Sometimes,games don’t get the due they deserve. That can be for a variety of reasons, from poor marketing plans to a bad critical response from players who just didn’t get what was good about the game in particular. If the game is lucky, it’ll manage to overcome such pitfalls, but not every game can manage to do so.
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Some games fail to be recognized not because of any fault of their own, but because they came out at the wrong time. Whether it was poor timing or because they were rushed out, some games just came out at the wrong time to be truly appreciated.
10Final Fantasy 15
Final Fantasy 15was the franchise’s first time experimenting with the action role-playing genre in their main series. Development from the game was fairly troubled, with the project restarting many times before finally releasing in 2016.
However, even at release, the game lacked many features, such as full-party control. A DLC would restore many of these functions and expand the incomplete story,but the cancellation of planned DLCmeant that the game was left in an incomplete state.
9Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776is the fifth game in theFire Emblemseries, as well as one of many games that have yet to be localized in the west.Thracia 776is a spin-off of the previous game,Genealogy of the Holy War, featuring the adventures of Leif as he attempts to reclaim his country.
Despite being fairly successful,Fire Emblem: Thracia 776is one of the worst-selling games in the series. Part of why this is the case is likely because it was only released on the Super Nintendo in 1999, three years after the Nintendo 64 had already released.
8Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawnreleased in 2017 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, and it was an open-world game where players controlled a hunter named Aloy, who ventures through a post-apocalyptic land filled with strange robotic monsters.
While the game was successful, it failed to make the impact it could have due to releasing within the same week asThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which quickly stole the spotlight fromHorizon Zero Dawn. While both games are incredible,Horizon Zero Dawnfailed to garner the attention it deserved.
7Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite
TheMarvel vs. Capcomseries is one of Capcom’s most famous fighting game series, andInfinitewas set to succeed the extremely popularUltimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. However, the game’s lackluster presentation and roster made fans wary.
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Things worsened when Arc System Works revealedDragon Ball FighterZ, a fighting game that featured gameplay similar toMarvel vs. Capcom 3and combined it with the legacy of a famous anime likeDragon Ball. Despite many fans agreeing thatMarvel vs. Capcom: Infinitewas fairly solid gameplay-wise, it lost much of its audience toDragon Ball FighterZ.
6Cyberpunk 2077
CD Project Red’s legendary gameCyberpunk 2077has gone down in history as one of the most ambitious video game projects in the history of the industry. Featuring a massive city with splitting story paths and hundreds of side-quests, the game provides RPG lovers with a ton of content.
However, the long wait between announcement and release led the company to release the game before smoothing out all the necessary rough edges, causing the game to release on many platforms as a buggy mess.Time has fixed many of these problems, butCyberpunk 2077’s release was surely a disaster.
5Okami
Okamiis known for being one of the last games released for the PlayStation 2. The player controls the wolf, Amaterasu, as she explores the world to destroy the curse that afflicts it. Its unique artstyle and gameplay earned it critical acclaim, but it suffered from very poor sales.
Althoughthe original PS2 version ofOkamisuffered from poor sales, later ports and remasters fared better, andOkami’s sales are now much closer to its critical reception. Part of this is thanks to the improved graphics of later consoles, makingOkami’s aesthetic style stand out more.
4Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
WhileDungeons & Dragonsis usually the go-to game for tabletop players, other systems do exist, such asVampire: The Masquerade. The game is fairly popular, enough to get a spin-off inVampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, an action role-playing game utilizing the original’s setting and system.
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Development of the game was troubled and rushed, and an incompleteBloodlineswas released in 2004. It was poorly received at the time, but is nowadays considered a flawed masterpiece. Fans have provided unofficial fixes for parts of the game, even to the point of restoring cut content.
3Granblue Fantasy Versus
Granblue Fantasyis one of the most successful mobile games in the Asia region, known for its beautiful artwork and distinctive characters. Its success led to the creation of several spin-offs, includingGranblue Fantasy Versus, a fighting game featuring the game’s many characters.
Unfortunately, the game was released in 2020, right before the onset of the COVID pandemic. This hurt the game’s chance to develop of sturdy offline scene, and its poor netcode resulted in the game’s population drying up. Thankfully,the game has managed to survive, and it still has many fans.
2Xenogears
Before theXenosagatrilogy and theXenoblade Chroniclesgames wasXenogears, an experimental JRPG made by Squaresoft. The game follows the amnesiac Fei Fong Wong as he explores the world and fights the rule of Solaris within a machine called Weltall.
Xenogearswas far too ambitious for its time, and both time and budget constraints weighed down on the game, forcing its developers to release the game in an incomplete state. While the game is now a cult classic, it seems unlikely that a proper remake will ever happen.
1Demon’s Souls
Soulsgames are now acclaimed for being the best in video games, but there was a time when that was not the case.Demon’s Souls, the very first game in theSoulsseries, was a pioneer of the souls-like combat and gameplay, but it was received fairly negatively in Japan.
Its poor sales prompted Sony to choose not to release the game outside of Japan, but Atlus eventually pushed to localize the game several months later. It turned out to be a massive success, and theSoulsgames were born as a result. With the rising popularity ofSoulsgames,Demon’s Soulseventuallygot a remake for the PlayStation 5.
