Between the movie and gaming industry, sequels are a common phenomenon. Many times you’ll hear friends and family saying something along the lines of “the original was better”. So, when is it time to stop making sequels?

This is a difficult question to answer as there are plenty of positive and negative examples to fuel this debate. Before we take a high-level look at some, I want to highlight the fact that I’ll be flexible with the term sequel. Traditionally, “sequel” is defined as a continuation of an existing story or theme. When discussing video games, I will include franchises with multiple releases, even if the are not directly connected to one another. As long as the games exist either in the same world or spirit of the franchise, I will consider all releases since the original a sequel.

1. Final Fantasy: This franchise has been around since 1987 and…