Games that wasted a perfectly good premise/plot

laggyteabag

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Wasn't there are character just like that in Mass Effect 3? In the books a lot, shows up in the game and is just annoying and seemingly unimportant despite having to fight him a bunch?
That would be Kai Leng, the edgelord ninja.

The character himself aside, I guess I don't really mind it so much with ME3, because that game was always touted as the end of Mass Effect, so its not like we were expecting to see any of these characters again after that game's finale. On the other hand, Halo 4 was advertised as the next Halo trilogy/saga/whatever, so I guess there was the expectation that a lot of the stuff that showed up in Halo 4, would be around for a while - especially if they put so much effort into giving him a backstory.

Not to mention the importance of the Didact himself - or at least, what he was. He was a Forerunner, who were the dudes who created the titular Halo rings, and all of them died out 1000's of years ago when they fired the rings to destroy the Flood. You spend 10 years worth of Halo games tiptoeing around various Forerunner artefacts, and then one finally shows up, in the flesh, and then he dies after the first game. Just weird to me.
 
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Removing co-op in Viewtiful Joe 2. This was implied in the very first trailer for the game. The feature got taken out early, because Clover/Capcom could not figure out how to balance it right. Hence, you have the tag mechanics between Joe and Silvia. Can you imagine the crazy chaotic co-op combos formed in this game?

 
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DmC (2013) should have been a completely new IP. Take out and change most of the characters' names, call the game Limbo City, and the reception would not have been overly negative on the consumer and fandom side. The story would have still sucked though, but at least Capcom would have another hack n' slash action game that appeals more to casuals, but still challenging on its own merits. Capcom would have doubled their money easily.

The angels should have showed up in the story and not be relegated to just Eva and past mentioning. Would have been cool to fight the angels and see what they look like. Bayonetta 2 ending up accomplishing this of fighting both heaven and hell, so I have no complaints.
 
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Specter Von Baren

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DmC (2013) should have been a completely new IP. Take out and change most of the characters' names, call the game Limbo City, and the reception would not have been overly negative on the consumer and fandom side. The story would have still sucked though, but at least Capcom would have another hack n' slash action game that appeals more to casuals, but still challenging on its own merits. Capcom would have doubled their money easily.

The angels should have showed up in the story and not be relegated to just Eva and past mentionings. Would have been cool to fight the angels and see what they look like Bayonetta 2 ending up accomplishing this of fighting both heaven and hell, so I have no complaints.
Didn't even need to be a new IP, just say it's in the DMC universe but make it a story about different people. If you have an established universe then you don't HAVE to follow just one character all the time (It would also mean we could maybe get to see Lucia again in some other story).
 
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Didn't even need to be a new IP, just say it's in the DMC universe but make it a story about different people. If you have an established universe then you don't HAVE to follow just one character all the time (It would also mean we could maybe get to see Lucia again in some other story).
I see where you're coming from and the thought has crossed my mind before. Even on the DMC forums, there are those that felt it should have been a spin-off game either featuring Nero, or other Devil Hunter characters. Either option could have worked, though if it involved other DMC characters, the tone would have to be completely changed, and match the original series. If it was a different cast and had the exact same confused tone as the reboot, similar issues would have cropped up. Which is why I personally prefer they just make the game a new IP option. It's how Devil May Cry started. DMC1 was supposed to be Resident Evil 4, but that got changed because it was too actiony and not scary enough.
 
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Specter Von Baren

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I see where you're coming from in the thought has crossed my mind before. Even on the DMC forms, there are those that felt it should have been a spin-off game either featuring Nero, or other Devil Hunter characters. Either option could have worked, though if it involved other DMC characters, the tone would have to be completely changed, and match the original series. If it was a different cast and had the exact same confused tone as the reboot, similar issues would have cropped up. Which is why I personally prefer the just make the game a new IP option. It's how Devil May Cry started. DMC1 was supposed to be Resident Evil 4, but that got changed because it was to actiony and not scary enough.
I kinda miss some of the more horror-like aspects from the first game that remained after that transition. There's a real menace to a lot of the enemies in DMC1 and even 2 that you don't get in the other games. Even the mooks of the game, the Marionettes, had a creepy build up to them that made them feel like something threatening even while you mow them down throughout the rest of the game. By DMC 4 they seemed to have stopped giving that threatening air to the enemies. I think part of what made Dante's irreverent attitude so endearing in 1 was the fact that the enemies were being treated seriously and played straight. While 4 is certainly fun, it can at times feel a little too goofy, a little too "nudge nudge wink wink" I guess.
 
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I kinda miss some of the more horror-like aspects from the first game that remained after that transition. There's a real menace to a lot of the enemies in DMC1 and even 2 that you don't get in the other games. Even the mooks of the game, the Marionettes, had a creepy build up to them that made them feel like something threatening even while you mow them down throughout the rest of the game.
I get what you mean, and even I miss some the tone DMC1 had for the series. 2 while menacing in some regards is so boring that whatever horror is there does nothing, because nearly everything was so uninteresting.

DMC 4 they seemed to have stopped giving that threatening air to the enemies. While 4 is certainly fun, it can at times feel a little too goofy, a little too "nudge nudge wink wink" I guess.
This one I don't mind, the more goofy tone makes sense. Considering this is coming after 3, it's the logical conclusion. 3 has some horror elements, but they're so minor, you'll forget unless you bother to pay attention to the ambient soundtrack when not in battle. 4's tone makes sense when you realize that Dante is already powerful and surpassed his father. His romp in Fortuna was practically a vacation. Nero was already used to fighting demons as implied, and only shows fear when things involved Kyrie.

If it makes you feel any better, DMC5 brings back some of the horror elements with a lot of the demon designs. Urizen is most noticeable with this, and the starting bug enemies. All demons bleed red blood again, instead of "alien" style blood of 4 for most demons and bosses. I count that as a big plus.
 
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I get what you mean, and even I miss some the tone DMC1 had for the series. 2 while menacing in some regards is so boring that whatever horror is there does nothing, because nearly everything was so uninteresting.


This one I don't mind, the more goofy tone makes sense. Considering this is coming after 3, it's the logical conclusion. 3 has some horror elements, but they're so minor, you'll forget unless you bother to pay attention to the ambient soundtrack when not in battle. 4's tone makes sense when you realize that Dante is already powerful and surpassed his father. His romp in Fortuna was practically a vacation. Nero was already used to fighting demons as implied, and only shows fear when things involved Kyrie.

If it makes you feel any better, DMC5 brings back some of the horror elements with a lot of the demon designs. Urizen is most noticeable with this, and the starting bug enemies. All demons bleed red blood again, instead of "alien" style blood of 4 for most demons and bosses. I count that as a big plus.
I just like having a decent mix. DMC 3 is very well balanced with the boss interactions. Dante taking the piss out of Cerberus while Cerberus is being serious and getting angry with him, Agni and Rudra being two knuckle heads while Dante has no time for them, Nevan and him flirting while also trying to kill each other, Beowulf not even giving a shit what Dante has to say, just wants to kill him. Ah, I need to buy DMC 3 on my Switch sometime so I can relieve all that again.
 

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Ah, I need to buy DMC 3 on my Switch sometime so I can relieve all that again.
Immediately go to Free Style Mode. You will be able to Style Switch how you do in 4 and 5. I can almost never go back to the old versions again. Capcom needs to get off their asses, and put this version on all modern consoles now. There is split-screen Bloody Palace Co-op too. The Switch version of 3 even has in-game achievements. It's the same achievements/trophies from the HD versions, but it is still a nice bonus. Using the unlock all cheat code does disable them too, just like the HD version. A big heads up if you use the code.
 
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Hawki

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You might notice that I didn't even refer to the Didact as being a villain in the books, so im not entirely sure why you may think I did?
Must have misread something.

To be honest, I have always found the Forerunners to be more interesting as mysterious entities, rather than a fleshed out race with characters, and politics, and whatever else 343 has decided to explore with them.
Ditto.

In any case, my point was that I was surprised that 343 decided to explore the Didact as much as they did, only to have him show up as a villain in Halo 4, barely appear in that game, and then die at the end. Seems like a waste, to me.
I don't think that's really a problem per se. The Didact being fleshed out in EU material when compared to a relatively brief "main universe" appearance isn't out of bounds for such formats. Classic example is Boba Fett - a one note character in the films, one of the more fleshed out characters in the wider universe.

Weirdly for the Didact though, if you've only played the games, his actions in H4 make little sense. Clearly Cortana knows who he is, so at the very least, she's familiar with the H3 terminals, yet if you've read said terminals, there's absolutely nothing to suggest that the Didact described there is the same one portrayed here, in terms of personality. It's like H4 wants the player to remember the Didact from H3, but forget how he was actually portrayed.

And yes, you can unlock terminal equivalents in H4 that flesh things out, but they're not played in the actual game, so, yeah.

Wasn't there are character just like that in Mass Effect 3? In the books a lot, shows up in the game and is just annoying and seemingly unimportant despite having to fight him a bunch?
Kai Leng.

He's actually well fleshed out in the comic series, but there's a novel he turns up in where he's...well, he isn't "good," let's put it that way.
 

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The Bouncer had so much waste of potential in terms of combat and its environmental hazards and mechanics. You can even do weapon pickups as seen in the original trailer, but all got cut due to rushing it out for launch on the PS2. I appreciate the aesthetics, and it's "you're playing an interactive anime movie", but the gameplay does come up shallow. It still looks pretty, that's about it. The only other thing going forward is the multiplayer mode. Yet, there is no co-op in single player. That was going to be a feature at one point, but also got cut.

 
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The corrupt cops aspect of the Streets of Rage series never comes up in gameplay until 4. Before that point, it's only mentioned in the opening intro of the first game, and some dialogue/story implications in the Japanese version of 3. I am glad DOTEMU was able to tackle the theme this time and put to good use in the gameplay and story. The only problem I have with 4 story wise, is that we never know what happened to Skate, or what he looks like as an adult. Not counting the two pixel versions of him, he never gets a name drop.

I get not being redundant with characters, but there could have been several ways to make his play style different from his niece, Cherry. I would gladly trade Estella for Skate as a playable character. It would close that loose end, and you would have the whole family together in a 3-4 player co-op session! Maybe he might show up in 5.

Extra Rant - No Onihime and Yasha showing up as bosses. Big miss there too! They wanted to, but the twins had to be cut due to development cycle.
 

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Well, I just finished Dear Esther for the first time and it has brought something to my attention I have come to hate. That being games that mistake being vague for mystery. "Open to interpretation" does not mean "tell the viewer so little as to be effectively nothing."

It's really annoying when a game has a plot where nothing is ever stated definitively. This creates a atmosphere of "what the hell is going on?" where it isn't deserved. The whole point of a mystery is to figure out what is happening, but games like this rob the player of any ability to actually solve that mystery and thus the mystery is meaningless and unsatisfying.
 

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Well, I just finished Dear Esther for the first time and it has brought something to my attention I have come to hate. That being games that mistake being vague for mystery. "Open to interpretation" does not mean "tell the viewer so little as to be effectively nothing."

It's really annoying when a game has a plot where nothing is ever stated definitively. This creates a atmosphere of "what the hell is going on?" where it isn't deserved. The whole point of a mystery is to figure out what is happening, but games like this rob the player of any ability to actually solve that mystery and thus the mystery is meaningless and unsatisfying.
That's my take really. You spend like 90 min walking through some dreary scenery, looking at weird shit written on the walls and such, while listening to the narrator ramble on and it feels like there's like no point to any of it by the end.I have a fairly high tolerance for games with little gameplay if the atmosphere is compelling but this just didn't deliver on any front.
 
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Everything about Ninja Gaiden 3 (2012) screams misfire, and catering to an audience that had no interest in the first place. The game wants to examine the moral ramifications of Ryu's actions, but either does little with them, have him do a killing similar to Kratos (making him completely out of character), and try to absolve him with a statement that says "Don't think about it".


The Grip of Murder Curse is nothing special as not much is done with it gameplay wise, other than dragging Ryu around as slowly as possible in the vanilla version. In Razor's Edge, it takes him to some murder zone where he kills more people... In a game where you're already fighting tons of dudes! Why Team Ninja didn't turn the curse in to a Devil Trigger? It would have made the gameplay so much more interesting. A super mode that heals you, at the cost of losing health constantly whenever you turn it on, would have been amazing. I know that is not how DT works, but either the standard version, or the alternative would have fit the gameplay either way, than the final product.
 
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I distinctly remember being hyped for COD: Ghosts. Especially after this trailer:

In my stupid, innocent, late-teen self, this trailer was so badass, send chills down my spine, and made me hype for the badass secret missions that I'd be getting into.....
Too bad the funding was wasted on fish AI and side of a building collapsing.

I used to love AC games up until Unity. It really felt the games were getting worse, and I was kinda done. THEN this trailler dropped

I screamed. Ancient Egypt, one of my favorite civilizations in human history, AND I get to see where the order started? SIGN ME UP!!!!!! And then I played the game. And I was disappointed with the gameplay and story. Little did I know this was the beginning of such games....
 

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I distinctly remember being hyped for COD: Ghosts. Especially after this trailer:

In my stupid, innocent, late-teen self, this trailer was so badass, send chills down my spine, and made me hype for the badass secret missions that I'd be getting into.....
Too bad the funding was wasted on fish AI and side of a building collapsing.

I used to love AC games up until Unity. It really felt the games were getting worse, and I was kinda done. THEN this trailler dropped

I screamed. Ancient Egypt, one of my favorite civilizations in human history, AND I get to see where the order started? SIGN ME UP!!!!!! And then I played the game. And I was disappointed with the gameplay and story. Little did I know this was the beginning of such games....
Still not as dumb as Valhala which has shown just how divorced the series is now from its roots. There is not a single people in the history of mankind I associate less with stealth, subterfuge, and quiet assassinations than the Vikings. These are the people that said you only get to go to the good afterlife if you die bravely in battle and you picked THEM as your next focal point for Assassins Creed? If they were scraping the bottom of the barrel, ok, I'd get it at least, but they still haven't even had Japanese shinobi in the series last I checked, they can't be THAT hard up for locations and ancient peoples.