Games that aged into being better than they were at launch, your picks - the real question

[ECWAlex98]

Q: Which games improved significantly after release through patches, community, or just the passage of time changing how people play them?

A: No Man's Sky is the canonical example and remains remarkable for how completely a game can transform post launch. Cyberpunk 2077 is the recent case, broadly unplayable on last gen at launch and now one of the better open world RPGs available. Path of Exile 2 launched in early access in a state that divided the community and the ongoing updates are building toward something more coherent.

The question is also whether the launch disaster version should colour how we remember a game that ended up being good

[MondayMoan51]

No Man's Sky deserves its place as the example. What it is now versus what it was at launch are separated by a quality gap that might be unprecedented in gaming

[ECWAlex98]

Final Fantasy XIV is the one that preceded No Man's Sky as an example. The original launch was a disaster serious enough that they shut the servers and rebuilt it as A Realm Reborn. Different game with the same name

[Zach]

The should launch disaster colour the memory question is interesting. I cannot separate my memory of how Cyberpunk felt at launch from how it feels now because I know both

[Piston]

I don't know about that. Cheers for sharing

[StringTheory32]

Deep Rock Galactic grew into its identity over time. Launch was good, updates made it great, the community that formed around it is one of the healthier gaming communities

[MJF_Fan]

Warframe went from free to play predatory mess to genuinely good over about three years. The transformation was slow enough that many people who bounced off it early never came back to notice

[CosmicRay67]

The returning to games that failed you previously is underrated. I go back to games I disliked every two or three years and occasionally find they have changed or I have

[ArVeeDee]

Destiny 2 is the complicated case. It improved significantly from launch, then the content vault decision destroyed the community investment, then it improved again. The narrative is not linear

[Forge89]

Monster Hunter World took the series from niche to mainstream and then Iceborne made it even better. Not a disaster launch case but a game that grew into being more than it started as

[Teal Sparrow]

Baldur's Gate 3 launched in early access for three years and the final release was the most acclaimed game in years. The early access model is a different route to the same outcome

[ParallelSelf90]

Haha I still re play final fantasy VII and VIII and X