash and Gex could never have foreseen what some
05:17developers would squeeze out of the console in just a few short years. Kojima's MGS was one of these,
05:23using brilliant art direction and choreography to make something unforgettably cinematic out of the PS1's
05:29sharp polygons. But MGS2 was another story entirely continuing the series' habit of cutting edge
05:35thinking just three years later on the PlayStation 2. Its use of motion blur and depth of field were
05:40unprecedented. Shiny surfaces actually appeared to be reflective. Rain effects from the game's opening
05:46actually bounced off the ground and off of the player. Character models didn't just finally have
05:50eyes, they were actually incredibly expressive. Sons of Liberty seemed to laugh in the face of the mere
05:56idea of limitation. This was one year into the PS2's lifespan and the game would spend the rest
06:02of the generation and the decades following it being rightfully praised as one of the most remarkable
06:07titles on the console. Number 5, Resident Evil 3 Nemesis 1999 to Resident Evil 4 2005. The difference
06:15between Resident Evil 3 Nemesis and Resident Evil 4 is so huge that presented to a non-gamer it wouldn't
06:20be surprising if they assumed they were totally unrelated. Now that's not to say that there weren't
06:25Resi games in the six year gap between the third and fourth numbered entries. The 2000s was one of
06:30the busiest and most experimental times for the series, with Capcom releasing side games spin-offs and
06:35a remake. Even so, people were hungry for the next mainline game that would push the series forward
06:40after the destruction of Raccoon City. However, people were not expecting the gigantic jump that
06:45Resident Evil 4 would bring in absolutely every way. Its story is completely separate from the rest of the
06:51series going so far as to wrap up the fate of the malevolent umbrella in the opening monologue.
06:55Its quipping action star interpretation of returning hero Leon might as well be a different
07:00person. It dropped virus infected zombies for parasite infected humans and it traded all of the gameplay
07:05tropes it helped establish for something completely fresh. It's such a wild departure that it's still
07:11discussed amongst Resident Evil fans today for how it boldly cleaned the slate for better or for worse.
07:16This aside, there's no arguing that it saved the series from stagnation and changed gaming forever
07:21with its at the time innovative over-the-shoulder panic horror action.
07:25Number four, Uncharted Drake's Fortune 2007 to Uncharted 2 Among Thieves 2009.
07:32They can't all be immediately obvious leaps and bounds, sometimes it's fun to get a little more
07:36granular. When it comes to refining an idea and learning from experiences, the first two Uncharted
07:40games are a brilliant example of iterating a sequel when in the same console space. Aesthetically,
07:46despite just two years between them, there's quite a strong difference between the first two Uncharted
07:50games, especially when it comes to character models. Obviously Naughty Dog already had plenty to build
07:55from and had experience working within the PS3's tech at this point, a console that was notoriously
07:59hard to develop for, so plenty of time was spent turning the flat-faced action figures of Uncharted
08:04into more detailed and more handsomely chiselled characters. This really helps the improved script to
08:09land as well. But it's not just about graphics, sequels can be about finding one's feet. Whereas the original
08:15Uncharted was a decent, if repetitive, cover shooter, Among Thieves saw the series become the
08:19video game action movie hybrid spectacle that it became known as. The sequel does an infinitely better
08:24job of pacing shooting galleries and climbing sections and features some of the best set pieces
08:29in the series, including the train shootout with its impressively immersive looping background.
08:34Uncharted 2 is what made Nathan Drake the Sony mascot he became for the next decade.
08:39Number 3, Kid Icarus of Myths and Monsters 1991 to Kid Icarus Uprising 2012.
08:46Any series that manages to skip 20 years of console revolution is going to look different,
08:50but one of the best examples of this is the unlikely revival of Kid Icarus. And unlikely is a very
08:55deliberate choice of wording here. Despite the 1986 original being quite unanimously held in high
09:00regard as an underrated gem for the NES, it took five years for the game to get a sequel. Of
09:05Myths and
09:06Monsters for the Nintendo Game Boy strangely only released in America in 1991 and Europe in 1992,
09:12and never came to its home country of Japan. Until the 3DS, but that's besides the point. However,
09:18with the main character Pit being drafted into the roster of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the late 2000s,
09:23interest in Kid Icarus began to pick up again. In the 20 years of absence the video game space had
09:28changed as dramatically as Pit's original squat design had to his new Bishounen anime protagonist style.
09:34As such, 2012's Kid Icarus Uprising was a totally different take on the series,
09:39swapping 2D platforming for third-person shooting that utilized the stereoscopic 3D of the then new
09:44Nintendo 3DS. The game actually takes a few pot shots at the time the series spent dormant,
09:49yet despite decent sales and strong reviews, it's now been another decade without Pit and friends.
09:55Number 2 Final Fantasy VI 1994 to Final Fantasy VII 1997. It would have been easy to fill this list
10:02with
10:02franchises that made the most obvious graphical jump in game history, from 2D to 3D, but few
10:08reached the heights of Final Fantasy's transformation. Final Fantasy VI had pushed the
10:12Super Nintendo as far as it could go. The game's map, or two technically, which in itself was a
10:17shocking feat, was full of secrets and optional bosses. The story and characters were brilliantly
10:21animated in a way that felt epic for the time, but this was nothing compared to what would come in
10:26just
10:26three years. Final Fantasy VII wasn't just jumping to the CD-ROM-fed PlayStation, but had a whopping $45
10:33million budget, making it one of the most expensive video games ever made at that point. This also made
10:38it an unavoidable must-play, taking the franchise to the worldwide stage in a big way. After the West
10:44had only gotten the sporadic FF game, usually numbered incorrectly, Final Fantasy VII was the launching
10:50point for the series globally. The huge game, split across four discs, boasted an entire suite of 3D work,
10:56from overworld models, dozens of battle character models and animations, and more CGI than any other
11:01game to that point. Pairing this with fully orchestrated music made for a game that, whilst
11:06perhaps quaint, now had to be experienced to be believed at the time. Pretty good for a series seven
11:12entries in. And number one, every Elder Scrolls game. With some of the longest-running franchises
11:17in gaming, it's possible to track the changes in the industry incrementally through new instalments.
11:22On the flip side, Elder Scrolls games tend to be so infrequently released that each one feels like
11:27a completely fresh experience, so to just pick one pair would be impossible. Perhaps the outlier to
11:32this is the two years between the original game, Arena, and its sequel, Daggerfall. Whilst this is
11:38therefore also the smallest jump in quality, it's very clear that the Bethesda team had learnt a lot
11:43on their first RPG and applied that experience to every facet of its sequel, creating a bigger,
11:48prettier, and more active map to explore. Morrowind arrived six years later following
11:53the real advent of 3D gaming being the first entry to come to Xbox, and doing so in stunning fashion,
11:59as the most impressive RPG on consoles at the time. Whilst the map this time is technically smaller,
12:05with a lack of procedural generation it makes for a more considered world to get lost in. Four years
12:10later, Oblivion added an unprecedented physics system to Elder Scrolls, as well as HDR lighting,
12:15and a spectacular draw distance. Five years on marked the most recent mainline entry with Skyrim,
12:21which improved lighting, shadows, and weather effects greatly, and it also added a greater
12:25degree of verticality to Tamriel, making for some pretty impressive views. If Elder Scrolls 6 arrived
12:31in 2025, and that's probably being generous, that would be almost 15 years since Skyrim, and thus would
12:37continue the trend. And considering that Skyrim's original launch in 2011 wasn't even natively in HD,
12:43it's fair to say we've come a long way since. So goodness only knows what Elder Scrolls 6 will look
12:49like.
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