I hated the first spinoff/prequel (Old Blood) and then they delivered a tremendous mainline sequel in New Colossus.
I think this will be the case with the next mainline sequel, for sure.
I feel the complete opposite. Old Blood (do not confuse this with Youngblood) was awesome and actually pretty campy, it did not take itself too seriously. Plus the sawed off shotgun was done so well.
The New Colossus failed for me on everything. The level design, the hit feedback from weapons, the pace breaking shit at the base, a bunch of really unnecessary "world building" and focus on too many characters. While not a great game, I actually preferred the "game" part of Youngblood over it. Shit was a huge cringe fest with the dialogue though.
The new Order was simple, but brutal and a little bit cliche. But that's what worked for it. It felt like a cheesy action film from the 90s.