It’s becoming all too common these days to see games release in a less-than-finished state. This could be because of cut content, bugs, or just a lack of content in general.
This usually leads to crazy fan backlash and the developers falling into chaos, having to release apology statements and promises for the future that may or may not come to fruition.
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The issue is that a lot of the time, the game never recovers. Sometimes it’s just a flop, and nothing can be done to save it.
For a select few, though, there is redemption. A rise from the ashes takes place, and some games manage to fix their mistakes and become known as gems of the industry. Here are some of the most memorable gaming flops that have made huge comebacks.
This Wizard Went To The Moon
Destinywas initially seen as a massive mistake. Coming from the developers of the legendary Halo franchise, Destiny’s initial release was met with massive backlash.
The combat was repetitive. The mission objectives were lame and uncreative and the story itself was just incredibly brief and basic despite the lore being very interesting.
The cherry on top came with the voice acting. Peter Dinklage infamously portrayed Ghost, your robot companion, and proceeded to bore the world to death before being replaced by Nolan North.
From there, it seemed like one of the biggest flops ever. The first mainstream game as a service style title was a massive failure and that was the end of the franchise.
Except, it wasn’t. All of a sudden, the content was increased by the boatload, with Raids and story expansions dropped left and right. Now, that cool lore has the content to back it up.
The story felt more complete,the mission scenarios got more creative,and the name of the game was restored in the fans' eyes, and the sequel went on to even greater heights.
7Fallout 76
War Actually Changed
Fallout 76
Fallout 76had a ton of expectations when it launched in 2018. Coming just a few years after the amazingFallout 4, Bethesda still had the respect of fans and peers alike. There was nothing Todd Howard and his merry gang couldn’t do at that point.
And then,Fallout 76released. It was riddled with bugs, the world was devoid of NPCs and the story was instead fed to you through audio logs and robots.
This wasn’tFallout. The terrible performance, the lame quests, the lack of quests, and the lack of that Fallout feeling were just beyond frustrating. Fans were scorned, critics obliterated the game, and it was an abject failure in every sense of the word.
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Bethesda took it on the chin, but then, they went to work. They released the massive Wastelanders DLC, which reintroduced the Fallout feel back into the game. Quests were added, and most importantly, people were added.
The story was actually told by the characters in the game like it should be.
The game finally felt like themultiplayer Fallout dream we were promised.
It didn’t stop there either. More updates came, with consistent gifts for new players jumping in, free-to-play weekends, and today, it’s among the best open-world multiplayer games out there.
The launch couldn’t have been worse, but the revival was incredible.
The Blueprint
Warframereleased relatively innocuously. It actually released before Destiny, and despite its visual similarities, it was not backed by the same production value and didn’t have the same number of eyes on it. Despite that, it was fine. That’s all. It had some interesting ideas, but nothing that really screamed “you must play this.”
That wasn’t enough to gather the following it has today, but soon, the word started to spread. Particularly about the expansions.
As each one came out, it got better and better, with lore and story being thrown in at an increased rate, and it all culminated with the now iconic Second Dream expansion.
It managed to blow away everything that came before it, and it was the “you’ve got to see this moment of the game.
From there, the game only grew in popularity and content. The budget increased, the mission types got more varied and everything got more and more polished to the point that it’s probably the easiest to recommend free-to-play game today.
5The Division
The Battle For New York
The Divisionwas so close to becoming another in a long list of underwhelming Ubisoft games. The company had fallen on hard times, withAssassin’s Creedlosing momentum alongside their other flagship franchises.
The Divisionwas something different. An MMO shooter set in a post-apocalyptic event in New York City, it was quite an ambitious vision.
Sales were decent at the start, but much likeDestiny,the content just wasn’t enough.
There weren’t enough enemy types, the mission variety was weak, and the endgame provided was beyond underwhelming.
Ubisoft didn’t let it die, though. With the massive 1.4 patch, Raids got introduced, and an entirely new mode was added to the end game that made it essentially infinitely replayable.
The game’s reputation skyrocketed, and it made Ubisoft confident enough to makeThe Division 2,which learned the lessons the first game didand has increased the popularity of the franchise even further.
4Cyberpunk: 2077
The Future is Bright
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk: 2077was the great hope of gaming in 2020. WhileGhost of Tsushimasurprised us all, the game on everyone’s lips was CD Projekt Red’s next epic.
As soon as it launched, it was a disaster. The bugs, the performance quality, the game getting taken down from PS4 stores. It was genuinely as bad of a release as a game can have.
To make things worse, unlike the entries above,Cyberpunk: 2077was a single-player experience.
This was not games as a service. There was no excuse and, despite that, CD Projekt Red made plenty of them.
A lot of people enjoyed the game, including me, but it felt shorter than it should’ve been and lacked combat complexity as well.
This all changed withCyberpunk 2077: 2.0and the Phantom Liberty DLC.
The whole game was revamped, from combat to skills and progression. It was all different and, most importantly, much better.
The combat was upgraded considerably, and thought the story largely remained the same, it finally felt great to play.
The ultimate triumph, though, was Phantom Liberty. This made the game complete.
The journey with Songbird and Solomon Reed was a whirlwind, with some incredible sequences andhow it played into the actual ending of the game was brilliant.
Despite its painful launch,Cyberpunk 2077stands as one of the best RPGs out there.
3GTA Online
The Biggest Crime Was Its First Iteration
Grand Theft Auto Online
GTA Onlinewas released in one of the worst states imaginable. This was Rockstar we were talking about—the kings of the gaming industry—and yet their highly anticipated online mode was empty and boring in every way.
Most of the cool stuff to see or unlock was either buried behind hours and hours of playing, and nothing you could do was particularly interesting.
There were races, heists, and other missions, but it felt like such a chore to get them going properly, and connecting with other players was never an easy process either.
It all just felt so repetitive, and without the sharp writing and story to back it up, GTA’s plain mechanics were kind of exposed to be not all that exciting.
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Luckily, Rockstar soon released co-op heists, which were thrilling to take part in with friends, and then the drive to get money and buy new cars and houses soon gripped players and introduced an addicting loopthat has held strong for 10 years.
30 players in one city always had the potential for fun, but it wasn’t until the numerous content updates that the fun was unleashed in all its riotous and bloody fury.
2No Man’s Sky
A Journey Unlike Any Other
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Skywas so ambitious that nobody believed it could actually be real. An infinite universe to explore? Procedurally generated planets? It felt too good to be true.
And it was. At least, it was at the release of the game.
No Man’s Skyis notorious for its creator making promises such as multiplayer to the community and failing to deliver and immediately, players were scored.
There was so little content in the game that it felt like an alpha version at best, and it was completely devoid of intelligent life.
There were no interesting aliens to converse with, there was very little driving you forward and it was all so obscure.
Some loved it for what it was, but the promises that Hello Games had made were simply lies. It was headed towards an all-time gaming failure until the magic that was No Man’s Sky: NEXT was released. It introduced multiplayer for the first time as well as a massive graphic upgrade, bigger ships, and character creation and suddenly, we were cooking with gas.
From there, the free updates came and each one made the game better and better, introducing a storyline to follow, easy to jump into expeditions, and even an online hub area to see and interact with other players.
There was now extensive basebuilding, a third-person camera, and even a VR mode tomake the game one of the most enjoyable and singular experiences in all of gaming period.
1Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
The New World
Square Enix had dived into the MMO genre before withFinal Fantasy 11, and while it was successful, it was missing the magic that the series had always been known for in its storytelling.
Then cameFinal Fantasy XIV. It was an MMO for the new generation, at a time when MMOs did not provide tons of options for players.
Unfortunately, the release was terrible. Everything ran poorly, there was a stark lack of dungeons, there were no mount options and everything felt extremely slow and grindy to the point that it wasn’t even fun.
There was a story, but it was underwhelming and lacked the quality that fans of the series had come to expect.
The game had to die for a success to be born, and die it did. Square Enix literally had an event in the game where the entire world is destroyed, and the players got to witness it as their characters and all were obliterated. It was a nice touch and a signal to the players that Square Enix was dedicated to recreating this world.
And recreate they did. The whole game was revamped, with a brand-new story, tons of content, massive dungeons, and boss fights.
The game was an immediate success, but it didn’t hit the mega heights it currently boasts today until the expansions hit.
With awesome ones like Heavensward andDawntrail, the content of the game now is hundreds of hours long. The community is now more packed than ever and many now callFinal Fantasy XIVit the best game in the series.
