Support NeoGAF

[Chittagong]

It's interesting how many are saying Silent Hill f.

I finished the game, and yeah the combat was not great and it was super linear, nothing near SH2R. Personally I found the story and some of the big set pieces pretty interesting, but I can also understand many wouldn't.

But it being the biggest disappointment would imply that one had high expectations for it. I certainly didn't expect almost anything of it, so I didn't mind it.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Learning that consoles use RAM too.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Mario kart world.

I spent months getting ready for this game (also switch 2 hype in general) by playing mk8dx with its million levels and enjoyable gameplay and super fun online.

Probably have put in about 20 hours of MKW and have completely dropped it. Levels are disappointing, gameplay isn't anywhere near as fun, and the open world is just a chore. The knockout mode is the only thing interesting in this game and I'm over it. Maybe if they give the game a massive injection of levels but I don't see myself coming back to this anytime soon.

That's pretty much where I'm at.
Massive disappointment.
MK8 shits on World in just about every area.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

MHW.
Wanted World 2, got some awful watered down mess with a story so crushingly dull and characters that encapsulated bland.
World and Rise absolutely destroy it imo.

 

[Itchy Tickles]

Not sure it completely qualifies as I never felt that hopeful for it from the trailers, but Silent Hill f not proving my doubts wrong and actually being worse than I expected really sucked. One of my least games in the entire series and will probably be my least played of the main games and by a long stretch.

In the same way Doom : The Dark Ages never once excited me pre release and the final game was quite boring. I was glad when it ended.

Elden Ring Nightreign was another that once released didn't change my initial feelings. I have been quite burned out by those games and I thought the main game Elden Ring was extremely disappointing before it.

 

[Raven117]

Lots of games that fell totally flat for me this year.

Monster Hunter ai had high hopes for. Loved them all since Tri. This one…. Just whimpered.

 

[Jesb]

Metroid has to take the cake here. Was supposed to be the game to sell me on a switch 2 but everything I've seen has done nothing for me to think I need to play this.

 

[Radical_3d]

your personal biggest Video Game disappointment of 2025

 

[HRK69]

Obviously Monster Hunter Wilds. How do you mess this up? Seriously how? This is one of Capcoms most established, most beloved franchises. The formula is right there. You already know what works.

And don't even get me started on performance. Performance issues like this don't just magically appear on launch day. They had to have seen them during development and testing. So what happened? Did they ship it anyway hoping players wouldn't care, or assuming they could patch it later?

There honestly should be some kind of regulatory body that can hold gaming companies accountable for releasing products in this state. When a game launches broken, unstable, or clearly unfinished, that's not just "a rough launch" it's selling an incomplete product at full price

Other industries don't get this kind of free pass. If you buy a car, a phone, or even basic electronics and they barely function as advertised, there are recalls, fines, and consumer protection laws that kick in. But in gaming, companies can ship something half-baked, promise fixes later, and face almost no consequences.

Oh, and the slow-walking sections. Really? I've never seen a gamer say, "Wow, I love being forced to walk at a snail's pace. Please give me more of that." And yet they didn't just include them, they doubled down. I genuinely cant remember another game with this many forced slow walk segments.

 

[ADiTAR]

Metroid Prime 4. I didn't wait for it 18 years, I waited 8 years since it was announced. And I had complete and utter fate Nintendo will do Metroid like Zelda and Mario, get to the core of the gameplay and innovate on it to make it better.

It's actually worse. Much much worse. The gameplay is shallow, puzzles are bad, there's a point when you get a suit upgrade that's just there for you to get, doesn't change the look of the suit, and the power is used for a gated lock and basically that (and a boos fight).

It's such a let down, I can't believe Nintendo didn't pull the plug.

The only silver lining is that the same people who made Breath of the Wild also created the awful Skyward Sword (I couldn't play it past getting off the clouds). So maybe MP will also have a redemption arc. I hope.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Death Stranding 2. Boring ass game with a bloated cast and all of Kojima's favorite stars.

So just like the first one?

 

[nnytk]

Condemned: Criminal Origins

With such a stellar reputation, I expected to like it.
I didn't. At all.

Unpopular opinion here, I played the sequel when that came out and it's one of the most memorable and spooky games of my teen years. Loved it! The first game did not resonated with me as much.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Civilization 7 massive disappointment inferior in nearly every way. Honorable mention for Atelier Yumia, not the worst game but just lacking in the charm the Ryza series had.

Should've seen it coming when they announced that railroad woman as a leader.

 

[Baemono]

I'd say Prime 4. Prime Remastered got 94 on Metacritic, so I was like "okay so the same team doing the new game would definitly deliver". And it's like a lost amazon package.

And Bananza. The smashing gimmick is meh.

 

[TrebleShot]

Ghost of Yotei got very boring very fast. Sort of the first chink in the armour for myself with Sony.

Felt very safe very old school sequel almost nothing interesting on offer over the original and whilst it looks visually great it doesn't make me want to play it. I have about 20 hours or just over and thinking about playing it makes me feel nothing.

Huge let down and I really hope Sony sorts themselves out in 2026.

 

[GymWolf]

Mh wilds without a doubt.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Ninja Gaiden 4 - I shouldn't have got my hopes up given it was Platinum making it, but still...

 

[DaciaJC]

Should've seen it coming when they announced that railroad woman as a leader.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Holy crap I thought Starfield released this year. It was 2023.
I read disappointment and my brain threw the name Starfield.

Civilization 7 for sure.

 

[calico]

The Exp33 slander.

The current Steam sale.

That we were robbed of a proper AC Japan and sequels to Tsushima and KCD, by DEI.

Most disappointing game I actually played was FF7 Rebirth (released on PC this year). A perfect example of 'more is less' in game design, which is a shame because there's a great ~50 hour game buried in there somewhere.

 

[dgrdsv]

Out of everything I've played this year it's either Avatar FoP/SW Outlaws or Expedition 33.
The former are games which could've been much better as a more linear less padded experiences with higher emphasis on story telling.
The latter is just an okay game which somehow got all the gotys and is being touted as the best thing ever.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

yeah agreed it's MP4.

I actually had lowered expectations because things looked bad as info dripped out over the years. So I knew there would be problems, but seeing them actually massacre my girl like that is really tragic. I'm still tasting the barf.

A runner up for biggest bummer might be the switch 2 itself. It's launch window had a bunch of good exclusives but switch 1 comparatively had BotW and Mario Odyssey, not to mention the sleeper best game on the entire system, Xenoblade 2, all in it's launch year.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Metroid has to take the cake here. Was supposed to be the game to sell me on a switch 2 but everything I've seen has done nothing for me to think I need to play this.

It's hobestly better than SOOO much of what came out this year. It's one of the only polished AAA games that released all year, it sounds and looks great and controls like a dream .....but as a Metroid Prime game we waited this long for it's somehow highly disappointing never the less. The main sin it commits is just how linear the main areas are. Don't know what they were thinking ...my guess is they just don't have the talent for that kind of level design. It's a shame. Still worth getting but you will both enjoy it and be disappointed. It's one of those kinda games ...like Phantom Pain

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

This year had more games that I was totally hyped for and so sure they'd be great that had me living a couple of weeks in denial before I realized they were disappointments.

MH Wilds, MGS Delta (just felt the new perspective doesn't work), DK Bonanza (i don't get it, it's no Mario Odyssey), MP4, Borderlands 4, Ninja Gaiden 4

 

[LordCBH]

The first Destiny 2 expansion of the year, Edge of Fate.

The Final Shape was a certified banger. The episodes were meh, but they were seasons so I didn't really care, and they did introduce some cool ideas and activities.

Then Edge of Fate dropped. Boy. Good story. Dogshit everything else. All the cool structure they had in the last expansion and the cool ideas they had in the three episodes? Fuckin gone. Replaced with a shitty Netflix interface nobody asked for.

Then they followed it up this month with a dlc that was more banger than bust, so I have no fucking idea what they're doing over there. The Good/Shit/Good/Shit cycle continues. Guarantees the upcoming expansion in like June will be shit.

 

[Rocinante618]

Out of everything I've played this year it's either Avatar FoP/SW Outlaws or Expedition 33.
The former are games which could've been much better as a more linear less padded experiences with higher emphasis on story telling.
The latter is just an okay game which somehow got all the gotys and is being touted as the best thing ever.

I agree, I really really liked/like Avatar and Outlaws but they could have been so so much more. The world building is industry leading, graphics are incredible, industry leading optimization and accessibility, gameplay (shooting, movement) is above average and works fine but unfortunately a lot of minute details that make a 7/10 a 9 or even 10 are missing. It doesn't pull me back, it's beautiful and fun to play, it's popcorn during a slasher flick.

Disappointing as I want to love these games Ubisoft/Massive have created but only will settle for a like. Stings you that the game you like could have been so much better.

 

[IDKFA]

Nintendo

Switch 2 game prices, confirming they'll now be doing variable pricing for games, key cards, Nintendo having the ability to brink your console remotely..........

Clealry not many people care because the Switch 2 is selling well, but all the above was enough to put me off.

 

[Gonzito]

Monster Hunter Wilds, terrible performance, cringe cutscenes and writing

Ghost of Yotei, terrible sequel, cheap cutscenes animations, fake open world with invisible walls everywhere and repetitive

Death Stranding 2, laughable difficulty that breaks immersion and in general more of the same thing, looks like a dlc

 

[winjer]

For me it's Civilization VII.
8 years after Civ VI and we get one of the worst games in the series.
I just hope it's not 8 years until Civ VIII.

On the other hand, the early access for Endless Legend 2 is looking good. So there is some hope there....

 

[KungFucius]

Say what you will about MP4 but at least Retro didn't destroy an entire franchise like Capcom did with MH Wilds.

With the reception it received, they might have destroyed the Prime franchise. 2D will probably get another controller breaking bullet sponge parry bullshit game, but Prime probably won't.

 

[marcincz]

For me it's Civilization VII.
8 years after Civ VI and we get one of the worst games in the series.
I just hope it's not 8 years until Civ VIII.

On the other hand, the early access for Endless Legend 2 is looking good. So there is some hope there....

Played every numerical Civ game and must agree. The worst Civ in the series.

 

[GymWolf]

Death Stranding 2. Boring ass game with a bloated cast and all of Kojima's favorite stars.

Lmao your fault for having any expectations after cringe turding 1...