- 8 months ago
Sometimes all that's left to say is sorry.
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00:00Do you ever get that feeling that the 8th generation broke video games, made it super
00:04hard to get hyped because you almost definitely will be disappointed, made us realize just
00:08how money grubby publishers can be when given a lucrative license like Star Wars or Marvel?
00:12Well, those emotions aren't just recognized on the side of the audience. Oftentimes,
00:17developers or other team members are working on titles for years, and they know what's
00:20being assembled isn't going to go down very well.
00:23I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 9 video games so bad they apologized.
00:279. Mighty No. 9
00:29Keiichi Inafune has been a major force in video games for nearly 40 years, having worked on
00:34key franchises such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and especially Mega Man. 2016's Mighty
00:39No. 9 then was meant to be a spiritual successor to the classic Mega Man era, which is why
00:44its colossal failure was so frustrating and surprising. Simply put, its messy development,
00:49significant delays, deceptive Kickstarter campaign, insulting trailer, and lackluster finished
00:54product culminated in an incredibly negative release period.
00:56The haters were not wrong, and it wasn't just players, backers, and critics who felt
01:01cheated. Inafune himself echoed similar sentiments. During a promotional Twitch livestream around
01:06the time of release, Inafune admitted,
01:08I own all the problems that came with this game, and if you want to hurl insults at me,
01:12it's totally my fault. I'm the key creator, I will own all that responsibility.
01:16One of the many failings of a crowdfunded project run amok, at least KJ's honesty helped
01:21restore his reputation.
01:22Number 8, Cyberpunk 2077, the launch version
01:25Feeling like a tale we'll tell our grandkids at this point, the version of Cyberpunk that
01:30existed pre-release was set to be revolutionary. Graphics, player agencies, storytelling, overarching
01:35realism, and more, at launch we were instead greeted by a dumpster fire of technical bugs,
01:40limited interactivity, narrative weaknesses, and suspiciously constrained review restrictions,
01:45siphoning off the clearly prioritized PC version from everything else. To that end,
01:49PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions were genuinely unacceptable, tarnishing the formerly beloved
01:54and champion CD Projekt Red, creating one hell of a downward trajectory after The Witcher 3.
01:59Many speculated that those behind the scenes knew about these flaws and chose to put the
02:03game out anyway. And indeed, company co-founder Martin Nowinski owned up to it when he tried to
02:08make amends in a January 2021 film statement.
02:11The console version of Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet the quality standard we wanted it to meet.
02:16I and the entire leadership team are deeply sorry for this, and this video is me publicly
02:20owning up to that. Please don't fault any of our teams for what happened.
02:24Fortunately, lining up with what these teams had described was always the release date internally
02:28before publisher Wims kicked it out the door early. February 2022 saw a much more fleshed-out
02:33Cyberpunk finally be worth everyone's time.
02:36While this 2017 sequel provided more bang for your buck than its 2015 original, its insane
02:44baked-in use of microtransactions, loot boxes, and a grindy progression system proved that EA
02:49hadn't learned any lessons from other microtransaction-filled releases and instead were doubling down on them.
02:54The loot box-fueled randomization and expense of the StarCard system, players would have to
02:59spend exorbitant amounts of money, time, and energy without ever really knowing what they
03:03were getting. Beyond making the title unethical in several ways, these procedures led to publisher
03:08EA being investigated for unlicensed gambling by the Belgian Gaming Commission. In turn,
03:12other areas such as Singapore, the UK, and Australia examined the broader question of if loot boxes
03:18in general constitute illicit betting. In response, DICE GM Oscar Gabrielsson announced a revamp,
03:23conceding,
03:24we've heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. This was never our
03:28intention. Sorry, we didn't get this right. We hear you loud and clear, so we're turning off all
03:33in-game purchases. Star Wars Battlefront 2 thankfully turned itself around considerably,
03:38but 2017 was one hell of a rough year for the developers.
03:41Number 6. Mass Effect 3. Kai Leng
03:44Mass Effect 3 has faced several controversies since it was unleashed in March 2012, with the
03:49addition of Kai Leng being among the most salient. Not only is he an Asian character voiced by a white
03:54actor, industry legend Troy Baker, but Leng is frequently considered one of the worst additions
03:58to the series' entire cast. As the elusive man's top henchman, Kai's introduction far too late in the
04:03saga had little depth, and was simultaneously offered too much and too little significance. He gets to harm
04:09far more substantial characters like Miranda and Thane without earning that valuable place in the plot,
04:14and is then given too much focus by having Shepard hunt him down and finish him off instead of
04:18prioritizing more important things like saving the galaxy. Troy's response upon seeing Kai Leng was,
04:24oh, I don't have to do this, also saying it was not good, dude. Baker also pretends to vomit while
04:29saying that acting this character was like having soap in his mouth.
04:33Number 5. Metal Gear Survive
04:34The 2015 separation between Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima and longtime publisher Konami was
04:40antagonistic and very sudden. Kojima was booted from his own franchise, leading to claims of
04:44professional mistreatment amidst Konami, forcing him to go out with the unfinished Metal Gear Solid
04:495 The Phantom Pain. This incited plenty of bad blood between the publisher and series fans,
04:54so the decision to proceed with 2018's Metal Gear Survive was baffling. Rather than win audiences
04:59back to Konami's side, the zombie survival action game's brazen changes to direction and developer
05:04were seen as blatant slaps in the face to Kojima, the franchise, and any die-hard fans of over 20
05:09years. Seriously, a zombie survival continuation of a formerly cinematic single-player IP,
05:15someone at Konami was clearly acting out a grudge. To the shock of no one, Metal Gear Survive was a
05:20critical and commercial dud thanks to absurd microtransactions, poor programming, online
05:24difficulties, and generic everything in between. To compensate, Konami gave away free in-game items,
05:29a hundred SV coins, and one premium boost to players whose avatar existed before February 27,
05:352018. The company commented on Twitter, we know there's been some bumps during launch,
05:39and that they were aware of final issues that still needed fixing. Unsurprisingly,
05:43the game only continued to find new and innovative ways to die on its arse.
05:474. Fallout 76
05:49Bethesda had a monumentally sour time across the eighth generation. Yes, we got Fallout 4 after years
05:54of teases and leaks, but we also got Fallout 76, and the single most disastrous handling of a fanbase
06:00in modern gaming history. Promising an online interconnected approach to Fallout and delivering
06:04almost nothing, 76 was marred by a lack of game modes. No NPCs, performance instability,
06:10hardly any storylines, boring mission design, terrible rewards, and a general feeling of it
06:14being a proof of concept, rather than a game from the makers of Skyrim. Adding insult to injury,
06:19the Power Armor Special Edition, deceitfully swapped its marketed canvas duffel bag for a cheaper nylon
06:24one. Customers were very angry, and Bethesda's subsequent offer of 500 in-game items wasn't
06:29fair reimbursement, as that could barely buy you anything of real worth. Executive producer Todd
06:34Howard had to atone for the game since, and in a March 2021 chat between Xbox and Bethesda executives,
06:40he finally did. When that game launched the litany of issues we had, we let a lot of people down,
06:45and, well, there was very little we didn't screw up. Howard lamented not doing a free,
06:49beta beforehand for every Fallout 4 player to see what Bethesda was really dealing with.
06:54I mean, yeah, maybe, maybe that's a thought for next time.
06:583. 13. The Remake
07:00Typically, video game remakes aim to either improve upon the original or present alternative
07:04experiences that simultaneously appeal to new players and surprise returning ones. Final Fantasy
07:097's remake and Resident Evil 2's managed to accomplish both. 2020's 13 remake did neither.
07:14On the contrary, its negative adjustments to art style and gameplay limitations alongside
07:19myriad technical and audio glitches resulted in dismal reviews across the board.
07:23According to anonymous employees at developer Playmagic, the creation of the game was hampered
07:28by poor project management, a lack of staff and low morale due to a toxic company culture.
07:32Immediately following launch, 25% of 13's credited staff actually left, as they were finally free.
07:38A joint statement released by Playmagic and publisher Microids on November 13, 2020 tried to set things
07:44right. They admitted, first and foremost, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for the
07:48game's technical issues. In its present state, 13 does not meet our quality standards, and we fully
07:53understand players' frustrations. They did patch the game through at least February 2021, but the damage
07:59was already done, with a handful of amendments barely changing anything.
08:02All publisher, Rockstar, and developer Grove Street Games had to do was modernize the graphics
08:11and controls of these bonafide GOAT video games. They're super simplistic titles design-wise
08:16by today's standards, and despite Grove Street Games having a spotty track record with mobile
08:21ports of Grand Theft Auto anyway, this should have been a walk in the park. Not to mention,
08:25it's Rockstar. This is GTA. You just do not make sure every last I is dotted or T crossed.
08:32As I record this, though, I still can't believe quite how much they effed this up.
08:36As we'd later find out, Rockstar barely oversaw the project whatsoever, and these so-called
08:40definitive additions were instead barely playable. Funky collision detection and mission completion
08:44bugs, ugly character models, gross world textures, blinding rainfall effects… At the end of November
08:492021, Rockstar did post an update, as they clearly finally walked into the smoldering room
08:54that was Grove Street Games' development ethos and promptly done at Donald Glover.
08:58Firstly, we want to sincerely apologize to everyone who has encountered issues playing
09:02these games. The updated versions did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality,
09:07or the standards our fans have come to expect.
09:101. Friday the 13th – The Game
09:12I adore this game, but it's certainly a hard game to love, and was quadruply so at launch.
09:18Amongst its faults were too few maps, absurd animations, unreliable frame rates on consoles,
09:23and a general feeling of not really having control over anything that's going down. It goes that
09:28publisher Gunn Media weren't prepared for how many people would be playing simultaneously,
09:31and in a June 2017 Retro Jason Voorhees trailer, they addressed it.
09:35We just wanted to say that we're sorry. You guys destroyed our servers and our expectations.
09:40Thankfully, Gunn gave away free outfits for counselor characters, over 10,000 customization points,
09:45a Retro Jason skin, and a remastered version of the chiptune theme from the original NES game.
09:50They even closed out that month with a double XP weekend. Sadly though, legal and licensing issues
09:55with screenwriter Victor Miller have complicated Friday the 13th's updates since then, shutting
09:59down some servers in November 2020, and leaving peer-to-peer matchmaking as their only way to play.
10:05Again though, I will say, even in 2022, when the game works, Friday the 13th is actually pretty awesome.
10:11And those are our picks for 9 video games so bad they had to apologize. Let me know your
10:16favorites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.
10:20For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll catch you soon.
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