10 DLCs That Totally Missed The Point Of The Game
In which Spider-Man takes a break from superheroics to play Space Invaders on his phone. Excelsior!
Ever since the age of DLC began not with a bang, but a gold-plated whinny, video game fans have long been wary of the practice.
For every genuinely great season pass or character pack that delivered on the inherent promise of downloadable content, there have been many more examples of publishers using DLC as a low-effort cash grab to siphon money from their most profligate customers. (Purchasing extra save slots, anyone?)
Yet while examples of the latter DLC are infuriating, we can at least understand what the publishers were thinking when they signed off on them (separating fools from their money). With the entrants on the upcoming list, things are a little different.
The examples of DLC on this list all vary wildly in quality, but all are united in one thing - they completely miss the purpose of the game they are attached to.
Whether it's through ridiculous difficulty spikes, immersion-shattering NPCs or simply by focusing on the worst parts of the original game, the downloadable content on this list all missed the point completely.
10. Sonic Frontiers - The Final Horizon
If you're wondering why Super Sonic looks so pissed off in the above pic, it's because the requirements to actually unlock his new Super form are about as pleasant as a Sriracha sauce enema.
The original Sonic Frontiers may have been divisive upon its original release, but WhatCulture enjoyed the blue blur's first foray into open-world territory. Frontiers turned out to be a surprisingly great game to relax with, as the game's gentle difficulty, ambient music and entertaining high-speed traversal made it a pleasant way to spend 15 or so hours.
The Final Horizon - a free story update that unlocks an alternate ending - is unfortunately the absolute antithesis to the zen-like atmosphere Frontiers cultivated.
Simply put, Final Horizon brings all of the base game's issues to the forefront and makes them worse. Frontiers' loose controls and graphical pop-in were never much of a problem in the main game, as the challenges were simple enough that you could work around those issues.
Final Horizon, however, demands a level of precision platforming simply not present in the base game's challenges, resulting in howlingly frustrating deaths and restarts of the same damn sections over and over again.
Add in one of the most tedious boss rushes in video game history, and Final Horizon ensured that Frontiers' final bow saw the game split its trousers open and let one rip over its unsuspecting fanbase.