20 Disappointing Video Games That Didn't Fulfil Their Potential

15. XIII Remake

XIII VIdeo Game
Ubisoft

The development of XIII Remake took many odd twists and turns, from completely changing the much-loved art style to a new development taking the reins once the game had come out to try and fix many of the issues. It didn’t work. 

Now I’d argue that the original XIII isn’t really a fantastic game in the first place, but it was one of the first to really commit to a cel-shaded and comic book style, which caught the eye of many gamers. Why the remake decided to abandon this art style is completely beyond me, but that isn’t the only issue the game had. 

Outside of changing the most recognisable features of the first game, the remake suffered from numerous technical and audio issues, with the developer and publisher blaming the COVID pandemic for the reason the game was released in the state it was in. Then, in 2022, a new developer, Tower Five, took over and released a major update of the game in an attempt to fix many of the issues. While the update did fix a lot, it wasn’t enough. 

What the publisher, Microids, failed to understand was that players just wanted an updated version of the original XIII. The original game still looks good to this day thanks to its cel-shaded art style, so all we really wanted was a higher resolution, higher framerates and a few minor tweaks. This was apparent when, in the first week of the XIII release, sales of the original skyrocketed in the UK, outselling the remake.

 
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Hey, I’m Matt. I work full-time at WhatCulture's neighbours, MyVoucherCodes. I first joined MyVoucherCodes as a Deals Expert, scouring the internet, leaving no stone unturned in finding the best discount codes, sales and offers for our customers. Moving into my first home during the worst possible time (during lockdown), I understand the necessity of saving money when the purse strings are tight. Outside of saving money, I’m into video games, movies, books and music. I host and edit a video game podcast called The Retry Hard Podcast, where my friend and I go through news, reviews and video games in general. I love movies and watching how they’re made, and I’ve worked as a set decorator for a few months on His Dark Materials season 3, which gave me a massive insight into how it all comes together. I also put out music as a solo artist named Matt Kiano, where I won the award for Best Male Artist of 2025 for Radio Wigwam and have been nomiated for Best Live Act at the 2026 Radio Wigwam Awards.