Shout out to Dragon Quarter. Really underated title, absolutely turned the series on its head. I miss the series.

@FallenGrace I'm playing through it currently and is what inspired the list, lol. It's so neat!! I've heard some bellyaching online regarding its strange saving mechanics but I've been getting along with it perfectly fine, to say nothing of the fascinating way it compliments/engages with the narrative's themes and events. Absolutely a phenomenal game.

I came in here ready to shout "SIMON'S QUEST" at the top of my lungs, because I literally beat that game twice over the weekend. Horrifically misunderstood, and arguably the most memorable of all the NES games. Love that it's an antonym to everything the original was to the point I almost want to call it an artistic piece.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Metal Gear Rising (It's not a black sheep when it comes to popularity but its so different than the rest of the Metal Gear games), Lost Planet 3 (It's a flawed game, but its strengths are at complete odds with the actiony gameplay of the previous games.), and Mafia 3.

Hard to say how much of a deviation it is, considering there isn't much of a Chrono series, but Chrono Cross is a very good example of utilizing stark difference to compliment a previous work's ideas. Fantastic game.

Thanks guys. I've added the ones I can personally vouch for.

@Vee Simon's Quest rocks!! I've been shouting this as loud as I can ever since middle school/high school, when I noticed tons of video gamists suddenly regurgitating the tired talking points of famous YouTubers. The people I saw saying these things usually never even played the game, or played it with the mindset of seeing what these YouTubers told them to see. It's a sickness. I'm glad it's been getting reevaluated recently.

I like it when a game series tries something new, even if it fails at least there's more variety within that franchise and sometimes the risk really pays off. Some changes in these games leave more of an impact than the alternatives to me.

I tried to think of more that could qualify and I can only think of Sword of Mana (Shin'yaku: Seiken Densetsu) at the moment. Online reviewers hate it for remaking and changing aspects based on the orignal GB game, but I've always liked it more. a case could probably made for several of the 2000s era sequels too

Possibly Castlevania Legacy of Darkness, Megaman & Bass, or Star Soldier N64. Franchise veterans hate these sequels but I've always enjoyed them

@JetWolfEX Remakes are dangerous territory... Then we could star calling, I dunno, that Bonk remake on the GameCube a black sheep for that series. It's a slippery slope!

What's black sheep-ish bout Star Soldier 64? I'm looking around online and can't find anyone mentioning any notable mechanical shifts, and I'm not familiar enough with the series to detect anything myself.

That's a great point, there's so many remakes that make those kinds of changes

Perhaps I didn't think that one through, it's not that much different than the previous games. It's more of a change in pacing and style not as much mechanical, it's not different enough to be on a list like this