Since devs can’t be trusted to pick good names, everything now must be titled based on exactly what’s going on in the game, no exceptions. Minecraft. Street Fighter. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Sequels and remasters must be the same title and devs may choose from a pre-approved list of words to include as a subtitle: redemption, revenge, redux, retribution, remix, resurrection, reckoning.
6 Likes
I’ve got a degree of respect for this absolute pisstake
1 Like
I want to defend DROD here because the community has always been really good to me and at least the title gets across its sense of humour, but… yeah. Deadly Rooms of Death: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder is kind of a challenging title to give to the game which is supposed to entice new players.
1 Like
You take that back, Peace Walker is a great name
5 Likes
I’ll see your Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and raise you a SOCOM US Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 3.
On the other side of things: I’ve never played it, but I think Sunset Overdrive is a fan-fucking-tastic name.
2 Likes
I kinda like the name Guilty Gear, but they really painted themselves into a corner with the naming, as they would have had to name their third game in the franchise Guilty Gear XXX and no one wants that.
Xrd being a weird take on 3rd was probably the best they could have done.
Revelator was an unneeded subtitle.
Still I think it’s a better name than XX became: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core + R
On the other hand, every single Blazblue title makes me die inside a little more.
Some more offenders in the fighting game genre:
- Street Fighter II’ Turbo: Hyper Fighting
- Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory
- Aggressors of Dark Kombat
- Arcana Heart 3 Love Max:Six Stars!!!
- ClayFighter 63⅓
- Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side
- The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood
- Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code Ver. 1.07
- Power Instinct Matrimelee
- Groove on Fight
- Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams
- Tongue of the Fatman
- Groove Adventure Rave: Fighting Live
5 Likes
the more dumbass the name the better it will probably be ime
devil may cry will always be infinitely more interesting to me than god of war purely because of its name. this might be why my fav fighting game is melty blood: actress again current code
i love these shitty names and i hope they never stop
9 Likes
Please stop giving games terrible names and only give them good names like My Twin Brother Made Me Crossdress As Him and Now I Have to Deal with a Geeky Stalker and a Domme Beauty Who Want Me in a Bind!!
2 Likes
Skate
Rock Band
EDIT: Whoa how could I forget?!
Monster Hunter
2 Likes
It’s a tough competition, but Anomaly: Warzone Earth is probably the worst title for a game I’ve really enjoyed playing.
There’s also the recent event of Bethesda forcing the studio developing Prey for the Gods, which is a great title to rename it Praey for the Gods, which is just… ugh.
On a similar note, my creative writing prof really loves games, and our meetings tend to devolve into both of us rambling about them. He told me that in one of his early novels, he made up a game and then literally wrote to a games writer he knew and asked him if it seemed realistic. The response was that everything was fine except the title, which wasn’t nearly bad enough.
On the opposite end, though, I can’t stand game titles that aren’t specific enough. Your suggestion of Horizon being a better alternative to Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t sit well with me because it seems to lack any personality. I could think of ten games I’ve played that could be named Horizon.
That being said, I’m also very much here for simple titles that do a lot of leg work. I remember a poetry teacher once telling me to look at the title of poems as “real estate” for the poem itself and I like when some games do that. I’m thinking specifically of the game Mainichi, which is the Japanese word for “every day”. It’s a really simple slice-of-life sprite game that details the process of the main character, a trans woman, as she prepares for her day. Depending on the choices you make, the NPCs respond to her differently. It’s a looping game and the title of “Every Day” helps get across how this is a constant, daily struggle for her.
So basically: simple and easy to say is cool as long as it’s getting the personality across. If I can hear the title and not get a clue as to the personality of the game or not really connect the title to the game’s aesthetic, then give me a long/bad title.
I purchased a game called Earth Wars on the Switch eshop recently because it was only 5 bucks and it’s endearingly cheesy and bad. The name has the opposite problem of the one Patrick highlighted where it tells you exactly what’s going on but is really boring. The game itself is a fun little 2D hack 'n slash that’s very anime-inspired and quite engaging when you get down to it, with a variety of weapon types and a cheesy, barely-there scifi story (aliens invaded and now we must fight back with biologically enhanced soldiers) but I’ve put in 15 hours and I’m not done yet.
1 Like
On the other side of things: I’ve never played it, but I think Sunset Overdrive is a fan-fucking-tastic name.
It’s a great game - at least, I absolutely loved it - and its name is awesome and perfectly fits with its ridiculous day-glo punk madness aesthetic.
NecroVisioN is both a very bad name and, yet, the perfect name for that game. Playing NecroVisioN definitely inspires thoughts like, “this is absolutely a game that is called NecroVisioN.” There was never any other possibility. That there’s a NecroVisioN if ever I saw one.
1 Like
i’ve always hated “chess”. what the hell is a chess
what is that even supposed to be
7 Likes
It’s derived from the work “check” in french, which itself is derived through multiple language back to the Persian translations for the same word.
1 Like
Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance is a great name and I won’t stand to hear otherwise.
4 Likes
Some of my favourite terrible game titles (limiting to one-per-franchise otherwise Kingdom Hearts would appear too much):
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
- Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
- El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
- Wet
Honourable mentions due to not being used in English-speaking countries.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
- Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
1 Like
Metal Gear *Rising: Revengeance. That’s what makes it even better. They already altered the title and then felt the need to add another made up word. Brilliant.
1 Like
