I really like the games. Back on the 360 playing the first one was probably the most immersive, atmospheric game I had played since the Metroid Prime games.
I rented the second one but thought it was too similar to the first and didn’t finish it.
I was super hyped for Infinite because it had a different setting but similar premise, and seemed to be moving the series in a “anthology” sort of direction where sequels would share similar themes but different stories/settings. But it didn’t really because it shoehorned in connecting to Rapture and everything. I loved the game on release.
I replayed them last year (in 4K/60 on the SeX) and ended up changing my mind a bit. The first one I’ll always love (even though it turns into a bit of a slog after killing Ryan).
The second one I ended up liking much more and finishing. Having guns and plasmids always at the ready is really the logical gameplay improvement of the series, and I think it refined the gameplay loop of little sister-big daddy fights introduced in the first. The arsenal available is fantastic, the controls feel more fluid, and the DLC is great too.
Infinite I didn’t finish my replay of. There’s things in retrospect that make it harder to enjoy. The whole being able to only carry two guns thing is just stupid; and followed the Halo/COD model for no real good reason.
That also in turn made the upgrade system worse, because you can upgrade guns but that means you’re going to be sticking with your favorites until you need a rocket launcher or something. Kinda defeats the purpose of experimenting with different weapons.
The plot was just kinda nonsensical, and it did two tropes that were a bit novel at the time, but helped kick them off and become trite today. That being the annoyingly quippy sidekick character, and multiverse nonsense. The constant timeline shifts make it hard to care about anything happening, and the ending makes no sense if you think about at all.
