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The biggest Video Game disappointment of 2025

Monster Hunter Wilds.

I expected an evolution of Worlds and Rise, but all I got was more story, less content and terrible optimization. A real miss from Capcom. I did play it for 150 hours though. But I expected so much more.
 
Cronos probably, I had big expectations after loving Bloober's Silent Hill 2 Remake from last year. There's quite a lot of mechanics that I find frustrating (especially the inventory system) and not having an option to choose difficulty options / modifiers also makes the experience too frustrating for my taste. I definitely prefer to play by my own rules and I recently loved that in Silent Hill f with being given separate options for combat and puzzles difficulties.
 
Topher said:
Assassins Creed Shadows. Just a badly designed game with a horrible dual protagonist combination

Big disappointment for me as an AC fan
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I really think the less is more approach would have really benefitted AC Shadows. The visuals are fantastic, and the stealth gameplay is great. However, the combat is lacking. Ultimately, no game should ever feel like a chore, yet this one really outstays its welcome. They could have condensed the story into a quarter of the map.

For any game that wants me to play past the 30-40 hour mark, it better have some fun and engaging gameplay, with lots of cool stuff to see and do. You've literally seen and done everything within the first 5-10 hours of AC Shadows.

And yeah, just having the one protagonist would have been better.

I kind of expected it, so it would be unfair of me to call it the most disappointing game. And I enjoyed a good 30 or so hours of it before it began to get stale.
 
Markio128 said:
I really think the less is more approach would have really benefitted AC Shadows. The visuals are fantastic, and the stealth gameplay is great. However, the combat is lacking. Ultimately, no game should ever feel like a chore, yet this one really outstays its welcome. They could have condensed the story into a quarter of the map.

For any game that wants me to play past the 30-40 hour mark, it better have some fun and engaging gameplay, with lots of cool stuff to see and do. You've literally seen and done everything within the first 5-10 hours of AC Shadows.

And yeah, just having the one protagonist would have been better.

I kind of expected it, so it would be unfair of me to call it the most disappointing game. And I enjoyed a good 30 or so hours of it before it began to get stale.
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Agree 100%. I liked the dual protagonist approach of Syndicate much more than Shadows. At least they were both assassins rather than one assassin, one massive hulk-ish samurai. I hated playing as Yasuke. But the gameplay overall was a step down sadly
 
Nothing really, DS2 was great, MH:Wilds gave me tons of hours of online play, Stalker 2 was fun, Arc Riders is unexpectedly addictive, BF6 is decent, GoY was amazing, just as Mario Kart World.

And i still have Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 untouched, just in time for the Christmas/New Year break.

What an awesome year.
 
Ninja Gaiden 4 :
It's just NOT Ninja Gaiden in any way, shape or form.
Terrible camera - even worse than the previous games if that's even possible, lack of i-frames (you can get clipped while dodging lol), boring ass levels, boring art direction, horrible main character, Ryu being a guest in his own franchise.
I've spent 90€ on this shit, why ? (Deluxe edition).

Silent Hill f :
Not scary, not even atmospheric.
Shallow combat that outstays its welcome especially after midway through where it becomes a literal beat em up (that hand* wink).
Story and "the message" being so on the nose that's not even funny.
There was no way I'd replay it a 2nd time, never mind a 3rd or 4th one as to "get the whole story".
Just an incredibly uninteresting game IMO, another 70€ wasted.

- First Berserker Kazan :
Another soulslike clone, or rather, a Nioh one.
Terrible level design, grindy and outdated "mission based" progression and the AnimU art direction, while kind of cool at first it becomes boring and just uninteresting to look at after a few hours.
Story is lol, not even worth mentioning (typical AnimU bullshit).

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound :
I found it to be boring AF, it's very weirdly paced and its systems are also weird and clash against each other.
Horrible save system if you want to continue after turning it off (have to redo the whole stage).
Didn't even finish it and imma sucker for anything NG related...
 
Silent Hill [f]ailure for sure. This game was so bad that i'm still mad i can't get my money back. The next Silent Hill will 100% not be a Day 1 buy, maybe not even bought at all if the Series stays this Dogshit.
 
Hunter 99 said:
I hoped for a experience like tropical freeze which I adored (I know this wasn't meant to be like that being open world or whatever) but man the constant smashing the ground and gathering thousands of bananas was boring very quickly. I don't like the look and feel of the world .The core gameplay from what I played of the demo was just too simplistic and samey I couldnt bear to sit and play this game for 20 hours. It took them years to make and although it's different and I respect the direction they took I just prefer the side scrolling dk.
I played the demo so maybe the full game is better but it didn't leave a good impression for me.
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Well, at least you saved some money. No point in buying something just to play it against your will.

Let's hope a new Zelda or Mario pulls you back in.
 
Metroid Prime 4 - just an all around bad game. I don't have a huge attachment to the series so I did not go into it overhyped or anything, but was still massively let down. Never did I find myself having any fun. Nothing interesting happens and the gameplay and exploration are so bland. Dropped it after a few hours.

Silent Hill F - The game seems interesting, but the combat is so terrible it ruins the whole experience. Dropped it after around 5 hours.
 
Monster Hunter Wilds. I built a new PC just for this game.
Maps were too big and not easy to navigate.
Story was infuriating (I hate the kid, just like Juju in Xenoblade and Hope in FFXIII)

Rise was the better game.
 
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.
 
I have been desperate for a Mario Golf successor that I could play on Steam. Everybody's Golf did not supplant Mario Golf for me. The interface and annoying characters discouraged me from spending prolonged time in the games universe. Perhaps my preference for Mario Golf's simplicity says more about me than EG's offering, but I was still very let down.
 
Metroid Prime 4, it wasn't a bad game, but a 7/10 for a Metroid Prime game is a major letdown. Felt like they tried to make it a Zelda-like but were unsuccessful.
 
Sony as a whole. Sold my PS5 in prep for the pro last year. They never gave me a reason to get back into the ecosystem, and the way things are going ... not sure I ever will. Returnal was brilliant but Saros is not enough for me to get one again. Might just get some kind of steam machine and keep that paired with my Switch and I'm set. Playstation has been my "primary" platform since the PS1. And I've never been less interested.
 
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Well let's see, in chronological order…

MH Wilds was looking so awesome and I was ready to be completely obsessed but then it ran like ABSOLUTE DOG SHIT so I literally only played 5hrs and never touched it again. It's like making this amazing bed then at the last second "oh btw we sprinkled rasin bran all over it"

Then Switch 2 was coming out and I was ready to love Mario Kart World. Had more in it than any other Mario Kart by a longshot, they said. But then after 5hrs I realized there pretty much wasn't anything else to do and they left out a few modes and didn't have any kind of roadmap to add more content. WTF? This is the launch Street Fighter 5 of Mario Karts.

But the worst of all is definitely Metroid Prime 4. MHW was a good game that played bad. MKW was a good playing game that didn't have enough. MP4 is a bad game. I have gone about it in detail in other threads, but I really think it isn't just a handholding issue. It is a level design issue, a combat design issue, a progression design issue. Everything about it is far below Prime 1 and whether you are counting adventure shooters or more linear shooters, it is definitely far worse than all the big names spanning back 20 years. I bought a Switch 1 to play Metroid Prime 4. It never happened and I got a Switch 2 for a number of other reasons but still really looking forward to MP4. It let me down in every possible way. I sold it to a friend who doesn't really have standards for shooters.

Nintendo should not get away with halfassing like this. Nintendo fans desperately need context of where gaming is at and to start being more honest about Nintendo games. Can they make some of the best ever made? Yeah, I really think Bananza is a top 5 3D platformer. Can they also get arrogant and think halfassing is fine? Yeah and that is bullshit that needs to be called out no matter how much you love the company. I love Capcom more than any other company but I have called them out for Wilds. That's just wrong, man.
 
Ass of Can Whooping said:
Metroid Prime 4

Not played it but i'll join in on the dogpile. 4/10
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Bros Reference GIF
 
I have to agree with those saying Switch 2. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza have some excellent things going for them, but they both have some big flaws too, kind of surprising and disappointing for Nintendo first-party. Cyberpunk is pretty cool running as well as it does on a handheld device, but I've only managed to play it a bit here and there, and prefer by far playing it on PS5. And finally the Keycard issue has really deflated my enthusiasm for the Switch 2 so that I don't feel like getting anything for it, and it's been a couple months since I've played anything on it. I would think of getting rid of it, but Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom look so good on it, I'll just patiently wait for the next Zelda and hope there might be something else to play in the meantime.
 
I'm currently replaying Prime 3. With my Wii straight into my LG 55" where it looks like hot garbage. And the sensor for the Wii is half-fucked.

It's still more four times as exciting than Prime 4. And my lord did I want this game to be the big fucking comeback of all ages. Insane levels of disappointment.
 
I'm sure this'll trigger a big lot, but definitely Expedition 33. Got it and went in with all the hype. It did not meet expectations. So less so, I dropped it and can't find it in me to give it more of a try.
 
Gamepass. Obsidian's games were meh, the price was hiked and they fucking didn't put the fallout anniversary edition on it. Fuck MS.
 
Silk Song: After waiting so long for it, the magic is absent and doesn't match the first game in any way.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Uninteresting characters, the handler, talking palicos, ugly environments, mediocre monsters.
 
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Let It Die Inferno.

Loved Let It Die, was hoping this one would be as good... it's not even close. I'm just grateful that Steam allowed me to refund after 3 hours <3
 
2025 has been a real year of disappointment. My top disappointment are all Nintendo.

1. Donkey Kong Bananza. Man, this stung. The Odyssey team, seven years on the game - I was so hyped for it. Boring, frustrating game with a crap camera.

2. Mario Kart World. A launch game. Open world Mario Kart. First Mario Kart in a decade. Yet, it was clear in the first few hours that the game is just boring, repetitive, underwhelming.

3. Metroid Prime 4. Another game I massively anticipated, absolutely loved Metroid Dread. Opening of the game is stunning, really beautifully done and curated. But it seems inevitable that the downhill is massive from there.

4. Kirby Air Riders. Preordered this after the max hype Sakuraicasts. But eh, it's just a mishmash of huge amounts of stuff slammed together into a big adhd/ocd cocktail.

On top of this, Call of Duty was so crap this year that I had to drop my annual habit of getting and playing it. And Death Stranding 2, man did that ever look boring.

I didn't give a chance to Ghost of Yotei, I guess it would have done better than my other games this year.
 
Metroid Prime 4 for sure (full write-up in the OT here). The game has one legitimately good and original idea, a bunch of ok ones it grabbed from elsewhere, and a whole ton of problems. I was thinking 5/10 for a while but that 4 from Edge is looking closer to the truth. This one's probably in the 'Skip' list for me wrt recommending.

My friends on the other hand would answer Monster Hunter: Wilds. As an outsider it was fun disaster to watch unfold.
 
Silent Hill f, easily.

From its terrible combat, unlikeable protagonist and poor pacing right until its unbearably bad final quarter. Pretty much the worst high-profile horror after The Callisto Protocol for me.
 
People saying DS2 .. what were you hoping for ? Honestly? Just curious... because as far as I know, it is a faithful continuation of the first game, wich I founded just awful and nothing about the second one made me think it would be any different...real fans of the first one seems to have appreciated ? I may be wrong though....

And the ones saying Switch 2 ? Lol .. "derp nintendo sux launching this weak hardware with no innovations and not a lot first party software" ... welp no shit Sherlock, Nintendo is very smart and know how to sell antique hardware at modern prices.

.........

Anyway my pick is Sony Absolute no show with their first party (in house studios)* outside one more DLC turned "new game" that screams crossgen with surprise surprise one more girl protagonist ... I knew sony fucked up this gen when they changed their goal to the braindead gaas race... but 2025 showed the extent of the fuck up.

*Im not counting second/third party games, and even if I did the mail man simulator is hardly a thing to gloat about.
 
Giallo Corsa said:
Ninja Gaiden 4 :
It's just NOT Ninja Gaiden in any way, shape or form.
Terrible camera - even worse than the previous games if that's even possible, lack of i-frames (you can get clipped while dodging lol), boring ass levels, boring art direction, horrible main character, Ryu being a guest in his own franchise.
I've spent 90€ on this shit, why ? (Deluxe edition).
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Oh yikes I was looking forward to this. Yeah from the trailer I thought it look rather underwhelming when compared to upcoming Phantom Blade Zero.
 
BO7( Arguably the worst game that uses AI and it made AI look bad)

Veilguard( I was looking forward to this game but it's the internet, I don't really hate this game)

Avowed( the colors don't match the gameplay style, to be fair, I wouldn't call it a complete DEI game cause the same colors could be used on other games just fine like Borderlands)

Monster Hunter Wilds( obviously a next gen game technically, it's better to play it on ps6 and Xbox 5th gen consoles)

SH f( a new fresh take to the series and we weren't ready for it).
 
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