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 realise just
00:08how money-grubby publishers can be when given a lucrative licence like Star Wars or Marvel?
00:13Well those emotions aren't just recognised on the side of the audience.
00:16Often times developers or other team members are working on titles for years, and they
00:20know what's being 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 Apologised.
00:289.
00:29Mighty No. 9
00:30Keiji 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.
00:382016's Mighty No. 9 then was meant to be a spiritual successor to the classic Mega
00:42Man era, which is why its colossal failure was so frustrating and surprising.
00:47Simply put, its messy development, significant delays, deceptive Kickstarter campaign, insulting
00:52trailer and lacklustre finished product culminated in an incredibly negative release period.
00:57The haters were not wrong, and it wasn't just players, backers and critics who felt
01:01cheated.
01:02Inafune himself echoed similar sentiments.
01:04During a promotional Twitch livestream around the time of release, Inafune admitted,
01:08I own all the problems that came with this game, and if you want to hail insults at me,
01:12it's totally my fault.
01:13I'm the key creator, I will own all that responsibility.
01:16One of the many failings of a crowdfunded project run amok, at least Keiji's honesty
01:20helped restore his reputation.
01:228.
01:23Cyberpunk 2077, the launch version
01:26Looking 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.
01:32Graphics, player agencies, storytelling, overarching realism and more, at launch we were instead
01:37greeted by a dumpster fire of technical bugs, limited interactivity, narrative weaknesses
01:42and suspiciously constrained review restrictions, siphoning off the clearly prioritised PC version
01:47from everything else.
01:49To that end, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions were genuinely unacceptable, tarnishing the
01:53formerly beloved and championed CD Projekt Red, creating one hell of a downward trajectory
01:58after 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 Iwinski owned up to it when he tried
02:08to make amends in a January 2021 filmed statement.
02:11The console version of Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet the quality standard we wanted it
02:15to meet.
02:16I and the entire leadership team are deeply sorry for this, and this video is me publicly
02:20owning up to that.
02:22Please 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
02:28internally before publisher Wimbs kicked it out the door early, February 2022 saw a much
02:33more fleshed out Cyberpunk finally be worth everyone's time.
02:367.
02:37Star Wars Battlefront II
02:39While this 2017 sequel provided more bang for your buck than its 2015 original, its
02:44insane baked in use of microtransactions, loot boxes and a grindy progression system
02:48proved that EA hadn't learned any lessons from other microtransaction filled releases
02:52and instead were doubling down on them.
02:54The loot box fuelled randomisation and at the expense of the star card system, players
02:58would have to spend exorbitant amounts of money, time and energy without ever really
03:02knowing what they were getting.
03:04Beyond making the title unethical in several ways, these procedures led to publisher EA
03:08being investigated for unlicensed gambling by the Belgian Gaming Commission.
03:12In turn, other areas such as Singapore, the UK and Australia examined the broader question
03:17of if loot boxes in general constitute illicit betting.
03:20In response, DICE GM Oskar Gabrielsen announced a revamp, conceding we've heard the concerns
03:25about potentially giving players unfair advantages.
03:28This was never our intention, sorry we didn't get this right.
03:31We hear you loud and clear, so we're turning off all in-game purchases.
03:35Star Wars Battlefront II thankfully turned itself around considerably, but 2017 was one
03:39hell of a rough year for the developers.
03:426.
03:43Mass Effect 3
03:44Hi Ling.
03:45Mass Effect 3 has faced several controversies since it was unleashed in March 2012, with
03:49the addition of Kai Leng being among the most salient.
03:52Not only is he an Asian character voiced by a white actor, industry legend Troy Baker,
03:56but Leng is frequently considered one of the worst additions to the series' entire cast.
04:00As the elusive man's top henchman, Kai's introduction far too late in the saga had
04:04little depth, and was simultaneously offered too much and too little significance.
04:08He gets to harm far more substantial characters like Miranda and Thane without earning that
04:12valuable place in the plot, and is then given too much focus by having Shepard hunt him
04:17down and finish him off instead of prioritising more important things like saving the galaxy.
04:21Troy's response upon seeing Kai Leng was, oh, I don't have to do this, also saying
04:26it was not good, dude.
04:27Baker also pretends to vomit while saying that acting this character was like having
04:31soap in his mouth.
04:335.
04:34Metal Gear Survive
04:35The 2015 separation between Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima and longtime publisher Konami
04:40was antagonistic and very sudden.
04:42Kojima was booted from his own franchise, leading to claims of professional mistreatment
04:46amidst Konami, forcing him to go out with the unfinished Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain.
04:50This incited plenty of bad blood between the publisher and series fans, so the decision
04:55to proceed with 2018's Metal Gear Survive was baffling.
04:58Rather than win audiences back to Konami's side, the zombie survival action game's
05:02brazen changes to direction and developer were seen as blatant slaps in the face to
05:06Kojima, the franchise and any diehard fans of over 20 years.
05:10Seriously, a zombie survival continuation of a formerly cinematic single player IP?
05:15Someone at Konami was clearly acting out a grudge.
05:17To the shock of no one, Metal Gear Survive was a critical and commercial dud thanks to
05:21absurd microtransactions, poor programming, online difficulties and generic everything
05:26in between.
05:27To compensate, Konami gave away free in-game items, 100 SV coins and one premium boost
05:32to players whose avatar existed before February 27th, 2018.
05:35The company commented on Twitter, we know there's been some bumps during launch and
05:39that they were aware of final issues that still needed fixing.
05:42Unsurprisingly, the game only continued to find new and innovative ways to die on its
05:46arse.
05:49Bethesda had a monumentally sour time across the 8th generation.
05:53Yes, we got Fallout 4 after years of teasers and leaks, but we also got Fallout 76, and
05:58the single most disastrous handling of a fanbase in modern gaming history.
06:02Promising an online interconnected approach to Fallout and delivering almost nothing,
06:0576 was marred by a lack of game modes, no NPCs, performance instability, hardly any
06:11storylines, boring mission design, terrible rewards and a general feeling of it being
06:15a proof of concept, rather than a game from the makers of Skyrim.
06:18Adding insult to injury, the Power Armor Special Edition deceitfully swapped its marketed canvas
06:23duffel bag for a cheaper nylon one.
06:25Customers were very angry, and Bethesda's subsequent offer of 500 in-game items wasn't
06:30fair reimbursement, as that could barely buy you anything of real worth.
06:33Executive producer Todd Howard had to atone for the game sins, and in a March 2021 chat
06:38between Xbox and Bethesda executives, he finally did.
06:41When that game launched, the litany of issues we had, we let a lot of people down, and well,
06:46there was very little we didn't screw up.
06:48Howard lamented not doing a free beta beforehand for every Fallout 4 player, to see what Bethesda
06:53was really dealing with.
06:54I mean yeah, maybe that's a thought for next time.
06:583.
06:5913.
07:00The Remake
07:01The original video game remakes aimed to either improve upon the original or present alternative
07:04experiences that simultaneously appeal to new players and surprise returning ones.
07:09Final Fantasy 7's remake and Resident Evil 2's managed to accomplish both.
07:132020's 13 remake did neither.
07:15On 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.
07:24According 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.
07:33Immediately following launch, 25% of 13's credited staff actually left, as they were
07:37finally free.
07:38A joint statement released by Playmagic and publisher Microids on November 13th, 2020
07:43tried to set things right.
07:45They admitted,
07:46First and foremost, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for the game's
07:49technical issues.
07:50In its present state, 13 does not meet our quality standards and we fully understand
07:54players' frustrations.
07:55They did patch the game through at least February 2021, but the damage was already done, with
08:00a handful of amendments barely changing anything.
08:032.
08:04Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
08:07All publisher, rockstar and developer Grove Street Games had to do was modernise the graphics
08:11and controls of these bonafide GOAT video games.
08:14They're super simplistic titles design-wise by today's standards, and despite Grove
08:18Street Games having a spotty track record with mobile ports of Grand Theft Auto anyway,
08:23this should have been a walk in the park.
08:25Not to mention, it's Rockstar.
08:27This is GTA.
08:28You 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
08:40so-called Definitive Editions were instead barely playable.
08:43Wonky collision detection and mission completion bugs, ugly character models, gross world textures,
08:47blinding rainfall effects.
08:49At the end of November 2021, Rockstar did post an update, as they clearly finally walked
08:53into the smouldering room that was Grove Street Games' development ethos, and promptly
08:57done a Donald Glover.
08:58Firstly, we want to sincerely apologise to everyone who has encountered issues playing
09:02these games.
09:03The updated versions did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or
09:07the standards our fans have come to expect.
09:09And number one, Friday the 13th, The Game.
09:13I adore this game, but it's certainly a hard game to love, and was quadruply so at
09:18launch.
09:19Amongst its faults were too few maps, absurd animations, unreliable framerates on consoles
09:23and a general feeling of not really having control over anything that's going down.
09:27It goes that publisher Gunn Media weren't prepared for how many people would be playing
09:31simultaneously, and in a June 2017 Retro Jason Voorhees trailer, they addressed it.
09:36We just wanted to say that we're sorry.
09:38You guys destroyed our servers and our expectations.
09:40Thankfully, Gunn gave away free outfits for counsellor characters, over 10,000 customisation
09:45points, a Retro Jason skin and a remastered version of the chiptune theme from the original
09:49NES game.
09:50They even closed out that month with a double XP weekend.
09:53Sadly though, legal and licensing issues with screenwriter Victor Miller have complicated
09:57Friday the 13th's updates since then, shutting down some servers in November 2020 and leaving
10:02peer-to-peer matchmaking as the only way to play.
10:05Again though, I will say, even in 2022, when the game works, Friday the 13th is actually
10:10pretty awesome.
10:12And those are our picks for 9 video games so bad they had to apologise.
10:16Let me know your favourites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture
10:19Gaming Podcast.
10:20For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, thank you very much for listening and I'll
10:23catch you soon.