Of the thousands of video games released each year, a select group comes close to perfection.

While some achieve absolute refinement, others fall short of complete greatness, with small drawbacks that prevent them from being completely rounded.

These issues don’t stop them from being outstanding titles and among the best of their genre, but they are noticeable enough, whether by negatively affecting their story, pacing, gameplay, or other elements.

Therefore, to vent my pain regarding the shortcomings in several games I hold dear, I present this list of ten minor issues that ruin near-perfect games.

10

Elden Ring

Repeated Content

From the first second of my Elden Ring adventure to the last, the only thought I had in my head was that I was playing a generational game.

FromSoftware finally refined and revamped a well-established formula to the max, delivering a title with a level of excellence practically unmatched within and outside the genre.

However, in the process of bringing a gigantic world to life, the developer reused too much content, creating dozens of dungeons and points of interest that only obscured the journey’s interesting parts.

If it were 20 hours shorter and had less repetitive content, Elden Ring could be considered perfect. For me, it remains a timeless title and one of all time’s best, but that flaw is immutable.

9

Blue Prince

Dependence on Randomness

I never thought I’d feel what Portal and Outer Wilds made me feel again, much less within the same video game. That’s precisely how I felt during my time with Blue Prince.

The combination of roguelike and puzzle-solving has offered me one of the most memorable experiences in the last couple of years, boasting a level of depth and complexity I can’t recall at all.

Changing the map instead of changing your character is a fascinating concept, where you’re constantly reshaping the environment through highly imaginative rooms until you find the long-awaited Room 46.

The way everything connects is masterful; however, at a certain point, you rely too much on randomness to find the combinations necessary to solve your few remaining challenges.

If it weren’t for the frustration of having to start new runs to try your luck, we’d be talking about a Blue Prince without any mistakes.

8

SOMA

Interactivity

SOMA is a magnificent psychological thriller that, between the tension of its atmosphere and the thoughtfulness of its story, makes you feel completely immersed.

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However, what it achieves wonderfully through its worldbuilding, narrative, and sound design is lost in its interactivity, as everything related to gameplay is unintuitive.

Knowing where to go and how to interact with map elements can be confusing, especially considering the inputs themselves are very rudimentary, and it’s difficult to have a fluid experience.

When escaping from indefinable beings and fully immersing yourself in the game’s sensations is impeded by not knowing which button to click, you realize why SOMA falls short of perfection.

7

Darksiders 2

Mission Structure

If there’s one thing I’ve learned to hate in video games, it’s the excessive feeling of being a messenger boy. Unfortunately, that happens a lot in Darksiders 2.

While the game blends genres seamlessly, offering a commendable story and characters within a fantastic setting, I can’t help but feel frustrated when my objectives are variations on the same concept.

Between collecting three parts of a fragmented object, finding two keys to open a large door, or defeating four mini-bosses to advance, all the game’s goals boil down to endlessly repeating the same task until you can move on.

It’s still among the best hack-and-slash games in history, with perfect combat, magnificent bosses, and an indescribable soundtrack, but Darksiders 2‘s mission structure will always be its biggest problem for me.

6

Nine Sols

Difficulty Spikes

Nine Sols is one of the recent indie games that has pleasantly surprised me the most, with its combination of Hollow Knight and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice being admirably polished.

The combat, character progression, level design, bosses, and even the narrative elements are all crafted with remarkable care, but also suffer from design issues stemming from a lack of experience with the Metroidvania genre.

In this sense, the game’s level of challenge is balanced perfectly for most of the campaign, but it has some abysmal difficulty spikes that really made me want to stop playing.

Certainly, they are beatable and make you feel like a god when you overcome them, but they are still a considerable flaw on Nine Sols‘ part that prevents a smooth learning curve.

5

Cyberpunk 2077

Prologue

Even having played it in its questionable launch state, Cyberpunk 2077 has become one of my favorite open worlds, especially for its enthralling universe.

The first time I experienced it, the prologue was a bit jarring due to how abruptly certain events unfold, and subsequent playthroughs have confirmed to me that it is indeed a tedious chapter in the campaign.

The story attempts to present itself as in-depth and give you a clear picture of life in Night City, though it fails to affect the player because everything develops so quickly, leaving no room to fully digest anything it’s trying to impress upon you.

The story then picks up a much better pace and meshes nicely with the side quests, but Cyberpunk 2077‘s prologue is easily a reason for many to stop playing it within the first few hours.

4

DOOM Eternal

HUB

Among the many reasons I love DOOM Eternal with all my heart is its incredibly addictive gameplay loop, as I could basically spend hours killing demons.

Each level is an inexplicable adrenaline rush thanks to perfected gunplay and melee combat, including enemies and level design that encourage you to use every weapon at your disposal.

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However, just when your heart is racing and you’re ready to take on an entire army, the screen goes black, and you’re sent to The Fortress of Doom, the game’s HUB.

While I understand the contrast between fast-paced and calmer moments is important, doing it this way slows down the intensity of events too much, reminding me in the least subtle way possible that I’m inside a video game.

As a result, DOOM Eternal loses a lot of immersion and speed. The HUB itself is very well done, but its mere inclusion disrupts the very reason people come to this kind of game.

3

The Last of Us Part 2

Story’s Rhythm

The Last of Us Part 2 is a title that excels at practically everything. The character performances, the portrayal of grief, the visceral gameplay, and the attention to detail are all elements that reach a remarkable degree of perfection in this work.

Regardless, after three times finishing the game, I feel the story’s pacing is wasted, constantly causing you to lose focus on the objectives you’re pursuing.

Between the flashbacks, the protagonist changes, and the campaign’s sheer length, the weight of what’s happening is blurred. The emotional impact is diminished because so much time is spent in the build-up period.

The Last of Us Part 2 remains an impressive creation, and its ability to surprise the player is undeniable, but it lacks its predecessor’s narrative cohesion to achieve its most polished version.

2

God of War Ragnarök

Final Act

God of War: Ragnarök is undoubtedly one of the best games in the franchise, surpassing its daring predecessor in virtually every way.

The only way Kratos’s final Norse adventure falls short of the first is in its story, particularly due to a final act that undermines the campaign’s momentum.

We spend the entire journey hearing about the Ragnarök, its colossal dimensions, and its inevitability, but then it’s all resolved in an underwhelming short section whose main spectacle unfolds in the background, where we don’t even intervene.

After spending so much time building up this phenomenon’s image, having its resolution happen so quickly takes away its true impact, leaving a bittersweet taste when you reach the title’s finale.

Valhalla helped improve the situation by offering Kratos a new closure, but God of War: Ragnarök is already marked as a game that knew how to build its plot but not how to finish it.

1

Bloodborne

Blood Vials

Bloodborne is one of those titles I’m deeply passionate about because it doesn’t hold your hand, and also adds tons of gimmicks that allow it to stand out from the rest of FromSoftware’s works.

From the setting to the combat, including its incomparable atmosphere and bosses, everything in the game has a unique personality, making you feel you’re playing one of the most special video games in history since the very first moment.

After all that, you come across the blood vials, realize they’re limited, and you’ll have to farm them constantly. So, the magical sensations diminish a bit, as the system prevents you from being more daring in combat for fear of wasting your resources.

In the long run, the situation becomes less of a problem, especially as you improve as a player and don’t waste so many vials. Yet, the system contributes absolutely nothing to the gameplay.

I don’t think it ruins the experience completely, but regarding minor issues, Bloodborne‘s healing mechanics are the worst the developer has ever made.

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