10 Times Video Game DLC Was Better Than The Main Story
Think of them as the Extended Cuts of the gaming industry.
DLC has gotten a bad rap over the past few years, largely due to companies slicing of chunks from the main game and charging extra for them. However, these exploitative tactics don't change the fact the some of the best gaming content in the past decade has come from additional add-ons.
When it comes to making DLC, a lot of companies often excel more in that department than the making of the actual main story. The pressure to make games a certain length results in excessive filler and content that feels out of place. It's why, when developers turn their eyes to DLC, they have an opportunity to work on a smaller scale and make something incredibly focused.
Removing the fluff and refining the experience means that these shorter bursts of DLC can often trump the main game in quality. Not to mention developers have a chance to right the wrongs from the main game and make something that truly does the property justice.
So whilst DLC may be getting panned as cheap and frustrating, let's take a look at the bright sparks that do the medium justice.
10. Trespasser - Dragon Age: Inquisition
Inquisition was a decent game, but a lot of it felt a little superfluous. It was all well and good to have the main conflict be another end of the world crisis, but it made mucking around at a fancy ball seem a little disingenuous. It was ambitious in what it did but didn't have the stakes and impact that Origins had in it's ending.
Trespasser feels like the true ending to the game. It directly involves the Inquisition and feels a lot more impactful than simply defeating the bad guy. It is a lot more emotional and resolves the cliffhanger of the original game, which was easily one of the most frustrating aspects of the main campaign.
Whilst it does feel a little cheap to congratulate a developer for adequately wrapping up their game via DLC, it is a little justified in this case. They tell a story that needed telling in DLC format and did so incredibly well. It is, fundamentally, the true ending of the game. And is a great ending.