What are some vidya trilogies that peaked with the second entry?

I agree with this one too. It compromised I think on the ambiance that made Fallout 1 so special by going a little too heavy on the comedy, but it added SO MUCH fucking content that I think it made up for it.

I have actually thought about this a lot. The first AC 1 was a lot comfier and a LOT more intriguing, I agree with you on this part. I remember when I was playing I searched every corner of that tiny fucking room you're allowed in as Desmond, tried to beat the glare coming in through the windows to see what was outside, etc. I was just fascinated by the world. I think when you block off so much but at the same time are so suggestive with what the outside world contains, you can really capture players' imaginations. I was so fucking pumped to leave the room in Ass Creed 2. I found Lucy's new model slightly offputting and I did have the sense that controls weren't as tight as they were in the first game (this repeated in Ass Creed 3, where I think the controls were even looser than in 2 to the point it actively hurt the game among other things). But man, when you finally break out of that little prison after being stuck inside it the whole first game, that was fucking great. I think there is a real lost art in vidya to 'building a moment', devs are too quick to prematurely blow off shit they've been building in mediocre reveals out of fear that players will lose interest if they're teased too long.

So yeah, I do agree that 2 was missing an atmosphere that was present in 1. But at the same time there is so much more you can do and Venice is so much more colorful and enjoyable than the middle east that I could forgive that.

If you are talking about Tali and Garrus than the point they actually became memorable was in 2. I didn't give much of a shit about Garrus in 1. You talk to him 3 times on the ship. Once about Saleon, once about doing the right thing and once about pursuing his dreams/being a good cop. Tali has some talk about being uncomfortable in a quiet ship and about geth data. Other than that all that makes them interesting is their cool design. 2 actually added on that, you could speak to them after nearly every mission and learn more meaningful things about them. Personal quests also helped.

The weapons in ME1 all work the same, just have different overheat and damage numbers. They look slightly different, shoot with the same sound, have the same crosshairs, same rate of fire. What is worse, you can only shoot straight if you use a skill, if you on't the crosshairs will be a giant circle. 2 added a fuckton of guns, each with their unique looks, some with different aiming principles and ammo capacity. Phalanx is my favorite pistol in it, and it shoots very slowly but does a fuckton of damage and has laser aim, Geth Shotgun can be charged to spend three shots at the same time. Viper sniper rifle has a balance betwheen rate of fire and damage so you can headshot multiple enemies in adrenaline rush. The guns actually feel different. There is no difference betwheen Naginata and Avenger in 1.

I am not sure if you remember ME1 well, but that game was full of setpiece style gunfights around chest high walls. When I got to Ilos and even i had chest hight walls and fucking elevators I wasn't even surprised.

I will disagree with you on one thing though, I enjoyed Ezio more than Altair. Ezio enjoyed life, fucked girls, cracked jokes, had a regular family you could interact with and was ultimately more human and enjoyable to play as than Altair.

I'm not talking to you anymore since I suspect you are underage. Tali in 1 enjoyed more group jack-off parties on 4chan/the internet than any vidya character of the last ten years. Again, we go back to something I mentioned earlier with suggesting shit to players rather than telling or showing them. You don't HAVE to have ridiculous shoehorned in bullshit like Archangel to have characters bang on about. It's better to leave shit to the imagination than to provide dumb shit. Character interactions in 1 were fewer but more meaningful. Hell, you can straight up FUCK Tali in 2 yet it doesn't feel as good as interacting with her in 1 because it feels faker. You could tell the devs went "Oh shit, the players really like this character, let's have it so you can romance her in the sequel!" And it started a trend too, since from what I hear characters act even more out of character in 3. I do like it when devs pander to players but not when it's at the cost of story quality.

I completely agree with you on this, even the fact that there is more things to do in 2, but the thing is that I played the first one way more because of the atmosphere, riding the horse from city to city to do new missions was great I even named my horse

That's the thing though, Altair was brainwashed, and I found all the secretive story was way more interesting than just a sad story about a hunk with a dead family wanting revenge.

Ezio was a bitch nigga that became a leader of Assassins without even knowing what they are about. He even says it at one point in Brotherhood. He just decides to fight for freedom since he likes the idea.

That doesn't make a character memorable. Remember the fucking Alistair threads? And yet the cunt has a personality of a cardboard cutout.

This tbh fam.

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This is a fair point, but the most interesting parts of the story happen out of the Animus anyway, and this is true across all of the games. One of the biggest things that hurt Brotherhood and Revelations (besides the stupid tower defense minigame) was that you were trapped in the Animus.

I still haven't played this game. With the state of the industry being what it is I think I'll buy it on Cyber Monday.