Well, I'm not trying to be rude, here, but that's a matter of sheer opinion, which you're entitled to, but the rest of us who think Abe's Exoddus is actually a great game are also entitled to ours.

I get your points, but I can't stop wondering whether you're falling victim to nostalgia and/or "sequel hate for hate's sake". It's cool to diss sequels, we all know that, to be *that guy who played the game when it was worth it, before all these mindless mediocre sequels started coming out", and if this was a game series like that, I would be on your side, but the fact is that most people, myself included, think Abe's Exoddus did bring something to the table, even if it was just more of the same. In many ways, well, it is, but what's wrong with that, as it's being more of arguably one of the best puzzle platformers ever made?

Sure, Abe 2 has a lot more puzzles and situations relying on reflexes than Abe's Oddysee, but it's essentially a continuation of a superb game, that did add a few things, such as more carefully animated backgrounds, more detailed 3D models, the ability to GameSpeak to enemies, when possessing one of them, the fact Mudokons now have different moods and emotional states, just to name a few improvements people tend to dismiss altogether just because Exoddus is a "dreaded sequel".

I would have understood your complaint if you were talking about, let's say, the Silent Hill series, that started out with three stellar titles, then had a great spin-off that should have never been branded a Silent Hill game, since it makes "die-hard" SH fans disregard it altogether, when the fact is that it is actually a great game in its own right, then just went all the way downhill. But complaining about a superb, excellent game like Abe's Exoddus, by saying one should stick with the first one, when both of them are amazing titles, is taking your opinion to a level that borders... well, borders something bad, let's just say it like this, in order for me to keep things civil.

I say, if you can, buy both, but if you can't, buy either one of them, they're both great. Abe's Exoddus does have a few graphical and gameplay improvements over its predecessor, unlike what the OP was saying, albeit small ones at that, and it offers a slightly more polished experience, in my opinion, but they're both essentially the same game, and if you can only afford one of them, you won't do any wrong by picking either one over the other.

[EDIT] I don't know how I let this one pass: a MAJOR improvement Exoddus brought over Oddysee was the inclusion of the much asked for Quick Saves, giving you the power to basically create your own checkpoint whenever you wanted, and making the early Oddworld titles' try-and-error formula less of a chore. It's also true that Exoddus lacks Elum (a pet/sidekick/mount of sorts that Abe can ride in Odysee, for those not in the know), but I, for one, didn't miss him all that much.

It would have been worse if they'd shoehorned Elum into the game. He didn't belong in any of the scenarios.

Well of course this is an opinion, but I agree. Not necessarily for the reasons you listed though. I thought Oddeesy, was better for it's tone and atmosphere. The whole point of the odd world games was to make oddworld itself an interesting out of this world experience for the player and that's exactly what Odyssey did.

Exodus, on the other hand kind of ruined things. Yes it was longer, you could quick save, posses more things and talk to more Mudokons at once. However, everything we've seen before. The game has a real been there done that feel to it. Ont top of that, the light hearted tone didn't suite the game. Molluck from the first game was more interesting and menacing then all the other ones put together and the voice action and writing feels like something you'd see in a kids cartoon.

Oddysee was the more mature and more engaging game with something new to show you for every level you went to.

Between the 2, I did enjoy the first more.

However, had the 2nd been identical to the first, well....why bother with a sequel then? IMO, they had a story to tell, and they told it. I enjoyed the whole series, but I will always have a soft spot for the first one. Not knowing what to expect, the quirky puzzles, characters, and gameplay...that did make it special. But I think you're doing yourself a dis-service to just dismiss the 2nd, or any of them really. Even Stranger's Wrath - my least favorite of the series, I'm not a huge FPS fan - still was innovative and certainly had plenty of fun moments.

Funny, I think the second game was better and improved upon the first game in many aspects. Compared to all the new stuff you can do in Exoddus, all the new creatures, which you also can posses, the Elum isn't really that relevant. It just offers more gameplay versatility, overall and it's MUCH longer. The music is better, too - much more athmospheric, I think. Also it has more cinematics which are AWESOME. I used to love watching the FMVs as a kid.

Late to the party I know.... But if memory serves, didn't Lorne Lanning and co. always view Exoddous as a continuation of the first game rather than a sequel? I think their original intention had been to move on to new stories, settings and heroes (like they did with Stranger) but popular demand led to game "1.5" in the series. I suppose these days its the sort of thing that would be done as DLC.

Of course, the "Oddworld Quintology" never really happened as planned so who knows what counts as what now!

That's exactly right. They also had only 9 months of developement time for Exoddus, so they were in crunch mode the whole time. Lorne stated himself he doesn't particularly have the best memories about Exoddus' developement, but still they managed to release a superior game in every aspect.

I don't know if they've completely abandoned their plans for the Quintology yet, they're just being REALLY slow about getting it through. :P Remember after the financial failure of Stranger's Wrath and being dropped by their publisher they just about closed their doors and wanted to abandon gaming to make movies. It was very sad for me to see at the time. But now the days of well-respected game development veterans working independently are here and so far have their remake New 'n' Tasty out (WHEN WILL IT COME TO PC DAMMIT) and Munch's Oddysee HD, which I don't know if it's out yet or not, if it is it's probably for one of Sony's consoles, and so the possibilities of moving on to "Squeek's Oddysee" or perhaps even that M-rated title where you're a violent sheep-herder dying of rabies (what was it called again?) are more likely possibilities than they were before. I have no idea what the last two "Oddysee" titles were supposed to be but I hope they can get their Quintology, which has been nearly 20 years in stasis, finished, which I've eagerly awaited for to come out since getting the first two Oddworlds on the PSone before everyone dies or the company actually does close down for some reason, which I hope won't be happening at least anytime soon. :(

Oh and I've always had a hard time deciding which of the two games I prefer. I've loved them both equally in their own ways. I think I might slightly prefer Exoddus though. Oddysee has better and more immersive art and environmental design, generally better music, and is of course more of a challenge, mostly due to the lack of Quick Saves and that hidden areas are all unmarked (you have to figure out by observation and intuition where hidden areas to save all the Mudokons are located whereas Exoddus helped you out a bit by marking a screen with a pile of green bottles). But Exoddus is MUCH more refined in every aspect and generally has much more of everything compared to the first game. The different kinds of Mudokons you must rescue and the strategies/techniques you must use to deal with all of them, all the different enemies and things you can possess (including EXPLOSIVE MOBILE FARTS!) and different enemies in general, bigger environments with more involved puzzles, and FLEECHES! Which are probably some of the scariest enemies I've encountered in any game. Those motherfuckers are relentless. And it still looks pretty damn majestic with some nice ambient tunes too.

Munch's Oddysee, back when I had it for the Xbox (it was one of the first games I got for the system when I got an Xbox, along with Halo and... something else maybe? Or not?) was soooo incredibly disappointing. Nothing that I TRULY loved about the games was retained in any way in this game, instead replaced with either nothing or at least nothing interesting. The cinematics were still entertaining but that's it. The levels/environments were just incredibly boring. Either outdoor areas with flat green ground with some hills and fog making up the background, or overly dark and claustrophobic indoor areas consisting seemingly of a single, steely color. The only thing that was kinda cool was being able to gather a "Mudokon militia" and order them to attack Sligs and other enemies to get through an area. Otherwise, bleh. I am curious to know what the HD remake's all about though. Maybe the game is better than I remembered and my expectations were too high. I still haven't played Stranger's Wrath, nor have I, of course, New 'n' Tasty. Stranger's Wrath seems fun, but not in the Oddworld way, and New 'n' Tasty I'm especially excited for when (if?) it hits the PC.

Well when the first two Oddworld is concerned. Exodus was incredible and Oddysee was remarkably flawed and unfortunately despite the incredible story and presentation plays like shit!