for years the concept behind gaming was
simple you pay for the game and you
enjoy with mobile apps we now have the
ability to make games that are boring
and stupid but if you pay for incentives
you’re rewarded free doesn’t always mean
free and it certainly doesn’t always
mean good welcome to watchmojo.com and
still be counting down our picks for the
top 10 game franchises tainted by
free-to-play for this list we’re looking
at well-established and beloved video
game franchises which started out as
retail games then dip their toes into
free-to-play and left us with a tainted
experience freemium the Miam is Latin
for not ready number 10 final fantasy
all the bravest Final Fantasy series
despite being amongst the most storied
RPG franchises in gaming history this
series is success did not carry over to
the title all the bravest on the surface
it sounds awesome since it lets you
fight a collection of some of the most
iconic enemies in the series using all
of the bravest characters from
throughout the franchise’s lengthy
history unfortunately 35 of these sweet
characters are locked behind a paywall
and cost a buck each and get this
you can’t even choose which one you get
when you choose to buy womp womp number
9 Real Racing Real Racing series the
first two iterations of this racing
franchise were highly lauded for being
some of the finest driving games for the
iOS sadly the third title went to the
freemium route and the results were not
pretty
to start there were pricey real-world
cars which could cost as much as a
hundred and sixty real-world dollars
even worse though you had to pay for
repairs to your car after the races were
over or just wait a super long time for
it to repair itself
this was such an unpopular feature that
ei patched the game to cut these times
in half but the damage was done so to
speak
number eight Dungeon Hunter three and
onwards Dungeon Hunter series next up is
yet another iOS franchise where the
third game went to stray the first two
titles in the action RPG series were
some of the best Diablo clones you could
find on mobile but not so much for the
third game on word which jettisoned a
decent amount of the narrative along
with its initial purchase price bolt
I mean stole I mean that is you don’t
want to go that
additionally the arena levels can be
really frustrating and you’ll need to
buy keys to unlock the treasure you earn
after each one once you get through the
initial ten that’s lame you must save
them I was separated from a group
holding out near the water clock you
must save them I’ll do what I can
number seven killer instinct killer
instinct series we waited 17 years for
the return of this legendary arcade
fighting franchise but the Xbox ones
2013 free-to-play version did not live
up to the hype
this was partially due to the limited
character selection since at launch
Jago was the only character you could
play for free and additional characters
cost five bucks each leading to way too
many people using him online even though
the free character now rotates on a
schedule your best to stick with the
original games to get your fix of the
series as famous combos number six Tales
of Phantasia tales series the 90s
versions of this JRPG for the ps1 and
Game Boy Advance is a classic of the
genre but the same cannot be said about
its iOS port while it nicely adopted the
combat two touchscreen it stumbled by
making many of the bosses practically
unbeatable
unbeatable that is unless you purchase
the healing miracle orbs for two bucks
each
which revive your party when they fall
in battle even if you did get sucked
into buying them they became worthless
once Namco made the app unusable in July
2014
number five rollercoaster tycoon for
mobile rollercoaster tycoon series
here’s another franchise with a later
installment that ruined your childhood
memories many grew up with the
simulation series is first three entries
which let them create awesome if
sometimes flat-out deadly rides the
fourth game for mobile looked like its
predecessors but the gameplay was
wrecked by requiring the purchase of
tickets to speed up the building process
on top of the initial $2.99 cost
it later became free-to-play but it
didn’t feel any more worthwhile Number
Four Soul Calibur lost swords Soul
Calibur series my blade is angry want to
taste this weapon based fighting game
series is right up there with the
Great’s of the genre but it’s
free-to-play version for the ps3 lost
swords really isn’t one of them loosely
based off Soul Calibur 5 it strips the
title of its multiplayer fun for an
entirely single-player experience no
need for words I speak with this
although a single-player game isn’t
horrible this is a fighting game where’s
the fun to be had if you can’t embarrass
your friends with a little button
mashing then there’s the load times
snore your skill in battle is
commendable number 3 Metal Slug defense
Metal Slug series why would anyone turn
an awesome run-and-gun series into a
bland lame defense game we don’t know
but developer SNK Playmore seemed to
think that it was a good idea for
defense they are free-to-play mobile
entry in the franchise
sadly they went wrong as it gets the
aesthetic appeal of the originals
including the iconic mission start
voiceover mission star but without the
fun even worse you’ll need to upgrade
your troops to get very far and that
will require microtransactions
lastly someone should have told the
developers that strategy is an important
aspect of this genre because you really
don’t need any here just money number
two plants vs. zombies – plants vs.
zombies series when the first entry in
this mobile franchise came out it was a
refreshing contribution to the tower
defense genre thanks to a hilarious
humor addictive gameplay and morbid but
adorable animations plants vs. zombies –
brought all those elements back but it
also added some vicious difficulty
spikes which made it tough to unlock new
worlds without buying your way there the
Wardrobe rhythm don’t feel like paying
well prepare to grind yourself silly
you’ll also be shelling out for premium
plants plants you got for free in the
original before we get to our number one
pick let’s take a look at some honorable
or in this case dishonorable mentions
number one Dungeon Keeper mobile dungeon
keeper series greedily topping our list
is this 2013 mobile version of the RTS
franchise fans were waiting a really
long time for a sequel to the Dungeon
Keeper franchise and unfortunately they
had to wait a lot longer because as they
finished the tutorial they were greeted
with an arena with a four hour timer for
excavation unless of course you paid to
speed it up and that’s just the first
pay wall of which there are many EA got
into a fair amount of trouble for this
one not only were they accused of
manipulating reviews in the Google Play
Store but they were also found guilty of
false advertising in the UK for
advertising their veiled cash grab as
free at least Electronic Arts has a
great reputation with gamers already
right strike second
do you agree with our list I wish I
could share in your bra what game
franchise do you think was better in its
non freemium form for more free to watch
top 10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com so this is
everyone is doing this
simple you pay for the game and you
enjoy with mobile apps we now have the
ability to make games that are boring
and stupid but if you pay for incentives
you’re rewarded free doesn’t always mean
free and it certainly doesn’t always
mean good welcome to watchmojo.com and
still be counting down our picks for the
top 10 game franchises tainted by
free-to-play for this list we’re looking
at well-established and beloved video
game franchises which started out as
retail games then dip their toes into
free-to-play and left us with a tainted
experience freemium the Miam is Latin
for not ready number 10 final fantasy
all the bravest Final Fantasy series
despite being amongst the most storied
RPG franchises in gaming history this
series is success did not carry over to
the title all the bravest on the surface
it sounds awesome since it lets you
fight a collection of some of the most
iconic enemies in the series using all
of the bravest characters from
throughout the franchise’s lengthy
history unfortunately 35 of these sweet
characters are locked behind a paywall
and cost a buck each and get this
you can’t even choose which one you get
when you choose to buy womp womp number
9 Real Racing Real Racing series the
first two iterations of this racing
franchise were highly lauded for being
some of the finest driving games for the
iOS sadly the third title went to the
freemium route and the results were not
pretty
to start there were pricey real-world
cars which could cost as much as a
hundred and sixty real-world dollars
even worse though you had to pay for
repairs to your car after the races were
over or just wait a super long time for
it to repair itself
this was such an unpopular feature that
ei patched the game to cut these times
in half but the damage was done so to
speak
number eight Dungeon Hunter three and
onwards Dungeon Hunter series next up is
yet another iOS franchise where the
third game went to stray the first two
titles in the action RPG series were
some of the best Diablo clones you could
find on mobile but not so much for the
third game on word which jettisoned a
decent amount of the narrative along
with its initial purchase price bolt
I mean stole I mean that is you don’t
want to go that
additionally the arena levels can be
really frustrating and you’ll need to
buy keys to unlock the treasure you earn
after each one once you get through the
initial ten that’s lame you must save
them I was separated from a group
holding out near the water clock you
must save them I’ll do what I can
number seven killer instinct killer
instinct series we waited 17 years for
the return of this legendary arcade
fighting franchise but the Xbox ones
2013 free-to-play version did not live
up to the hype
this was partially due to the limited
character selection since at launch
Jago was the only character you could
play for free and additional characters
cost five bucks each leading to way too
many people using him online even though
the free character now rotates on a
schedule your best to stick with the
original games to get your fix of the
series as famous combos number six Tales
of Phantasia tales series the 90s
versions of this JRPG for the ps1 and
Game Boy Advance is a classic of the
genre but the same cannot be said about
its iOS port while it nicely adopted the
combat two touchscreen it stumbled by
making many of the bosses practically
unbeatable
unbeatable that is unless you purchase
the healing miracle orbs for two bucks
each
which revive your party when they fall
in battle even if you did get sucked
into buying them they became worthless
once Namco made the app unusable in July
2014
number five rollercoaster tycoon for
mobile rollercoaster tycoon series
here’s another franchise with a later
installment that ruined your childhood
memories many grew up with the
simulation series is first three entries
which let them create awesome if
sometimes flat-out deadly rides the
fourth game for mobile looked like its
predecessors but the gameplay was
wrecked by requiring the purchase of
tickets to speed up the building process
on top of the initial $2.99 cost
it later became free-to-play but it
didn’t feel any more worthwhile Number
Four Soul Calibur lost swords Soul
Calibur series my blade is angry want to
taste this weapon based fighting game
series is right up there with the
Great’s of the genre but it’s
free-to-play version for the ps3 lost
swords really isn’t one of them loosely
based off Soul Calibur 5 it strips the
title of its multiplayer fun for an
entirely single-player experience no
need for words I speak with this
although a single-player game isn’t
horrible this is a fighting game where’s
the fun to be had if you can’t embarrass
your friends with a little button
mashing then there’s the load times
snore your skill in battle is
commendable number 3 Metal Slug defense
Metal Slug series why would anyone turn
an awesome run-and-gun series into a
bland lame defense game we don’t know
but developer SNK Playmore seemed to
think that it was a good idea for
defense they are free-to-play mobile
entry in the franchise
sadly they went wrong as it gets the
aesthetic appeal of the originals
including the iconic mission start
voiceover mission star but without the
fun even worse you’ll need to upgrade
your troops to get very far and that
will require microtransactions
lastly someone should have told the
developers that strategy is an important
aspect of this genre because you really
don’t need any here just money number
two plants vs. zombies – plants vs.
zombies series when the first entry in
this mobile franchise came out it was a
refreshing contribution to the tower
defense genre thanks to a hilarious
humor addictive gameplay and morbid but
adorable animations plants vs. zombies –
brought all those elements back but it
also added some vicious difficulty
spikes which made it tough to unlock new
worlds without buying your way there the
Wardrobe rhythm don’t feel like paying
well prepare to grind yourself silly
you’ll also be shelling out for premium
plants plants you got for free in the
original before we get to our number one
pick let’s take a look at some honorable
or in this case dishonorable mentions
number one Dungeon Keeper mobile dungeon
keeper series greedily topping our list
is this 2013 mobile version of the RTS
franchise fans were waiting a really
long time for a sequel to the Dungeon
Keeper franchise and unfortunately they
had to wait a lot longer because as they
finished the tutorial they were greeted
with an arena with a four hour timer for
excavation unless of course you paid to
speed it up and that’s just the first
pay wall of which there are many EA got
into a fair amount of trouble for this
one not only were they accused of
manipulating reviews in the Google Play
Store but they were also found guilty of
false advertising in the UK for
advertising their veiled cash grab as
free at least Electronic Arts has a
great reputation with gamers already
right strike second
do you agree with our list I wish I
could share in your bra what game
franchise do you think was better in its
non freemium form for more free to watch
top 10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com so this is
everyone is doing this
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