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.

CYBERPUNK 2077

We’ll start with what’s become the poster child of rushed releases that could have benefitted massively from a delay- or another delay, in this case, because Cyberpunk 2077 was, of course, delayed more than a few times in the lead-up to its launch. The state the game released in was, frankly, unacceptable, not only in terms of the baffling lack of polish, but also the core gameplay itself feeling decidedly half-baked. With a couple more years in the oven, who knows? Maybe things could have turned out differently.

Hangar 96 – Marathon Infinity

Way back in the day, Bungie made its name with titles like Myth and Marathon, the latter considered as the precursor to the Halo series. In 1996’s Marathon Infinity, there were three bonus “dream” levels that all referenced Hangar 96. It may have just been something within the Marathon lore but that wasn’t enough for some players who went about looking for ways to unlock it. The “solution” involved taking the hexadecimal code appearing in terminals from the first and last levels, combining them together, converting that into code to create a new level and then adding it to the game. This resulted in the unlocking of a new multiplayer map called “Hats off to Eight Nineteen” that had the “Hangar 96” label. Long story short, never underestimate the dedication of some fans to investigate seemingly unimportant details. Speaking of which…

N – Pokemon Black and White

In many ways, you have to feel for N. Orphaned at a young age and raised by Pokemon, he would have very little interaction with humans aside from Ghetsis (who would claim to be his father for his own nefarious ends). Though he doesn’t have much animosity towards the player, a lifetime of seeing Pokemon hurt by humans skewed his perceptions. N dreamed of having separate worlds for both species, letting Pokemon live in peace without any interference from humanity. Unfortunately, this was all a ploy by Ghetsis to get Zekrom/Reshiram on his side and reign over the world. Despite being the one manipulated, N would eventually apologize and return in the sequel to help the player out.

Guardian Ape – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Immortality in Sekiro is a curse, something you learn firsthand when dealing with the Guardian Ape. It’s torturous enough with its grabs, slams and dung and you’d think things would end upon severing its head. However, the Guardian Ape resurrects and utilizes the sword embedded in its neck along with Terror to make the fight even more annoying. Stabbing its centipede ends the fight but won’t permanently kill the ape. Instead, when traveling to the Ashina Depths, you fight the Headless Ape again, only this time it receives some backup from its mate. Defeating it will result in the centipede taking a rest…until you come back with the Mortal Blade and kill it for good.

Bowser – Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 was a series of firsts for many Nintendo fans. But it also offered one of the most memorable battles with Bowser ever. It was simple – the Koopa King was huge and Mario was small. The only way to defeat him was to grab his tale, swing the analog stick to get enough speed, aim for the bombs surrounding the arena and release Bowser to damage him. Simple but unique and fairly challenging on the third go-around, Bowser’s 64-form remains an iconic fight.

Dracula – Castlevania 3

Shapeshifting has always been Dracula’s thing, at least in the Castlevania games, and Castlevania 3 is no exception. Starting out in typical teleporting, fire column-summoning fashion, Dracula eventually transforms into a multi-headed thing that floats around spewing gunk. The final phase is a doozy as he transforms into a large winged beast that fires lasers. Certain sections of the floor disappear and act as floating platforms which you must hop on to hit Dracula in the head and win.

Cloud Strife – Final Fantasy 7 to Final Fantasy 7 Remake

The iconic Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 will be making his return soon in the remake. However, the process behind his iconic look is interesting – the spiky hair was meant as a contrast to antagonist Sephiroth but also to keep the polygon count low. Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children – and by extension Crisis Core – saw Cloud have a realistic design for the first time with defined hair and facial features. Numerous models were used to capture different expressions and Cloud’s general attire combined elements of his old outfit with a darker, more contemporary look. The overall aim was to showcase how much time had passed in the world and how the guilt of losing Aerith weighed down on him.

In Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Cloud once again sports a more realistic look in keeping with the game’s high fidelity approach. His hair and facial expressions are more defined; the overall outfit has a darker look in keeping with Advent Children; and several elements like the waistband, baggy pants and boots are toned down to look more proportionally accurate. Regardless, this is Cloud Strife through and through.

Doom Marine/Slayer – Doom 1 to Doom Eternal

Though mostly represented as the gun mowing down demon hordes, the Doom Marine or Doomguy had a distinctive design. A helmet covering his entire face, save for a visor over his eyes; chest armor with short sleeves; and the signature green shade adorned the entire set. It was iconic and meant to represent the Marine as a human facing overwhelming odds. Doom 2 didn’t make any major changes to this design. The older games emphasized sprites over full 3D models and this was reflected in whatever we saw of Doomguy.

In Doom 3, however, the human aspect of the Marine was emphasized more, showcasing his face fully. The clothing is more distinct from the armor (he now wears a separate t-shirt below the same); the ab window below the chest plate is covered up; and the pauldrons are more accentuated. All of this to reinforce the Marine being prepared but not overwhelmingly powerful, perfect for the game’s survival horror approach. The Marine was packing an estimated 4400 to 5000 polygons and id Tech 4 allowed for real-time light computation, MegaTextures and shadow volumes to bring the world to life in a creepier way.

With DOOM in 2016, id Software made significant changes to the protagonist. Known as the Doom Slayer now, he had full-body armor with more plating, weathered textures, darker shades of green, and a significantly taller build. It fit well with the Slayer’s motif of being an unstoppable badass that could shred entire armies of demons. The game was developed on id Tech 6 which sported physically based rendering, SMAA and TSSAA anti-aliasing, bokeh depth of field and HDR among many other features, with the aesthetic feeling more heavy metal and visceral than previous titles. Ample amounts of gore and hellish landscapes never looked better.

DOOM Eternal takes the same design, bulks up the Slayer further and adds new weapons like the shoulder mounted cannon and arm-blade. There’s also a return to the classic short sleeves worn by previous Marines.

Jill Valentine – Resident Evil to Resident Evil 3 Remake

An abject professional at heart and in stature, Jill Valentine was designed by director Shinji Mikami and designer Isao Oishi as an anti-thesis to overly sexualized characters. Sporting tactical boots, gloves and a beret, Jill is as no-nonsense as they come. It’s interesting to note that her outfit in Resident Evil 3 received some criticism at the time for going against Mikami’s initial philosophy.

In the HD remake of Resident Evil 1, Jill’s likeness was based on actor/model Julia Voth. This likeness would define Jill’s look for a number of titles including Resident Evil 5, which saw her undergo the most radical change in design yet. Though the shock value of Jill’s return was palpable – especially with the set-up for her apparent demise – many fans reacted negatively to her form-fitting outfit and blonde hair. Resident Evil: Revelations would see Jill adopting a wet-suit in keeping with the infiltration of the Queen Zenobia cruise ship while retaining aspects of her original design. Perhaps the most surprising bit was seeing her with a ponytail instead of the trademark cropped hair.

In the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake, Jill’s design has changed once again. Model Sasha Zotova provides her likeness, offering a harsher touch to Jill’s expressions. While the clothes have been kept casual, the darker colours, combat boots and tactical gloves reinforce Jill’s status as a former special ops soldier. The RE Engine also provides more freedom for additional details like dirt, grime, cuts, bruises and sweat. How Jill’s demeanor and overall character will change remains to be seen but so far, the design is in keeping with her original approach.

Master Chief – Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo Infinite

It’s easy to underestimate just how many changes Chief’s attire has gone through in the years. This is explained in-universe as upgrades to the Mjolnir Armor. Master Chief was first designed by Bungie developer Robert McLees, art director Marcus Lehto and concept artist Shi Kai Wang. After receiving some more muscle, the Chief would receive his trademark green shade and we got the motorcycle helmet-esque wearing marine in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Halo 2 saw the armor gain much more definition, both in terms of details, texture quality and polygon count. Instead of bright green, Bungie opted for a darker shade. This was carried over into Halo 3 where the armor looked more singular as opposed to a variety of armor sections. Improvements to lighting gave more definition to all of the details, and it felt like the Chief had truly made a generational leap. Then 343 Industries took over the franchise with Halo 4 releasing in 2012.

If Master Chief wasn’t a space marine before, it was heavily reinforced this time. His armor was highly detailed with several more components and looked to have Kevlar weaved into the mesh. Eventually, this gave way to a more streamlined design in Halo 5: Guardians. The overall tone felt less busy and seemingly a combination of the designs in Halo 3 and 4.

With Halo Infinite, 343 Industries is making a rather interesting return to the Mark VI armor from Halo 2 and 3. The green tint is more vibrant than before and the shoulder pads are more defined than Bungie’s iterations. But this feels, once again, like a natural evolution of Chief’s design from the older games.

Link – The Legend of Zelda to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

The Legend of Zelda is an amalgamation of timelines, alternate universes and reincarnations. However, throughout it all, the hero Link has always maintained his signature blond hair and green tunic. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, Link started out as a simple sprite in a top-down perspective. He gained more detail and colour in Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, mostly due to the game’s side-scrolling nature, but The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past returned to the top-down perspective with a much more defined sprite with more colours.

From there, Link would see a number of design changes depending on the game. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time saw the hero in full 3D for the first time and, as a contrast to previous adventures, featured an adult version with sharper facial features and a white undershirt and pants. The Wind Waker depicted Link with a cel-shaded style channeling the animated style and energy of the adventure with complex facial expressions and animations. Games like The Minish Cap would channel this style, emulating Link’s bright blond hair. Link’s model was about 2600 to 2800 polygons – this would be quickly surpassed by Twilight Princess, which saw our hero in a mature form right off the bat. His overall outfit was a darker shade of green with more defined gauntlets and even brownish blond hair.

For Skyward Sword, Link was a teenager but his outfit returned to the bright green shades of yore while his gauntlets were replaced by gloves. The overall aesthetic was more fantastical as opposed to the gritty atmosphere of Twilight Princess while borrowing some cel-shading from The Wind Waker. Brighter colours to reflect the game’s emphasis on the sky.

It’s interesting when you look at Breath of the Wild – Link’s design went through a number of changes including variants of the blue tunic that eventually made it in. Cel-shading was applied again, giving the world a more stylized animated feel without going over the top like The Wind Waker. With the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel, Nintendo seems keen on replicating the same look, with Zelda taking some cues from it as well, perhaps hinting at her being a playable character.

WILLIAM BIRKIN (RESIDENT EVIL 2)

William Birkin is no saint, and throughout the Resident Evil franchise, he’s been responsible for plenty of bad stuff, the most prominent of which was the outbreak in Raccoon City, which led to the entire city being nuked. But the fate that he suffered was a horrible one nonetheless. After Birkin infected himself with the G-Virus, he gradually became a prisoner in his own body, and in this tortured state, he was essentially forced to watch from the sidelines as the virus took over his body and mind and did one horrible thing after another.

Blitzkrieg – Dead Rising 2

Created by combining an Electric Chair – itself made from a battery and wheelchair – with an assault rifle or LMG, the Blitzkrieg isn’t very mobile. It’s also slightly tough to craft. But lest you think this is just a slow wheelchair with guns, the Blitzkrieg has some of the best stopping power in the game. Zombies can be downed in one or two shots and there’s 250 uses in total, allowing for a pretty big spree of murder.