Some games are really good, but DLC takes them over the top. Downloadable content can add to a game and complete it, and there are so many examples of games that have an expansion that totally changes things. BioShock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption, Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us, Fallout 4, Skyrim, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne come to mind. But for every game that’s made whole by an expansion pack or new content, others are left by themselves. Not every game needs DLC, and some of these games certainly didn’t require anything.
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The six games below, however, would’ve greatly benefited from having extra content outside the base/main game.
6) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac’s original Spider-Man had a major DLC, The City That Never Sleeps. It seemed as if Spider-Man 2 was setting itself up for some sort of DLC after the game ended, but it never came. The Carnage storyline and so many other small narrative threads were left untouched. The game is good on its own, but it’s shorter and leaves many players wanting more when they finally get to the end credits.
Unfortunately, aside from collecting everything else, there wasn’t anything else to do besides swing around and stop random crimes.
5) Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption was augmented by a fantastic DLC, Undead Nightmare. After fighting off old West villains all game long, John Marston got the chance to fight zombies. Sadly, Rockstar didn’t bother adding anything to Red Dead Redemption 2, arguably the greatest game of all time. Did the prequel need anything more to be perfect? No, but players would have loved getting more content for their beloved Arthur Morgan, especially because all postgame playing is done in the Epilogue as John Marston. DLC would’ve been an easy moneymaker, but Rockstar passed on it for some reason.
4) Tears of the Kingdom
One of the complaints players had about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was that both the sky and depths, the two main additions to Breath of the Wild’s map, were pretty lackluster. DLC adding more to explore in those areas would’ve been a huge hit. Breath of the Wild’s DLC, The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad, were successful, but Nintendo opted to move on immediately from Tears of the Kingdom.
3) Echoes of Wisdom
That may or may not have been because Nintendo had a new Zelda title on the way in 2024’s Echoes of Wisdom, another game that could’ve used some DLC. It was much shorter than Tears of the Kingdom, but the gameplay freedom almost demanded some more content. You can literally make anything in the world with Princess Zelda, so the possibilities for expansion were almost endless, but Nintendo didn’t do that, either.
There are some things you can do once you defeat the final boss, but it’s a shame there’s not an extra story added for Zelda’s only mainline outing as the protagonist in her own franchise.
2) Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World is still a new game, having only been out since early June. However, it is the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a game with a lot of DLC and expansions. Also, Donkey Kong Bananza’s release in July was the perfect opportunity for more content, whether in the form of a Bananza track (there’s even a racing section in Donkey Kong Bananza) or more characters/outfits.
Pauline and Donkey Kong are two characters with very few outfits, and neither Diddy nor Dixie Kong is even in the game. It was a huge missed opportunity, and it doesn’t bode well for the future.
1) Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is perhaps the best Pokémon game in the last decade or so. Yet, despite the quality and the clear avenue for more content, The Pokémon Company skipped over any DLC. Meanwhile, both Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet, two worse games that bookended the launch of Arceus, did get DLC.
Clearly, Pokémon games can have extra content, but not when the game is actually really good. That technically does mean that Legends: Arceus didn’t need anything more, but the players still deserved more of the best Pokémon game in quite some time.
What games do you think deserve a lot more DLC? Let us know in the comments below!
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