Sometimes, a game is so dangerously close to being great. A few missteps hold it back from being the GOAT. Maybe it’s a change to something that fans loved in the previous games. It could be something as simple as a control change. Or maybe, it’s just the developer losing the plot and giving up to its competition. This episode of Waypoint Wishlist is about us talking about good games, but could have been great with just a little bit more. Welcome To Waypoint Wishlist, Where We Can Dream, Can’t We?Screenshot: EASHaun Cichacki – COntributorAsk nearly anybody in their late 20s or their early 30s what one of the best fighting games on the PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube is. I can guarantee that many, many folks, myself included, are going to mention Def Jam: Fight For New York. When I heard that Def Jam Icon was becoming a thing, I was excited. It was, and still is, gorgeous. It has a stacked roster. One of the best soundtracks ever crafted in a video game ever. But the gameplay. The gameplay didn’t match the frantic energy of its predecessors. The over-the-top energy is MIA, aiming for a more “realistic” hand-to-hand combat experience. Oh yeah, you can also “scratch” the air like a turntable to alter the music and the stage itself. Am I a Def Jam Icon apologist? A little bit, honestly. I genuinely enjoy this game for what it is. But it doesn’t feel like a Def Jam game without the over-the-top finishers and everything that made Fight for New York such a special game. We’re nearing the 20-year mark since this game was released, which feels surreal to say, and we’ve yet to see another Def Jam fighting game since this one. Just give us what we want: Fight For New York Remastered, and maybe Def Jam: Icon Remastered as a little treat. The only thing, and I mean the ONLY thing, that made this one better than Fight for NY? Lil Jon. Screenshot: EAAnthony Franklin II – contributorThere’s only one game that haunts me as far as quality. Because I know if another shot at it came around, it would be so much better. That game is NBA Live. Yes, I’m part of the Live Hive. Shoot, I started it. I’d show you proof, but I’m pretty sure all the tweets have been wiped out since I’m no longer on the hellsite. But if they aren’t, search that LiveHive hashtag. I don’t know why EA decided to give up on what was actually an improving game, but they did. Live 19 was a pretty solid game of basketball. I wish they’d have been more willing to tuck tail and run with the NFL rather than just say no one else can make these. Hey, what are you gonna do? But wouldn’t it be funny if it popped up at a State of Play?Screenshot: Virgin MediaAna Valens – ContributorDid anyone else play Thrill Kill as a kid? Trick question. This intensely violent, oddly perverted fighting game was cancelled before it ever hit store shelves. In 1998, Paradox Development and Virgin Interactive nearly put out a gruesome, sadomasochistic-themed fighter that would have landed an AO rating the moment it dropped; even today, the ESRB still lists the game as “Adults Only” for “Animated Blood and Gore” and “Animated Violence.” But before it could launch for PlayStation 1, EA snagged the rights to Thrill Kill and ended up shelving the title altogether.I always wondered what the gaming industry would have been like if Thrill Kill dropped. Absolutely, the game was of its time, far from politically correct, dripping in so much edge that you might accidentally cut yourself if you aren’t careful. But I’d love to see some kind of reimagining of Thrill Kill in contemporary times, a developer or studio that tries to capture the violent, crass, and oddly BDSM-oriented nature of Thrill Kill as a love letter to what the original pulpy fighter was trying to do. A tough challenge in today’s day and age, where shock value has a far higher bar to clear. But it’s still possible.Or, barring that, it would be neat to finally have Thrill Kill officially released on Steam. It’s an important part of gaming history after all, as odd and strange as it is. And I’m not just saying that because its engine later made its way to one of the most important fighting games of all time: Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style.Screenshot: NaconDwayne Jenkins – Managing EditorYou weren’t too far from being an RPG masterclass, GreedFall. So, you want to know where GreedFall majorly drops the ball? The underdeveloped characters and their motivations. Some of the choices you can make and the ultimate impact they have on the overarching story are also a little misguided. But the lack of a memorable cast of characters prevented GreedFall from being anything other than, at best, fine. It has good elements! The world-building and general lore? Phenomenal. The frame is there, but the picture itself is blurry.I’m glad it did well enough to get a deserved runback in GreedFall 2: The Dying World, though. It’s been in Early Access for a few months. Though the story and graphics received early kudos, apparently, the combat leaves much to be desired if Steam has anything to say about it. Look, call me a hopeless optimist. I have faith in the sequel’s full release!Screenshot: NintendoBrent Koepp – ContributorFor this week’s Waypoint Wishlist, I’m going to recommend Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. If you are thinking, what, isn’t that a remake from 2021? It is. And yeah, I know it’s a bit of a loophole for this week’s topic. But hear me out. I wasn’t the biggest fan of BDSP. It wasn’t just the chibi graphics or reused background assets that bothered me. I actually didn’t like how it was “too faithful” to the original 2006 Nintendo DS titles. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I would rather get remasters of original ports, and remakes if a studio wants to modernize a game. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are basically ports, with an art style worse than the originals.I would really wish The Pokémon Company had made the Sinnoh region remasters in the same vein as 2014’s Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. While the Gen 3 remakes were controversial when they came out, they’ve actually aged really well. For the uninitiated, ORAS were basically the Hoenn region games but completely reimagined with the 3D engine of Pokémon X and Y. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were not only a true modernization of Gen 3, but they also included many new features that drastically changed the beloved RPGs. I prefer this over the route BDSP went, because now I have two versions of Hoenn that I can revisit anytime, depending on the mood I’m in.Gotta Catch ‘Em All During Waypoint Wishlist, Right?So, circling back to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, I really wish Game Freak had used the Pokémon Sword and Shield engine for the remakes instead. It would have been so awesome to see Sinnoh brought to life in a proper HD 3D engine. But alas, now we are stuck with a chibi-fied version of Gen 4 that kind of looks like a mobile game. Jokes aside, I shouldn’t be too harsh on BDSP, because I did enjoy it. But I also think the Sinnoh region remasters could have been so much better.Screenshot: Velan StudiosMatt Vatankhah – ContributorI’m here to talk about the best multiplayer game of all time – Knockout City. Originally released in 2021 and published by EA, its developers, Velan Studios, would take over publishing rights in June of 2022. Then, just a short year later, Knockout City shut down in 2023. Like I regularly say: gamers are dumb, and because Knockout City didn’t receive the support it needed, its service was pelted out of existence. And I’ve never been the same since.Knockout City is a team-based, arcadey arena dodgeball game. It’s colorful, wacky, full of charm, and ruthlessly competitive. There are all sorts of special balls that do special things, like a cage ball that traps opponents in a spherical jail. Moon balls that, when struck, will send opponents soaring into outer space. And when there’s no ball around, you can roll yourself into one and have a buddy toss you at some sucker’s face. There’s nothing that keeps you on the edge of your seat more than a good volley in Knockout City.Thus Ends Another Waypoint Wishlist. I hope Our Dreams Become a Reality SomedayThis is the fun part about Waypoint Wishlist. We get a chance to just talk shop about some of our favorite games and what makes them good. Well, this one is why they could have been great, but you get what I mean. I also just discovered that Knockout City offers Private Servers on PC? Which is an incredible thing to know about. We’ll need to test it out and report back before the next Waypoint Wishlist episode drops. The post Waypoint Wishlist: Good Games That Could Have Been Great Edition appeared first on VICE.