What´s the definition of "unfinished game" ?

[Lulcielid 159]

Over the PS360 generation-onward, many games have been flakked of being "unfinished" or "incomplete" as a synonyms, some of the common criticisms are being "lacking" content that they "should have", features not working properly, glitches & bugs, undervelop writing (for games that have narratives). Now, the question is:

• How many of them are actually valid & legit criticisms?
• And which are just only "greedy" whines from the consumer?
• Finally, What´s your definition of "unfinished/iincomplete" game?

Edited February 21, 2016 by Lulcielid

[Enix 995]

1: Some are. Legit critics are GameXplain, GameSpot,IGN, and Nintendo life.

 

2: Greedy whines? You mean which game only have greedy whine that people complain that is bad, but actually good? If you mean that, perfect examples are FF13, Sonic Lost World, KH series in general, Paper Mario Sticker Star, and so on.

 

3: My definition of a incomplete game that the game has a ton of game breaking glitches that causes the game to be unplayable.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Enix

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Um, a game that was clearly meant to have more in it but didn't, or rather when the developers straight up say that there was meant to be so much more in the game and it clearly shows. MGSV clearly shows it, with the missions still being rather on the small side and the final ending literally being cut from the game before it was finished. Sonic 2006 or Sonic Boom...well, I don't think I need to explain those examples. There ARE things that objectively make a game "unfinished", though yes, I will admit there are quite a few people and names out there that abuse that term and their reasons for it. And simply cutting content from the game doesn't make it incomplete either, so long as the game doesn't feel like less without it. If a game has something omitted from it and because of that it feels like less than it should have been, and if the gameplay is super glitchy, then it's definitely "unfinished".

[HeyMouseSayCheese 1,133]

Generally games that don't function correctly on launch are what I consider unfinished. Assassin's Creed Unity is a perfect recent example- that game was a mess of glitches and poor server connections when it was released, and had to be patched to hell just to function.

 

If a game isn't functioning marginally well on release, then it's safe to say that there wasn't enough QA testing done before launch and the time should have been made to make sure the game works, even if it means delays.

[MythrilMagician 6,963]

Generally games that don't function correctly on launch are what I consider unfinished. Assassin's Creed Unity is a perfect recent example- that game was a mess of glitches and poor server connections when it was released, and had to be patched to hell just to function.

This is almost exactly what an incomplete game is. The only missing information is that there is an unbearable amount of DLC, most of which is practically mandatory if you want to enjoy the full game.

[sagman12PC 280]

Street Fighter 5 

[Yuya Sakaki 5,212]

KH HD 2.5 ReMIX.

 

Peace!

[EternalReckoning 1,135]

An unfinished game is an unfinished game, it dissapoints where it should appeal, causes fans to whine and gives a company a bad name as being a lily liverred dlc monster.

KH HD 2.5 ReMIX. Peace!

Oh shiz, shots fired, everyone duck. Tots agree though

[Lulcielid 159]

An unfinished game is an unfinished game, it dissapoints where it should appeal(...)

But, what's that thing called "where it should appeal"?You can dissapoint, for example, in something like uninspiring level design, yet the game still have nothing being unfinished (no glitches or bugs, no unfuntional gameplay mechaniques/features, no bad textures, etc)

[AzureAce 544]

My definition of Incomplete game is Street Fighter V, Sonic Boom and Rome: Total War II

 

No definitions, just games. That's all I need for a definition.

Edited February 21, 2016 by AzureAce

[Nero Kunivas 3,046]

Game-Breaking Glitches (Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Sonic '06, Ride to Hell: Retribution etc.)

 

Lack of content at release (Street Fighter V, Vanilla Destiny, Thor: God of Thunder etc.)

 

Deliberately cut content for release as "DLC" (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Street Fighter V again etc.)

 

Unpolished, unclean and terrible look to a game (Ride to Hell again, Sonic Boom again, Afro Samurai 2 etc.)

 

Terribly broken state at release (Rome: Total War II, A lot of Ass Creed Games especially Unity, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 etc.)

 

Lack of effort put into the game (Tony Hawk 5, ANY Movie Licensed Game, Sonic Boom, ANYTHING by Digital Homicide etc.)

 

AWFUL Gameplay (....too many games.)

 

Overly long loading times can also be bad. (Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, Duke Nukem: Forever, Sonic '06.)

 

Pretty much any complaints made against ANY unfinished game is never entitled whining, especially these. All of these games I've listed are factually unfinished, some of which have been remedied but it shouldn't need to be that way.

[EternalReckoning 1,135]

But, what's that thing called "where it should appeal"?You can dissapoint, for example, in something like uninspiring level design, yet the game still have nothing being unfinished (no glitches or bugs, no unfuntional gameplay mechaniques/features, no bad textures, etc)

well that all comes down to personal opinion, if you think the level design, to use your example, is unappealing that is not a reflection of how finished the game is it is a reflection of the perspective of an individual.

[Headphone Jack 1,147]

a game that is exceptionally buggy and feels lacking in content. MGSV is an example of lacking in content, especially with the information that says there was intended to be more story in the game but it was cut and released unfinished. 

people could also call a game unfinished if they feel that it didn't deliver the experience they were hoping for. if they felt that a game was too short then they may call it unfinished, even if the developer had intended for it to be that way. 

i don't think the term "unfinished game" is a vague one, because there are definitely clear examples. Sonic 06, MGSV, Assassins Creed Unity, etc.

[Kalebninja 188]

a game that is exceptionally buggy and feels lacking in content. MGSV is an example of lacking in content, especially with the information that says there was intended to be more story in the game but it was cut and released unfinished. people could also call a game unfinished if they feel that it didn't deliver the experience they were hoping for. if they felt that a game was too short then they may call it unfinished, even if the developer had intended for it to be that way. i don't think the term "unfinished game" is a vague one, because there are definitely clear examples. Sonic 06, MGSV, Assassins Creed Unity, etc.

MGSV had content cut just like every other game but considering its a 50+ hour game it by no means lacks content.

[Headphone Jack 1,147]

MGSV had content cut just like every other game but considering its a 50+ hour game it by no means lacks content.

but i've heard most people say that the fact that the third chapter was cut was detrimental to the game as a whole. we aren't talking about a character model or even a planned location. it was an entire chunk of story that Konami did not allow in the game for budget reasons. 

so i would say that it is technically lacking content, i.e. an entire third chapter. 

[Kalebninja 188]

but i've heard most people say that the fact that the third chapter was cut was detrimental to the game as a whole. we aren't talking about a character model or even a planned location. it was an entire chunk of story that Konami did not allow in the game for budget reasons. so i would say that it is technically lacking content, i.e. an entire third chapter.

The third chapter was going to be a single mission with one more boss battle, the cut mission scenes can be watched on youtube but it doesn't add much to the game except a little bit of closure for one event.

[Isaix 924]

A simple way to tell if a game is unfinished is to compare it to previous enteries of that series or games of the same kind.

[Lulcielid 159]

A simple way to tell if a game is unfinished is to compare it to previous enteries of that series or games of the same kind.

But on what metric do you compare them ?

• Whether it has (or not) this feature from previous installments?
• Whether its bigger/smaller in scope?
• In what?

[Isaix 924]

But on what metric do you compare them ?

 

[*]Whether it has (or not) this feature from previous installments?

[*]Whether its bigger/smaller in scope?

[*]In what?

It depends on the game and what that game aims for.Street Fighter V is considered unfinished because its missing basic fighter games features like Arcade mode and it doesn't have nearly as many playable fighter then some of the older Street Fighter games.Not sure if you played any Zelda games but Skyward Sword is not unfinished despite having a smaller world and fewer items then Twilight Princess,it just took a different direction, the game still offer a world to explore with a lot of fun dungeons and a typical Zelda story,its not lacking what a Zelda game should be all about.

 

So really it just depends on what people are expecting from the game and of course if the game is buggy as hell then its obviously unfinished