Top 10 Best Unscripted Video Games Moments

“Sonic the Hedgehog” (2006) “Sonic ‘06” was already plagued with a buffet of problems, so much so that you could say this entire game is, in a sense, “unscripted”. However, the one we have to take a hard glance at is the purple gem. Whereas the other gems provide a variety of abilities that can be useful, the purple gem is outright broken. Using this will simply shrink Sonic, but will also, for some reason, give Sonic ridiculously high jumps. As ridiculous and useless as this seems, the purple gem’s broken condition has been utilized by speedrunners as a means to skip entire sections of the game. And no, we have not forgotten about the Infinite Knuckles Jump in “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric”.

“Detroit: Become Human” (2018) Most who have played “Detroit: Become Human” will tell you that Hank and Connor’s story was the best part of the entire game. Why is that? Well, turns out a handful of scenes featuring the cop and android were improvised by Clancy Brown and Bryan Dechart, Hank and Connor’s respective actors. The most iconic of these improvised scenes has been the part where Hank steals Connor’s coin only to then start trying to mimic Connor’s ultra precise moves. Moments like this gave the duo way more depth, and it showed how well Brown and Dechart’s chemistry was.

“Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” (2022) There was a time where Lego games weren’t the most polished on the market and came with their own technical problems. Luckily, “Skywalker Saga” came out in top-notch condition, but there was one interesting aspect to the game that seemed a bit off. The youngest of the playable Anakins is unkillable when designated as the AI-controlled party member. Couple this fact with the aerial movement in combat, and you have what the community has dubbed “child flight”; beat the snot out of Kid Annie to cross large gaps. It may not be efficient, but it’s somewhat hilarious to witness.

“Tales From the Borderlands” (2014) Storytelling in video games tends to be a bit more strict at times with its actors. Very rarely do we really get to see actors try out things with their characters that aren’t in the script. This little moment in “Tales From the Borderlands”, on the other hand, was completely accidental. During recording, Troy Baker, who voices Rhys, goes through a bit of indigestion before apologizing and blaming the gas on breakfast. This, however, would become the official line for Rhys in the final version of the game. Honestly, we couldn’t imagine the scene being done without it now.

“Crash Team Racing” (1999) Technically, Penta Penguin was planned to be a part of the final version for “Crash Team Racing”, and he still made it into the game as a secret character that can only be unlocked via cheat code. So, why does he make the list? Well, he’s not entirely finished. In addition to certain animations causing him to glitch out on occasion, Penta Penguin holds audio placeholders that never got their finalized sounds. So, instead of hearing normal dialogue, you’ll sometimes hear the voice of programmer Gavin James saying “Penguin Yay One” and “Penguin Yay Two”.

#5: Money Printing Art

Also in:

Top 10 Games That LOST the Most MONEY

“Cyberpunk 2077” (2020) Yes, yes, we know that “Cyberpunk 2077” launched with a wealth of problems. While many were quests bugging out or AI not behaving normally, there was an exploit that could make you the richest person in Night City. With the Space Oddity painting, players could sell the painting to Drop Points for four thousand Eddies and buy it back for a mere five, meaning you can practically turn Drop Points into temporary ATMs. All of a sudden, every expensive item in Night City got super, super cheap. Unfortunately, this exploit has been patched as of January 2021.

#4: Behind the Vault

Also in:

Top 20 Most Shocking Moments In Video Games

“Fallout 76” (2018) Like “Cyberpunk 2077”, “Fallout 76” had its entire economy blasted, but in a totally different way. In just two months after launch, players discovered a way to access a developer room filled with all of the weapons and supplies included in the game in limitless quantities. It wasn’t long before folks began abusing this, and Bethesda went on high alert. This did not stop these players from creating smurf accounts and dumping their inventories into chests for their main accounts to snag. Of course, this has been patched since, but who could have predicted a backdoor entrance could have been so easy to open?

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015) The multiplayer component to MGS V was just as intriguing and nebulous as its single-player campaign. For example, a special cutscene would play when every player deactivated their nuclear arms. This cutscene would play for all of its players by accident in February 2018. According to publisher Konami, the servers for MGS V were given “incorrect values”, thus triggering the cutscene. At least seeing this cutscene wasn’t tied to something special like an achievement or trophy. Of course, anyone can see this cutscene for themselves thanks to the power of dataminers and YouTube.

“Super Smash Bros. Melee” (2001) “Smash Bros. Melee” introduced a handful of strategies and mechanics that would become inspiration for other platform fighting party games. Thing is that this was never a main part of “Melee”. In case you aren’t aware, wavedashing is an exploit in the game’s physics, allowing the player to use the speed of an air dodge to slide without needing to walk or run. Even though series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai and his team were aware of this exploit, removing it would have proven to be a big hassle. Nowadays, it’s practically a necessary technique to learn in order to stand a chance at competitive “Melee” tournaments.

“Pokémon Red & Blue” (1996) Though it is pretty laborious yet easy to trigger, the mythical MissingNo is very much a real part of the first “Pokémon” game. By doing a very specific series of actions, players can come across MissingNo for themselves, and the reason for this all boils down to technical specifications and programming. Due to the limited technical capabilities of the original Game Boy, it was easy to exploit the game’s scripting and cause it to display sprites it wasn’t supposed to use. Just be careful when replicating this for yourself as it can cause problems in visuals and Hall of Fame data.