i figured it out, if you have 2 storage drives then the executable only functions on the main drive, which isn't where i keep these games.
edit: found the real problem.
if any of the parent folders have a non standard symbol such as an umlaut it copies the directories it's installed in but with the umlaut replaced, such as \Skräp\Games\fleshcult-windows-release\cef > \Skr�p\Games\fleshcult-windows-release\cef , but all the directories are empty which is causing the call error.