Team Talk: Which game deserves a second chance after launch?

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With Returnal experiencing a few teething problems due to its lack of save functionality and more, we’ve been thinking about other games that have benefitted from a few patches to make them fighting fit after launch.

Do you have a favourite that began life as a fumble? Maybe something you were burned by early and never bothered to revisit? Let us know in the comments.

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by James Michael Parry

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@James_Parry

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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James | Sea of Thieves

I was lucky enough to jump into the high seas before many others in the alpha phase of Rare’s Sea of Thieves, which (hopefully) helped to refine many of the experiences players enjoyed on launch day.

That was far from the end of the tale however, as the game has seen a steady stream of new content, ultimately resulting in a formal relaunch as an ongoing service with Season One at the beginning of this year.

The change up brought a new progression system, which rewards fairly straightforward, everyday activities with Renown points to unlock rewards and trinkets over a three-month period.

More narrative elements were added as well, with speaking NPCs and event quests to begin to tie the experience together. There’s also the addition of particularly charismatic pets, because every real pirate has a cute animal companion!

Compared to what was released in March 2018, the core experience is still much the same. There’s so much more to see and do that everything adds up to massively increase the level of immersion, though. 

That said, I could still do with a bit more protection from malicious pirates when sailing solo. Perhaps a strong box to stash goodies before you’re forced to scuttle your ship?

Plenty of new ways to earn loot, and then lose it all to these guys.

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Liam | Star Wars Battlefront 2

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2015 Star Wars Battlefront reboot. Despite the lack of content, I thought it was a great looking/sounding game that had really solid arcade-style combat and some decent multiplayer modes.

I was super hyped for the sequel, Battlefront 2, so it was incredibly disappointing to see it being slated by press and users alike upon release in 2017 due to its dodgy loot box implementation. It was enough to turn me off completely – I didn’t buy the game and never even completed my 10-hour EA Access trial.

It wasn’t until the game hit the EA Access Vault that I eventually got the chance to give it a proper try and found that a year and a bit of work had put the game in a much better place than it had been at launch. There were exciting new game modes, plenty of cosmetic items to unlock (seemingly outside of loot boxes), plus a robust and healthy playerbase.

I almost regret not taking a chance on Battlefront 2 earlier, as the gameplay is excellent, and it’s now one of my go-to multiplayer titles. While people were quite rightly angered by the game’s shambolic launch, it’s in a much better place now and has plenty to offer, for both Star Wars and multiplayer fans.

Make sure you give the Starfighter Assault mode a try if you're heading back to BF2, it's tucked away behind the 'More' tab.

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Sam | Returnal

Returnal is sitting on the naughty shelf right now. It’s misbehaved terribly, though the developers at Housemarque are already putting things right.

The game is ambitious, which is great, don’t get me wrong, though treading new ground can also cause problems. Returnal is all about its cyclical gameplay loop - playing and learning, then dying and improving. Many flat out take issue with the concept, but its the implementation that occasionally stinks.

There’s no saving during runs and runs can last hours. Currently, suspending the game by putting the PS5 into Rest Mode is the only workaround. Ignoring the environmental and financial impact of all that needless power consumption, the feature is plain unreliable. When I came back to a run suspended in the final area, I found that everything was lost due to the game automatically closing to install an update…

Needless to say, I haven’t played Returnal since. However, it is stellar when it works and Housemarque have been quick to acknowledge and address all of the shortcomings. They’re even considering the implementation of a save feature based on community feedback.

Returnal will overcome its launch woes in time, at which point it’ll be a must-play for PS5 owners. That’s also when I’ll be back to break Selene from her cycle and finish what we started.

Plenty of players will return(al) once the teething issues are sorted.

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What game do you think deserves a second chance? Let us know below.