Personally I think sequels are a great thing and a bad thing, but mostly a great thing.



Let me explain.



With a sequel, the dev team who created the first team has generally less pre-production and can delve right into making the game. More or less they know what they want to do, and sometimes even pick up from where the last game left off in terms of adding features or new game play mechanics that the team couldn't add in the first game because of a lack of resources or time, or both.



Moreover the dev team has the added benefit of having feedback from the fans, the actual people who played the first game and incorporate their feedback to make a better sequel. Ass Creed to Ass Creed II comes to mind. Uncharted 1 to Uncharted 2 is another example.



Can anyone just imagine what the sequel to Horizon 2 will be like? No more making up the lore, and world, no more finding new technologies that'll power the game, no more finding out what the actual gameplay loop is going to be like. With a hypothetical Horizon 2, Guerilla can just focus on making the game. This they left out, that they left out and they find a way to add it into the sequel.



I think sequels are a positive because devs build upon the foundation they created with the first iteration and have the opportunity to make a better game.



To be fair to The Coalition and Rod, the reason Gears 4 feels so "samey" is because they are a new dev team making their first game together. I've also noticed Rod and other team members in video or written interviews saying the same thing about "let's do it right before we do it different" which is completely valid. They wanna make sure they can make a "Gears" game before they start putting their own twist on it.



Regarding SSM, I have absolute faith that they'll deliver an amazing God of War experience. With this title they can still do a God of War game but with a different spin and this I welcome because working on the same game over and over has to fatigue some devs teams. Granted it is another God of War title but for all intents and purposes it's a different game. Certainly doesn't look like it'll play the same.