Games where the Demo is actually unique content?

[skykiii]

So I recall this happening a few times. In the old DOS and Windows days Space Quest 6's demo was actually a unique mini-story that doesn't happen in the full game. According to Lazy Game Reviews, the original Age of Empires had a demo with a unique campaign that, again, isn't in the full game.

More recently I played the demo on Switch for Yomawari: Lost in the Dark, then looked up reviews... and the story they describe sounds nothing like the game I played! So either the demo's events happen way later, or this awesome trend is alive and well.

Anyway, I feel like we should list for prosperity times where the demo is significantly different from the full version, to the extent where its worth keeping the demo even once you've bought the full game.

So how many have you run into?

 

[Blackstar]

Resident Evil 7

 

[Anon88]

P.T. because the actual complete game never came out.

 

[modern horrors]

Rise of the Triad's shareware episode "The HUNT Begins" is 10 original levels, instead of just being the first episode of the full game, like it was with Doom, Quake etc.
One of Half-Life's demos, "Uplink", is also a completely new set of levels not found in the full game.
Fallout demo

 

[The Great Citracett]

The FFVIII demo I played on a demo disc as a kid has some extra scenes/dialog that weren't there in the final game, and some characters were there who were removed and introduced later in the full game IIRC.

 

[Radola Gajda]

Warcraft 3

 

[ProfDongs]

I don't know if this counts but before Dead Rising 2 was out or a standard demo for it, they released Case Zero which was its own little story set right before the main game in a little desert town. That was paid though.

 

[indomitable snowman]

Half Life 2 had a tech demo called lost coast.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Fallout 1, the demo was a modified shady sands and had some changes to the quests that where present and a shorter story I've got the .dat file for it somewhere so you can just copy an paste it out with the original and play it but I've not done it in years.

 

[Colon capital V]

Hello Neighbor's early builds actually being better than the final product.

 

[A-Stump]

A few off the top of my head...

Crash Team Racing (original). Demo had an older version of a track that wasn't used in the final product

Final Fantasy 8 demo had several Guardian Forces and weapons unlocked at a time where you wouldn't originally have it

Metal Gear Solid had voice lines that didn't make it to the full game

Age of Mythology like the first Age of Empires had a campaign mission that wasn't in the game

 

[Dr. Ricearoni]

Pizza Tower had the Sage demo. It featured a playable sonic knockoff called Snick when the main character accidentally goes to the wrong convention. Its other demos also featured content that wouldn't make it into the final game, mostly other playable characters.

 

[Raiken]

both bravely default and bravely second happen before the games.
pokemon ultra moon/sun have short side stories as demos.

 

[DuckofDoom]

The Stanley Parable comes to mind. The demo gameplay (such as it is) is the same as the full game, but it is it's own distinct experience, with the narrator attempting to explain what the full game will be like.

 

[The Evil Midnight Bomber]

Rise of the Triad's shareware episode "The HUNT Begins" is 10 original levels, instead of just being the first episode of the full game, like it was with Doom, Quake etc.
One of Half-Life's demos, "Uplink", is also a completely new set of levels not found in the full game.
Fallout demo

I think I played the Half Life Uplink demo at least 100 times when I was a kid.

 

[GenericEdgelordSupreme]

Soul Reaver's PS1 demo discs are prototype builds with content that was either changed or excluded from the final build. Raziel has a slightly different moveset and the geography is different. The final build is only about 2/3 of what was planned, and is rife with unused content hidden behind invisible walls and such.

Edit: FF8 demo also had a completely different music track for the beach assault mission, which was changed when someone pointed out that it sounded too much like a song from a movie that was newish at the time. Both are good, but I played the shit out of that demo and sometimes listen to the removed demo music on JewTube.

 

[Grub]

The ocarina of time 1997 spaceworld demo. Some autists have completely recreated the demo as a romhack.

Ocarina of Time Spaceworld '97 Beta Experience

Experience a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of the most beloved games of all time! This is a mod

www.romhacking.net

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

I think I played the Half Life Uplink demo at least 100 times when I was a kid.

God that takes me back, I can recall the issue of CD Gamer that the demo was included on, that thing got copied an passed around man.

 

[Kheapathic]

I'm not sure if this counts as an official demo; but Fallen Legion had a few demo stations at EVO one year, there were two levels and one was for the demo only. It was called Ham Tower, the devs said they made it difficult on purpose and only a handful of people managed to complete it, it took me like 3 or 4 times but I got it. Also, Xenogears. The Demo is pretty much the opening with Fei going to Citan's house, but when you enter the valley area, Bart and Elly come out of nowhere and they have an out of character moment with Fei telling them they shouldn't be here, and Bart reassuring him this is more practice and not the real thing, so it's okay for them to be there. All three characters also have access to all Deathblows, to include their level 7 elemental ones.

 

[Doppelmonger]

Sonic 06.

The demo was better than the final game.