It’s not surprising for video games to have a slate of items for characters to acquire across their journey, especially in larger games such as RPGs and action-adventure titles where players have to constantly interact and engage in buy and sell across the games’ many NPCs. And for fans who got used to earning currencies to access healing items and upgrades for their abilities, it’s not new to discard multiple copies of useless items for cheap so there’s more space in their inventory.
However, what’s perhaps more surprising is the existence of items in games that are genuinely useless. Save for the ability to sell them for generic currency, there are quite a number of items in video games that aren’t just “fodder” but rather too useless in that they do absolutely nothing. Players may have even acquired these items and forgot about them!
9 Belt Of Free Action (The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind)
Despite the many iterations of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, many fans of The Elder Scrolls still consider The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind as one of the best games in the franchise. Set in Tamriel’s province of Morrowind, players take on the role of a prisoner recently freed in the island of Vvardenfell and have to try to live a normal life in Morrowind’s rather exotic locales. As players eventually find themselves deep in the internal politicking among the Dunmer (Dark Elves), they have to be prepared to fight quite a lot of the franchise’s enemies.
Thankfully, players have an assortment of items, equipment, and spells they can use to slowly dominate the competition. One such item is the Belt of Free Action, which is a belt that has a “Cure Paralysis on Self” effect when used. This should make it quite the exceptional item against the rather detrimental Paralysis condition. However, players who do experience Paralysis would be quick to realize that they can’t use enchanted items with “Cast When Used” properties while in this state. In turn, players won’t be able to use the Belt of Free Action to cure the ailment it’s specifically designed to alleviate, making it useless.
8 The Sea Ring (Lufia 2: Rise Of The Sinistrals)
In the Lufia fantasy franchise, players take on the role of heroes set to defeat the god-like Sinistrals and save the world. While its main story is told across six (6) titles, everything begins in Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, where the hero Maxim is revealed to be the descendant of all the heroes in the franchise. As with other fantasy titles at the time, the 1997 release of Lufia 2 meant it’s played as a turn-based title, with players able to not just mix and match equipment but also special in-item skills to help them get an edge in combat.
Such an item that should help players get a tactical advantage is the Sea Ring, with a description that says it can help warriors defeat Sea Creatures. Thing is, the game’s programmers didnt flag any creature as a “Sea Creature,” meaning the Sea Ring doesn’t have any particular use and has no way of proving its stats are capable of changing the player’s performance.
7 Marvelous Madstone Of Immortality (World Of Warcraft)
Being a fantasy MMORPG, it’s no surprise that World of Warcraft is home to quite a ton of items that exist only to serve as inventory fodder - most of which are only ever created for fetch quests. However, players who really want to get into World of Warcraft lore may appreciate the existence of Griftah of Amazing Amulets, a Troll vendor who supposedly specializes in the selling of powerful trinkets. Fans who peruse his wares would immediately understand that most of his amulets are meant to be gag items, but they’re more hilarious when taken from the perspective of roleplaying and immersion.
One such item that is too ridiculous for its own good would be the Marvelous Madstone of Immortality. When wielding this, the souls of players are apparently anchored into the world that even the most gruesome of deaths can be circumvented provided players go back to their bodies. Of course, players who experience death for the first time in World of Warcraft would realize that they already have this ability, making the Marvelous Madstone of Immortality useless.
6 The Fighter’s Ring (Dragon Quest)
Whereas the Dragon Quest franchise has featured a number of complex stories centered around saving the world, the first Dragon Quest game is a bit more straightforward given its age. In its 1986 release, Dragon Quest plays like a typical fantasy RPG, where players become the Hero in charge of defending the Kingdom of Alefgard from the evil Dragonlord through various weapons and equipment.
One such accessory geared towards arming the player in their journey should be the Fighter’s Ring. However, the ring only describes itself as something worn by a warrior who fought by the side of Erdrick, another hero in the franchise. Due to a bug and the lack of an entry in the manual, the item doesn’t have any use.
5 Pendant (Dark Souls)
Fans who want to spice up their gaming experience can test their patience with the Dark Souls franchise, where players take the role of the Undead in charge of ending their afflicted curse. While much of the game’s story and lore are hidden in bits of flavor text and NPC interactions, much of Dark Souls fun is located in its gameplay loop - where players need to use their wits and proper timing to ensure they’re able to avoid attacks of enemies who can kill characters in a few hits.
Due to the absurd difficulty of the Dark Souls franchise, players are likely dependent on various consumables, weapons, and armor to secure victory. As such, it’s such a letdown for players to encounter the Pendant in their playthrough. Acquired potentially as a gift as early as character creation, the Pendant has in-game text that describes it as having “no effect” but to serve as a reminder of the player’s progress. Other than that, the item doesn’t have any effect. Its only reprieve is to trade the item with Snuggly for a Souvenir of Reprisal, which is a multiplayer currency. While some can argue this is still a “use” for the item, an item that exists nothing but for selling might as well have the game give players the money outright. Even game director Hidetaka Miyazaki said he created this item as a prank.
4 The Red Hook (Darkest Dungeon)
Players can get a taste of the appeal of the “open-ended” roguelike game via Darkest Dungeon, an RPG where players recruit heroes to explore dungeons below a gothic mansion. Players need to manage not just their heroes’ strengths and equipment, but also ensure they don’t accumulate “stress” as this can hinder combat performance. The players can also earn enough money to construct buildings around their mansion for various purposes, as well as DLC-exclusive Districts that provide special bonuses to gameplay.
While most Districts and buildings in Darkest Dungeon gameplay get incrementally expensive to upgrade, some structures cost an immense amount of Gold to justify their perceived benefit - a gameplay mechanic common in other games with base-building elements. This isn’t present in The Red Hook, however, which is a hook-shaped monument District. Despite having a tremendous 50,000 Gold cost - making it one of the most expensive buildings in the game - it doesn’t have any use in the game. In fact, it’s only purpose is to become a callback to the game’s developers, Red Hook Studios.
3 Burnt Book (Fallout 4)
Opposite the fantasy setting of The Elder Scrolls is the open world post-apocalypse of the Fallout franchise. Set after a nuclear disaster had devastated much of the United States (and possibly the world), players awakened as a member of the many underground Vaults that served as shelters for survivors. With players of Fallout 4 taking the role of a Vault 11 survivor in search of their missing child, players have to make do with the resources they gather to outlast and outpace foes like mutants and bandits.
Unfortunately, the disaster-ridden landscape of Fallout 4 does have its fair share of spectacularly useless items. Front and center among these items is the Burnt Book which is, quite literally, just a burnt book. This is quite an important revelation in the world of a Bethesda title, since books in The Elder Scrolls have been chock-full of notes and stories that improve on Tamriel’s lore. Seeing a burnt book in Fallout can be a reminder of just how much damage the nuclear fallout had done to the modern academe. Technicalities-wise, a Burnt Book doesn’t have any value and cannot be scrapped for materials. Aside from being ammunition to the Junk Jet weapon, the Burnt Book doesn’t have any apparent use. What’s worse, the Burnt Book has Weight 1, meaning it can still take up inventory space regardless of its lack of use.
2 Glass Shard (Elden Ring)
When the powerful Elden Ring is destroyed in a war between Queen Marika’s demigod children, the Lands Between become the a hotbed of warring states - with the player, now the Tarnished, tasked to find and repair the Elden Ring to restore order. In this spiritual successor to the Souls franchise, Elden Ring remains a spectacularly difficult game for players to dominate. In fact, while weapons and armor hold the key for powerful stats, players still need to rely on their wits and reflexes to best most enemies. And when players find themselves in a pinch, Consumables often save the day thanks to their curative properties.
That is, until players get to the Glass Shard. Described as shards of glass covered in dirt, players attain Glass Shards as loot and items in various enemies across various locations. However, despite its allure, the Glass Shard doesn’t have any particular use. Even its description says it is “essentially worthless.”
1 Hestu's Gift (The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild)
Compared to other games in The Legend of Zelda franchise, it is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild became a highly-acclaimed title for adding an open world twist to popular Zelda mechanics such as platforming, exploration, and simple but meaningful combat. As with other Zelda titles, Breath of the Wild tasks protagonist Link to stop Calamity Ganon from destroying the world. Thankfully, the game does give players enough time to grab collectibles to slowly improve their performance, something they can do with upgrades via Korok seeds.
Due to their nature as items difficult to track, players can take a bit of time gathering all the Korok seeds needed to fully upgrade Link. However, while it only takes 441 Korok seeds to boost Link to his maximum potential, there are in actuality 900 Korok seeds in the game. Once players undergo the painstaking task of collecting all of them and giving them to Hestu, the creature does a celebratory dance and gives them Hestu’s Gift. As the game describes it, Hestu’s Gift is “a gift of friendship… that smells pretty bad.” That’s right, the game gives players a piece of golden poop for collecting some of the most elusive items in the game. Not only that, the item does nothing at all!