Games that wasted a perfectly good premise/plot

[Dalisclock]

You have the power to make Halo 3 the final part of the story especially considering it had a definitive ending. You can personally just disregard things like Indiana Jones in my world is a trilogy. TLOU works perfectly fine as a standalone piece, TLOU2 can't ruin it for example, you can just hand wave it away if you don't like it.

Totally agree here. It's fiction. You can easily decide you accept certain parts and not others Hell, the Metal Gear series pretty much decided Portable Ops didn't happen considering Miller mentioned it all of once and referred to it as "A mess"...and it nor it's events are mentioned again.

I have a similar policy considering the whole bit about "Big Boss helped found the Patriots but he left because of the Snake Clones" prattle in 4. It helps that there's no supporting evidence for this in PW or MGSV. It's easier to write off most of her speech as lies or being high on paint fumes or something.

 

[dreng3]

Currently playing Mass Effect Andromeda, and some of the visuals are pretty good, gameplay is a bit spotty in some places(the cover system in particular and the inability to effectively equip more than 3 active powers at once), but what really destroys the game is the broken pacing(don't give me quests I cannot complete yet without telling me that I cannot complete them, don't automatically lock me out of quests when I progress the main story without telling me, and don't make me run around collecting quests for 30 minutes after which I run into the wilderness, complete them and then have to return to the wilderness for another quest that just opened up), and the wasted potential.

For a game that tried to be fairly woke I haven't seen any real or good exploration of colonialism, and they somehow manage to make the aliens seem less alien than some of those from the original trilogy.

 

[Dalisclock]

For a game that tried to be fairly woke I haven't seen any real or good exploration of colonialism, and they somehow manage to make the aliens seem less alien than some of those from the original trilogy.

I got the impression that the writing for ME:A wasn't particularly good. I mean, Ryders only qualification to be the next pathfinder was apparently His/Her dad had the job and apparently nobody feels this reeks of Nepotism.

 

[dreng3]

I got the impression that the writing for ME:A wasn't particularly good. I mean, Ryders only qualification to be the next pathfinder was apparently His/Her dad had the job and apparently nobody feels this reeks of Nepotism.

Short answer, probably. Long answer, the father directly fuses the AI necessary for the role of Pathfinder with his child in order to ensure the survival of said child, since the AI can help regulate biological functions and the child is exposed to a bad atmosphere on a planet. That way the AI is permanently hooked up to Ryder, and since he/she already has some specialized training (I know that the female version is a recon specialist of some sort), it seems permissible. And god help us if the chick obsessed with asari were to be left in charge, she seems like she would be a horrible leader.

 

[BrawlMan]

I got another one. It's less plot, and more a wasted or unused character design for Streets of Rage 4. Dotemu, you should have used these characters for some of your enemies. Also, you should have brought back Onihime and Yasha. They would have been perfect for the dual boss fight in stage 8, instead of the double Diva fight.

Spoiler: SOR 4 Concept Art

The last picture did not become a complete waste, because it was repurposed for Dylan. They should have still used the Japanese biker/deliquent, as they would have fit the game fine.

 

[Drathnoxis]

The Sexy Brutale. The premise bases itself around time loops, but both the gameplay and story make spectacularly poor use of this theme. The ending twist is just plain stupid to boot.

Murdered: Souls Suspect. There's a lot of potential around being a ghost detective, Ghost Trick is sufficient to prove that, M:SS however mishandles the concept completely and makes the gameplay mostly center around incredibly repetitive stealthy combat sections with out of place demons.

Detroit: Become Human. There was so much potential in the buddy cop relationship between Conner and Hank. The game opens on their quest to uncover the reason that androids are going deviant. It was interesting and the chemistry between the two was so very good. The game eventually drops the investigation entirely in exchange for hamfisted Viva la Revolution!

IMO, that's Red Steel 2 for the Wii, great premise and art style, rather shallow story and somewhat mediocre gameplay.

And what's worse is that a sequel could have addressed these issues, but alas, the franchise was made with the motion controls of a Wiimote in mind, so Ubisoft is gonna have to make a reboot of this:

I agree, Red Steel 2 had a lot of potential. Red Steel 2 was actually what led me to the Escapist in the first place. I had just finished it and was looking for some good criticism to corroborate my feelings when I stumbled on the Zero Punctuation review for it, and I've been here ever since.

 

[stroopwafel]

Death Stranding. Loved it's themes of isolation and need for connection. The world itself was also really interesting and the landscapes were gorgeous and told a story in their own.

Even if the story itself wasn't very good(more of that over the top, convoluted nonsense; does that guy ever grow up?) there is no denying the motion capture and cinematography was the best in any game ever. The traversal mechanics were great but the repetitive nature of the game and uneventful 'gameplay' with constant navigation of tedious menus ultimately undermined the entire experience. Were this a 10-hour game not mired in pretense it would have been very good. I also think they went the wrong direction with the multiplayer aspect which according to Kojima should give you a sense of not being alone in this world but for me it only turned a beatiful landscape into a cluttered mess.

What Death Stranding could have used was subtlety but ofcourse Kojima has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I'd rather would have experienced what that loneliness implicated after the events of the death stranding and how the rebuilding of society was still an entire excision of the past with all the monumental loss that entailed. You could have that same theme of humanity picking itself up after an all consuming calamity but still have that cloud of regret hanging over it of an entire species having lost it's history. That and the gorgeous icelandic landscapes would give the earth an almost alien feel.

If they left the origin of the death stranding ambiguous instead of the ridiculous plot with BT's, 'Princess Beach' and Kojima's Hollywood friends and made this a drastically shorter experience it would have been truly unique and special. I don't think games necessarily need to be 'fun' in it's moment to moment gameplay but there are a few prerequisites; it shouldn't be longer than 10-15 hours and it needs to intrigue in other ways. The indie game Observation is a good example of this. Death Stranding also has these hints of brilliance but is unfortunately mired in too many issues and demands too much time from the player for these interesting parts to be engaging.

 

[Gordon_4]

I got the impression that the writing for ME:A wasn't particularly good. I mean, Ryders only qualification to be the next pathfinder was apparently His/Her dad had the job and apparently nobody feels this reeks of Nepotism.

Andromeda is a bit of a roller coaster in that there's lots of ups and downs. Some parts of it are good, others decidedly not so. Certain changes to the combat and the total lack of classes and related skills tree are frustrating to deal with. As is not being able to direct the squad. As is usual with Mass Effect, the human squad members are the least interesting: Cora keeps bitching about her biotics and how strong they are and how that puts people off: and all the time I can hear Jack sneering her best "*****, please". Liam is.....well frankly he's a stupid cock-up artist whom if the opportunity presented itself, I would space. So again we're left to the Krogan, Turian and Asari characters to do the heavy lifting. Drack is, well he's a Krogan but he's well voiced and designed and I dig that he decides he's gonna be the chef. Vetra (the Turian) is fun in that she's a wheeler-dealer character who would probably be more at home on Omega, and while lots of people don't like Peebee I think she's okay. My other favourite is Kallo, he's the pilot of the Tempest - the not-Normandy - and a Salarian from the design team. He gots a lot of funny dialogue especially if Sarah Ryder flirts with Suvi, the science officer.


I actually think the main thrust of Andromeda was a really good idea: exploring the unknown and using a generational ship to do it. And you have to allow that the crew aren't all going to be military professionals like they were (more or less) in the main trilogy. There's also supposed to be a sense of awe and wonder for that same reason as opposed to the dread and military grit that justifiably informed the tone of previous entries.

Short answer, probably. Long answer, the father directly fuses the AI necessary for the role of Pathfinder with his child in order to ensure the survival of said child, since the AI can help regulate biological functions and the child is exposed to a bad atmosphere on a planet. That way the AI is permanently hooked up to Ryder, and since he/she already has some specialized training (I know that the female version is a recon specialist of some sort), it seems permissible. And god help us if the chick obsessed with asari were to be left in charge, she seems like she would be a horrible leader.

I think both the Ryder siblings have SOME military training, but unlike Shepard - or indeed their own father - they were never in such exalted ranks as the N7s or other special forces. They seemed like they signed up to get some experience, did their four (five?) years required by enlistment and then took their discharge to head across the galaxy.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Left Behind DLC to The Last of Us.

Ask yourself (those who have actually played it obviously); What does this DLC add story wise? Nothing. There's no new revelations, nothing that makes us reflect on the main game in a different way, nothing. The only new thing we find out is that Ellie's gay, which changes nothing about her character or the story. We also find out she had a crush on Riley, but seeing as Riley is dead in the main game and barely mentioned this too doesn't add anything.

I would've been somewhat okay with it adding little if anything to the main game if it was just them having fun and goofing off, and while that does happen it gets undercut every so often by the game switching focus to Ellie in Winter trying to get supplies for a mortally injured Joel. And that's where the biggest problem with this DLC arises. That Winter section should never have been in the DLC, and was probably only put there to have some action. Not only does it take away from time we could be spending with Ellie and Riley and getting a feel for their relationship, it also clashes with the main game.

The Winter Chapter in the main game is supposed to be Ellie's baptism by fire, the first time she's alone facing off against killers, not just having to protect herself but Joel as well. But the DLC shows she already killed like 25+ people before she even meets David and James, which the main game highly suggests are the first humans Ellie's come across since their escape from the university. And then there's the fact that the DLC wInter section places more of a spotlight on Joel's injury, which only highlights how impossible it would've been for Ellie to patch that up. This was already unbelieveable in the main game, but there it only shows Joel getting injured and then him lying in bed and sutured up weeks later, placing the emphasis more on Ellie's dedication to save him than on the actual practicallity of it being possible. The DLC however muddles that up by showing Ellie awkwardly taping a T-shirt over Joel's gapping stomach wound.

And then there's the absolutely wasted potential of not even getting to see Riley's death. This could've been such a powerful moment for Ellie that also could've re-textualized a lot of scenes from the main game, like that one in the ranch house in Fall where Joel accuses her of not knowing what real loss is. But instead we're left with them just sitting together while Riley says her line that we already heard Ellie say at the end of the main game. So again, what was gained here?

This DLC should've just been two and a half hours of Ellie and Riley at the mall, no action, and we should've seen Riley's death and Ellie's reaction to it.

 

[happyninja42]

To all of you HALO fans, question about the HALO ODST game.

I've never played any HALO game, but I've been tangentially familiar with the surface level stuff of it. None of it really got my attention...until THIS trailer.


Now I personally think this trailer is just badass in it's own right, as a short film kind of thing, but I won't lie, it got me interested in the game. As well as that Birth of a SPARTAN short video too.


I really enjoyed the atmosphere they were trying to convey, and it was the first time i even remotely gave a shit about HALO. I never actually bought the games, as I didn't have an XBOX at that time, but also because I assumed the games would NOT even remotely live up to the trailers.

So, to those of you who played the game associated with these trailers, did they waste a perfectly good premise? Because I get the feeling they did.

 

[BrawlMan]

Contra Rouge Corps. The character designs I love, but everything else is shit! What a big waste!

 

[Dalisclock]

Contra Rouge Corps. The character designs I love, but everything else is shit! What a big waste!

I forgot this was even a thing. All I remember was this was the game that JSS described as "It strives for mediocrity and doesn't even achieve that".

 

[Brokencontroller]

Im gonna be that guy that has to through in every single Souls game. Lore and world are not story. These games have incredible settings that could have some awesome stories to tell within. But instead they just give you lore and expect that to be enough. They should make a spin off series that play out more like real rogs with storylines that actually happen to your character.

 

[EvilRoy]

Came across another one the other day.

The Council:
So, its a game that starts as a social-spy political thriller book in game form, and then turns into a crazy story about how demons secretly control the world and run everything like the illuminati.

And like... The political thriller part is good - I don't think it was ever going to sell gangbusters, but if you're the kind of person who likes cold war era spy novels then this game would have been good for you. Half the game would be good for you. You go to an island chasing after your mother because you and her are part of a secret society that opposes the illuminati (basically) and you deal with a bunch of major political figures who are basically making choices about how the world is going to turn for the next decade or so - who will win what war, what reparations will be paid, and so on. It didn't exactly light my loins aflame, particularly the voice acting is kind of painful, but I can see why a person would like this game. Its less action-Bond more sneaky-Bond if that makes sense.

And the weird reptilian turn the plot takes is good. Okay, its a little bonkers at times, but bonkers games can be fun. Demons exist, they're immortal and they direct human civilization according to their long term plans. There's a schism in a very aged demon family and they're going different ways on how to rule the world. The humans you interact with aren't fully aware of this but you have to work with them and pull strings to either oppose or ally with the demon who is stirring shit locally.

Both of those game ideas, while not likely to sell a million copies, are pretty solid and you could potentially have some good fun with it. But they decided to start with one played completely straight for hours and then have a twist where the second one is real. So basically you start playing the game thinking you're gonna be dealing with rich/powerful humans, politics and sneaking around, and then the reptilians come out. But since they play it completely straight if you came in looking for banana sandwiches game story you would start off really bored for like five or more hours, and if you came looking for The Spy Who Came in From the Cold then at around five hours you're gonna be really pissed.

 

[Worgen]

Most Final Fantasy games. They tend to like to start somewhat grounded in war and political intrigue and by the end you are on the moon to kill your second god of the night who might or might not be your secret father.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Most Final Fantasy games. They tend to like to start somewhat grounded in war and political intrigue and by the end you are on the moon to kill your second god of the night who might or might not be your secret father.

But OTOH they’re simply living up to the reason they’re not called “Final Reality”.

 

[Xprimentyl]

But OTOH they’re simply living up to the reason they’re not called “Final Reality”.

Seriously, that is some funny shit right there. Literally laughed out loud.

 

[Worgen]

But OTOH they’re simply living up to the reason they’re not called “Final Reality”.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I'd offer Burnout Paradise. It literally scraped almost everything that had made the franchise popular and ultimately killed it. I know it's been 14 years and I should let it go, but every time I even think of that game...

 

[BrawlMan]

Killer Is Dead - I still like the game and the story, but it feels like a 26 episode anime split down to 13 episodes. We don't explore enough in the world, and there are just things that happen. The characters are fine, but it's pretty obvious that there was a rush in production given all the concepts they didn't get a chance to use. We only get partial information and here and there, and minor dialogue about what's going on in the world.

Kill La Kill IF - I love this game; it is one of the best arena brawlers ever made, but it could have used a few more stages and a few more characters. Even with the DLC that became free on day one, it is not enough. There's only the story mode, versus mode, and a few survival modes. The online is dead, and there is not much else. What sucks is that you can't play all the characters immediately, you have to play through story mode first, to unlock all the characters. The game won't even let you go to versus mode on your first playthrough until you least beat a couple chapters. Who does that in an arena brawler? A majority of those characters should have been unlocked at the start. It's just senseless padding. The padding goes by quick, but it still senseless that it didn't need to be there in the first place. I do wish the game was more of a standard single player action game and that each of these characters mechanics would work better in linear level design structure. I will give the game credit for bringing back all the English voice actor and back and the amount of attention to detail and fan-service.

No More Heroes III - Making Henry go completely crazy and bad guy. Even with TSA taken into account, it's completely out of character and shows that Suda had no idea what to do with the character, even though everything had been resolved between Henry and Travis. Then they go when do a crazy retcon where they turn them into Broly, and it turns out that Travis, Henry, and Jean are all fully blood related and no longer 1/2 siblings. Which makes the retcon, all the more sqiuckier, when taking the first game's twist into account. Also, Shinobu and Bad Girl were going to be playable characters. They're supposed to be multiple player who characters, but that all got axed due to budget and timing. This explains why Travis only has the one morphing weapon, but a larger move kit.

Viewtiful Joe 2 - it ends on a hook ending that's never followed up on. Clover studios got shut down, and everyone else knows the rest by this point. Capcom this is why you don't assume and try to make your games in to the next Mega Man franchise or whatever. You think you're going to sell over billions of dollars, and assume high expectations. Not when your fire and lay off all of your internal studio, that's been helping you make these games. Before anyone starts, Double Trouble does not count. Red Hot Rumble is a spin-off game based off of the animated show.