Squandered Potential: Games that could have been so much more

BitVyper · 03-07-2010, 11:37 AM

Every so often I have to shed a tear for games with unrealised potential. Usually they got shafted in terms of resources and development time because they weren't known money-makers. Post some games that you think could have been world-shatteringly awesome if they'd just been fully realised.

Saga fucking Frontier. Holy shit that was a cool game. Even with its released form being barely a fraction of what the complete game was supposed to be, it was still awesome. You had space cops, vampires, monsters, robots, and even tokusatsu style superheroes interacting believably in the same setting. The combat was flat out orgasmic once you got the hang of how to get new abilities and build your stats. Every species had very unique ways of building their levels, which made them really feel like different beings instead of the usual "short humans with pointy ears" approach to different races. There were so damn many abilities you could develop and master that really, every time you played the game your characters would come out differently.

The rendered backgrounds were fantastic, and the things you could do in combat were really cool. Speaking of backgrounds, this game had atmosphere like crazy. All the regions felt like different little worlds - you had crisp, clean Manhattan, cyberpunky Koorong, backwater York... the cities didn't need to have their backstories told, you could tell just by walking around that Junk was a boom-town on the downswing, Koorong was a place where you could find anything in the right alley, Manhattan had skeletons in its closet.

The plots for each characters quest are what really suffered. You can tell from playing that there was supposed to be a lot more character interaction. Even without it though, much like Live a Live, Squaresoft really managed to capture the feel of cinematic drama, which is something I wish would have expanded to their other games. Like, playing Red's adventure actually feels like interacting with a tokusatsu show instead of a game based on one.

The incomplete plots made the game very repetitive between each character's quests though. And repetitiveness is what I think really killed it for most people. It took me quite a few tries over the years before I really picked up on what a gem SF was. It wasn't until I really got the hang of the leveling systems that I started to love it.

Asellus suffered the most in her plot. Where her ending was supposed to be based on all these little character interactions, it wound up just being based on how powerful her mystic side was and whether or not you saved Gina. Even so, her story had some heart-rending moments in it, like her mother's rejection of her, and White Rose locking herself in the labyrinth.

What really sucks is the places where you can tell something major was supposed to happen. Virgil's castle needed a lot more done with it, and the Bio-lab, fuck, the BIO-LAB was crazy and clearly had so much plot planned for it. The things that were left out of Saga Frontier stand out like great big gaping holes, but where this would just make me annoyed with most games, in SF I feel a great sense of loss like when your favourite author dies before he can finish your favourite book series. It makes the game a bittersweet experience that I just keep going back to.

I feel that the modern age of games has come with a bit of a price. It takes so much time and money to make a game that lives up to current standards that it's just not worth it for companies to experiment as much.

Edit: Oh, and the little bits of art they showed between chapters were phenomenal.

EVILNess · 03-07-2010, 11:48 AM

Fuze suffered the most, he was cut entirely from being a main character.

bluestarultor · 03-07-2010, 11:55 AM

Well, I'mma pick an obvious one and say Chrono Cross. So underdeveloped. But I'll leave that one at that.

I'll also have to say The Legend of Dragoon. It was a solid game as it was, but then it kind of drove itself off a cliff in the last quarter with Miranda. I'm sorry, but it was just a poor choice to introduce a new character that late in the game and then keep on trying to develop her up until the very end. She came in as a bitch, stayed a bitch, and got a Freudian excuse when it was too late to matter. She never really meshed with the team. If they'd introduced her earlier and had GIVEN her her backstory earlier and made her deal with her problems and actually develop, it might have been okay.

Also, some of the Dragoon powers just weren't worth it. The cast really needed to have a better balance in their abilities.

Shyria Dracnoir · 03-07-2010, 12:10 PM

Textbook Example

BitVyper · 03-07-2010, 01:08 PM

That game's health system makes me wonder if Link had something similar, which makes me wonder about his size as he gets up there in heart tanks, which makes me wonder if the whole of Zelda isn't just one big smutty metaphor where Link is trying to "rescue" Zelda from the sexual frustration represented by Ganon (I'll figure that one out later), but first he needs to fill up his hearts so he can shoot off his sword.

Loyal · 03-07-2010, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shyria Dracnoir

Textbook Example

That fellow has a fanTASTIC narrating voice.

Naqel · 03-07-2010, 01:39 PM

I think Metal Fatigue could have actually been a sucessful game if there was more to it than just building big robots.

Building big robots just isn't fun enough on its own, and the game offered little more(still loved it though).

Amake · 03-07-2010, 02:38 PM

I think you'll find Spore is the ultimate example. Man, if that had done even half the things promised it'd have been the last game that ever had to be made. It'd allow you to easily make any game you wanted within the game world. But someone decided it'd be too complicated for the customers to do all that, and also the game needed friendlier, cuter graphics to not offend anyone, and there we are.

On a more personal note, there's one little detail Blizzard's RTS games that ruin single player mode for me. I love spending hours slowly wearing down the enemy until they have no money left, but since Starcraft that's impossible, because the computer is periodically given a bunch of resources. Screw it, I'm going to play Warcraft 2 again now.

Mirai Gen · 03-07-2010, 02:49 PM

Dark Void could have ruled if it wasn't kicked out so prematurely the boxart was still covered in afterbirth.

lazy man · 03-07-2010, 02:54 PM

I'd like to just step in quickly and mention Xenogears. Fuck that second disk, there was at least 2 disks' worth of content left in all that!

03-07-2010, 11:37 AM	#1
BitVyper History's Strongest Dilettante Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arcadia Posts: 6,662	Squandered Potential: Games that could have been so much more Every so often I have to shed a tear for games with unrealised potential. Usually they got shafted in terms of resources and development time because they weren't known money-makers. Post some games that you think could have been world-shatteringly awesome if they'd just been fully realised. Saga fucking Frontier. Holy shit that was a cool game. Even with its released form being barely a fraction of what the complete game was supposed to be, it was still awesome. You had space cops, vampires, monsters, robots, and even tokusatsu style superheroes interacting believably in the same setting. The combat was flat out orgasmic once you got the hang of how to get new abilities and build your stats. Every species had very unique ways of building their levels, which made them really feel like different beings instead of the usual "short humans with pointy ears" approach to different races. There were so damn many abilities you could develop and master that really, every time you played the game your characters would come out differently. The rendered backgrounds were fantastic, and the things you could do in combat were really cool. Speaking of backgrounds, this game had atmosphere like crazy. All the regions felt like different little worlds - you had crisp, clean Manhattan, cyberpunky Koorong, backwater York... the cities didn't need to have their backstories told, you could tell just by walking around that Junk was a boom-town on the downswing, Koorong was a place where you could find anything in the right alley, Manhattan had skeletons in its closet. The plots for each characters quest are what really suffered. You can tell from playing that there was supposed to be a lot more character interaction. Even without it though, much like Live a Live, Squaresoft really managed to capture the feel of cinematic drama, which is something I wish would have expanded to their other games. Like, playing Red's adventure actually feels like interacting with a tokusatsu show instead of a game based on one. The incomplete plots made the game very repetitive between each character's quests though. And repetitiveness is what I think really killed it for most people. It took me quite a few tries over the years before I really picked up on what a gem SF was. It wasn't until I really got the hang of the leveling systems that I started to love it. Asellus suffered the most in her plot. Where her ending was supposed to be based on all these little character interactions, it wound up just being based on how powerful her mystic side was and whether or not you saved Gina. Even so, her story had some heart-rending moments in it, like her mother's rejection of her, and White Rose locking herself in the labyrinth. What really sucks is the places where you can tell something major was supposed to happen. Virgil's castle needed a lot more done with it, and the Bio-lab, fuck, the BIO-LAB was crazy and clearly had so much plot planned for it. The things that were left out of Saga Frontier stand out like great big gaping holes, but where this would just make me annoyed with most games, in SF I feel a great sense of loss like when your favourite author dies before he can finish your favourite book series. It makes the game a bittersweet experience that I just keep going back to. I feel that the modern age of games has come with a bit of a price. It takes so much time and money to make a game that lives up to current standards that it's just not worth it for companies to experiment as much. Edit: Oh, and the little bits of art they showed between chapters were phenomenal. __________________ "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace; we've got work to do!" Awesome art be here. Last edited by BitVyper; 03-07-2010 at 11:42 AM.

03-07-2010, 12:10 PM	#4
Shyria Dracnoir Kawaii-ju Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Monster Island Posts: 4,240	Textbook Example __________________ Godzilla vs. Gamera (1994)

03-07-2010, 01:08 PM	#5
BitVyper History's Strongest Dilettante Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arcadia Posts: 6,662	That game's health system makes me wonder if Link had something similar, which makes me wonder about his size as he gets up there in heart tanks, which makes me wonder if the whole of Zelda isn't just one big smutty metaphor where Link is trying to "rescue" Zelda from the sexual frustration represented by Ganon (I'll figure that one out later), but first he needs to fill up his hearts so he can shoot off his sword. __________________ "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace; we've got work to do!" Awesome art be here.

03-07-2010, 02:38 PM	#8
Amake Keeper of the new Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: A place without judgment Posts: 4,506	I think you'll find Spore is the ultimate example. Man, if that had done even half the things promised it'd have been the last game that ever had to be made. It'd allow you to easily make any game you wanted within the game world. But someone decided it'd be too complicated for the customers to do all that, and also the game needed friendlier, cuter graphics to not offend anyone, and there we are. On a more personal note, there's one little detail Blizzard's RTS games that ruin single player mode for me. I love spending hours slowly wearing down the enemy until they have no money left, but since Starcraft that's impossible, because the computer is periodically given a bunch of resources. Screw it, I'm going to play Warcraft 2 again now. __________________ Hope insistent, trust implicit, love inherent, life immersed

03-07-2010, 02:49 PM	#9
Mirai Gen We are Geth. Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 14,032	Dark Void could have ruled if it wasn't kicked out so prematurely the boxart was still covered in afterbirth. __________________

03-07-2010, 01:39 PM	#7
Naqel Jaywalker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Wherever my ass happens to sit. Posts: 664	I think Metal Fatigue could have actually been a sucessful game if there was more to it than just building big robots. Building big robots just isn't fun enough on its own, and the game offered little more(still loved it though).

03-07-2010, 02:54 PM	#10
lazy man Harrumph! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: My not-so-humble abode Posts: 2,891	I'd like to just step in quickly and mention Xenogears. Fuck that second disk, there was at least 2 disks' worth of content left in all that!