Topic: Games or Game Franchises that you've outgrown?

I recently purchased the Double Dragon compilation for Switch and, despite going into it enthusiastically, I think the nostalgia factor for me has faded.

I absolutely loved Double Dragon 2, but even then, the magic just isn't quite there (this could be due to the fact that i've recently embraced Streets of Rage, along with Yakuza, in recent years).

Double Dragon 1 was ok, while Double Dragon 3 is an absolute chore.

I think Double Dragon will be that one franchise I put to rest.

Have you experienced this with any franchises where the rose tint has faded?

For me I would say SMT (I never liked Persona but feel that SMT suffered as persona became more popular). I just realized I don’t care anymore. I really enjoyed the first 3 games, Like 4 and walked away from atlus after 5.

I have other series I have left behind because the writing was inconsistent and I wasn’t having fun. Mass Effect and Dragon Age (both declined heavily for me with their second entry.) Final Fantasy, but for me it is I no longer care to try. I have tried to force myself to like that series for decades but aside from 6,13, 13-3/lightning returns and crystal chronicles…I just don’t care. 15 and 16 allowed me to wash my hands. I don't replay the last two games in the prince or persia trilogy anymore either. God of War. Series always made me uncomfortable and I finally realized I don’t have to force myself to invest in a franchise because it is popular.

Also Yakuza/Like A Dragon/RgG. I’m burned out and honestly the protagonists stressed my sensibilities for for years. I don’t like Ichiban much. It is a bitter sweet feeling as that series got me into importing.

Not especially?

Like Mario Party 1 has aged as poorly as people have said and Yoshi's Story doesn't play as well as I thought it did back in the day. Even then I've spent a lot of time on both in recent years and had a reasonable amount of fun despite their flaws.

Like even for franchises I've dropped like Layton or Pokemon, they're still good I'm pretty sure(even if a couple of the recent releases are notably below Nintendo's standards), I just decided other games are more worth my time.

I'll try to keep this concise (but most likely won't). For me, I have to say it's the Monster Hunter franchise.

Started in the Wii era with MH Tri. It "clicked" so good I was hopelessly addicted to the formula of lots of friction. I skipped the 3DS Tri Ultimate mainly because the multiplayer was local only and I had nobody to play with.

Held out for the big New 3DS XL upgrade and got the MH4 Ultimate bundle (came with that dope @ss theme, C'mon Nintendo, bring back those themes for Switch!) and was in pure gaming utopia. That game had everything and beyond for in terms of a new game. Plus, I immediately fell in love with the New 3DS XL. It felt to me that the system was specifically made for that game. Again, so much friction with the most memorable online beastie battles!

When World came out, I was in a weird place of gaming. In short, I was cutting massively down on gaming, my gaming PC was aging out and I was stressing out trying to manage multiple games across multiple consoles. I ended up skipping World since MH4 Ultimate was still satisfying me. I also skipped Generations (3DS) because I just didn't have it in me to start another MH game after all I put into MH4U.

I was at a time just about to walk away from gaming altogether when the Switch came out and I saw a trailer for MHGU. Traded EVERYTHING I had and took a chance with the Switch and MHGU. I was hooked all over again especially since it was like a "greatest hits" that had so much content from Tri, 4U along with a bunch of new/old stuff. I got like over 1500 hours out of it.

I tried carrying all that gung-ho fandom into Rise/Sunbreak. I put way more hours into that game than I should have. In fact, looking back I put a lot of pressure on myself to try to play it like Tri/4U/GU because I'm supposed to be such a hardcore fan. Don't get me wrong. I did get enjoyment out of it. A lot of enjoyment. But no matter how hard I tried to keep the rose-tinted glasses on there was so many changes to the formula that didn't gel with me. But I forced myself to keep playing no matter what. After coming to many realizations of how unhealthy trying to "stay" with a franchise that either I outgrown OR outgrew me I decided it was time to sunset the franchise. I do randomly fire up MHGU (and sometimes Sunbreak) for a quick fix here and there. Good enough for me. I'm also not worried about Wilds ever coming to Switch 2 because everything I've seen and read about the game tells me it's even got a lot less friction than Rise. It's a fun game but the old style is for sure taken out of the franchise to chase the largest audience possible. Kudos to Capcom, I guess.

With that behind me it allowed me to really get into the backlog quest because being into that franchise really made it difficult for me to play other games.

For me it would honestly be 2d Mario. I loved it when I was younger, but now I just find them all to be sort of boring, as weird as that sounds. Even Wonder, the game honestly felt like one big tutorial that never really got going. And in the end, the experience just felt easy and boring. There are just so many more interesting platformers to me now, even if I will always cherish the time I spent with 2d Mario games as a kid.

I don't entirely agree, but I do agree that 2D Mario is barely something I go back to anymore, despite Mario 3 being my favorite game as a child. Countless other games come out to take my attention that do a lot more than what 2D Mario is doing, both because of changing tastes and a lack of interest in 2D Mario outside of the pre-N64 games.

Like its amazing that 2D Mario is the defining Nintendo game for more than a decade and then nothing for a decade, and then 2 good games in the mid-2000s, and then bland NSMB follow ups and level editors until a year and a half ago.

@kkslider5552000 Out of curiosity, what do you consider to be the "two good games in the mid-2000s"?

I'm as passionate as ever about 2D Mario.

I checked out for Mario 64 tbh, but I loved what they did with Mario 3DS, and Odyssey is one of the best ever entries into the franchise. But I'm sure I'll ever tire of 2D Mario. I do agree, however, that the difficulty could be increased. Some inspiration from Donkey Kong would go a long way.

@UndockedActionFemme Yeah, that inspiration from donkey Kong is what could save it for me. The retro studios dlc games were really what "ruined" 2d Mario for me. It's when I realized I really needed some sense of challenge or excitement to keep me invested, which 2d Mario unfortunately wasn't giving me. Glad you still enjoy it though, and I'm glad that so many people seem to love games like Wonder even if I really don't.

I am absolutely hanging out for Judgment to be released on Switch 2.

I didn't buy it on PC because it's Denuvo'd.

But yeah, Yakuza has its lesser entries (Y4 being one of them).

I don't think I'll ever fall out of love, albeit a break from it here and there.

@UndockedActionFemme I hope the LaD series gets ported in full to switch, but not for the reasons most have. I am simply trying to get as much VF on switch 2 as possible.

Definitely the Mario games. Each Mario game now seems almost the same.

I think Mario would be less of an issue if there weren't so many, especially when compared to the long gaps between Donkey Kong or Metroid titles.

Pokemon for sure. I feel I enjoy the monster collecting in other series like Shin Megami Tensei (so more like demon collecting lol) and other monster catching games like cassette beats. But pokemon I feel so lackluster today that I cant get just back it. Last one I enjoyed was black/white 2

While not really a franchise anymore, but by the time Unchartered 3 came around, I found myself rediscovering Tomb Raider again. Even though Unchartered is available on Steam, I'm yet to buy it again.

Instead, I purchased the TR remasters on both Steam and Switch.

I have the feeling that I'm probably going to fall out of the Mario & Luigi series, assuming that they continue with Brothership's approach. And y'know, that's fine by me tbh.

Not so much outgrown. More like left behind. I love music/rhythm games. Unfortunately, my hand-eye coordination and dexterity have deteriorated to the point where I can't finish most of the ones I start.

I would love to enjoy DJMax, but...I can't. I'm not a stenographer.

More of a genre, but definitely collectathon platformer games. I really started liking them a whole lot after I played Banjo on the Switch a few years ago for a week, but I don’t know, I’m just kind of not into platformers with a big emphasis on collecting that much any more. I think it’s maybe because I played Banjo-Tooie and got really annoyed with the collecting and also the worlds being too big, which made it a bit more of a slog to get through with the collecting on top of that. I was actually supposed to play it back in September, but just remembering how much that game annoyed me with the collecting and the hard difficulty, I just chose not to, and I even was trying to play DK64 a few months ago but my interest in collectathon platformers is at an all time low so I barely progressed in it.

I do think I’ll fall in love with collectathons again at some point, but right now I’m not. I’m finding myself liking rhythm games way more at the moment.

Well there were only two new 2D Mario platformers in the mid 2000s AFAIK, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and NSMB.

@kkslider5552000 Oh I wasn't thinking of Mario vs dk lol. Will agree that nsmb on the ds holds up well though. It kind of gets lumped in with the others which I don't think is quite fair honestly. Though that is also the one I have nostalgia for so I am likely biased lol.