Top 5 Video Games That Got Better After Launch

Time Heals All Wounds

Battlefield V is all set to stun gamers at this year’s E3, not only offering all the online FPS action die-hard fans could want, but also delivering on a new female mascot that looks nothing short of badass. Of course, for all the hype and guaranteed success, Battlefield hasn’t always been able to deliver on day one, just take a look at what happened with one of its predecessors. That being said, it certainly managed to get back on its feet later down the line, following in the footsteps of other franchises that managed to make the road to recovery. They may have had their issues at first, but nowadays these five games are a blast to play!

#5: “Fallout: New Vegas” (2010)

People seem to forget that while New Vegas may have the best quests in the series and was “more of an RPG”, it had probably the roughest launch out of any of Bethesda’s oft derided open world games. New Vegas was no different, except this time the funny bugs – like the notorious head twirling – were outnumbered by crashes and freezes, leaving you in fear you could lose your progress at any moment. Unlike many other fanbases, there wasn’t considerable outrage as players waited patiently for the official patches and DLC that added stability, new storylines and level cap raises. That DLC didn’t receive unanimous praise and, like Fallout 3, the modding community has now created over 10,000 separate modifications that range from the very silly to the utterly comprehensive. Whatever your complaint, there’s a mod for it.

#4: “Battlefield 4” (2013)

Having learnt nothing from the SimCity release debacle, EA charged head first into another rushed launch for their flagship FPS franchise. Although sales figures were impressive early on, EA were targeted by lawsuits from investors and labelled the “Worst Company in America”. All this negative press triggered a change in approach for the company, engaging fans in the Community Test Environment to identify bugs and releasing free maps that finally allowed Battlefield’s enormous, open-ended chaos to be the focus for players. New features continue to be rolled out as well: as recently as June of 2016 a fresh UI was implemented to improve matchmaking and connect it to Hardline and Battlefield 1. Good on you EA.

#3: “Splatoon” (2015)

A Nintendo release that doesn’t feature one of their many established mascots is a rarity, and it certainly showed when this brand new third-person shooter hit stores. From the beginning it was clear they had developed a colourful, addictive game, but it lacked so many features that would be standard for a game of this ilk. Voice chat and private lobbies were absent while maps, weapons and game modes were unusually bare bones. Nintendo had decided to hold back large portions of content – perhaps to avoid intimidating players new to the genre – but when it did come, dedicated Inklings finally received the depth to compliment the exceptionally messy core gameplay.

#2: “Final Fantasy XIV” (2010)

Square Enix were planning on making MMORPG that would stay true to Final Fantasies of years past and rival World of Warcraft in the genre. The masters of the RPG eventually did just that, but it required a complete rebuild of their first effort to get to that level. Despite a disastrous testing period revealing swathes of devastating bugs, the game released six months before its intended launch date. Inevitably, the game and player’s trust was broken, meaning the only way forward was a total reset. “A Realm Reborn” or “version 2.0” was everything its predecessor should have been, bringing in 5 million paid subscribers and narrowly avoiding a disaster for the Final Fantasy legacy.

#1: “Diablo III” (2012)

If you managed to make it past the infamous always-on error 37 and all the way to the endgame content – you were probably pretty disappointed. Anyone will tell you that the loot is the best part of Diablo, and with the Real Money Auction House that nobody asked for in full swing, it seemed like Blizzard was keeping the market on epic gear reeeally tight – meaning you basically had to use the auction house to get better stuff, which, I probably don’t need to tell you, sucked. Then the Reaper of Souls expansion landed, and with it the Loot 2.0 patch – which basically fixed the game overnight. Completely overhauling the endgame content, adding the new adventure mode, remixing the difficulty levels and showering you with sweet gear, Diablo 3 was back on track to live up to the legacy of its predecessors. Now, years later, Blizzard continues to support the game with seasonal content, extra gear and even new areas and enemies: Diablo 3 is better than ever.

Be sure to check out the video below to see our picks for the Top 10 Video Game Launch Trailers.