Making a video game is not an easy task, no matter how large or small the development team is. There are countless things that need to be balanced to make a game engaging and fun for any sizable audience, and the financial investment required is nothing to sneeze at either.
With that in mind, there are some videogames that seem to come so very close to tasting perfection but fall short for one specific reason. Sometimes, it's a seemingly small choice that can make a game far less than it could have otherwise been. These games are a single flaw away from being masterpieces.
10 Dead Rising Could Be So Much More Without The Timer
The first Dead Rising game is an absolute zombie-killing romp that is a lot of fun to play. The game encourages the player to experiment with different zombie-killing methods that range from brutal to outright cartoonish.
Or, at least, it would encourage the player to do so if mission timers (and the overall 72-hour limit) weren't hanging over the player's head. It discourages experimentation and wanton zombie slaying in favor of panicked rushes to the mission markers interrupted by frustrating encounters with zombie assailants.
9 Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Chickened Out On Its Civil War Story
The second Marvel Ultimate Alliance title departed from the over-the-top story of the first game which involved just about every major villain in the Marvel Universe for a more politically charged narrative based upon Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Civil War miniseries. It looked set to come to a similarly brutal and effective ending...until it makes the whole thing about nanites for some reason.
Iron Man's inhumane control over the supervillains via nanite drones turns into a plague that overtakes the world with Captain America somehow being made just as at fault for the whole disaster as Iron Man. It really doesn't make sense and it takes away from an otherwise perfect game.
8 Red Dead Redemption 2 Needs A Retooled Fast-Travel Mechanic
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an emotionally effective journey through the final days of the Wild West through the eyes of outlaw Arthur Morgan. The characters, narrative, and setting are all very absorbing and beautiful, but it would be an even better game if the fast-travel mechanic weren't so restrictive.
Arthur has to unlock the fast-travel mechanic in the first place, and it's very limited when it is finally available. There is only so much time that a player can watch a horse bounce up and down until they start wondering if finding the Legendary Wolf out in the Grizzlies is worth it.
7 Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War Was Hampered By The Loot Boxes
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is a game that could be on par with the first if it wasn't warped to suit an in-game economy with loot boxes. This arguably has a network of issues surrounding it as accommodation, and the loot boxes have since been removed.
That said, the loot boxes stained the game, and the other problems created to accommodate the loot boxes would be far less noticeable if the microtransaction economy weren't present in the first place.
6 The First Outlast Could Be A Genuinely Great Game If Not For The Ending
The first Outlast game is a genuinely terrifying horror experience with interesting lore and memorable villains (such as the Twins and Dr. Trager.) Even the Wallrider element, while not particularly interesting, doesn't do so much damage as to ruin the gaming experience.
However, the cheap-feeling ending in which (spoiler) the main character is killed just as they are about to finally escape makes the whole story feel quite lackluster and ultimately disappointing.
5 Bioshock: Infinite Did The Vox Populi Dirty
Bioshock: Infinite's story is an overall quite beautifully told ponderance on the nature of action, choice, consequences, violence, and the permeability of reality itself. It also tells of a revolutionary uprising fighting back against an oppressive and racist regime.
However, Infinite seems to get gunshy about the Vox Populi and their leader, Daisy Fitzroy. The game decides to water down the narrative by having Daisy turn against Booker and Elizabeth, and it turns Daisy into a bloodthirsty killer for no apparent reason.
4 Dishonored 1 & 2 Could Have Done Without The Chaos/Morality Meter
The Dishonored games try to tell a story more about violence and the consequences therein, but it fails to make that as emotionally motivating as something like Last of Us or Bioshock: Infinite. Instead, Dishonored feels like more of a straightforward story of revenge, and that's okay.
However, the games hamper themselves with a morality meter, referred to as "Chaos" in Dishonored. The game would be far more fun and freeing if there weren't some vague moral consequence to Corvo and Emily killing their enemies--especially given how many of the magical abilities in the game are lethal.
3 Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain Would Be A Near-Perfect Experience If It Were Finished
This is an overwhelming issue with the final Metal Gear Solid installment that has interconnected issues, but they all originate in one simple problem with Phantom Pain: the game isn't finished.
The story, characters, and themes of Metal Gear Solid V don't have an endpoint. So many more events and consequences are teased at but never come to fruition because the studio wasn't allowed to finish out the narrative--making the game incredibly fun to play but not a complete experience.
2 Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Could Have Done Without The Durability Mechanic
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an incredibly fun game with a beautiful environment and fun gameplay. The stamina meter is somewhat frustrating but not enough to damage the experience very much. However, the weapon durability mechanic does cause a huge problem.
Nothing is more frustrating than getting into a groove of slaying Bokoblins, only to be told that your sword is about to shatter in a moment. The game is so close to being just about perfect, but the durability mechanic pushes the game a few steps back.
1 Pokémon: Sword & Shield Would Be On Par With Its Predecessors With A Complete Pokedex
This one is a bit more complicated, as there are several little problems with the latest Pokémon entry, but they could all be forgivable if the Pokédex were complete. Every prior main entry included every Pokémon under the sun, so it is a bit of a glaring flaw that not all are included with Sword & Shield.
Things like recycled animations, pop-in, leaning on Max Raids, reintroducing the old TM mechanics through TR's, and even the removal of Mega Evolutions could be forgiven if only Torterra and his discarded brethren were in the game.