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Summary
Long-running game series can’t stay the same forever.
They need to change a bit over time, or else they will grow stale.
Developers realize this and regularly mix things up with their most popular series.
These games switched their genres at pivotal moments that caught us off guard.
Unfortunately, though, change isn’t always a good thing.
However, this isn’t always the way it goes down.
Sometimes, a series changes and manages to be better or maintain the earlier games' quality.
These are a few examples.
The 2013 Tomb Raider game is a perfect example of this.
Like the earlier titles, it’s still an action-adventure game where you solve puzzles and explore tombs.
However, the game is very different tonally.
The 2013 Tomb Raider and its two sequels are a lot more grounded and serious than the early games.
A lot of this comes from the protagonist, Lara.
She is more realistic and vulnerable.
This groundedness is reflected in both the story and gameplay.
What it also did was change the GTA series forever.
Before this instalment, entries in this series were 2D arcade-like games that used a top-down camera angle.
When did photo mode become a thing, and why does every game have it now?
In contrast, GTA 3 is a 3D game set in an open-world sandbox.
Unlike the first titles, it contains a proper story told through cutscenes.
Since then, every entry in the GTA series has partially resembled Grand Theft Auto 3.
Metal Gear Solid is a 3D stealth game.
The addition of a dimension isn’t the only thing that changed, though.
MGS is far more cinematic than the original title.
The early Metal Gears had decent stories but didn’t have long cutscenes and voice acting.
Those things certainly feature in Metal Gear Solid and the sequels that follow.
Then, the world was treated to Super Mario 64.
This changes up the core gameplay quite significantly, but the game still retains the same Mario magic.
Yet, in the late 2000s, the developers still went a different direction for the series.
These action adventure games have the best combat mechanics.
That said, those battles are a bit slower and more methodical than those in the early games.
Plus, the moments between battles include more cutscenes, and the entire experience is more cinematic.
After all, the core gunplay is very similar to those titles.
However, the game changed the series in other ways.
This showed that a Call of Duty game didn’t have to be about you fighting the Axis Powers.
As such, there have now been COD games set in a few different time periods.
Also, most of those titles have a deep multiplayer mode.
Saints Row managed to become its own thing with the third game, though.
This is because the developers doubled down on the ridiculous side of the series.
This commitment to absurdity continued into Saints Row 4 and generally helped the series stand out a bit more.
They certainly have their fans, but the series really didnt become a huge hit until Fallout 3.
Its a first-person action RPG.
Therefore, the core gameplay is very distinct from the others.
There is much more of a focus on combat and gunplay.
This has become the norm for the series, as seen in New Vegas and Fallout 4.
Here are the best video game remakes with the biggest changes!
