Games That Could Have Been Great

[Professor Gull]

I put some more time in on another game this weekend and I think I should add it here to games that could have been great.

 

Wonderful 101 for Wii U. I wanted to like this even with its over the top bad dialogue and pretty graphics but I feel the play leaves much to be desired and just falls flat. Always drawing out the same symbols and gaining repetition for just about the same way to defeat bosses. I think it had more potential should it have taken a little more from games like Drawn to LIfe perhaps or Scribblenauts.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[+ArcadeJunkie]

They might have had a better chance at achieving their goal had they decided to go for Corpse Killer or Sewer Shark.

Hmm... Can't say that I disagree... Those are classic!

[Tempest]

I put some more time in on another game this weekend and I think I should add it here to games that could have been great.

 

Wonderful 101 for Wii U. I wanted to like this even with its over the top bad dialogue and pretty graphics but I feel the play leaves much to be desired and just falls flat. Always drawing out the same symbols and gaining repetition for just about the same way to defeat bosses. I think it had more potential should it have taken a little more from games like Drawn to LIfe perhaps or Scribblenauts.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Yeah I've wanted to try Wonderful 101, but I've avoided it because of reasons like you mentioned. I also hear it's really tough.

[Asaki]

Why avoid Wonderful 101? It can be had fairly cheap...or at least when I bought it it was.

 

 

"Always drawing out the same symbols and gaining repetition for just about the same way...", isn't that exactly what Scribblenauts was? o_O

[Professor Gull]

 

 

"Always drawing out the same symbols and gaining repetition for just about the same way...", isn't that exactly what Scribblenauts was? o_O

Yup but maybe it was the gameplay which made me turn that into more of a liability with Wonderful 101. Scribblenauts is the same for the most part but I felt during the game you had better and more curious options if that makes any sense.

[Gentlegamer]

Here's a game that I already think is great, but didn't hit a broad critical reception: Dragon's Dogma.

 

It's a great action-rpg that is the spiritual successor to the Capcom D&D beat 'em ups, with quest/npc/affinity systems and physics in place to do "Elder Scrolls" better than Elder Scrolls, but didn't quite put it all together that way.

[CatPix]

What bothered me in Dragon's dogma is the perceived "smallness" of the map. Walk for 30 seconds? Tadaa, you're in another town! Walk out anywhere outside of the town? In 10 seconds you step on bandits everywhere.

Else, it's doing great. As good as TES? On many points, it does; tho, it doesn't manage to get what I consider important in an open RPG, more than gameplay or physics : telling you a story, and giving you a good lore you can enjoy.

To me, that lore, that storytelling you get in TES from books and NPC, and from terminals and whole buildings in Fallout is really what make the Bethesda open-RPG way more enjoyable than most others on the market.

Of course both have been on the market long enough and built a lore over the years and over several games.

[Gentlegamer]

In an open RPG, you make your own story. That's the point of all the systems.

 

If you want to be told a story, play Final Fantasy or something.

[CatPix]

What I mean is that the world around you have a story, that your character can follow, alter, change, or just (mostly) ignore.

In Fallout, the robots, the laser guns, the nuclear powered cars aren't just there because "nuclear cars sounds cool" they have an in-game explanation that make them legit.

Vault-Tec, General Atomics, Poseidon Energy had all kind of human right violation records, pollution issues, etc? Well you learn they all had strong lobbies in the government, and ties with the US Army that allowed them to do that.

It's what I mean by "telling you a story" I didn't mean the story of your character, but the story of the world he lives in.

And it's usually lacking in details in most open-RPG.

Edited April 13, 2017 by CatPix

[Gentlegamer]

You mean the game's lore. That would be easy to add to Dragon's Dogma, the whole framework is there.

 

However, the world of Dragon's Dogma probably shouldn't have "lore," if you finished the game and saw the ending.

[Professor Gull]

Well since no one else has brought this one up.

 

No Man's Sky

 

I did not buy this one release I bought it later and I do find it enjoyable but then again I did not have expectations and did not follow its promises. Probaly could still be great but will it get there I have doubts.

[CatPix]

You mean the game's lore. That would be easy to add to Dragon's Dogma, the whole framework is there.

 

However, the world of Dragon's Dogma probably shouldn't have "lore," if you finished the game and saw the ending.

True, I didn't. I grew bored of walking on nothing but bandits every 12 seconds whenever I was out of a town.

[Gentlegamer]

True, I didn't. I grew bored of walking on nothing but bandits every 12 seconds whenever I was out of a town.

 

That's the other part that wasn't quite right, the "over world" is pretty boring and empty with mostly OP bandits.

 

Dragon's Dogma is much better with "instanced" zones like the witch's forest, chasm, and other areas.

[Flojomojo]

Well since no one else has brought this one up.

 

No Man's Sky

 

I did not buy this one release I bought it later and I do find it enjoyable but then again I did not have expectations and did not follow its promises. Probaly could still be great but will it get there I have doubts.

NMS is a good game FOR WHAT IT IS so long as you didn't buy into the hype too much. I purposely stayed away from the previews because I didn't want to spoil the surprise, and as a result, I wasn't disappointed. Bored, but not disappointed.

[Gabriel]

I think Growl had the basic parts it needed to be fantastic, but lacked the polish. It's also hampered by a Genesis home port which, like the SNES Final Fight, removes multiplayer co-op. This is a game where you can play Indiana Jones and rescue elephants who trample your opponents into gobs of meat! Grenades fly fast and free. There's a pretty decent selection of weapons, including guns. Oh and TONS of enemies attacking at once.

 

Growl is also gonzo as hell. It probably should have played up on that just a little bit more. Not too much because then it would have become too silly, but perhaps a few more WTF moments would have been good.

[homerj]

Starfighter for e 3DO. Looked really good for the time & actually controlled pretty well with a d-pad. The problem for me was that I just seemd so lifeless. It had no real personality. Once you got your fill of flying around blowing things up that was it. The game didn't have all that much to offer beyond that. Toss in an interesting story with fun objectives & it would have been phenomenal.

[homerj]

I'm also going to say Mad Dog Mcree & it's sequels. When it was new fmv in games was amazing (at least to me it was). Pair that with a western theme & you should have my dream game. Alas the hit detection was so bad it made the game punishingly difficult. I don't mind a challenge unless it's because of shoddy programming. They should have at least fixed it up a tad for the Wii port but no. Don't get me wrong, I still love the games but I fully admit they aren't great.

Edited April 14, 2017 by homerj