If it wasn’t obvious, making a video game isn’t easy. Along with creating a strong concept and design, you need to hire artists and programmers, budget everything accordingly, manage production cycles, squash bugs, coordinate teams and much more over years. Whether an indie or big-budget game, it’s hard to predict how some games will turn out.
However, there are games which turn out even better than expected. Even if they looked good, the final result is something truly special. Here are 15 games that are way better than they initially had any right to be.
Inside
Coming off the success of Limbo, Playdead Games began work on Inside, a spiritual successor of sorts. Many praised the former for its presentation and gameplay in 2010. However, despite starting development on Inside two months later, it was a long journey for the studio. Revealed in 2014, it faced some delays, which wasn’t enough to create overwhelming concern. At the time, many expected Inside to be good, but not that good.
And it was more than good on release in 2016. Earning near-universal praise from critics, its dark mood and storytelling were arguably superior to Limbo. The short length also exemplified how a video game could deliver pitch-perfect pacing with compelling puzzles and mechanics, on top of an incredible plot that didn’t hold the player’s hand.
Several years later, Inside is remembered even more fondly than Limbo, transcending its indie identity to become one of the best games ever made.
