10 MASSIVE Missed Opportunities In Video Game Stories

Is there anything worse than a ton of build up and no payoff?

By Jacob Reinhard /

We all know that one of the reasons we love video games so much is for the incredible stories they tell. Be it about a boy from an island teaming up with Disney's finest in Kingdom Hearts, or a Prince with control over time itself in the Sands of Time trilogy, there's no end to the creativity and sometimes utter insanity that video game stories can bring.

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However, even the best stories can sometimes miss key opportunities to bring us that emotional impact.

Whether it’s large amounts of source material to cover, or just not enough time to dot that last “i”, oftentimes the players can find some great story opportunities that the creators have missed.

The mark of good storytelling is that it always leaves the reader (or in this case the player) wanting more. Instead, it's important for games to leave players feeling like they could expand upon what is already incredible, and not leave them feeling like something obvious was missing all along.

With that in mind, various stories needed just that little bit more, to be a whole lot better.

10. Unfinished Plots In Mass Effect Andromeda

Mass Effect Andromeda was met with harsh reviews thanks to its unfinished feeling at launch, and the game never really recovered.

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Sadly, there were a couple of plots in the game that were also unfinished, and due to the games less than stellar reception, it looks like they’re going to stay that way.

The first of these is the death of Jian Garson, spearhead of the Andromeda Initiative. As players make their way through the game, it's revealed that Jian Garson’s death was not accidental, but murder.

Players learn of a mysterious benefactor that helped set the Andromeda Initiative in motion, and it seems like this mystery is only beginning, but it never goes beyond that. This would have been a great way to connect back to the original trilogy as one theory was that the benefactor was The Illusive Man.

The other unfinished plot comes at the end of the game where a broken transmission warns that the Quarian ark is in distress. This could have led to a series of missions where players chase down new leads, and take further advantage of Andromeda’s open world gameplay.

Unfortunately, it seems like those stories won’t get a real ending anytime soon.

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