8 Video Games That Were Only Worth Your Money AFTER Launch

Day-one patches are a necessary evil. You'll often hear gamers long for the days when they could "just put in a disc and play", but now you have to put in the disc, install the game, then wait through a hefty patch or installation process.

There are two reasons why patches are a good thing, though: First, it means you get the game sooner at retail, and secondly, it ensures the game works.

At least, that's the idea.

You see, when a game is pretty much playable from start to finish with relatively few bugs, the developer will send it off for certification. This process is usually started three months before the game's release date and takes significant time to go through.

Following certification, the game is sent off for packaging and delivery to stores across the world (assuming we're talking physical release). All of that means the developer has around three months to work and make the title significantly more polished at launch, or add a photo mode, new game plus, etc.

However, sometimes a game will launch, day-one patch and all, and is just not very good. More often than not that means the game will get poor reviews and fade into obscurity.

Living in a world of constant updates though, means that doesn't have to be the case...

While the current talk around Destiny 2 is all about the lacklustre content, it's easy to forget that the original Destiny started life out the same way, and improved steadily to become a huge hit.

What a whirlwind Destiny has been. We first heard of Bungie's sprawling space shooter as an Easter egg in Halo 3: ODST, way back in 2009. When Bungie made the announcement that its next game would be a multi-platform, always-online multiplayer shooter that put players on multiple planets conducting raids, strikes, and uncovering secrets of the lore, it's fair to say expectations were high.

When Destiny finally launched in 2014 it received good reviews, primarily for its silky-smooth gunplay and beautiful worlds. It received fair criticism however, for it's utter lack of depth, both in regards to story and game modes. Bungie took the criticism on-board and, over the course of two years, released four expansions that filled the game with new content: maps, story, missions, gear, raids, and enemy types.

Destiny became a robust online multiplayer that kept players entertained for hundreds of hours and built a healthy community.

Here's hoping Destiny 2 eventually follows suit.