Groucho

A question in the Uncharted 2 thread got me thinking -- video game "sequels" are generally very forgiving to players who haven't tried previous games in the series. For the most part, backstory and gameplay elements are given to you on a platter.

However -- has there ever been a game sequel that said "screw the newcomers" and was either incomprehensible in storyline or unforgiving in gameplay?

Off the top of my head I can't think of any -- but I'm sure they're out there. Episodic games and expansion packs don't count.

Decker

Kingdom Hearts II probably wasn't the "least accessible", but it was pretty damn confusing if you didn't finish the first one.

big e

The Metal Gear Solid sequels would fit this category.

TGM

the crossdressing Pac-Man in Ms. Pac-Man really made my Red State blood run cold.

MoviePage

I just started playing Halo 3 for a few minutes today and finished the first chapter. Given that I've never picked up a Halo game before or read anything about them, I'm lost as far as the story goes and who all the characters are. I'm not really worried about it though, since I hate the combat-intensive first-person shooter genre and probably won't play it much more.

Cardiff Giant11

that was the first one that popped into my head. MGS was very accessible story wise if you'd never played any of the Metal Gear games before MGS2 got weird in the second half and never did play 3 or 4 but I hear they're also a bit out there.

The Bus

I'd guess any sequential RPG. Does Persona fit the bill?

wlj

i have played and finished Halo 1 through Halo 3, and I am confused by the story. Halo 2's is a head scratcher.

PixyJunket

It's been a couple of years, but I swear that the whole Roxas section served as a recap of KH1.

mhg83

You should definitely play Halo 2 before 3. You may even like 2 more since there's a larger focus on Story instead of constant shooting. I actually thought 2 was better than 3.

JasonF

If you don't like FPS games, you're not going to like any of the Halo games. There may be more focus on story in Halo 2 than Halo 3 (arguable), but neither one strays too far from the core FPS gameplay.

And the Halo games confuse the heck out of me, storywise. I had to read the wikipedia summary of Halo 2 several times before I felt like I actually understood the plot of the game.

Groucho

I was completely confused by the Halo storyline until halfway through the third one when I finally realized that the main character was named "Master Chief", not "Master Chef".

Anubis2005X

I didn't really know what was going on with Half-Life 2's storyline. I played through Half-Life 1, but felt like somewhere along the line I had missed Half-Life 1.5 that filled me in what happened between games.

JasonF

I had the opposite problem when I played Cooking Mama.

Supermallet

The Legacy of Kain games have a ridiculously complex time-traveling story that will make no sense unless you've played them all.

Groucho

The Zelda games might be an opposite of the the original question. You pick up a "sequel" and it turns out to have nothing to do with the last game you played -- despite having a full cast of characters with the same names. Trying to figure out the "storyline" between games is a complete nightmare.

superfro

My reaction from the title alone was going to be Halo, but I see it's been covered. Honestly I've never played Halo 1-3 for probably more than 30 minutes combined. When I gave Halo ODST a run I really had no idea what was going on. I also felt they took for granted the fact that I would understand what all the weapons did and how they worked. I didn't.

Groucho

A lot of FPS take the "standard" weapons for granted. Of course, when they don't it's pretty insulting as well. "The shotgun is good for close combat encounters but has a low accuracy rate at longer distances."

FatTony

I played HL2 first and felt totally lost as far as the story was concerned, so I went back and checked out HL1 afterwards and it didn't help.

MGS4 takes the crown for most inaccessible sequel I've ever played though. I'd played the first one way back when it was new but I never played the 2nd or 3rd games. Jumped into MGS4 and that story is utter gibberish.

Groucho

Gears of War had a storyline making me feel like I missed a previous game. The second game didn't really answer any questions, and spent most of its time on a subplot involving a character that wasn't even mentioned in the first game but who was suddenly the most important person in the world.

Decker

I always find it funny when people talk about the "story" in Halo or Gears. Yes, there is one, but without a protagonist who has anything useful or substantive to say, does it even matter? There are aliens trying to kill you and your squad mates. You should kill them. Is there much else that needs to be said?

And I'd agree about the MGS series. That gets really complicated and convoluted the further it progresses.

superfro

For me, yeah, totally. I would get quite bored if a game was just shoot aliens for 8-10 hours. Even if the protagonist doesn't speak there's usually a story going on around them to keep a player interested in playing the game and continuing on. Maybe for some people the action is enough of a driving force, but for me, most of the time there needs to be some level of story interest or involvement as well.

Numanoid

I pay very little attention to stories in videogames. They are, as you say, rather unnecessary for the enjoyment of the game, and often are simply time-wasters. Still, I insist on watching all cutscenes at least once and do try to follow the story as much as needed, but once the game is over I couldn't tell you which characters are on what side and just what the hell happened exactly. It's a very rare game that makes me remember the storyline.

Groucho

I don't normally care about videogame storylines either, but when they aren't there or they are confusing, it stands out. It's almost better to just tack a generic plot on there instead of getting fancy or leaving it out completely.

The Fable games balanced this perfectly. "See that guy over there? He killed your family. Seek revenge."

mzupeman2

I played the first Metal Gear Solid game EONS ago. So when I only a year ago picked up and played the third game, I felt as if I was in a world that was just way over my head. Metal Gear Solid 4 had that as well, but it was so fun to play I just didn't care.