10 Video Game Franchises That Got WORSE As They Went On

10 Video Game Franchises That Got WORSE As They Went On

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are looking at recent releases that were so bad, you are shocked they have a 3, 4, or 5 at the end of their title. These are 10 Video Game Franchises That Got Worse As They Went On. PLEASE take this with a grain of salt, longtime series will always have diehard fans, so we’re taking the opinions of forums and reviews to look at where the most hate is headed. Let’s do it!

“Halo” Series (2001-)

For years, “Halo” wasn’t just Xbox’s biggest franchise, it practically was Xbox. Bungie turned the original trilogy into a gaming powerhouse thanks to its incredible sandbox combat, memorable multiplayer, and a sci-fi story that somehow made giant alien rings feel weirdly believable. The series didn’t collapse overnight, though. Once 343 Industries took over, the franchise started losing the identity that made it special in the first place. “Halo 4” pushed harder toward cinematic action and multiplayer systems that felt suspiciously close to “Call of Duty,” which immediately made fans raise an eyebrow. Then “The Master Chief Collection” launched in a disastrous state despite sounding like the easiest win imaginable. “Halo 5” somehow sidelined Master Chief in his own series, and not in a fun Luigi’s Mansion kinda way, and while “Halo Infinite” improved things somewhat, the lack of content and shaky live-service support made it feel like another game that couldn’t recapture the magic.

“Paper Mario” Series (2000-)

When the original “Paper Mario” released, a lot of people expected it to just be Nintendo trying to recreate the success of “Super Mario RPG” with a gimmicky art style slapped on top. Instead, it ended up becoming one of Mario’s most beloved spin-off series thanks to its clever writing, charming world, and surprisingly deep turn-based combat. Then “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door” somehow improved on almost everything. Between the creative battle mechanics, weirdly lovable characters, and hilarious dialogue, many fans still consider it one of the best Mario games ever made. Unfortunately, the series slowly drifted away from what people loved about it. Games like “Sticker Star” and “Color Splash” weren’t terrible, but they leaned harder into gimmicks while stripping away a lot of the RPG depth. Even “Paper Jam” failed to excite longtime fans, mostly because it felt repetitive and weirdly safe. “The Origami King” looked like a comeback at first, but its awkward combat and lack of leveling left many players frustrated. They’ve lost whatever they had, and I don’t know if they will get it back.

“Tony Hawk’s” Series (1999-)

You kids might not believe me, but there was a time when “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” completely dominated skateboarding games with basically no competition. The original PlayStation titles were everywhere thanks to their smooth controls, addictive gameplay loop, and soundtracks that permanently rewired an entire generation’s music taste, Pro Skater 4 single handedly turned me into a punk. For a while, the series genuinely couldn’t miss. But after the first few games, things started getting messy. Some experiments worked, especially “Tony Hawk’s Underground,” but a lot of later entries like “American Wasteland,” “Proving Ground,” and “Downhill Jam” slowly chipped away at the franchise’s reputation. Don’t even get me started on “Tony Hawk: Ride” and “Shred,” and STOP saying “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD” was good, it launched missing huge amounts of classic content you mellon head. “Pro Skater 5”? F*** you.

“Crackdown” Series (2007-)

The original “Crackdown” felt like somebody took a superhero simulator and mixed it with Mountain Dew .. I know that sounds like an insult, but it’s not. One of the coolest parts was how your abilities improved naturally through gameplay. Want stronger punches? Start throwing enemies into traffic. Want better agility? Spend hours leaping across rooftops like a caffeinated kangaroo. Watching your Agent slowly evolve into an unstoppable monster made the entire game ridiculously satisfying. Unfortunately, the sequels never really understood why the first game worked so well. “Crackdown 2” reused the same city with only minor changes, and then “Crackdown 3” arrived after years of hype, promising insane destruction physics and starring Terry Crews, and SOMEHOW I was the only person at school to say “that sounds like s**t”. Rather than evolving the formula, the series just kept recycling it until people eventually stopped caring.

“Assassin’s Creed” (2007-)

The original “Assassin’s Creed” games felt genuinely special when they first released. They kicked off a new console generation, and it was an INSANE jump. Sneaking across rooftops, silently taking out targets, and parkouring through massive historical cities made the series stand out immediately. Then “Assassin’s Creed II” arrived and somehow improved almost everything. For a while, Ubisoft absolutely dominated the open-world genre. The problem was that the franchise never slowed down. New entries started releasing so frequently that the series slowly became more bloated and repetitive with each installment. By the time games like “Unity” and “Syndicate” rolled around, players were clearly feeling exhausted by the formula. Ubisoft then pivoted toward giant RPG-style worlds with games like “Origins,” “Odyssey,” and “Valhalla.” While those titles had fans, they also drifted further away from what made the series special.

“Call of Duty” Series (2003-)

There was a period where every new “Call of Duty” release felt like a genuine event. The early games, especially “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” and “Modern Warfare 2,” completely changed online shooters with fast multiplayer, cinematic campaigns, and lobbies that taught me about 73 new swears and slurs. Eventually the formula started wearing thin. Annual releases meant innovation became harder and harder, so newer entries often relied on louder explosions, increasingly ridiculous movement systems, and endless monetization instead of meaningful evolution. Jetpacks, wall-running, and overloaded microtransactions pushed a lot of longtime fans away, especially when the games started feeling more like digital storefronts than military shooters. We now have “Call of Duty 7” .. Need I say more?

“Borderlands” Series (2009-)

Every single entry on this list I want to start with “This is gonna make some people mad” … Anyways, this is gonna make some people mad. When the first “Borderlands” released, it felt like somebody had thrown together a first-person shooter, a loot addiction simulator, and a comedy show fueled entirely by caffeine. The cel-shaded art style instantly stood out, the co-op gameplay was ridiculously fun, and finding absurdly overpowered weapons became weirdly impossible to stop doing. Then “Borderlands 2” came along and perfected the formula. After that, though, the series started leaning way too heavily on its own sense of humor. Instead of letting the comedy happen naturally, later games often felt like they were desperately trying to remind players how random and quirky they were every thirty seconds. Even though “Borderlands 3” improved the actual shooting mechanics, many players struggled to connect with the story or villains at all.

“Dead Rising” Series (2006-)

When “Dead Rising” was first announced, the concept sounded almost impossible to mess up. You’re trapped inside a giant shopping mall surrounded by thousands of zombies, armed with whatever ridiculous junk you can grab off the nearest shelf. It was basically every dumb zombie fantasy rolled into one game. The game understood how silly its premise was, and that self-awareness gave it charm. The sequels slowly lost that magic. “Dead Rising 2” still had some fans, but by the time “Dead Rising 3” and “4” rolled around, the series felt way more interested in becoming a generic serious zombie franchise. In trying to mature the formula, it accidentally stripped away the childish fun, and it wasn’t what it was.

“Alone in The Dark” Series (1992-)

The original “Alone in the Dark” from 1992 deserves a ton of credit for basically helping shape the survival horror genre before most developers even knew what survival horror was. The atmosphere was genuinely creepy, the camera angles felt unsettling, and for the time, the game was incredibly ambitious. I played it 2 years ago for the first time, and I was SHOCKED at how much I enjoyed the challenge. The problem is the rest of the franchise never came close to recapturing that magic. Watching the series decline over the years honestly feels like seeing somebody trip down an entire staircase in slow motion. It’d be like watching the Resident Evil series, but RE7 never came to revive it. Alone in The Dark’s modern entries arrived and somehow made things even worse. Instead of reviving the franchise, they mostly reminded people why it disappeared in the first place.

“Medal of Honor” Series (1999-)

A lot of younger players probably assume “Call of Duty” invented the cinematic World War II shooter, but before that series took over the planet, “Medal of Honor” was the big name everyone talked about. The original 1999 game was a huge deal at the time, especially since it was connected to Steven Spielberg, who helped shape its more cinematic approach to war stories. The franchise quickly exploded with sequels like “Medal of Honor: Underground” and “Frontline,” and while those games were still solid, they never quite captured the same impact as the original. As the years went on, the series slowly lost relevance while “Call of Duty” evolved into a cultural phenomenon. Eventually “Medal of Honor” started feeling outdated compared to the competition. EA attempted a gritty reboot in 2010, and while it wasn’t terrible, “Warfighter” in 2012 ended up being such a mess that it basically buried the franchise for good. “Medal of Honor” defined a genre, so it was more of an honorable discharge.