5 Video Game Franchises That Need to Finally Die

Our favorite games come in all shapes, genres, and styles. We can play for endless hours, losing ourselves in the next amazing universe or experience. Unfortunately for us, developers know how to capitalize on our love for our favorite games. Instead of creating unique, one-of-a-kind experiences, they have instead opted to release titles year after year to make as much money as possible on a franchise. Here are five of the most annoying franchises that need to finally end.

#5: Uncharted

Uncharted has always been a Sony blockbuster, in terms of sales and overall popularity. However, that doesn’t always mean that the games are worth a make. As of late, we can clearly see that the core gameplay has been diluted. Quick-time events, over-the-top action, and long cutscenes plague the game. It's almost as if the game plays itself. Still, the franchise is on a high note. Uncharted is at an all-time high. The story is still in decent standing. It's not the best story, but it's passable. Who knows what will happen if another sequel is released? Will Uncharted become a cash grab? It is important that Naughty Dog takes this chance to let the franchise rest or die in peace before it's too late.

#4: Halo

Just like many of you, I was a die-hard fan of this series. Amazing gameplay, story, and multiplayer set the standard for many games to come. Halo was the pinnacle of gaming and this experience was only available on Xbox. It was the golden age of console FPS. However, that didn't last long. Halo evolved into a shameless cash grab. After the third installation, Halo began using its popularity to sell spinoff titles that didn’t live up to the standards of the previous entries. The Halo name is now dead. Halo is no longer affiliated with the quality of the Master Chief. Paid DLC, microtransactions, and lackluster stories are now what represents the franchise. Bungie, please kill it before it's too late.

#3: Final Fantasy

I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this one. Final Fantasy has been around for ages. This is not a good thing. For a game with the word “final” in its name, they sure know how to continually create spinoffs and sequels. The total amount of Final Fantasy games is now well beyond thirty titles. The brand itself has capitalized off the nostalgia of Final Fantasy 7 and continues to plague us with release after release. This makes entering the market extremely difficult. Consumers are confused with all the choices of games to choose from. Which game do you start with? What is the actual order of the stories? Do the stories even match up? How are the characters even related? It's the same problem with the continued Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spinoff storylines like Spider-man or X-Men just serve to make things more confusing. Here’s an idea, Square Enix: Kill off Final Fantasy before it's too late.

#2: Tomb Raider

Imagine for a moment how many unique and amazing games could have been made in the countless Tomb Raider reboots. Now think of the last time you actually played a Tomb Raider game. Was the experience worthwhile? Did it make you an instant fan of the series? If you said "yes" to any of these questions, you were probably upset when the next Tomb Raider game was announced as yet another reboot. I think it’s time that we recognize a problem. Tomb Raider has just been a branding icon for the latest console release every three to five years or so. Tomb Raider has not had an iconic game since the first PlayStation. It has been boring and struggles to find its creative identity in the sea of other games. We need to see something happen here. No more reboots of Tomb Raider. Just kill it. At least for ten years or so.

Dishonorable Mentions

Before we get to No. 1, here are some of the other franchises that failed to wow lately. Maybe it's time for a break.

• Legend Of Zelda - Collect Stuff, get weapons, defeat Gannon. Repeat.
• Super Mario - Nintendo Poster child, collect stuff, defeat Bowser. Repeat.
• Sonic - Run, run, run. Then don’t. Then run again. WTF is a Werehog? Nothing new here.
• Street Fighter - DLC Characters? Same mechanics, as always. New game for new maps?
• Battlefield - Change the time period and boom! New game. Implement so much action on screen that players are confused with this fun.

#1: Call of Duty

Probably the most guilty of creating nothing new and charging full price is Call of Duty. This franchise is the epitome of lazy, uncreative, and just outright boring. Sure it’ll keep you entertained for a while, but at its root, we all know it's the same game. How about this: one last Call of Duty to end them all.

Create one gigantic Call of Duty for multiplayer. Release free DLC and updates to expand the game. Sell maps in packs of 15 for only $15. Add in weapons for FREE! This could make Call of Duty similar to Overwatch, making the replayability last virtually forever. We all know that the graphics are rarely updated as is, so what's the difference?

Make Call of Duty a fully-featured experience. If people want zombies, make zombies to end them all. If we want an old-school WWIIshooter, add in a game mode that does that. If we want modern or futuristic, make game modes that complement that. No more individual games. COD has gotten too big lately. The fans are annoyed. Either do this or kill it, please. For the sake of all that is holy, kill it.

So that's it. The top 5 game franchises that need to die. Did I miss any? Do you disagree? If so, let me have it in the comment section or hit me up on Twitter @The_ATN_Machine.

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