10 Great Video Games That Come Close to Perfection
Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts.
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In this day and age, everything needs to be perfect in order to get any recognition, leaving the solid 7/10s being regarded as disappointments. This way of thinking is especially true with video games, with only a select few being considered truly perfect, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Portal 2.
However, the opposite is also true, with some fans ignoring the flaws of renowned masterpieces. That is why this list will feature 10 video games that come close to perfection but don't quite achieve it. Based on aspects such as minor, yet noticeable flaws, narrative, design, gameplay, visuals, fan opinion, and overall quality, these games came so close to being flawless.
'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' (2015)
Some of the best video games are being turned into TV shows, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the adaptations are rarely as good as the games. Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, but he must put aside his usual monster-hunting gig in order to rescue his adoptive daughter, Ciri, from the titular spectral hunters that wish to use her powers for evil.
The Witcher 3 is known for its incredible worldbuilding and side quests that immerse characters in spontaneous adventures and subtle lore drops. As good as it is, this game isn't perfect, with many fans having an issue with the repetitive gameplay loop and some clunky movement, especially on Roach. This combat can get stale after a while, holding it back from being perfect.
'Subnautica' (2018)
The ocean is vast and deep, with plenty of potential secrets lying in wait, and that is exactly what Subnautica covers. After crash landing on a planet almost entirely covered in water, the player must explore the region and scavenge the crashed ships for resources. Crafting machines, they have to find a way out, whether that be creating a ship or getting rescued.
Subnautica is an underrated adventure video game with one of the greatest open worlds, allowing players to dive into the unknown and learn its secrets. Unfortunately, its ambition was too great for the limited technical capabilities, resulting in frame drops, rendering errors, and overall poor performance in certain areas. Thankfully, the sequel will fix these issues.
'Super Mario Sunshine' (2002)
Nintendo is one of the greatest video game companies of all time, and while they usually take their time to make everything perfect, some games fall between the cracks. Super Mario Sunshine is a 3D platformer that follows the titular plumber on his vacation to Isle Delfino. However, when he is framed for a crime he didn't commit, he must find the real criminal and clear his name.
3D Mario games are usually known for being perfect, but Super Mario Sunshine has a couple of issues that make it one of the worst in its franchise. This game has annoying difficulty spikes that arise from its flawed programming, which includes poor blue coin tracking, unstable physics, and bad collision, proving the technical errors restricted it from being one of the best 3D Mario games.
'Control' (2019)
The recent release of CONTROL Resonant has fans talking about the series again, including what Control could have done to be perfect. The Federal Bureau of Control is a mysterious organization in the Oldest House, and when Jesse enters it as the new director, she must handle the mysterious phenomena while also trying to find her brother.
The kinetic feel of this video game highlights the power system and how engaging it is, easily manipulable in the surroundings. However, Control is also notoriously confusing, with the shifting world of the Oldest House making it hard to navigate the multi-layered vertical unit, which can also be very disorienting for the players, even if it is a video game that needs more credit.
'Fire Emblem: Engage' (2023)
As mentioned, Nintendo has plenty of great franchises, including the cult classic that is Fire Emblem. While the newest entry is already a Game of the Year candidate, its predecessor, Fire Emblem: Engage, was incredibly polarizing. When the Divine Dragon awakens after a thousand years, it must collect 12 emblem rings to defeat the evil Fell Dragon Sombron.
Fans of Fire Emblem: Engage have stated that the gameplay is arguably the best in the entire franchise, making it an infectiously addictive video game — not to mention a bit of fan service done right. However, it is also notorious for its underwhelming narrative, an aspect the overall franchise is known for. Fire Emblem: Engage can be campy and corny at times, not to mention its paper-thin protagonists.
'Alien: Isolation' (2014)
It is rare for a movie franchise to turn into a good video game, but Alien: Isolation has proven that it can be done. Amanda travels to a decommissioned space station in order to learn the truth behind her mother's disappearance. However, all she uncovers is a Xenomorph that hunts her down, forcing her to try to escape the haunted space station.
IGN infamously gave Alien: Isolation a bad score, and while it is much better than that, the game isn't perfect. The recently announced Alien: Isolation sequel has plenty of fans excited because it can fix the mistakes of the long playtime and become truly perfect. The narrative padding in the second half extends the game longer than it needs to be, creating a flaw in an otherwise perfect game.
'Elden Ring' (2022)
FromSoftware is a critically acclaimed video game studio, and its magnum opus is Elden Ring, which, contrary to popular belief, isn't perfect. After the titular ring shatters, the demigod children of Marika claim them. Now it is up to the player to journey across the world and defeat these demigods in order to claim the pieces for themselves and become the Elden Lord.
The next few entries on this list are universally acclaimed games, but sadly, Elden Ring isn't perfect no matter how much of a masterpiece it is. The challenging combat, rewarding exploration, and magnificent lore are what make this game incredible, but it isn't invulnerable to flaws. Indeed, Elden Ring has a polarizing narrative and some balancing issues, especially late in the game.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Fantasy World Do You Belong To? Middle-earth · Grand Line · The Continent · Camp Half-Blood
Pick your magic, your crew, where you want to wake up and who you would rather be fighting, and we will tell you which world you actually belong in. Four are open to you: an ancient kingdom living through its last good age, an endless sea full of pirates, a continent that pays people to kill monsters, and a summer camp where the Greek gods are extremely real and mostly a nuisance.
💍Middle-earth(Rings of Power)
👒Grand Line(One Piece)
🐺The Continent(The Witcher)
🔱Camp Half-Blood(Percy Jackson)
01
What kind of power do you want? Every one of these worlds runs on a completely different sort of magic.
02
Who is travelling with you? Nobody gets through any of these stories entirely on their own.
03
Where do you want to wake up tomorrow? The best fantasy is usually just somewhere you would genuinely like to live.
04
How are you making a living out there? Even in fantasy somebody has to pay for the horse.
05
There is something in the woods. What do you do about it? All four of these worlds keep something unpleasant out there in the dark.
06
Who is the villain of your story? The enemy tells you far more about a world than the hero ever does.
07
What do you actually believe in out there? Every world hands its heroes one rule and asks them to hold onto it.
08
A thousand years from now, how are you remembered? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your world.
The Map Is Drawn Your World Is…
Four worlds and four completely different ideas of what a good life looks like. This is where you belong, what it would ask of you, and what you would get back in return.
Middle-earth
You belong somewhere old enough that the mountains have names and somebody can still tell you who gave them. Middle-earth is for people who think the right thing is worth doing even when it will not be finished in their lifetime.
- This is the only world on the list where doing good is understood as a very long defeat, fought anyway, by people who will never see how it ends.
- You are drawn to grandeur, to white cities and deep forges and the sense that almost everything you touch is older than your entire family line.
- The Rings of Power is set in the last good age before it all goes wrong, which gives every quiet scene in it a slightly unbearable weight.
- You would take the hard road, and you would take it on foot.
The Grand Line
You want the sea, a crew, and absolutely nobody telling you where you are allowed to go. The Grand Line is the world for people whose main ambition in life is finding out what is over there.
- One Piece has run for decades on one very simple engine, which is a group of people who each want something impossible and have decided to go and get it together.
- You collect people. Your ideal crew is a set of misfits who were each written off somewhere else before you turned up and offered them a better idea.
- The world is enormous and deliberately ridiculous, and the emotional gut punches land harder because of that rather than in spite of it.
- You would set sail knowing the map runs out, which is more or less the entire point of it.
The Continent
You would rather be feared and useful than liked and useless. The Continent is a world where the monsters are the straightforward part of the job and the people are where it all gets complicated.
- Witchers get paid to do what nobody else will and resented for existing at all, which is a trade most people would refuse and you would probably accept.
- You have no real illusions about which side is the good one, largely because on the Continent that question tends to have a disappointing answer.
- The best of these stories are not about the fighting. They are about somebody with a rigid code being repeatedly cornered into caring about people.
- You would take the coin, finish the job properly, and be out of town before the story got told wrong.
Camp Half-Blood
You want the myths to be real and loose in the actual world, and you want to find out at about thirteen that you were never anywhere near as ordinary as everybody kept telling you.
- Percy Jackson takes the oldest stories we have and drops them into car parks and diners, which makes the gods considerably funnier and a great deal worse.
- You would be the kid every school gave up on, who turns out to have been built for something nobody thought to test for.
- The series is genuinely about friendship rather than destiny, and it says so out loud every time a prophecy tries to get in the way.
- Camp Half-Blood is the real fantasy here: a place where the thing that made you difficult everywhere else is the thing that makes you belong.
'Red Dead Redemption 2' (2018)
Rockstar has the most anticipated video game coming out soon, and while everyone hopes it will be perfect, even their best title, Red Dead Redemption 2, isn't. Set in the dying age of the Wild West, Arthur Morgan is a cowboy on the last leg of his life after his tuberculosis diagnosis. He wanders the Western frontier in search of forgiveness and redemption, but the Wild West isn't so forgiving.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an atmospheric masterpiece that allows players to embody their role in plenty of ways, truly immersing them in the Old West. However, while the narrative is among the greatest of all time, the gameplay doesn't hold up as much, being quite frustrating to handle at times. So while Red Dead Redemption 2 is a modern video game classic of the 2010s, it isn't as perfect as fans think.
'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' (2017)
The Legend of Zelda is a remarkable franchise, but even its best entry has flaws, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. One hundred years after Zelda sealed herself away with Ganon, the latter's power is returning. Luckily, Link has just awoken from his slumber, needing to travel around the overgrown kingdom of Hyrule to defeat the Divine Beasts and take down his eternal nemesis.
Already an institution of modern gaming, Breath of the Wild revolutionized the open-world format by introducing open-air exploration, allowing the player to run, climb, and glide anywhere in the world. No matter how perfect everything else is, the game has some glaring issues. The weapon-breaking system is controversial, but more importantly, the repetitive enemies and disappointing narrative are what hold it back.
'Mass Effect 3' (2012)
The Mass Effect trilogy is among the greatest in gaming history. Unfortunately, the third and final entry, Mass Effect 3, has a significant flaw. The galaxy is never safe from threats, as the alien race known as the Reapers poses a new risk. It is up to Commander Shepard to unite the shattered fragments and clans of the galaxy against this rising threat and save the world.
Known for its emotional storytelling and branching narratives, Mass Effect 3 ramps up the tension and payoff with brilliant storytelling and worldbuilding. This has made it a perfect sci-fi game for beginners and veterans who simply want engaging gameplay with player agency. What made this game so good is also why it isn't perfect, because the climactic choice disregards three games of decision-making in favor of a handful of color-coded endings.
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