It’s a pretty frequent follow within the gaming trade to overpromise the options, improvements, and mechanics in an upcoming title so as to drive pre-order gross sales and safe an excellent begin early on. Avid gamers burned by such practices are sometimes skeptical when a brand new recreation reveal seems too good to be true, both when the graphics seem a tad too spectacular, or when the scope and breadth of the sport are being promoted to unrealistic ranges.
As soon as in a blue moon, nonetheless, a recreation comes alongside that not solely guarantees the world however delivers on it. Typically, these titles even understate how good they’re, leaving gamers fortunately stunned when even their highest expectations for the game are blown out of the water. Listed below are among the most notable video games that appeared too good to be true earlier than launch, however ended up being precisely what the advertising and marketing portrayed them to be.
Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s Open-World Epic
The hype surrounding Elden Ring previous to the sport’s launch felt like a cosmic occasion. The fan theories, subplots, and deep dives that dissected each single body from each tease and reveal have been in contrast to something anybody had ever seen earlier than, besides maybe the extremely anticipated Hole Knight: Silksong.
An open-world twist on the FromSoftware system with GRRM’s storytelling fueled the hype to unimaginable ranges, a lot in order that Redditors have been cautioning one another previous to launch to handle expectations and to maintain it reasonable. Just for FromSoftware to blow expectations out of the water with the discharge, delivering a recreation that greater than lived as much as the hype.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Dungeons and Dragons Dropped at Life
Baldur’s Gate 3’s scope was legendary, and the thought of Larian Studios truly managing to ship it anyplace near what they have been promising it could be within the pre-release advertising and marketing part appeared unattainable to lots of people. The Act 1 demo did loads to assuage these fears, however when Larian began promising issues like 17,000 totally voiced endings, infinite replayability, and a CRPG expertise the likes of which hadn’t even been imagined as much as that time, folks have been skeptical to say the least.
With the total launch of Baldur’s Gate 3, nonetheless, all these guarantees got here true in a method only a few have been prepared for. BG3 sold over 10 million copies inside a 12 months of its launch, and its D&D-inspired gameplay loop delivered with such polish that it even drew in gamers utterly unfamiliar with the favored TTRPG. Larian swept the 2023 Sport Awards, and deservedly so, cementing its legacy without end.
Black Delusion: Wukong
An Motion RPG Phenomenon
Black Delusion: Wukong’s pre-launch trailers and early gameplay sneak peeks regarded too good to be true for lots of people. Unreal Engine 5, the sport engine Black Delusion: Wukong was developed in, has an unlucky historical past of trying good in trailers however enjoying terribly, main many to imagine that this may be extra of the identical.
Upon launch, nonetheless, Black Myth: Wukong proved naysayers wrong in spectacular trend, delivering maybe among the best motion RPG experiences of your complete 12 months, in an entire, coherent package deal that put your complete Chinese language gaming trade within the limelight.
World of Warcraft
The MMORPG That Outlined the Style
It may be onerous to recollect now, however pre-launch hype surrounding World of Warcraft was one thing else. Taking the Warcraft universe and turning it right into a residing, respiratory MMORPG appeared like an unattainable job to many, and the breadth and scope of the undertaking appeared too good to be true. Moreover, contemplating how graphically inferior MMOs have been on the time, WoW’s guarantees appeared nothing greater than sizzling air.
Nevertheless, it’s not a secret that since then, World of Warcraft has thrived in a method no different recreation has earlier than or since. Whereas it isn’t the longest-running reside service recreation of all time, it’s undoubtedly the most well-liked. WoW nonetheless enjoys a large, extremely loyal participant base that isn’t going anyplace anytime quickly.
Dune: Awakening
Funcom’s Greatest Survival Imaginative and prescient But
The pre-launch advertising and marketing part of Dune: Awakening was stuffed with grandiose guarantees that appeared too good to be true. Funcom’s shaky historical past with survival video games and the seemingly large scale of the title gave many followers pause within the lead-up to the ultimate launch, with many being of the opinion that the ultimate product can be nowhere near what was being marketed.
Upon launch, nonetheless, it was evident that Dune: Awakening more than delivered. The large desert world of Arrakis regarded unimaginable, the survival mechanics hooked gamers, and there have been greater than sufficient constructing blocks to make some really spectacular base buildings, all of the whereas staying true to established Dune lore. The endgame does have some points, however the truth that Funcom managed to ship a sufficiently full product amidst the skepticism remains to be deserving of reward.
Palworld
Pokemon With Weapons
Whereas the gameplay footage revealed in trailers and teasers regarded spectacular, Palworld was considered as an inevitable failure by many previous to its launch. Everybody was ready for the opposite shoe to drop, counting down the times till Nintendo to sue “Pokemon with guns” into oblivion. Whereas Nintendo did end up filing a lawsuit against Pocket Pair for Palworld ultimately, the sport had already proved itself to gamers by then.
Palworld amassed over 2 million energetic gamers on Steam inside the first few days of its launch, promoting over 25 million copies inside its first month alone, making it one of the vital profitable indie video games ever created.
Purple Useless Redemption 2
A Benchmark in Open-World Design
Purple Useless Redemption 2’s gameplay trailers revealed earlier than the sport’s launch confirmed a degree of polish and a spotlight to element that was onerous to fathom. The sheer realism and interactivity of the world have been so absurdly forward of its time that some have been of the opinion that the sport regarded too good to be true.
However Purple Useless Redemption 2 put all these doubts to relaxation with its launch, providing gamers a recreation that felt so actual it’s onerous to imagine it got here out in 2018. Not solely does it nonetheless maintain as much as this present day, however RDR 2 overshadows many modern games, and by a large margin at that.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
A Historic RPG That Delivered
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was considered with quiet skepticism earlier than launch, with a number of components contributing to the sentiment. For one, Warhorse Studios was an unknown entity on the time, with solely a handful of builders promising a degree of realism and sophisticated gameplay that had solely been achieved by essentially the most bold AAA video games previously.
To high it off, KCD was being funded by way of Kickstarter, a platform with a historical past of scams disguised as recreation tasks, taking cash from unsuspecting backers with out an intention of ever fulfilling their objectives. Fortunately, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, effectively, delivered, and in a giant method. Whereas the sport wasn’t as large a success as some others on this checklist, it did ultimately promote over 8 million copies, gaining a cult-like following within the course of.
