Games with the best and worst DLC

[H-Virus]

Thread inspired by the Repentance DLC for The Binding of Isaac finally being released on the Switch this month.


So, The Binding of Isaac might just be my favorite game of all time, and part of it is due to how much the game has grown with each consecutive update it's had over the years. Every time a new DLC/expansion pack comes out you're guaranteed to get new playable characters, enemies, bosses, stages, endings and a ton of items and power-ups, and I think Repentance might be the biggest one to date, which is fitting since it's apparently going to be the final one. Not only does it bring in two brand new playable characters, but it's also introducing 'Tainted' versions of every character, essentially doubling the number of total characters you can choose from. They also added more than 100 new items, a dozen new bosses, a brand new pathway to travel down, and other bits and pieces on top of that. The $20 price was a bit higher than I usually spend on DLC, but considering there's enough content that they could have just made a whole new game out of it, I'd say it's more than worth it.


That's basically what I look for when it comes to DLC. I don't waste my time with 'cosmetic' buys like character skins, stronger weapons, etc. If I'm going to be spending extra money on a game that I've already spent money on, it's got to be something that actually expands the game, and hopefully for a decent price. Naturally, I look at companies like Tecmo-Koei as one of the worst DLC makers ever, with games like Dead or Alive and Dynasty Warriors selling you literally thousands of dollars worth of 'extra content' that usually boils down to pointless costumes and weapon packs that had no reason not being in the game from the start.


But that's just me. What about the rest of you?

[Deleted]

Dragon Age Inquistion has three incredible bits of DLC.

Trespasser - a spectacular ending to the inquisitors story

Jaws of Hakkon - taking the worst part of the game (wandering around big areas for no particular reason than grinding) and actually giving it a point and narrative.

The Descent - just a banging old school dungeon crawl.

And of course Mass Effect: The Citadel aka the true ending of the series.

[BorneAgain]

One of the more surprisingly effective ones was Streets of Rage 4. Now while I really liked the game prior to DLC, it still felt like it was fundamentally missing something in terms of additional replay value, despite the long list of characters to play as.

Mr. X's Nightmare not only added three (technically 4 with the addition of SOR3 Roo) highly requested characters, it also included Survival Mode, which instantly elevated the game into an incredibly deep experience. You're compelled to test your skills, adds incentive via unlocking moves, and even ties into the training mode via unlocking a roster of AI opponents for it. Basically, a game that I considered strong but still below Streets of Rage remake is now neck and neck with it in terms of rating because the DLC was that good.

In a lesser example, Ray/Mighty and Encore Mode were easily worthwhile additions to Sonic Mania and demonstrate the continued depth of that style of Sonic game.

[Lizuka #BLM]

For a series as great as it is the Arkham series has largely had pretty crap DLC. The Mr. Freeze expansion in Origins is really the only one that's worthwhile.

[Deleted]

Borderlands 2



And this is without even going into detail about each individual dlc with all the new skins you get etc

[Hit Girl]

Skyrim

On the PS3 I married Stenvar The Dumb Mercenary. On the PS4 I decided to marry Sylgja The Improbably Attractive Miner.

[chazraps]

The 'New York' level in Hitman 2 is absolutely my favorite bit of DLC of all time. I've probably played that stage as much as I've played the entire standalone game (and I adore that came and have played a whole lot of it!)

Can't think of any DLC stuff I didn't like off the top of my head, other than DLC practices of false-scarcity "limited time" stuff in the PS4 era or the early early PS3 DLC that would be entirely removed once the licensing expired/server was shut down even if you already paid for it so that, unless you already had it on your system at that very moment, you'd never have access to it or be able to play online with people who did have it again.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Grand Theft Auto IV's DLC campaigns are better than the main storyline itself, and doubly makes me mad that GTA V's expansions are all fee-to-pay bullshit for the online multiplayer crap.

[Scoops]

I'm in the minority, but I honestly don't think I ever bought DLC that was worth the time or money. Even for games I really liked.

The closest thing I can think of was the Ash Williams costume you got for pre-ordering Lollipop Chainsaw at gamestop because it was technically free and made the game less embarrassing to play when my parents walked in to my room.

[Cyno]

Outside of Pinnacle Station, the Mass Effect trilogy had some really good story DLC. Bring Down The Sky, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Stolen Memory, Leviathan, and Citadel were all really good.

Control's Foundation and AWE expansions were both solid. Foundation is a nice deep dive into the lore of the Oldest House, and the Board, and Former.  And AWE is a great bridge between Control and Alan Wake.

[Limity (BLM)]

Undead Nightmare!

[Deleted]

I'd say the best DLC for me is probably in Street Fighter IV which turned in from that game to Super Street Fighter IV and then again which turned it into Ultra Street Fighter IV. That was the start of the "fighting game DLC season" method that we use today. After this dropped, everybody adapted to it.

Another DLC set that's amazing is for Mass Effect 2. Given what Mass Effect was, yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, they didn't play with theirs.

[Duke Cameron]

Thought the Cindered Shadows DLC for Fire Emblem: Three Houses was pretty great.

[Porky's Butthole]

Nov 27, 2021 19:17:22 GMT -5 Limity (BLM) said:

Undead Nightmare!

This is the correct answer.

[chrom]

Asura's Wrath, given that the entire half of the game was put on DLC that you had to purchase.

Very uncool Capcom

[J is Justice]

I really liked FFXV's and Fallout 3's DLC. The Skyrim DLC that let you build a house was cool, too. I'm also a sucker for costumes.

As for worst: the New Vegas DLC where you had to go around a town filled with traps, or something? Can't remember what it was called. It was so bad it put me off the rest of the DLC.

I also hate any that lets you level up your chars for free. I just don't get the point, but it doesn't really affect me. The ones that give you better weapons suck, too. I think I got some for Tales of Arise because I preordered, so I was stuck with these op weapons for the first few hours of the game and they got boring fast. I mean, I guess I could've just switched them out for weaker weapons, but I felt it would be silly to purposely handicap myself.

[Demented]

Mass Effect 3 has the best and the worst DLC I can think of.

The best being Citadel. A true love letter (and fan service) to the entire series.

The worst being Javik. The fact EA/BioWare had the gull on day 1 to put a key character to the story and lore behind $5 DLC is... something. And he was already on the disc!

[Lizuka #BLM]

I think both versions of Persona 5 deserve a shout, especially Royal. The base game DLC wasn't free in Japan (and even if you had it for the base game you had to pay a fee to use it in Royal) and on top of that day one you had a small scattering of extra Personas and a ton of skins, with all of Kasumi's being grouped together for like $15 instead of being part of the sets with the other characters, which is especially insulting because you can only even use her for one dungeon at the very end of the game. Then there's the whole Challenge Mode thing that's very thin on content to the point it basically only exists to advertise the DLC battles to you.

[A Platypus Rave]

Nov 27, 2021 18:52:53 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Outside of Pinnacle Station, the Mass Effect trilogy had some really good story DLC. Bring Down The Sky, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Stolen Memory, Leviathan, and Citadel were all really good.

Yeah, Mass Effect's DLC are all pretty good save for like Javik... who was fine but shouldn't have been paid DLC.

But I also actually kinda think most of the ME 3 DLC should have been in the main game to begin with as good as it was...

the game without it is either missing major bits of lore in Leviathan... or well Citadel which just makes the end of the game feel a lot more complete...

[DiBiase is Good]

I didn’t pay for it because it came free on PS+ one month, so I don’t know how much it would have cost normally but Far Cry 3 : Blood Dragon is absolutely brilliant.