Bonus Feature Failure: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Imagine, if you will, an anonymous troper. Our new friend likes video games.
You are currently playing through the timeless classic "The Legend of [[Alice and Bob]]: [[Hilarity Ensues]]". Up until the point
"'''You have achieved [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]! [[That Troper]] has been unlocked!'''"
Mildly curious, you go to the character select screen to investigate...
What's this!? He only has three weapons! He can't even do most of the levels! [[Big No|WHYYYY]]!?
That Troper has become a victim of this trope.
At its most basic, this is when an '''extra''' (not necessarily unlockable) feature present in a game or other medium
* Lacks functionality compared to other aspects of the game
* Does not work properly in the context of gameplay, often struggling to complete basic tasks other characters easily do (in the case of an extra character) or not meshing well with the rest of the game (in the case of bonus levels or items)
or
* Is simply a [[Palette Swap]] or [[Underground Monkey]] Clone of an existing object
Note that in this case "bonus" and "extra" refer to something that may not be found in normal gameplay; if you're not sure, a good litmus test would be the question "Could I conceivably play through the entire main game from beginning to end ([[One Hundred Percent Completion]] notwithstanding) and not once find or utilize this feature?"
This most likely occurs due to a [[Cosmic Deadline]]. With the Almighty Deadline looming inexorably in the near future, many sensible developers would probably do the logical thing and make sure the game as a whole works properly and the main playable characters and scenarios are as complete as possible before working on giving [[Awesome McCoolname]] The Unlockable [[Anti-Hero]] Bringer Of Death some toys to play with.
Compare [[Dummied Out]], where the extra stuff was axed entirely. Contrast [[Show Within a Show]], where the extra content is a full-fledged game in and of itself. Characters afflicted with this tend to devolve into [[Spoony Bard
'''Beware! Since the vast majority of examples deal with unlockable rewards and other goodies, spoilers ahoy!'''
----
{{examples}}
== [[Action Adventure]] ==
* The bombchus in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games|The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons]]'' are only acquired as a bonus after starting a [[New Game
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
** Ice Arrows serve no purpose except to freeze enemies, which you can do with other items that don't require depleting your magic meter. However, ''[[Majoras Mask]]'' required you to use them to create platforms at certain points.
** In ''[[Majoras Mask]]'', the final Great Fairy treasure is the [[Awesome but Impractical]] Great Fairy Sword, and you may already have upgraded to the more practical Gilded Sword by this time. And all bets are off if you obtain the Fierce Deity Mask, which gives you a helix-bladed BFS; too bad you can only use it in the final battle.
* {{spoiler|Old Axe Armor}} in ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin|Portrait of Ruin]]'' is a solo character instead of a team of two, has only two special moves (one of which is used solely for navigation) and is simply a [[Palette Swap]] of an existing enemy. However, [[Joke Character|it is very likely this was intentional]].
** Almost every [[Metroidvania|Metroid-ish]] ''Castlevania'' has an unlockable mode where you play as another character who can't do most of what the main character can (e.g. can't collect items, can't level up sometimes, and, most idiotically, don't have a pause menu, even for changing controls or sound options). To be perfectly fair, a lot of that is much more in line with the original games that the modes are harkening back to. Sometimes, however, these come with stories of their own. Keep in mind, this is usually to balance them against their [[Game Breaker]] abilities.
*** ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|Symphony of the Night]]'': Richter mode, Maria mode in the PSP version (she's actually easier to play as than Alucard in the Saturn one)
*** ''[[Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance|Harmony of Dissonance]]'': Maxim mode
*** ''[[Castlevania Aria of Sorrow|Aria of Sorrow]]'': Julius mode
*** ''[[Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow|Dawn of Sorrow]]'': Julius mode (has its own cutscenes, and the characters can gain levels)
*** ''[[Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin|Portrait of Ruin]]'': Sisters mode {{spoiler|(prequel to the main story)}}, Richter/Maria mode, {{spoiler|Old Axe Armor}} mode
*** ''[[Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia|Order of Ecclesia]]'': Albus mode
*** ''[[Castlevania: Curse of Darkness|Curse of Darkness]]'': Trevor mode
*** ''[[Castlevania: Lament of Innocence|Lament of Innocence]]'': Joachim mode (no item inventory, orbs have no effect, making the reward for defeating the [[Bonus Boss]] a [[Cosmetic Award]]).
*
== [[Action Game]] ==
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* Sweet Tooth and Minion in ''[[Twisted Metal]] 2''. You get them after you beat the game once. There's just one problem in the PSX version of the game: ''you get no continues''. If you get stomped on level 7 out of 8 (the number is a deliberate choice), you're finished. At least Minion is intentionally overpowered. Sweet Tooth is exactly as strong as a regular character and therefore very hard to beat the game with. Thankfully there's a [[Classic Cheat Code]] to unlock them right away.
* The Piranha ship in ''Wipeout 2097/XL''. It is super fast, super agile, super this and that, only you can't use weapons. It still wins everything, but the game just got a lot more boring. They fixed this in ''Wipeout 64'', though they still gave the Piranha the most useless superweapon.
* The final unlockable course of ''[[F
* Finding all wrecks in an area in ''Test Drive Unlimited 2'' grants you a free car if you have the garage space for it. The first wreck you assemble is a Volkswagen Beetle. A C4-class car (Which means you can actually enter it into some competitions, unlike the B2-class V8 Buggy you find next) with a top speed that can only exceed
* ''[[Mario Kart]] 7'' has a few unlockable gliders you can earn. However, some of them are just a copy of the Super Glider in terms of stats, basically giving no bonus, and the rest are just a copy of the Peach Parasol in its bonus stats.
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** When he had ''already'' been a full-fledged character in the first Soulcalibur. Yes, Namco intentionally downgraded an established fighter to a half-assed bonus. Also, Berserker and Assassin use movesets lifted entirely from existing full-fledged fighters who didn't make SC2's roster, namely Rock and Hwang.
** In a similar manner, Li Long from Soul Blade reappears in Soul Calibur III...as a bonus character using a moveset usually reserved for created characters. He's expanded in Soul Calibur III Arcade Edition, but fans still felt cheated. In a similar manner, Hwang and Amy also appear as bonus characters who use generic movesets. Whilst Li Long and Hwang went from being unique characters to being generic, Amy went from being generic to being a unique character of her own in Soul Calibur IV, meaning that this trope was reversed.
* In ''[[Bloody Roar]]'' <s>5</s> ''4'', there is Career Mode which you have to battle multitudes of rounds among the same characters over and over while gradually progressing through a very tedious and confusing map. As a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwSTY2ZGcQk certain] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8DggHZhlWc game reviewer] points out, among the other flaws this game has that seems all the more clear [[Sarcasm Mode|it's aimed to revive the series]], the map can be fully completed and yet still leaves you with well over 800 more fights you must do in order to unlock the Very Definitely Final Hidden Character (everyone else is mercifully much easier and sooner to unlock and you will get everyone else long before you complete the map). So you have to fight repeat battles to make up the difference, and, guess what? {{spoiler|The final unlockable character turns out to be [[SNK Boss|Ryoho]]. No, not Ryoho & Mana, the Ice Climbers to the Bloody Roar series you get right from the get-go, but Ryoho-the-[[Game Breaker|incredibly-cheap-guard-cutting-]][[
== [[First-Person Shooter]] ==
* ''[[Call of Duty]]: Modern Warfare 2'' has "Spec Ops" mode, a series of brief co-op missions unrelated to the main plot or each other. Spec Ops itself isn't the
== [[
* In ''[[Master of Magic]]'', the best quest rewards were: extra masteries, extra spell books, rescue of an elite hero, or an elite item. If you had the maximum number of spellbooks, heroes and masteries, the game was forced to give you some crap like an Item of Lame.
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* ''[[Warriors Orochi]] 2''... There's a HUGE roster of officers to unlock, and while several of them have suspiciously similar movesets, each of them is, at least, a BIT original. However, the hardest character to unlock, by an order of magnitude, is Orochi Z - his appearance in your roster basically signifies that you have achieved 100% Completion and then some. (You have to spend DAYS just grinding levels, well after you have finished completing every scenario on every difficulty, to unlock the last Dream Scenario - and then beat that to unlock Orochi Z.)
** Now, Orochi Z is basically the Final Boss, so that's awesome. He's not JUST a [[Palette Swap]] of Orochi either, having different hair. However... firstly, he's doesn't have his own set of weapons, like everybody else does - he just uses the same set as Orochi. Second, his moveset is less than half the size of anybody else, and he never learns new moves - though, granted, those few moves he DOES have, are pretty powerful. Finally, every other character has a series of artwork - various design-sketches, posed character-models, screenshots from cutscenes they're in and the like - that are unlocked as you use them. Orochi Z has none. So effectively, once you've taken him into combat ONCE to check out all 3 of his moves, there's literally no point in ever using him again - especially since, by that point, you've already done basically everything in the game.
* In the ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]: Return of the King'' game, completing the game unlocked Merry, Pippin and Faramir as playable characters. However, Faramir was just a skin swap of Aragorn and all four Hobbits were essentially skin swaps of each other.
== [[Platform Game]] ==
* In ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'', there are hidden keys in every level that, once you get them all, unlock a secret door for that level. While most of the doors have powerful weapons or enable shortcuts, the door in Lost Impact gives you an armored car...in a close-walled, cramped space station level. And you can't even take it very far, as there are walls you have to spindash under, and rail segments where the car can't go, almost immediately after you get the prize.
** Most of the unlockable weapons/secret doors are like this in Shadow. Particularly [[Egregious]] are the secret doors for Westopolis (similar to Lost Impact, it gives you a bad-controlling lowrider with no special weapon which you get 75% of the way through the level) and Lethal Highway (a minigun with 80 ammo, which is pathetic if you were hoping for a [[More Dakka]] rampage). Additionally, the weapons you unlock for completing certain endings are ''extremely'' [[Nerf
*** While the Omochao Gun and Vacuum Gun really are laughable, the Samurai Sword [[Difficult but Awesome|is not.]] While its low ammunition would lead you to believe that it cancels out its [[For Massive Damage|outrageous power,]] it's in the level 2 Sword that its potential is revealed: the level 2 Samurai Sword shoots out [[Sword Beam
* ''[[
** Tails gained his signature flying ability in ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles
*** However, ''Sonic 3'' does it again with Knuckles. He was playable in it's multiplayer but got no abilities, which put Tails into [[Game Breaker]] status. Locking Sonic 3 on Sonic&Knuckles ''still doesn't fix that'' despite Knuckles having extra powers in singleplayer.
* ''[[
** He also gets his own emblems to collect, but nothing happens if you collect them all.
* In ''[[
** Vile's mode in ''[[
** ''X3'' is the first game in the series that allows you to play as Zero. However, you can only call on him once per stage, and he automatically switches back to X when he reaches a boss door (with one exception). So you can only play as him for 1/3 of any given level, and he can't be used for bosses or mini-bosses. Oh, and he has only one life, so if you die once using him, he's [[Lost Forever]]. And he doesn't get any special weapons or upgrades. You do need him to access a special upgrade for X late in the game though (even if it is a bit of a [[Guide Dang It]]), and whether he's still alive or not at the end of the game affects the ending.
* Proto Man is unlockable via DLC in ''[[
** The higher difficulty levels, similarly, have achievements disabled.
** ''10'', however, fixed this by allowing achievements to be accomplishable in different difficulty settings and giving Bass, the DLC character for the game, his own shop and story scenes.
* In an odd example, ''[[Sonic Advance]] 2'' let you unlock the Tiny Chao Garden by meeting certain conditions in the game... Even though the first [[Sonic Advance]] had the exact same mode available from the start.
* ''[[The Legendary Starfy]]'' has a multiplayer mode that lets another player control Starly. This can only be used in a few specific areas of the game.
**
* ''[[
** The Dino subtitle, which allowed you to see the subtitles in Dino, the game's substitution cipher. However, it doesn't replace "[Dino Talk]" with what was actually said, and the subtitles are actually significantly ''wrong'' in spots.
** The part of the [[Sound Test]] where you can listen to tunes. Just about every sound test
*** One
* Getting all 120 stars in ''[[
** You're also given a flashy new triple jump that
*** There's also a Wing Cap block on the roof. To some, the ''real'' prize is getting to fly around the outside area.
** In ''Super Mario 64 DS'', the last minigame rabbit is on the roof instead of Yoshi (due to him being playable), and the game that is unlocked, if you got it last, is nearly identical in every respect to one unlocked beforehand.
* ''[[
** Probably the worst of these is Flying Mario. Getting the Red Star unlocks the ability to use it in the Observatory. The problem is, outside of the initial mission to unlock it, that's all you can do, and it isn't good for anything short of snagging a 1-Up. It's fun, but that's about it.
** ''[[
*** There is also a collection of the various powerups Mario found in the machinery room. Can you use these for anything? Nope.
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* The [[True Final Boss]] of ''[[DJMAX]] Technika'''s Heartbeat Set, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I4iCbUBqW8 "Area 7"], obtained by finishing the first 3 stages with at least 95% of your notes being "MAX"es (you get the normal [[Final Boss]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYBq3tO5jRc "Colours of Sorrow"], if you don't). Not only does it have an [[That One Level|awkward chart]], but it has a lower max combo, meaning that getting this song instead of CoS is actually ''harmful'' to your score. So to get an optimal score on this course, you will need to [[Do Well, But Not Perfect]] on the first 3 stages.
== [[Role
* The unlockable Mission Mode characters in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
** Being able to play as {{spoiler|Mickey Mouse}} makes up for this for many people.
* The two bonus characters in ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of
** In the original, buggy version of the game sold in Japan, the four "optional" characters (Albel, Nel, Peppita, Roger) were required. Meanwhile in the North American release, only two of them can be chosen while Mirage and Adray are necessary.
* The [[Bonus Dungeon]] in ''[[
** Same for ''[[
** In the GBC [[Video Game Remake]] of ''[[
*** You get the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Rubiss Sword]] if you beat him in a time limit, which is the strongest sword in the game and casts the strongest spell in the game if used as an item. However, given that you've at this point ''done everything there is to do in the game'', it's totally [[Bragging Rights Reward|useless]].
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', defeating optional boss Kaiser Dragon in the Advance release rewards you with the Diabolos Magicite. Its summon and the spells it teaches are all bound by the damage limit so he'll never do more than 9999 damage, a limit you're already pushing against if you're strong enough to beat Kaiser in the first place. The only use Diabolos has is his level up bonus "HP+ 100%", meaning your HP increases twice as much when you level up, which is good but other Espers give "HP+ 50%", so ultimately Diabolos does nothing you can't already do with the other Magicite pieces.
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* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', defeated Ruby Weapon gave you a golden chocobo... Except it's [[Nintendo Hard]] to defeat it ''without'' breeding one in the first place, and this new golden chocobo sucks at races. Averted with Emerald Weapon, where the reward is a set of "Master" Materia. The only other way to get them is to master ''every'' Materia of each type, which will take hours upon hours of training.
** However, in the time spent grinding to be able to defeat Emerald Weapon, you can master most, if not all, of your materia anyway. Still, an extra set of Master Materia is a pretty good reward.
* The main reason most people don't ever bother to completely finish the [[Bonus Dungeon
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' offered the Blood Dragon armor as a downloadable purchase bonus... that didn't allow any sort of customization, making it useless for combining the various useful pieces of swappable armor, such as the shield power chestplate, extra ammunition legplates and bonus headshot damage visor. You couldn't even take your helmet off to see your customized Shepard face.
** The Cerberus Assault Armor, another set of free<ref>with a new copy of the game, or a used one whose Cerberus Network card wasn't redeemed</ref> DLC armor, has the same problems.
* ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' had a similar scenario with the pre-order bonus/''Courier's Stash'' DLC items. Most of them were lackluster to begin with, but were made worse by lack of compatibility with Perks and other DLC. The way the game's engine is written, any given DLC cannot directly act on
* ''[[White Knight Chronicles|White Knight Chronicles II]]'' made a pretty big deal out of the fact that one of its features was that [[An Adventurer Is You|your avatar character]] would gain the ability to transform into a ([[Design
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', completing the main questline unlocks the Imperial Dragon set of armour, which can't be found anywhere else in the game. You'd expect it to be some of the best equipment available...but it's mid-game quality at best. If you're a high enough level, you can get much better armour from ''shops''.
== [[Shoot'Em Up]] ==
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== [[Survival Horror]] ==
* [[Resident Evil 4]] is big on this trope. The original version has the Hand Cannon, a souped-up Magnum with massive stopping power and the ability to go through multiple enemies per shot. You get it by getting maximum rankings with every character in [[RE 4]]'s Mercenaries mode, which can be remarkably hard for certain characters... But by this point, chances are you've already beaten the game once and probably bought the Chicago Typewriter, Infinite Rocket Launcher, or even just fully upgraded another regular Magnum which makes the Hand Cannon look pretty pointless in comparison.
** The [[
== [[Third-Person Shooter]] ==
* Most of the higher-up skins unlocked in ''[[Gears of War]] 3'' are simple reskins of existing characters. For example, "Civilian Anya" is the same character as "Anya Stroud," albeit minus her armor and with a different hairstyle. Anya's basic form is available by default--"Civilian Anya" isn't unlocked until level 45.
== [[Turn
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' is a two-in-one combo. It has several unlockable characters; Some of these are unique characters that cannot change classes or learn new abilities, while others are merely normal units with special sprites. One, notoriously, doesn't unlock until after you have nothing you can possibly do with him.
** Of note is Ezel, who gets the short end of the stick. He has only two abilities: Astra, which grants the party immunity to status ailments once, and Azoth, which puts all enemies to sleep. Ezel can also use items, but by the time you get him, you will most likely not even need items. Ezel has absurdly high magic power, but none of his abilities do any damage, making him a complete waste.
*** YMMV, this troper found Azoth extremely useful in many battles, enough so that Ezel became a regular party member in any fight that wasn't a storyline match, and on a second playthrough even those saw Ezel in action, provided there were enough enemies to make Azoth worth it. Having half the enemy team put to sleep with an easily-spammable skill can be a huge weight lifted off your shoulders.
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* The original ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has the Byblos. He joins you as a [[Guest Star Party Member]] when you fight the [[Bonus Boss]], and if he survives, he joins your team afterward. Is he any good? Well... he's a monster unit, which means he can't use equipment or change classes. He's nowhere near as strong as the other special monster unit you get, Worker 8, and doesn't have Worker 8's innate magic immunity. His skills are thoroughly mediocre, and (being a monster unit) he'll never learn more. The best thing you can really say about him is that he has innate Poach, but teaching that to human units is easy. Waste of a character, to be honest.
** Bonus character Cloud Strife can also fall into this category. You get him at the end of a fairly long sidequest...and he's level 1. In addition, to use his unique abilities, you need his special weapon, which is only obtained by having someone with Move-Find Item step on a particular tile in a particular place (though at least, unlike all other Move-Find Item spaces, there's only one possible item to get), and is only so-so in strength. If you have the patience to get his sword and level him up though, he's a decent party member, and doing the sidequest also nets you several other party members and good rewards, so it's not really a waste.
* Al-Cid, once you recruit him to your party in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
== MMORPG ==
* In ''[[
** And with the recent (April 2012) complete overhaul, these are now purchaseable outright with in-game resources, at which point they become available as normal powers to any toon you have. The epic grind for them no longer exists.
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[[Category:Video Game Rewards]]
[[Category:Index Failure]]
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