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Games that should have waited a generation
- Thread starter doops.
- Start date
You certainly have a point though, considering the later games certainly smooth a few rougher spots in the games! Though I do feel that 2 sorta lost a couple of things I loved about it in the remake (certain content certainly).
If anything, I appreciate both versions existing so I can enjoy both!
The first Just Cause was such a simplistic open world game that had to run on PS2 as well as the then next gen consoles and had nothing to it. Just Cause 2 came out a few years later and was like a world away from the first game.
If Splinter Cell: Blacklist launched one year later and focused the marketing on the stealth playstyles, the series wouldn't have laid dormant for the last decade.
I came into this thread to post this for the reasons you mentioned. It didn't help that the game also struggled to run well at points on base PS4. It just felt like it arrived a little too early and maybe could have been something more successful if it'd released early in the PS5/XSX generation. Of course, the game had been in development for a while, so I get why it released when it did.
I wanna say the PAL/Euro version of the first game cut the online mode... which is just so hilariously sad.
A generation before it's time, I really do feel like it would've done super well on PS3/360. So sad that it flopped and then the third/potential fourth game wasn't finished.
Its definitely a shame that a few of the online games from the DC/PS2 gen didnt see a release on the 360 when online was really taking off... its wild when I look at Japanese fighting games I have on my DC from Capcom and most had online play, and that's basically all stripped out from the localised versions. Sure we'd have been stuck with delay based netcode but that's better than no netcode ;(
Were there technical issues? LIke, I know it did poorly commercially, but I don't remember it being hobbled by performance issues (I 110% might be wrong here).
Not only the level design, but graphically, man… go play Catalyst today on PC at 4K, 120 FPS, all settings maxed out, and it still falls flat visually.
There's obviously the issue of art style — Catalyst is just straight up a more generic, over-designed and bland world artistically than what we got in the original game no matter how you slice it — but that ruddy first-gen TAA image treatment just wrecks the image quality even at crazy high resolutions.
Fast forward a generation and they'd have RT at their disposal, a better TAA implementation, HDR, SSDs in every machine as their baseline, 120 FPS support on consoles, etc. It would seriously be a completely different product, and likely a far better one for having benefitted from those things alone. They could have even launched with VR support on PSVR 2 and PC! Their Xbox version wouldn't have launched with a dismal 900p resolution that looks downright unacceptable on modern displays!
Such a fucking tragedy. The follow-up to one of my favorite games of all time and it was just a total lemon, death by a thousand cuts. I'll never get over it.
Halo 4
Not for technical reasons, but to give the series room to breathe and so the Xbox One had a must play launch game.
Not for technical reasons, but to give the series room to breathe and so the Xbox One had a must play launch game.
Kinda sorta.
It ran on a fork of Unreal Engine 2.5, launched on two discs on 360, required an HD texture pack, boasted sub-720p resolutions on every platform other than the Wii U, had pretty long loading times (30-60 seconds per level) and insane screen tearing on every console version.
For the time, a game bumping up against 720p and mostly holding 30 FPS was fine enough, but it was far from perfect and the PC version was a generational leap on decent hardware.
Final Fantasy VIII. It was a shimmery mess on the PS1. It was far too ambitious for that hardware. They really should have moved it to the PS2.
A ton of PS3 titles from around 2012-2013
The early days of PS4 were majorly lacking in interesting exclusives, and since there was no backwards compatibility, a lot of interesting titles, particularly those with a multiplayer focus, were left on a console that was quickly outmoded, without much time to find an audience.
There was a sense of 'fuck it, I'll buy anything' in those early days that could have been to the benefit of games like Twisted Metal, Starhawk, or PS All-Stars.
Mostly Twisted Metal. Besides resolution, the graphics are still impressive for PS3. I'm imagining a version where the online wasn't broken during key parts of the release, and there was a traditional 'arcade' mode with unique drivers and endings to go along with the more cinematic story mode. Throw in a few more maps and maybe we wouldn't be living in this endless dearth of decent vehicular combat games.
View: https://youtu.be/EyiSuQk8Fys
The early days of PS4 were majorly lacking in interesting exclusives, and since there was no backwards compatibility, a lot of interesting titles, particularly those with a multiplayer focus, were left on a console that was quickly outmoded, without much time to find an audience.
There was a sense of 'fuck it, I'll buy anything' in those early days that could have been to the benefit of games like Twisted Metal, Starhawk, or PS All-Stars.
Mostly Twisted Metal. Besides resolution, the graphics are still impressive for PS3. I'm imagining a version where the online wasn't broken during key parts of the release, and there was a traditional 'arcade' mode with unique drivers and endings to go along with the more cinematic story mode. Throw in a few more maps and maybe we wouldn't be living in this endless dearth of decent vehicular combat games.
View: https://youtu.be/EyiSuQk8Fys
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While it's a PC game, The Sims 3 should probably have been saved for The Sims 4. Because the whole open world life simulator where everything is seamless and everyone live their own lives is a fantastic concept. But... the PC that could run that concept without some harsh compromises didn't exist until about a decade after its original release (and even then you have to mod the game to be able to use all that power).
If we had gotten a safe-ish Sims 2 sequel that took that and built on it, the whole "time passes in sync for the neighborhood" part would be plenty as a new feature, and left the open world until it was actually possible to do well, it would have been a much better game. Now we have a Sims 4 that in some ways feels like a regression from Sims 3, even if it's from the potential that Sims 3 had and not so much the actual game which had several issues, performance and otherwise.
If we had gotten a safe-ish Sims 2 sequel that took that and built on it, the whole "time passes in sync for the neighborhood" part would be plenty as a new feature, and left the open world until it was actually possible to do well, it would have been a much better game. Now we have a Sims 4 that in some ways feels like a regression from Sims 3, even if it's from the potential that Sims 3 had and not so much the actual game which had several issues, performance and otherwise.
Aye it did get it cut, very sad too as I think I preferred 1's scenarios tbh.
I played File 2 online back in the day but I actually got to play File 1 as well online thanks to the fan servers that are currently up.
Fan servers really do save these games for sure... I really should look into it one of these days as I really wanna experience it properly.
There is no way in hell Square-Enix would have made FF XII for the PS3. The HD transition was absolutely brutal for them, and adding to an already troubled development history...
Props to Sony for being mostly hands off with their Studios but there are times that I kinda wished they would have been a bit firm with them when it came to late gen games like God of War 2 on PS2 in 2007! Or Gran Turismo 6 just a month after the release of the PS4. Stuff like Puppeteer, Into the Nexud and GOW Ascension should not have been stuck on PS3. I get the tech reasons behind them but still, the PS4 was lacking/missing out on way too many games during and after launch.
Driveclub was too early for the live service wave. Heck they kinda had the idea of battle passes too.
Blood & Truth would have been even better had it released on PSVR2 instead (heck a bunch of PSVR1 sans Astro's Recue Mission would have been better a gen later).
Afrika should have been a PS4 title. A little too ambitious for PS3 hardware.
The light gun shooter wave that started with Wii and ended with PS Move and Kinect like with Time Crisis 4 and the RE games, these needed to be VR titles a gen later.
Lot of cross gen titles also being held back by last gen ports in 2014 for dumb reasons like "consoles are dying mobile is the future". Inquisition, Shadow of Mordor and Destiny all suffered because of that.
Driveclub was too early for the live service wave. Heck they kinda had the idea of battle passes too.
Blood & Truth would have been even better had it released on PSVR2 instead (heck a bunch of PSVR1 sans Astro's Recue Mission would have been better a gen later).
Afrika should have been a PS4 title. A little too ambitious for PS3 hardware.
The light gun shooter wave that started with Wii and ended with PS Move and Kinect like with Time Crisis 4 and the RE games, these needed to be VR titles a gen later.
Lot of cross gen titles also being held back by last gen ports in 2014 for dumb reasons like "consoles are dying mobile is the future". Inquisition, Shadow of Mordor and Destiny all suffered because of that.
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Far Cry 3. Ran pretty terribly on consoles apparently. (Personally I played it on PC and loved it).
The bold is the perfect description of 2014 on the PS4, damn. 😂
I don't know if Driveclub was too early as much as its server failures doomed it when it launched.
Plenty of online games didn't have the issues of either of these games in 2014, and with a whole year's delay, I'm just not sure the problem was it came out too early. Not an expert, though, so hell if I know what would have happened if it launched with few issues.
In all fairness that had absolutely nothing to do with the PS3's hardware I'm sure lol
I would've liked to have seen Assassin's Creed Unity on current gen systems; much better chance the AI would've worked as intended. It sounds like Ubisoft were expecting much better CPUs in the PS4 and Xbox One when they designed the large crowds. It was interesting reading The Making of Assassin's Creed: 15th Anniversary book where they outright state they were too ambitious with Unity at the time. The co-op in particular sounds like it really spread their resources thin, and didn't allow them to focus on the story and single player as much as they should've, which explains why none of the games since then have had it.
Another one is Crysis 3 in 2013. It was in development for less than two full years, and Crytek had trouble getting the engine working on PS3 and 360. We finally did get PS4 and Xbox One versions nearly a decade later, but I can only imagine how much better it could've been had it been developed exclusively for those platforms and PC originally, and if Crytek had more time.
Another one is Crysis 3 in 2013. It was in development for less than two full years, and Crytek had trouble getting the engine working on PS3 and 360. We finally did get PS4 and Xbox One versions nearly a decade later, but I can only imagine how much better it could've been had it been developed exclusively for those platforms and PC originally, and if Crytek had more time.
Bayonetta 3. Game is just way too ambitious for the Switch hardware and the stuff it pulls off in real time is insane but absolutely destroyed the image quality on actual Switch hardware. 99% of my playtime is on an emulator at 1440p looking clean as hell and it's a night and day experience compared to my first playthrough on an actual Switch. I'm excited for more people to play it the way it should on a Switch 2 as I fully believe they will release some sort of director's cut or enhanced version for it.
Yeah, Zipper really had a string of bad luck those last few years. Maybe if SOCOM 4 had released first and was something along the lines of the previous entries, they might have had enough momentum to make it to the PS4 generation.
Always my go-to answer for this question. It would have done so much better the gen afterward, where battle royales (and other assorted multiplayer games with tons of people at once) were everywhere and thriving.
Yeah, this is also a good one. Unified online services didn't become standardized until gen 7.
A generation before it's time, I really do feel like it would've done super well on PS3/360. So sad that it flopped and then the third/potential fourth game wasn't finished.
Metal Gear Solid 4 on a next gen console, it feels constrained and still to this day is stuck on PS3.
Honorable mention, Mercenaries (1).
Honorable mention, Mercenaries (1).
Halo 4 needed to be an Xbox One launch title. Would've been by far the best exclusive launch title of the 8th gen. Textures wouldn't be low res, 60FPS would've been a big step up compared to 3/Reach, and then compare it to COD Ghosts that holiday? Halo 4 against Black Ops 2 was a disaster for player retention, but a 2013 launch probably keeps Halo competitive for play time.
If Destiny 1 hadn't targeted ps3, they wouldn't have been hamstrung with an archaic content pipeline and then maybe it would still be playable today.
This is the entire post I was going to make, lol
I wonder what Fumito Ueda is doing these days.
