is it cheating to go back to the retro games?
Legend of Zelda A link to the past.
one of the best in the franchise still tbh, but coming from the NES titles... it was a massive improvement(like everything coming from the NES to SNES)

The sequel is probably my second favorite game ever, but I've never finished the first even though I have it. Will knock this one of my list thanks :)

Mass Effect 2 comes to mind - such a masterpiece, Pathfinder: WOTR too. 10/10 both.
Although I really like the firsts too, but the seconds are just better in almost every way.
Happy New Year to you as well!

Probably Assassin Creed 2 and Brotherhood. It felt like a huge step up after part 1. Teenage me, had his mind blown!

Portal 2, no doubt. The story and the addition of coop were the main factors.

Horizon Forbidden West, for recent plays. Armored Core 6. Mario Wonder is a fun change from the 2d platformer sameness of recent entries.

Most of my indie game sequels I have in my backlog still. Hoping good things for Darkside Detective 2.

State of Decay 2

Idk is a Life is Strange 2 a sequel, but I've cried a lot after completing this game storyline. This is a masterpiece

I liked Figment 2 more than the first one, but I wasn't uper fond of the first one so I don't know if that counts.

I guess the only game that i played this year that fits this category would be Need for Speed: Payback, really fun game, major improvement over the frankly atrocious NFS 2015.

I like Dishonored 2 better than the original, but both are very good;
McPixel 3 was a lot better than McPixel.

Fallout 2.
Donkey Kong 2.
Portal 2.
Team Fortress 2.
Assassins Creed 2 was better then 1, Valhalla i liked more then Origins...
Jedi Survivor

Oh hahaha, Ori and the Blind Forest. I sucked at this game so bad that I did not know where to progress the story.

In terms of a sequel, Metro: Last Light is as good as Metro 2033. Going to play Metro Exodus in 2025

I guess My Time at Sandrock is sort of a sequel 😅

The QoL difference coming straight from Portia was great! (Although I still like how green Portia was compared to the desert of Sandrock!)

Dragon Age 2 . Probably not the most popular choice, but its take on the story I did not find in any other game.

DA Origins was very good, but the 2? A real masterpiece on the story telling :)

Okay, you need to be (very) forgiving on the mechanics :p

Mass Effect 2, Postal 2, Fallout 2... Now I feel old xD

A lot of games people already said it here (like Portal 2), so let me go retro:
Sonic 2
Streets of Rage 2

GIRLS' FRONTLINE 2：EXILIUM, I played some of the first, but, didn't like it at all, however, this one has been great!

Fallout 2,(unpopular opinion NV too). Bioshock 2 (for gameplay, for atmosphere, hmm hard choice but still 1) and System shock 2

Portal 2, Fallout New Vegas, Postal 2, Unreal Tournament 2k4 to name just a few

This year? McPixel 3, it takes the idea of the original and runs with it to make it so much better. I legit think that it could even be studied as an example of game design where the creator chose to make a series of decision trees that are incredibly wide but usually very short and surface level and somehow pulling it off and making a really good game in the process. It's basically just one of those classic point and clicks where you just try different things to see all the gags but it commits so hard to the bit and has such density of gags/content that it ends up being very enjoyable to play.

But I also feel like cheating and mentioning Portal 2, which I played for the first time just a few months after release, because holy shit that's the definition of a sequel being way better than the original despite the first Portal already being a bit of a masterpiece. No wonder Valve stopped doing single player games for a while soon after Portal 2 because how do you live up to the expectations set up by such a great game.

I played all Witcher games back to back, and things only got better with each game.

Ori is loved by a couple of my friends. You think the second is even better than the first? That's a nice surprise to hear since the original is so well regarded!

If we're talking my favorite sequel of all time, I'd probably go with Pokemon Gold and Silver, as long as you don't count Yellow, or the original Red/Green, or the number of spinoffs like Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Snap that came out first. :P It took the Original Red/Blue and made them bigger and better. More story, more mechanics, and of course more Pokemon! :P Being able to go back to the Kanto region after beating the Elite 4 was kind of mind-blowing as a kid. The remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver also were stellar releases- but I think that's long past the sequel concept here :D

The best sequel played in 2024... was either We Love Katamari or We Were Here Forever. I think Katamari Damacy inches past We Love Katamari in my eyes, but they are both absolutely fantastic. We Were Here Forever is the fourth game of the series, so not a pure sequel, but it does keep adding to the complexity of the puzzles and lore. They're still making some fun two-player games. Swapping characters with your partner after a run-through is the best for this series, just to see what the other got to see.

Well if you forgive me going old school I'll have to say that personally System Shock 2, KotOR 2, Civilisation 2/4, Age Of Empires 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights 2 are a few of my equal/superior sequels.