Once in a while, a game likeBaldur’s Gate 3comes along that’s nearly perfect in nearly every way—but that “nearly” part is what keeps some games from achieving absolute perfection. No game is perfect, of course, so even the most critically acclaimed and fan-adored titles have flaws that prevent them from reaching a 10/10 rating by everyone who plays them.
Even the best games can be held back from perfection across the board by unpopular developer decisions, pacing, and world design. These could be your favorite games of all time, butsomething still keeps them at a near-perfect score.
10Baldur’s Gate 3 Struggles In Its Third Act
Baldur’s Gate 3
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
Baldur’s Gate 3is possiblythe closest you can come to playing a tabletop RPG in video games. The classic has memorable characters, a compelling story, and the ability to interact with the world in practically any way you can imagine. In trueDungeons & Dragonsspirit, player choices shape their relationships and how they interact with the world—and vice versa.
But even the belovedBG3isn’t without its faults. The gamestruggles to catch up in its third act, which somehow manages to feel rushed (despite it being a 100+ hour game).Screen Rant’s review ofBaldur’s Gate 3calls the game out on this:
Once players actually reach Baldur’s Gate, it feels like the storyline accelerates much faster than the cadence of the narrative would require. It’s a by-product of needing to tie together so many different loose threads scattered throughout the first two acts… While it feels absurd to insinuate a 100 hour journey was rushed in spots, that’s exactly what happens in the third act.
This unfortunate pacing issue is what keepsBaldur’s Gate 3from being a perfect 10/10 for many fans.
Fans Didn’t Like Playing As The Antagonist
The Last of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part II is a continuation of The Last of Us universe and a direct sequel to the original title. It takes place five years after the events of The Last of Us and sees players taking control of two characters, Ellie and Abby. Players will be forced to live the lives of both characters before their stories ultimate at the end of the release.
The Last of Uswas a groundbreaking experience that took aunique stance on the zombie survival horror genre. The game elevated cinematic storytelling to a new level with incredible motion capture animations and realistic characters that displayed human flaws but were still incredibly lovable.
The sequel,The Last of Us Part 2,continued in the same vein and was a hit for all the same reasons, but it struggled to reach that same level of excellence. This was in large part due to the controversial decision by Naughty Dog tobrutally kill off one of the most beloved characters in the series, then force fans to play from their killer’s perspective.
This didn’t sit well with fans, many of whomcouldn’t overcome their hatred for the character they were meant to sympathize with, keeping the sequel from being rated as highly by fans as the first.
The Only Thing Keeping The Game From Perfection
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure game and is the first in the franchise to transition into 3D. Players take on the role of Link, a young boy sent on a quest to save the world from the evil Ganondorf. Players will switch between young and adult Link as they head to the past and the future to save Hyrule from its dark fate. A Nintendo 3DS version of the game was released in June of 2011, including improved visuals, frame rate, and motion controls.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timehas anearly perfect score of 99onMetacritic, making it thehighest-rated game of all time. However, anyone who’s played it can tell you that there’s one very specific location that keeps the title from earning that final 1%:the Water Temple.The complex dungeon was much more difficult than the rest of the game, requiring players to use pumps and pipes to raise and lower the water level to get around.
It was a challenging feat, made even more difficult by the fact that many of the people playing it at the time thatOcarina of Timewas released in 1998 were kids. To this day, although the Water Temple is some fans' favorite dungeon, it remains anotoriously difficult part of an otherwise perfect game.
Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain
Nearly all theMetal Gear Solidgames are considered masterpieces, with every entry in the seriesachieving a 90 or aboveonMetacritic. While this is also true of the fifth title,The Phantom Pain,many fans felt it was “unfinished.”
Halfway through the development ofMetal Gear Solid 5,the series' creator Hideo Kojima left Konami due to a disagreement. As a result,MGS5doesn’t bear Kojima’s name, and many fans are hesitant to love it as much as the previous entries.
Besides the controversy surrounding it, many fans also felt that there aren’t enough guards in the stealth segments to make them challenging,making the entire game feel less excitingthan previous entries.
The Least Replayable GTA To Date
Grand Theft Auto 5
Grand Theft Auto 5 is the eighth mainline installment in the franchise, this time following three separate characters that players must use at different intervals in the story. Players will control Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Phillips. Players are once again free to explore the open world, this time set in Los Santos.
Many knowGrand Theft Auto 5asone of the most influential games of all time, but that doesn’t mean that it was a perfect title. In fact, although it’s critically acclaimed and praised by players, for many, the game isn’t even the best in theGTAseries.
The game’s protagonists are widely accepted as being theleast interesting of the franchise, which made the gameless fun to replay. And withGTA 6still many months away from release, fans would have to do a lot of replaying to bide their time until the next installment of the franchise hits stores.
5Mass Effect 3 Fumbled In The Last 10 Minutes
It’s Legendary For All The Wrong Reasons
For the majority ofMass Effect 3,BioWare’s sci-fi shooterdelivered on the strong storytelling and character arcsthat fans had come to expect of the series. It was gearing up to be thestrong conclusion to the trilogy… until the last 10 minutes.
“In a controversy that became legendary, the ending of Mass Effect 3 ruined the rest of the game for many.”
In a controversy that became legendary,the ending ofMass Effect 3ruined the rest of the gamefor many. All the decisions and choices players made throughout the game amounted to nothing, with the game’s ending hinging on only one final choice and three endings that didn’t deliver the payoff players had been led to expect.
Players were also left with too many questions, some of whichBioWare retroactively tried to smooth outby releasing an Extended Cut a few months later. While it did its best to tie up loose ends, many fans felt the efforts were just too little, too late.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a popular game released by From Software, creators of games such as Armored Core, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Players assume the role of a Tarnished, a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has returned to repair the Elden Ring after the events of “The Shattering.” “The Shattering” occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika battled to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, known as Great Runes. Their war has brought lawlessness, destruction, and chaos to the land, and the player will challenge them with the assistance of a Maiden known as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to face their destiny and to become the one true Elden Lord. Players can tackle the game how they choose and can adventure across realms as they build their character how they want - be it a powerful magic caster or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete control over their build.
The notoriously challenging Soulslike from genre giant FromSoftware was so loved that it won Game of the Year in 2022, thennearly won it again with its DLC in 2024. Like other games in the genre,Elden Ringis unabashedly unforgiving—but that’s not what holds it back from perfection.
The real issue is therecycled late-game bosses and empty, unused spaces in the worldthat don’t seem to add anything other than more areas to explore. Many were left wishing that the world had been half the size, but with each location and encounter adding something unique to the experience.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
After years of fans begging for aFinal Fantasy 7remake or remaster, Square Enix finally deliveredFinal Fantasy 7 Remakein 2020. The game was the first in a trilogy, and focused entirely on creating abustling, life-like Midgarand setting up the heroes' upcoming journey. And while the game was beautiful and recaptured the characters and setting of the original perfectly, ittook many artistic liberties that left players uncertain.
The gamealienated longtime fansfor going in a new direction with the beloved title, andturned off non-fans by throwing in plot points early onthat didn’t make sense to newcomers. This uncertainty knocked the excellent remake from being the perfect return to one of the most beloved games of all time.
Clunky Combat Reduces Enjoyability
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Set some time after the events of The Witcher 2, The Witcher 3 centers once again on the monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher on the hunt for his adopted daughter. The Wild Hunt is a group of ominous elves seen as an omen of war - their purpose is to find and capture individuals to serve them. Unfortunately for Geralt, his daughter, Ciri, is their new target due to her Elder Blood. When Geralt receives a letter from his former lover, Yennefer, they reconvene to meet with the Emperor of Vizima, who reveals the truth about Ciri. With new information at his fingertips, Geralt sets off in search of her to reach her before the Wild Hunt does.
The wide popularity of certain mods forThe Witcher 3reflectsits one critical flaw: the combat. While the action RPG held players captive with the fantasy tale of the monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia, the actual monster slaying left something to be desired.
Combat is often clunky, with attacks and parries reacting inconsistently to input and causing fights to lack polish. That, paired with the poor human enemy AI, sours the experience of anotherwise fantastic game.
Sluggish Movement And Storytelling Lost It Points
Red Dead Redemption 2
Did you love the original Red Dead Redemption back in 2010? Check out this prequel to the first game, Red Dead Redemption 2. Players explore the complex Western world as Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang. Get ready to find an adventure in the western frontier in the 1800s, fighting against government figures and famous rivals. While some controls are difficult to manage at first, after some practice mounting and dismounting your horse, you should be ready to meet more characters. The stunning graphics are to be expected with Rockstar Games, as they created other popular open world games such as Grand Theft Auto.
Many open-world RPGsowe their existence toRed Dead Redemption 2,whichestablished the golden standard for the genre. The game is actually a prequel to the first title, setting the scene for the events that follow inRDRthough memorable characters and often-heartwrenching story beats.
It’s a shame thatRDR2’spacing holds it back from being the perfect game. In fact, the game lost many players in the beginning due to its sluggish pace, both in terms of the story’s pacing and the literal walking pace. Those for whom the pacing issue wasn’t a deal-breaker stuck around to enjoy the game that’s seen as “GTAbut without cars.”
In the end,RDR2was another critically acclaimed masterpiece that fell just short of a perfect 10—much like other classics likeBaldur’s Gate 3,Elden Ring,and many other nearly-perfect titles.
