8 Video Games That Made You Pay For Essential Features - Commenter Edition

4. Tekken 7 - Frame Data

Bandai Namco’s fighter Tekken 7 released to arcades in 2015 and home consoles in 2017. While it reviewed and sold well with outlets praising the game for its new mechanics, impressive graphics, tight and exciting gameplay, and compelling characters, it’s on this list so it must have ballsed something up.

What was it that it ballsed up I hear you ask? And why have I decided to say ballsed? I can’t answer that second question to be honest, but to the first it made you pay for frame data.

For the uninitiated or the uninterested in fighting games, frame data is essential to those who take the competitive nature of the genre seriously. It gives you insight as to how many frames every action takes to execute thereby giving you vital knowledge about what attacks, defences, and moves play in your favour and which will leave you at a disadvantage. While dedicated fans have put the time in to create detailed websites that collate this information, the display of frame data in Tekken 7 is gated behind a paid DLC. Sure, it’s only a few dollars but it’s the principle of the thing.

Taking this feature out and then charging you for it is like if Baldur’s Gate 3 ripped out the ability to change to a top down view and charged you to put it back in. Or if The Quarry took out the ability to save scum through Death Rewinding but charged you if you wanted to use it, oh wait they did do that. Anyway, uncool.