In defense of OP, sequels tend to be derivative across the board (film, games, music). Nintendo is just the odd one out. I don't know if this is maybe also a c

In defense of OP, sequels tend to be derivative across the board (film, games, music). Nintendo is just the odd one out. I don't know if this is maybe also a cultural difference, but in the case of Nintendo innovation is more focused on gameplay than on characters, universes/world-building, and storyline. In the light of gameplay innovation, every (major) Mario or Zelda title, among others, is completely different and arguably quite innovative. Basically, if Halo were a Nintendo title, it would've had a minimal story, repeated over and over, but cross and invent gameplay genres instead of fundamentally remaining a typical (but excellent!) FPS.