10 Awesome Video Game Abilities With ONE Fatal Flaw
When a final weapon isn't even worth using.
Abilities outside of your basic moves in video games are what really bring the action to life. By unlocking and selecting different powers that suit your playstyle you can completely transform the way you play - whether combat abilities with great boss damage or crowd control, or even Metroid-esque traversal upgrades that let you access whole new parts of the same level.
But as cool as video game abilities have become, there are a few that really disappoint. It's not the ones that are obviously bad - we knew what we were in for with those - it's the abilities that look absolutely spectacular on paper, but then fall apart in the game itself.
An insanely costly ability that does almost no damage, an initially cool-looking power that scales into irrelevance in the late-game, or a risk-reward dynamic that offers way too much risk compared to any other move - we've seen them all.
In this list, we've gathered together ten video game abilities that would have been absolutely amazing were it not for the Achilles' Heels that came along with them. Strap yourselves in - these video game abilities come with one fatal flaw.
10. Wooden Sword - Ninja Gaiden
While we thought it would be fairly obvious that using a wooden sword would have its downsides, the allure of this weapon comes from the high-risk, high-reward gameplay that it encourages the player to use.
Once you fully upgrade this weapon, when you drop below 25% health, you start to deal 1.5x your normal damage, and as you lose more and more health, this increases to 200% - making you the ultimate glass cannon. This mighty mallet is known as Unlaboured Flawnessless. Badass!
While this would be an amazing mechanic on most normal weapons, the Wooden Sword really makes you work for this supreme damage-dealer. Not only is the cost for upgrading to Unlaboured Flawlessness a whopping 108,000 gold essence, it also leaves you incapable of using Ultimate moves until fully upgraded - meaning you'll spend most of your time frantically grinding while hamstrung by the weapon itself.
Not only that, but even when this weapon is fully upgraded, it still has some shortcomings compared to others like the Warhammer. While it's the only heavy weapon that can perform aerial attacks, it's also the only heavy weapon that can't be used to break obstacles, making for another immediate flaw that gets in the way of gameplay.