Games that are so unfinished that they deserve not even an F, but an INCOMPLETE! Yes, an I...even lower than an F! Down there by M!

[Tulpa | 3,488]

The problem with a Zelda maker is that dialog is part of the Zelda games, and some enterprising gamemakers will fill it with phrases like "Link sniffs butts," or worse.

[Inzoreno | 102]

I can't help but bring up Fallout 76. 

[Estil | 1,261]

2 hours ago, Inzoreno said:

I can't help but bring up Fallout 76. 

I guess that would be the most recent most flagrant example.

[Boosted52405 | 178]

On 4/8/2021 at 10:48 AM, Andy_Bogomil said:

Although it likely falls in the F category, I think Mighty No. 9 should not have been released in the state it was in. The frame drops and stuttering of such an empty and ugly game was inexcusable, especially for who was involved in making the game. It wasn't completely broken, but overall it was a terrible experience.

the only other games I've played that I remember being complete shit were Superman 64 and Sonic 06, but both are notoriously known for being such.

 

Although I've never played it... Cyberpunk for now past gen systems looked hilariously bad and insanely incomplete/broken.

Yup Cyberpunk was the first to come to mind when I hopped in here, it was so bad they offered refunds haha!

[Tanooki | 4,930]

I have a nice short story to tell, despite the fact it did come out for sale, and it does have an ending stage and sequence to the game, for those in the know, the many fallen and maybe driven partly insane who were on the project that wouldn't die for years, it's definitely incomplete.

As some recall here I worked for Midway for a couple years throughout the years 2001 and 2002.  In that time period I ended up getting to work on dying systems (DC, N64, GBC) and the up and coming/released (GC, PS2, XB, GBA.)  PS2 had been a known for quite a stretch, kits went out early given the gap of time between the JP and US launch of the console, and then the other 2 as well a year later in 2001.  The mini tale of woe here would be about a game that Midway published, but didn't make, that would be the defunct 7 Studios, a game that should have been a launch title, but made it out after, well after, in mid-2002 so this was a game delayed basically TWO YEARS and I suffered for 6mo of it on the project.

Legion: The Legend of Excalibur.  An overhead game that had the ambition to wish it became the next Diablo or something of the sort from that perspective.  A game that should have had an over arcing story over 20+ stages, had more characters, weapons and armor values more like the stuff you chip away to improve in a WRPG, and more going for it.  The game in the end had half the stages, most those special values on gear dropped and did little to help for what remained, most the diablo-esque stuff ruined or removed, dumbing it into a chunky slower hack n' slash if anything.

The game would have had some very detailed visuals, good use of color, far more voice acting, visuals flair for popping stuff in combat, just all around nicer.  Now it's dark, bland, muddy, not much sparkle remained, the voice acting sounds drunk bored or both, and it gets tedious somewhat quick depending on your tolerances.  A game that should have had more story, more good vs bad consequences, etc just basically got put into drab stages and run along a linear piece of thread until the end.

Just discovered this, here's what kind of remained: https://koei.fandom.com/wiki/Legion:_The_Legend_of_Excalibur
depending if you care to pop over to gamefaqs I made a hell of a detailed guide to clear the game from memory way back when.  The game is so damned broken, it even stabs your happiness rapidly to death if you can tolerate finishing the game.  It throws up the load screen after the ending cruddy sequence and you think it heads back to the title, but OH NO, it wouldn't be that kind...it saves, saves you with NOTHING as it saves it as a game back on stage ONE.  Bye bye afternoon plus of work.  The biggest F U possible right there on that (in the know) very incomplete game that made it to market.

 

Despite all that shit, I still didn't hate it, and when I had a PS2 I'd still bother to mess with it on occasion for a laugh.

[asmikace | 68]

That Tony Hawk 5 was an uncaring attempt of Activision to keep the Tony Hawk license that they put a tiny amount of a buggy game on a disc and put a larger patch to fulfill the licensing requirements. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

Outriders is feeling like this right now. Probably the buggiest release I've ever seen, which is saying something considering the state that online games seem to launch in these days.

[Estil | 1,261]

On 4/8/2021 at 11:26 AM, erac said:

Echoing FF XV. That thing was more bug than game, and even the game parts sucked, the only (main) FF to go as low as 7/10 for me.

But didn't they spend many years working on and hyping it up...only for me to be totally let down (and thus never bothered to even feel the need to pick it up) by the cast being all boys and all mostly looking the same?   I hope FF16 won't do that, I like having cute chicks in my party...  

[erac | 78]

While you don't have chicks in your party, you get plenty enough of them in the story. You see Cindy the mechanic all the time, and a sister of one of the characters goes on a date with you.

[Estil | 1,261]

On 4/9/2021 at 1:55 PM, Tulpa said:

The problem with a Zelda maker is that dialog is part of the Zelda games, and some enterprising gamemakers will fill it with phrases like "Link sniffs butts," or worse.

*Link looking/staring at boobies*

Estil checked the chest.  Wow, this is a nice chest!  

[Tulpa | 3,488]

Yeah, I don't see Nintendo going for that.

[Estil | 1,261]

17 hours ago, erac said:

While you don't have chicks in your party, you get plenty enough of them in the story. You see Cindy the mechanic all the time, and a sister of one of the characters goes on a date with you.

That doesn't really count though...it's just not the same, and why the heck not have Cindy or the sis in your party at some point?  Why not do like (*Final Fantasy 5 SPOILER ALERT*) and have the bro in your main party get killed at some point and the sis takes over for him with all his levels/powers/etc carried over?  Hee hee BTW isn't Krile in FF5 so adorable in sprite form (though her later mugshot doesn't go with it at all...)?  She's such a cute little Rainbow Brite girl who sported the Jojo Siwa hair over ten years before Jojo was even born!  Even when the later PS1 Anthology came out Jojo wasn't even born yet!

I can't help it, I love the idea of chicks kicking ass in my games.    I'm spoiled by girl power.   Oh and how about the way Veronica in Dragon Quest 11 when holding up the Sage's Stone says "Ta-da!"  

Edited April 17, 2021 by Estil

[koifish | 555]

On 4/8/2021 at 3:50 PM, Gutling said:

As a more recent game, Rage 2 on PC. Apparently other platforms as well, there is a bug where the last mission waypoint never appears, so you cannot finish the game. Infuriating after multiple hours completing all the side quests and such, just to be unable to beat it. Its been several months since its release, and there is no talk about fixing it.

I didn't even know Rage 2 had come out. Maybe they're just hoping most people are like me and forgot it existed

On 4/9/2021 at 2:48 PM, Estil said:

Great they just jinxed themselves...

Ha ha, I understand your fear, but somehow, nobody has every come after them for this one. ZClassic is ironically a classic itself at this point, but basically it was created as a way to make new Zelda 1-style games without needing to be a programmer/romhacker/etc. There are a ton of different quests, which can range from just variations on the original two into being entirely different games, with custom behavior, graphics, etc.

It's worth your while if you're a big NES Zelda fan to look into it.

 

Going with the general discussion, I am really angry about modern online game policies. Between games delivering last-minute fixes via servers and games being online-only, there are a ton of captive sheep audiences being built and maintained. Maybe it's what is required to keep a company alive, but it is shitty policy for making something that has legs. So many games are still played 20, 30, even 40 years later, that it is just short-sighted to think that no one will want to revisit your game. This kind of decision can only be coming from publishers and execs, who see people playing 20-year old games and ask "how can we get them to quit that and just pay for our new game?" </rantAndRave>

 

As for my thread contribution, I'm just here to rep Sonic 06. It is, no joke, one of my all-time favorite games, and that is specifically because it is a broken pile of shit. I love horrifically bad things, like "so bad it's good" movies, and Sonic 06 is basically the Citizen Kane of bad video games. Or, maybe it's fair to call it The Room of video games, because so many broken/unfinished games are literally that; Impossible to play or finish. Sonic 06 can actually be started and finished, which technically makes it a finished game, so it's not like so many software that just never made it off the launch pad. This is even better, though, because the whole time that you play it, the game is just clearly suffering as much as you are trying to keep it together. How many times have I played this game, just to have something absurd and horrible happen for no real reason? I'm smiling and laughing like an idiot just thinking about the times I've seen Sonic just inexplicably fly off into space, or the camera shit itself trying to keep up with something happening, or any number of things. It's honestly the gift that keeps on giving, and I am going to keep a PS3/360/whatever for years just to make sure I can always play that game. Best garbage ever.

[koifish | 555]

On 4/9/2021 at 2:55 PM, Tulpa said:

The problem with a Zelda maker is that dialog is part of the Zelda games, and some enterprising gamemakers will fill it with phrases like "Link sniffs butts," or worse.

I happen to be an afficianado of sophomoric dumbassery in video games. You might know me from the arcades, I was the one who put 'SEX' for all of my high scores.

[Tulpa | 3,488]

8 minutes ago, koifish said:

I happen to be an afficianado of sophomoric dumbassery in video games. You might know me from the arcades, I was the one who put 'SEX' for all of my high scores.

I appreciate a good flatulence witticism as much as the next gaming enthusiast.

But Nintendo is a bunch of sticks in the mud when it comes to that stuff.

 

You were SEX? I was ASS.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Tulpa

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

To the point of the topic, I thoroughly believe, unless the game is intended to be updated/added onto *signifigantly* post release (i.e. Minecraft) then a nice 0/10 F- or w/e suffices, cause at that point they deserve the rating. Too bad the current climate of video games, particularly Triple A games is in the habit of "release now, fix later" bullcrap. Even for stuff like Minecraft the games definitely need to be playable & highly polished. Ah well. I digress.

First game came to mind for me with this was Metal Gear Solid 5. It's a real shame the game got released in the way it was, with some aspects of the story just completely unresolved.

On 4/8/2021 at 11:48 AM, Andy_Bogomil said:

Although it likely falls in the F category, I think Mighty No. 9 should not have been released in the state it was in. The frame drops and stuttering of such an empty and ugly game was inexcusable, especially for who was involved in making the game. It wasn't completely broken, but overall it was a terrible experience.

the only other games I've played that I remember being complete shit were Superman 64 and Sonic 06, but both are notoriously known for being such.

 

Although I've never played it... Cyberpunk for now past gen systems looked hilariously bad and insanely incomplete/broken.

I'm also reminded of some versions severe memory leak issue where the game would imminently crash after so much time. Glorious.

On 4/8/2021 at 12:41 PM, RH said:

I don't game much on modern systems (well, just the Switch) but aren't many physical games on the PS4 and xbox "unfinished", but you don't notice it because on the first boot up, on launch day, you have to download multi-gigabyte updates?  I bet if you played many of those games without an internet connection, you'd find a lot of "incomplete" titles.  IIRC, that was the case for WWF 2k18 for the Switch and was an abysmal, buggy mess on launch.

Historical stinkers that I'm aware of include Big Rigs (PC, 2003), Extreme Paintball (PC, 1998) and Driving Emotion Type-S (PS2, Japanese version, 2000).

Big Rigs is just a cluster... to many bugs to catalog.  Same is true for Extreme Pinball but in that one, the whole game is super blocky, even for that era, and the AI isn't even an AI at all.  The players just run into the wall.  DET-S, from what I heard, is decent for a US release, but the Japanese build that came out first was much worse.  Supposedly they didn't finalize the driving mechanics and as soon as you booted up the game and started the tutorial, your car curves and steers into the wall.  You can't finish the tutorial and there's nothing you can do to fix the problem, making the game 100% unplayable.  This is a Squaresoft title, and I think it was the last title they published under their old name.  I have a sealed copy that's still not worth much, but I've never brought myself to open it and see if it is a decent racer since they, supposedly worked out many of the bugs for the US release.  Regardless, the problems with the Japanese version haunted the release in the US.  This is a complete shame that they couldn't get their act together.  I've been wanting a (real) Rad Racer sequel, at least in spirit, for decades.

A classic

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

On 4/8/2021 at 3:42 PM, mbd39 said:

The DOS port of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you can't even progress past the second stage because of an impossible jump. That's really broken.

 

Is it truly impossible? We need to get some speedrunners on it, they'll get it sorted lol

Really though apparently the jump was fixed in the European release, so there is that lol https://tcrf.net/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_(DOS,_1989)

On 4/8/2021 at 4:34 PM, Tanooki said:

Good good one to use, more obscure reference.  Most people aren't aware of the unfinished shoveled crap that came out on computers (PC, euro computer formats) in the 80s and earlier-to mid 90s.

Mega Man on DOS ftw. These are some of the best GDQ runs imo lol

 

[Gloves | 11,761]

This has been bugging me for a while...

[Tanooki | 4,930]

@SpoonMan Abrams X Good, hell, great example there.  Capcom did redeem themselves kind of, Mega Man X was shockingly good on PC, yet strangely they redid the music from scratch so it does sound similar but obviously not the same as on SNES.  At least the game looks and otherwise plays fine unlike those 2 atrocities from the original series.

[Estil | 1,261]

Okay so the games are basically complete so I don't know if the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters would actually qualify for an incomplete grade but it deserves a dishonorable mention for NOT being on a real gaming platform (Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo; so no chance of earning trophies/achievements obviously) and most importantly for NOT having the super secret bonus dungeons/superbosses the GBA version had...not even as optional DLC!!

Seriously it's been a decade and a half after they were released but it's pretty pathetic that the GBA versions are STILL the best you can do for these first six FF's.  Who cares if they dressed up the graphics a little if it's missing so much from the GBA versions?

[CMR | 519]

Strider for the NES.  It didn't even get a release in Japan, leading me to believe that the US branch of Capcom was just desperate for anything to push out into the US market.  The sad part is that it could have been an awesome action adventure game with a little more polish and a better mapper for scrolling.

 

If you've ever wondered why the story and game were so different from the arcade game, it's because it was based off the original manga.  It was actually the arcade game that jumped the shark story wise.

Edited March 26, 2022 by CMR

[Webhead123 | 675]

A game that I love dearly but that honestly had no business being released in the state that it was in was Streets of Sim City. Bugged to shit, janky, busted graphics, busted functionality, horrible framerate...but I friggin' loved it. It was kind of my GTA 3 before GTA 3 was a thing.

[Estil | 1,261]

You know how Cory in the Boy Meets World episode in the OP says as a ballplayer "he has guys" to help him manage his affairs?  That's Final Fantasy 15's dealbreaker for me is that ALL you have is guys and they look pretty much the same   As that weird guy from Robocop would say, I don't know if I'd buy that for even a dollar...  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

28 minutes ago, Estil said:

You know how Cory in the Boy Meets World episode in the OP says as a ballplayer "he has guys" to help him manage his affairs?  That's Final Fantasy 15's dealbreaker for me is that ALL you have is guys and they look pretty much the same   As that weird guy from Robocop would say, I don't know if I'd buy that for even a dollar...  

Such an Estil post 

[Estil | 1,261]

15 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Such an Estil post 

Well I did write it!  I mean your messages are just as much Reed Rothchild posts, aren't they?  DoctorEncore writes DoctorEncore posts, and so on.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Estil