10 Video Games We All Wanted (But Nobody Bought)

Now it's always disappointing to see a breathtaking video game unable to turn a profit, despite its reception being unanimously positive

Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil and many other iconic titles failed because there was little buzz surrounding them at the time of release

But every once in a while, a game will tank despite it being hyped beyond measure

Even though the gaming community seemed giddy to get their hands on certain titles, you would never have guessed it after seeing the sales count

And that's what we're here to talk about today. I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 video games we all wanted, but nobody bought

Number 10, Prince of Persia, The Lost Crown. After Prince of Persia, The Forgotten Sands failed to impress

it was no surprise when the chrono platformer went into hibernation. However, nobody expected the franchise to lay dormant for 14 years

So when 2024's Prince of Persia, The Lost Crown was announced, excitement was in the air

Although the trailer was initially met with hostility, there were plenty of P.O.P. lovers dying to revisit the classic IP. The 2.5D side-scroller

was lavished with glowing reviews, proving the naysayers wrong. Due to its innovative combat

and impeccable level design, The Lost Crown deserves its place among the best modern Metroidvanias

But the Prince of Persia series didn't get the comeback it deserved. Firstly

selling the title at full price was a bad move. With the best Metroidvanias costing under 20 quid

customers balked after seeing this hefty price tag. On top of that, and as painful a truth as

this may well be, The Prince of Persia doesn't actually carry the same weight that it once did

despite its dedicated fanbase. As a result, the bulk of its potential audience didn't gravitate

towards it. Despite every critic singing The Lost Crown's praises, it only sold 300,000 units in its

first two weeks. Although Ubisoft lowered the price soon after, it merely softened the damage

instead of reversing it. If the company priced The Lost Crown more reasonably from the get-go

it probably would have sold significantly better. 9. Mirror's Edge Mirror's Edge came out in a time where the industry was oversaturated with first-person titles

Focusing more on acrobatics rather than blasting everything in sight, DICE's game-changer breathed new life into the genre

Mirror's Edge may have underperformed, but it didn't stop the parkour-themed title being elevated to cult status

and when that happens, it isn't long before the masses demand a follow-up. Though fans had to wait an eternity, DICE eventually got around to green-lighting a reboot

Rather than creating a carbon copy of the original with enhanced graphics, Mirror's Edge Catalyst reworked everything from the ground up

On top of that, this installment focused on online multiplayer, which fueled the hype train even further

Though this reimagining had its problems, it sold well enough to make a sizable profit

Sadly, though, Catalyst was swallowed up almost immediately by the billion-dollar Titan Overwatch

which released the previous month. In the end, it sold an underwhelming 2.5 million copies, the same amount as its predecessor

Catalyst never recovered, which led to its servers being closed down for good in 2023

Although the main campaign is still playable, it's a shame that the multiplayer was deactivated

considering it was among the game's biggest selling points. 8. Beautiful Joe 2

Twenty years after its release Clover Studios Beautiful Joe is still one of the most innovative platformers ever The titular star uses movie mechanics like close fast and slow to battle enemies solve puzzles and open new pathways Coupled with its cel graphics and cheeky meta there hasn

been a 2D side-scroller like this before or since. Now Beautiful Joe looked like it had a slim chance

of success since it was so difficult to market. Though sales fell short of expectations, the

luscious platformer scraped up enough to warrant a sequel. As solid as the first entry was Beautiful

Joe 2 was shaping up to be better, boasting two characters to play as, more variety in combat

and less of a punishing difficulty curve. Since the first entry had proven this brand had legs

the sequel should have been a winner. But too bad high praise doesn't translate into high sales

Despite getting a thumbs up from critics, VJ2 sold abominably worldwide, resulting in another

planned sequel's cancellation. Though two spin-offs were released, Beautiful Joe 3 never

actually materialized. After the dissolution of Clover Studio, it's likely that a third

installment will ever come to fruition. 7. Onimusha Dawn of Dreams Since there hasn't been a new Onimusha for almost 20 years, it's easy to forget how impactful the

original was. Onimusha Warlords was championed for its fluid swordplay, astounding soundtrack

and impressive graphics, causing the Samurai Saga to become the first PS2 game to sell a million

copies. Despite the fact that Onimusha was planned as a trilogy, fans were hungry for more after the

third installment seemingly wrapped things up, urging Capcom to work on another title

Rather than churning out more of the same, Capcom made Onimusha Dawn of Dreams more action-oriented

by implementing similar mechanics as Shadow of Rome, which was released the previous year

Since Dawn of Dreams was made for a particular demographic, the developers expected the project

not to make as much money as the previous installments. Nevertheless, Dawn of Dreams

made significantly less than Capcom hoped. Although the original Onimusha sold over a

million copies in Japan alone, this sequel barely managed to get a third of that amount

Now, Onimusha Dawn of Dreams was far from perfect, but it was nowhere near the disaster

that one would expect while looking at this rather diabolical sales record. 6. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Being a reboot of one of the most beloved RPGs ever, Square's ever-gestating Final Fantasy VII

remake was pretty much a guaranteed hit. Sure enough, the ambitious reimagining sold over

three million copies within three days, making it the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive

However, Final Fantasy VII Remake only covered the first act of the original

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth covering the bulk of its story, it was primed to be a bigger success

And yet, the second chapter only sold half the amount of the first entry, despite being adored by critics and fans

Although RPGs often do well in Japan, Rebirth fared worse their bringing in a third of its predecessor

Now, just to be clear, this Final Fantasy installment isn't tanking by any stretch of the imagination

but according to industry yst Daniel Ahmad, there's no question that it's underperforming

The reason behind Rebirth's less-than-stellar performance isn't actually certain, but there are several theories. Remake was released during the lockdown when the gaming industry was booming

the fact that Rebirth is only available on the PS5 was definitely sure to hurt its sales as well

and since some Final Fantasy VII devotees weren on board with the retcons of Remake it likely they didn bother with the follow which took further liberties with the source material Even though Final Fantasy Rebirth sales are good it hasn filled Square pockets the way that anyone anticipated

5. Max Payne 2 The Fall of Max Payne The first installment in Remedy's hard-boiled shooter was praised for its over-the-top shootouts

noir atmosphere, and bullet time mechanics. And since Max Payne made a killing in sales

the sequel was sure to sell just as well, if not better, right? Well, although The Fall of Max Payne wasn't as revolutionary

it improved nearly every aspect of the original, offering a tighter story, better voice acting, smoother graphics, and more intense action

Also, leaping through the air with slow-mo guns blazing has never felt more satisfying

And that's why it was baffling when Max Payne 2 absolutely tanked

In fact, it sold so abysmally, it's one of the central reasons why Take-Two Interactive was shut down

In hindsight, The Fall of Max Payne was surprisingly prophetic. Stranger still, there's no concrete explanation why MP2 failed

It was available on PS2, Xbox, and the PC, so accessibility wasn't a problem

It garnered rave reviews across the board. It didn't get swallowed up by a bigger brand released around the same time

It's just a mystery. And most importantly, it was a game that the fanbase wanted to play

20 years later, it's still a mystery why Max Payne 2 didn't pan out as well as it should have

4. Chrono Cross Now Chrono Trigger hasn't endured as a series like Final Fantasy, but its legacy sure has

Being one of the most beloved games ever, a sequel to the time-travelling RPG just couldn't come soon enough

Although the hype seemed insurmountable, Chrono Cross was in utter triumph, capturing the spirit of the original without imitating it

In fact, it improved on Chrono Trigger in several departments. The combat was more tactical, making every victory all the more satisfying

Although the first installment had players take control of seven characters, Cross allowed our hero to recruit a whopping 45 members, each with their own distinctive

personality and fighting style. With another beautiful world to explore, sensational bosses

to battle, and an epic story to fall in love with, players should have shown up in droves

when Chrono Cross debuted. But tragically, Cross had the misfortune of coming out a month after

Square's other epic roleplayer, Final Fantasy IX. Being a more recognisable brand, Final Fantasy

clean shop, while Chrono Cross was kind of left in the lurch. Due to the shoddy sales, Square didn't

even bother to release Cross in Europe. For this reason, many European gamers were pining for a

Chrono Trigger sequel at the time, oblivious that Chrono Cross even existed

3. LawBreakers Cliff Blazinski is the brains behind towering IPs like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War

Because of this, any project he helms should cause quite the stir amongst his dedicated fanbase

So when he announced that a gravity-defying shooter called LawBreakers would be his new

company's launch title, it was a big deal. The fact Blazinski came out of retirement for

this project highlighted how much he believed in it. The creators spared no expense with marketing

collaborating with influencers, and organizing giveaways for this tantalizing blaster. But despite the buzz, the team-based shooter didn't come close to outshining its competition

When it debuted on Steam Lawbreakers failed to break into the top 100 played games In its prime it never generated more than 7 players Though the ports had better luck they didn bring in enough money for Lawbreakers to sustain itself causing the servers to be shut down barely a year after release What worse is that this

isn't the first time such a tragedy has befallen Cliff Bleszinski. Despite the heavy promotions and

positive reception Bulletstorm received six years earlier, the over-the-top FPS also bombed

spectacularly. 2. The Last Guardian Few games have raised the bar in terms of emotional storytelling on the same level as Shadow of the Colossus

As such, all eyes were on Fumito Ueda's next project, and when The Last Guardian was presented at E3 2009

everyone was awestruck by the high-res textures and characters' realistic mannerisms. With The Last Guardian expected to be another showstopper, fans of Ueda's work just couldn't wait

Unfortunately, waiting is exactly what everyone was forced to do. Despite being planned for a 2011 launch, The Last Guardian suffered a nightmarish development

Just when it looked like the project might see the light of day, it was hit with another delay, and another, and another

But when The Last Guardian was finally released in 2016, it seemed like the wait had paid off

It wasn't as groundbreaking as Awaita's previous work, but the gorgeous graphics, beautiful story, and highly advanced AI were truly something to behold

But due to the five-year delay, many people who were initially psyched to play The Last Guardian had given up and moved on to something else

Gamers had been spurred too often to give it a shot, regardless of what the review said

Despite the overwhelming hype that once surrounded The Last Guardian, it debuted at number 7 in the UK charts and struggled to climb any higher

At number 1, Shenmue 1 and 2. Or Shenmue if you're going to be boring about it

Despite the fact that Dreamcast had a lacklustre start, Sega hoped one game in particular would turn everything around

Since Shenmue, I'm just going to say it normally, boasted unique mechanics including day and night cycles, weather events

scheduled events for NPCs and quick-time events, the Asian crime brawler looked pretty bloody promising. Though Shenmue met its unrealistically

high expectations, it was facing an uphill battle from the get-go since it was a Dreamcast exclusive

Although the Sega system was underrated, there's no doubt it was a failure since it only sold 9

million units. By comparison, the PS1 sold over 100 million during the same period. Since Shenmue

was the most expensive video game ever at the time, it was borderline impossible to recoup the

development costs, even if every Dreamcast owner bought a copy. But Sega wouldn't go down without

a fight. Knowing the IP had potential, they released a sequel with a significantly cheaper

budget. Now that Shenmue was a recognised brand, the follow-up should have had no problem bringing

in the money, especially after it was praised to the nines by critics. Alas, Shenmue 2 barely sold

one-tenth of its predecessor, sending the franchise into a hiatus for nearly two decades

and the less said about Shenmue 3, the better. And there we go, my friends

Those were 10 video games we all wanted, but nobody bought. I hope that you enjoyed that

and let me know what you thought about it down in the comment section below. As always, I've been Jules

You can go follow me over on Instagram at AX, where it's at RetroJBTheOisA0

Hope to see you over there, my friends. You can come check out all the Warhammer stuff I've been painting. Hope you're treating yourself well

Big love to you, my friend. And I'll speak to you soon. Bye