5 Mods So Good They Deserve to Be Full-Length Games

As technology has progressed over the past two decades, so has gamer’s propensity to want to put their own spin on their favorite game via mods, altering aspects of the gameplay or visuals when implemented. And while some of these additions are simply for aesthetical reasons, there are plenty of mods that add so much content that they pretty much become their own experience.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of some of those mods, detailing which ones are so good that they deserve to be full-length games of their own at this point. 

Skyrim – Enderal: Forgotten Stories

Mods That Should Be Full Games

While The Forgotten City is likely the most popular Skyrim mod, even recently getting its own standalone game, Enderal: Forgotten Stories is more than deserving of praise as well. This add-on is a total conversion for the original game, creating its own immersive open-world with unique gameplay mechanics to explore. 

Enderal: Forgotten Stories takes players through a dark, psychological storyline, transporting them into multiple realities that takes up to around 30 to 125 hours of playtime to complete. Quests include plenty of interesting adventures, like trying to infiltrate an enigmatic cult ruling the Undercity in order to a stop to them. 

A completely overhauled skill system with classes and new abilities also helps set the game apart while still holding true to the style fans love about Skyrim. All of these unique elements combined make for an awesome game, let alone just a mod. 

Dark Souls – Daughters of Ash

Mods That Should Be Full Games

Dark Souls fans have always been known as one of the most dedicated fandoms in gaming, which makes sense considering how passionate you’d have to be about the game to want to suffer its difficulty. As such, it is no surprise that a few of them went out of their way to create Daughters of Ash. 

According to the creators, Dark Souls: Daughters of Ash was created with the intent of letting players recapture the feeling of playing the game again for the first time. This is accomplished by adding in new story events and tweaking existing content. 

The mod features new bosses and enemies, completely different game progression, and lots of added NPCs, storylines, and lore. New weapons and items also help spice up the journey, adding in new ways to master the challenges the game will present you with. 

You’ll find few Dark Soul mods that are as expansive and fun to play as this one.

XCOM & XCOM 2 – The Long War

Mods That Should Be Full Games

Do you know how you can tell a mod is going to be good? When the changes that have been made manage to attract the developer’s eye, and they start to work alongside the mod’s creators. That is exactly what happened with XCOM: The Long War. 

While it originally started as simple changes to the game’s base configuration file, implementing small quality of life changes, the four cour members behind the project eventually started recruiting people to help flesh this mod out even more. The Long War added several new features, including soldier fatigue, additional classes, and a boatload of new weapons. 

One of the most significant changes, though, was campaign length. The Long War is considerably larger than the base game, adding new tiers of research and decreasing the number of missions you could do in a given time.

Firaxis was so impressed with the mod that they actually went out of their way to add built-in support for modding into the sequel, XCOM 2, and used Long War Studios to provide initial add-ons for the game at release. The group eventually rebranded themselves, creating their own full-fledged studio under the name of Pavonis Interactive. 

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords Restored

Mods That Should Be Full Games

While Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II is still cherished by many, it did suffer slightly compared to the original due to a rushed release. Thankfully, the game’s modding community went out of its way to help restore content that fell to the cutting room floor. 

This restoration process eventually became known as The Sith Lords Restored. As the name dictates, the mod’s purpose was to help correct a plethora of bugs that required the developers to cut content to meet the official release date. 

That cut content includes everything from unique dialogue to even full questlines. The full list of changes can be found here, with the list including pieces of the game that were both fully and partially restored. 

While it may seem like a slight mod that doesn’t alter the overall course of the game, it’s an awesome one nonetheless, as it helps restore Obsidian Entertainment’s original vision to the fullest. 

The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings – Farewell Of The White Wolf

Mods That Should Be Full Games

Over the past few years, there haven’t been many narratives that can match up to that of The Witcher series, as it follows the adventures of monster hunter and Witcher Geralt of Rivia throughout a strange land. As such, it makes complete sense that its most prominent mod would be one that adds a beautiful epilogue to the series’ story. 

The Witcher 2 mod Farewell of the White Wolf puts a lovely pin in the story’s cap, telling a romantic tale about the wedding of Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg. The narrative takes place over the span of three days, over which you’ll see the return of beloved characters, a handful of unexpected guests, interesting stories, and plenty of romance.

Any fan of the series looking for a little bit more closure should definitely check this one out, as it features an extensive and truly impressive story that’ll likely make you cry like a baby.