Graphics are not a sign of improvement in a franchise.

I was a very large battlefield fan. Since Battlefield 1942 (which in itself wasn't even that new or innovative) there hasn't really been any ground breaking improvements in controls, gameplay or story telling. The frostbite engine used in BF3 is gorgeous and Origin is a pile of shit. New guns and addition shades of hardware rendered lighting is hardly a justification for demanding $60 yearly to keep up with an otherwise stale franchise.

Now in contrast I also love the Metroid series. From the original NES masterpiece to Super Metroid (admittedly one of my all time favourite video games) there wasn't a substantial improvement. But looking at the Metroid Prime series The evolution to a 3D environment and the expansion to a much more exploration based game system was a huge improvement. Then when this franchise was released on the wii it was the first time I ever felt a console FPS even came near the intuitive and fluid control scheme of a mouse and keyboard. But graphically not that much more impressive than its younger Gamecube brother.

Similar arguments can be made for franchises such as The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario. Both unstoppable titans of the video game industry. Where as there is no shortage to the number of generic FPS garbage available for all of the top of line hardware nowadays.