10 Missable Video Game Items That Are Secretly Crucial

Video games are littered with items, sometimes useful, sometimes useless. Typically, it's pretty easy to distinguish which is which, but sometimes the difference isn't as obvious as comparing the stats or looking at the in-game description.

In some cases, what seems like an ordinary and easily missable item can secretly turn out to have way bigger role in the game than you would've expected. The item might be an integral part of the story, a necessary solution to a problem, or even something that can save your or your companions' lives when everything else fails.

Having these items in your inventory is secretly a lifesaver, but knowing to keep them there can be tricky, as you don't really have a way to figure out their true functionality until it is revealed.

For this reason, if you don't want to miss out on any potential game-changing items, be sure to check out the following list. The items here may not look like much, but you'll be glad you kept them around once you learn what they do.

Euclid’s C-Finder is a handheld rangefinder from Fallout: New Vegas that allows you to control a huge orbit laser capable of blowing up entire armies of enemies.

However, when you first come across it, it’s just a toy held by a random child.

Yes, although the C-Finder comes with its own side mission and plays an important role in the subplot concerning the NCR’s and the Legion’s fight over the Helios ONE power plant, when you first play New Vegas, you’re almost guaranteed to ignore it when you see it.

This is because the relevance of the weapon is only revealed when you progress through the Helios ONE storyline, and until then it’s just a prop used by one of the children playing in Freeside.

This little twist is honestly one of the more brilliant “AHA!” moments in New Vegas that’s almost as unlikely as your character surviving a blow to the head, but this is exactly what makes it so special.

There’s just something inherently entertaining about discovering that the key to Helios ONE’s secret weapon was in the hands of a random (and slightly annoying) child the entire time.