Something's Missing...

[badgersprite]

Do you ever get the feeling in a video game that it's rather obvious that the developers had to leave something out that they really wanted to put in, either due to time or money constrictions?

For example, one of my games of choice when I need to chill out is Assassin's Creed, and, from the first moment I heard the merchants trumpeting the benefits of their stalls and had beggar women hounding me for gold, I got the distinct feeling that there had been initial ambitions of a money mechanic in the game that they decided to leave out somewhere along the line. I'm probably wrong on this account, but it still gave me that feeling of, "Well, why isn't there gold or trading in the game?"

Another example are the quest topics that come up in Oblivion that aren't actually attached to any quests. You all remember the, "New Topic: Do We Need Couriers?" message coming up if you played Oblivion before. I loved Oblivion and it's absolutely massive scale of sidequests, so it's a little sad to think that they had other ideas for quests that I didn't get to see.

So, have you ever come across a game that gave you a sense that it wasn't entirely finished?

 

[A Weary Exile]

Far Cry 2, The Jackal. He was barely in that damn game and he was such an interesting character!

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Another example are the quest topics that come up in Oblivion that aren't actually attached to any quests.

Both Oblivion and Fallout 3 had a large selection of unmarked sidequests. A shame in some cases really, because most of them were far more interesting than the stuff that made the cut.

 

[badgersprite]

Another example are the quest topics that come up in Oblivion that aren't actually attached to any quests.

Both Oblivion and Fallout 3 had a large selection of unmarked sidequests. A shame in some cases really, because most of them were far more interesting than the stuff that made the cut.

Oh, totally. The vaults and The Dunwich Building were probably my favourite parts of Fallout 3. And some of the notes I found in Oblivion with unmarked sidequests really made me think about why they hadn't been marked. But, then, I guess, it felt all the more rewarding that I'd found them - like it was the game designers patting me on the back. But still, the fact that some of the unfinished ones were never explored is a bit sad.

 

[felltablet]

I think The Witcher wins as the most recent offender in this category. A 1GB dialogue patch pretty much speaks* for itself.

*witty

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Far Cry 2, The Jackal. He was barely in that damn game and he was such an interesting character!

They didn't time his lines well though. Maybe it doesn't happen to you but whenever I play it the Jackal speaks like he's a manic-depressive on their high mood (in terms of speed of speech, not pitch or unending manly gravellyness).

 

[manaman]

Gears of War.

One minute I was thinking hey this game is pretty fun. The next I was in some building killing things. Then something was mentioned, there might be a bomb. Then I was chasing it down a train. I thought I just had selective amnesia till we figured out that half the game actually was missing.

 

[johnzaku]

The second and third and FOURTH parts of fable.

 

[J-Alfred]

Best example I can think of is the Teleportation plasmid in BioShock. This one's actually been confirmed; you were supposed to be able to teleport back to a fixed point if you were in danger, but it threw too much of the game for a loop. For example: the game could be rendered unable to proceed if you were to, say, teleport out of Peach Wilkin's place before beating him, because you can't go on until you kill him, and you can't get back in to kill him. These problems could have been ironed out, but time constraints struck...

 

[badgersprite]

The second and third and FOURTH parts of fable.

Word. Word. And double word. Even the eternally-optimistic Peter Molyneux wasn't entirely happy with Fable II. I got the feeling in his last interviews before the release that some of the features he had to leave out were the things he had been most excited about including. And, suffice it to say, features like the 'dynamic economy' fell short of their ambition. <_<

 

[NeutralDrow]

I actually really liked Quest 64. Even despite it having one of the most "uncompleted" feelings of any finished game ever.

 

[justhereforthemoney]

I thought that Assassin's Creed could have done more with the Kingdom part, in between cities.

 

[internetzealot1]

I thought that Assassin's Creed could have done more with the Kingdom part, in between cities.

Yes, the kingdom is a joke. You have to travel through it like, what, 4 times?

 

[duchaked]

well the nice thing is that Assassin's Creed II is implementing the money and economy system =]

and the Spec-Ops (co-op) mode in Modern Warfare 2 stems of the ideas that Infinity Ward HAD to put it in the game even if the campaign didn't have room for (like Mile High Club)

 

[badgersprite]

I thought that Assassin's Creed could have done more with the Kingdom part, in between cities.

Yes, the kingdom is a joke. You have to travel through it like, what, 4 times?

Yeah, that was disappointing, because normally my favourite part of a game is the giant open world part that you're free to explore. For me, the only part that stood out were the ruins that were crawling with soldiers. That was brilliant.

 

[RavingPenguin]

I actually really liked Quest 64. Even despite it having one of the most "uncompleted" feelings of any finished game ever.

Damn you, I've always wanted to play that game all the way through. I only beat the first forest thingy.

Also: Woah! You changed your avatar!

 

[Threesan]

When Guild Wars introduced dedicated storage space for crafting materials, there was a slot for "mud brick" (and maybe a "clay brick"?). It was never present in the game. Crafting materials can be fashioned into weapons and armor -- but a mud brick? That's something you build with. Player housing? Guild halls? But they later removed the slot.

Oh. And there was the "Ancient Weapon" just laying around in the desert. Looked like the Indiana Jones Ark of the Covenant, could pick it up and carry it around, but did nothing. It never got integrated into the attribute point quest (to knock over colossal statue).

 

[NeutralDrow]

I actually really liked Quest 64. Even despite it having one of the most "uncompleted" feelings of any finished game ever.

Damn you, I've always wanted to play that game all the way through. I only beat the first forest thingy.

I've beaten it a couple of times, once the easy path with Earth and Water as my primary fields (in other words, Magic Barrier and Healing), and once a self-imposed challenge with Fire and Water (just Healing). The last time I played, I was doing just Fire and Wind (no Barrier, no Healing spells). I got up to King Begis before hitting a wall.

I have a higher tolerance for boredom than many, I've noticed...

Also: Woah! You changed your avatar!

Has it finally showed up? It's acting wonky for me. Still showing Ciel instead of Assassin...

But yeah, just for a week until Halloween is over, I've changed from the immortal Catholic vampire hunter to the good old <color=white>fake Sasaki Kojirou.

 

[Threesan]

un-ninja-edit:

Also: Woah! You changed your avatar!

Has it finally showed up? It's acting wonky for me. Still showing Ciel instead of Assassin...

But yeah, just for a week until Halloween is over, I've changed from the immortal Catholic vampire hunter to the good old <color=white>fake Sasaki Kojirou.

Yeah, too bad the forum uses the same image name. I "changed" mine, too (not that I expect you know me), but expect that 90% of the users won't see it for quite some time. Ctrl-F5 for the force refresh win! (It's that your browser is storing the image locally, and because the name is the same it assumes it doesn't need to re-fetch the image. re-edit: Oh, hey, lightbulb: changing the file type, say from .png to .jpg, will create a different image name.)