Has a followup ever changed how you felt about the original?

The Harrison Ford Fugitive film from the early 90s was one of my favorite films at the time. While the mystery aspect of the film — and to a lesser extent, the action sequences — probably haven’t aged well, the best part for me was the U.S. Marshals chasing him, led by Tommy Lee Jones. They were hilarious riffing off each other, and Jones’ deadpan delivery was perfection. So when they announced a pseudo-sequel (to be titled U.S. Marshalls, naturally) featuring them chasing a new fugitive played by Wesley Snipes I was all-in. I was even able to score a free preview ticket before it released! I couldn’t wait.

It was awful — like, legit one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. And not only was it bad by itself, it totally ruined The Fugitive for me. I don’t want to spoil it (although you shouldn’t see it anyway) but a couple choices in U.S. Marshals make its predecessor a lot less fun. It makes me wish they never made the film in the first place.

Not every reevaluation I make is necessarily negative; sometimes you learn something that completely sheds new light on the past. Consider Sylvanas working for the Jailer — while it seemed to come out of left field, it totally fixes some of her more ridiculous actions. The Burning of Teldrassil was an atrocity that actually made little sense strategically until you find out what her true motives are. Unfortunately the Sylvanas novel indicates that her abandonment of the flank at the first assault on the Burning Shore took place before she had cast her lot with the Jailer so I still view it negatively, but later actions make a lot more sense now.

Another example would be the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. A character reveal in the most recent novel completely undid a criticism I’ve had for years, and it was clearly planned for a long time as all the clues were there; what I had thought of as an author retconning an initial impression turned out to be central to the plot. It wasn’t just that a flaw was fixed, but that the flaw was revealed to be part of a larger thread hidden in the fabric of the series.

The reason I’m bringing all this up is because I just finished Operation: Aigis, the sequel DLC for Persona 3: Reload (one of my candidates for Game of the Year). Also known as “The Answer”, Operation: Aigis takes place a few weeks after P3R and does what it says — gives the players some answers regarding the ending. And no, O:A didn’t ruin P3R for me the way U.S. Marshals ruined The Fugitive, but it does change how I feel about the original in several ways. Unfortunately since it just came out I can’t really discuss it without spoilers, and I’m honestly not even sure whether it helps or hurts my impression of P3R but it definitely forced me to reconsider some aspects. It’s interesting to think that P3R could end up not being my GOTY — or cementing its status as frontrunner — because of a DLC that came out later.

What about you? Is there a sequel or DLC that changed how you felt about a prior work? Do you welcome expansions of your favorite works because it lets you spend more time with them, or are you fearful they could poison your feelings?