The video game industry is full to the brim with long development times and a bunch of ideas that are either ignored despite their greatness or added so late that the entire scope of the game shifts. The latter case has many known examples in the industry, with several legendary titles starting out as completely different projects before deciding to change their focus extensively.
Most people would assume that games that change their course midway through development wouldn't be the greatest games around, but that couldn't be further from the truth. After all, most people know the following games to be excellent in their own right, which shows just how talented the developers behind these games really are to change their approach without too many problems.
10 Donkey Kong
There was a time when Nintendo were developing an official Popeye title. However, the company was unable to procure a license for the same, forcing them to change plans.
This led to the creation of Mario, Donkey Kong, and Peach, all of whom made an appearance in the legendary release of Donkey Kong. It's one of the most important games in Nintendo's library that paved the way for the rest of their titles to succeed.
9 Sleeping Dogs
The True Crime series was labeled by many as nothing more than a way to emulate GTA's success. After True Crime: New York City was nothing short of a failure, the series was ultimately scrapped.
This meant that the next game in the series, True Crime: Hong Kong, had to change quite a bit. It rebranded itself as Sleeping Dogs and placed more of an emphasis on melee combat, making for a great open-world experience that more fans should check out.
8 Final Fantasy 15
Final Fantasy 15 was in development for a decade, so it's clear that the project changed hands and shifted focus multiple times throughout the process. The game initially started as Final Fantasy Versus 13, before becoming a mainline entry of its own.
The fact that Final Fantasy 15 was in talks to become a musical show just how wild Nomura's ideas for the game really was. After Hajime Tabita took over the reins, the project finally entered a period of stability right up till its release.
7 Assassin's Creed
The first Assassin's Creed title set the foundations for a franchise that would become one of Ubisoft's marquee series. What makes this game even more interesting is that the concept was initially for a completely different game.
Assassin's Creed was meant to be a Prince of Persia game where players took on the role of the Prince's bodyguard. However, after much internal debate, the new engine and its gameplay were reserved for a new IP, and the rest is history.
6 Conker's Bad Fur Day
Everyone remembers Conker's Bad Fur Day as a bizarre platformer that was full to the brim with adult jokes and themes. However, there was a time when this game was meant to be a classic platformer for kids, named Twelve Tales: Conker 64.
Unfortunately, this game looked very similar to its contemporaries, like Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario 64. This led to the game experiencing a massive overhaul before turning into the foul-mouthed Conker's Bad Fur Day that everyone loves.
5 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand
One of the more underrated action games around, it's a shame that 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand was a commercial failure. The game was a marked improvement over Bulletproof, with 50 Cent's involvement being pretty welcome as well.
The game initially started as a Covert-One title before changing its approach and name as well. The end result was a game with solid gameplay and co-op support that never managed to take off.
4 The Last Of Us
The Last of Us is one of the most legendary video games ever made. Naughty Dog knocked it out of the park with this amazing title, which had everything from emotional story beats to tense action gameplay.
It's hard to believe that The Last of Us came into existence while the studio was bouncing around ideas for Jak & Daxter. With their ideas veering far away from the core of this franchise, Naughty Dog decided to make a whole new IP to go in a completely new direction... and the rest is history.
3 Doom
The original Doom is one of the most groundbreaking FPS titles of all time. Many people consider this game and Quake to be the reason why first-person shooters became so massively popular on PC.
What makes this success even more astounding is that Doom rose from the ashes of a canceled Aliens game! Since id Software didn't manage to secure the rights, they decided to opt for an original IP that would become one of the most popular names in the video game industry.
2 Far Cry
The first Far Cry title was as much of a technical marvel as it was a fun game. It was developed after a tech demo called X-Isle: Dinosaur Island showcased the power of CryEngine.
This demo took place on a tropical island that was populated with dinosaurs. While the latter idea was discarded, the tropical setting remained intact for Far Cry and made it one of the best FPS titles around at the time.
1 Overwatch
One of the most popular hero shooters of all time, most people can't wait to see what Overwatch 2 has to offer. The first game was a masterpiece that added a ton of character to the multiplayer shooting action, resulting in a unique and engaging experience.
Before Overwatch commended development, Blizzard was actually working on an MMO called Titan that was also meant to be a class-based shooter game. However, the game was pretty unbalanced and was scrapped while its team decided to refine its mechanics extensively for Overwatch instead.