But we couldn’t help but feel that some games this year could have been so much more in terms of the value they brought to their players but ultimately let us down. It’s time to dive into 2025’s most disappointing games – and why they made us feel that way.

Let’s get started. 

Deliver At All Costs

Developed by Far Out Games and published by Konami, Deliver At All Costs had all the makings of a fun experience made engaging via a very unique premise. Winston Green’s determination to be the ultimate courier, letting nothing get between his cargo and his destination ultimately fell flat thanks to an uninspired gameplay loop.

While the isometric graphics and unique mechanics could entertain you for a brief time once you get started, the game quickly gets repetitive, with little to no narrative context other than a few fetch and carry requests.

Limited upgrades to the We Deliver pickup truck and a lack of actual consequences for your destructive actions other than some bland police pursuits make this an unfortunately forgettable experience that is sure to lie forgotten in many of its players’ libraries once the initial thrills wear off. 

Monster Energy Supercross 25 – The Official Video Game

Despite an excellent visual makeover courtesy of Unreal Engine 5, a wide selection of tracks, and the legendary Ricky Carmichael taking up the in-game commentator’s mic, Monster Energy Supercross 25 wasted away its advantages with a learning curve that a significant portion of players would find daunting.

Its tutorials are ineffective at getting you into the ebb and flow of a race, a lapse that is sure to throw you face-first into the dirt in front of a crowded stadium. Milestone S.r.l. probably assumed that anybody picking up the game was already a fan of dirt-bike racing and tailored the experience accordingly.

We’re sure that fans of the sport will swear by this one but for the rest of us, this is a title that is a very ironic uphill climb.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

This indie title from the stables (or garages?) of Warsaw-based developer Gaming Factory seemed like it would be a great drifting simulator for racing fans who like a bit of style when they turn a corner. While its in-game physics and story-based open world are certainly highlights, the overall experience was ultimately marred by several inconsistencies in the Guntama Prefecture’s streets and winding mountain roads.

Obstacles that a fast-moving car could plow through quite easily in the real world could bring you to a complete stop while irregular lighting ruins the dynamic day and night cycle, sending you tearing right into unsuspecting NPCs who just want to get home and unwind after a long day.

Its delivery missions are nothing to write home about either while errors in the kind of vehicle you will need for its many events are a constant annoyance, requiring you to reload at the last garage you were in and drive a new car all the way back to the starting point.

We recommend rewatching Tokyo Drift a couple of times while you wait for a sale on this one.

STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles Remastered

We’ll be the first to admit that getting to revisit the origin story of Anakin Skywalker (or Darth Vader as you know him) had us pretty excited for this remake of the 2000 title from LucasArts. Getting all of its original content in one place while Aspyr’s additions like the ability to play as a bunch of enemies you beat down in your first playthrough during New Game+ was quite the attractive package.

However, an excellent visual makeover aside, all of the problems that players had with the original continue to plague the remaster, and are annoying enough to drive you towards the Dark Side of the force. It’s a baffling lack of polish that is sure to ruin what could have been a very entertaining return to Star Wars’ glory days.

Perhaps Qui Gon would be happy to let Darth Maul stab him to death if he were to try this one out.

TRON Catalyst

Bithell Games had the opportunity to bring the magic and complex political discourse of the original TRON films to a new generation of gamers in its take on the sci-fi franchise. However, Exo’s adventures and the subsequent conflict between the Automata and Core ultimately failed to impress thanks to a lackluster story and a distinct lack of utility to its many inventive mechanics.

From the Glitch system that lets you reset your state on a server to an earlier, safer time, or the lore that fails to flesh out the various factions you encounter in any satisfactory way, this is a game that could have, and should have been a whole lot better than it ultimately was – and that’s a real shame considering that it does so many things right.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

Although Arlo’s quest for revenge and his adventures as the Warden of the West are quite well-written and given a lot of gravitas and weight thanks to Doug Cockle’s narration, this attempt to create a side-scrolling Soulslike was ultimately let down by its tonal inconsistencies.

It was quite jarring to see a boss brutally murder innocent NPCs only for a character to make a very droll quip a few moments later. While the combat on display is certainly top notch, the healing mechanic proved to me more annoying than innovative, especially towards the story’s final sections and boss fights.

Hardcore Soulslike fans might find a lot to like in this game but for the most part, it does feel like it could be more fleshed-out both narratively and from a technical standpoint. Its world-building does deserve credit, though.

La Quimera

What could go wrong with an FPS title that puts you in the heart of a conflict between warring states in a world gone mad? A lot, apparently. Reburn’s take on a co-op experience that lets you team up with your buddies to take on a world of threats with an AI companion in tow failed to impress on any level.

It didn’t help that the game was delayed on the day of its release, a misstep that is sure to be a sore spot for the studio and anyone who was excited for the game alike. But its distinct lack of a clear and engaging narrative coupled with its lackluster combat is sure to make this one a game that the gaming world would be happy to leave behind.

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remaster

We’ve certainly been seeing a lot of Oda Nobunaga and his exploits in recent times. But younger games might have not known that the Japanese warlord was the main antagonist of a very popular action franchise from Capcom back in the day.

The studio’s remaster of 2002’s Onimusha 2 does include everything that made the original title so memorable, but fails to bring anything new to the table other than a new weapon swapping quality-of-life improvement and a couple of difficulty modes to accompany its visual upgrade.

Jubei Yagyu certainly deserved better despite his stoic and occasionally sassy demeanour making him less popular than Dante or Leon.

The Precinct

Fallen Tree’s police-sim brought a very promising start to Mick Cordell Jr’s first day at the Avernus City PD’s headquarters. However, his career soon took a very boring turn, devolving into mindless prowling along the city’s streets with only a hint of the promise he brought to table ever showing up during its runtime.

Terrible driving controls aside, The Precinct was a pretty interesting title that failed to deliver on the action-packed chases and gunfights it seemed to offer, instead focusing on the boring and dreary parts of police work. While it does shine on occasion and its main story could be interesting to some, this is a game we quickly moved on from thanks to its sloppy writing and average gameplay loop.

Splitgate 2

Its controversial marketing aside, Splitgate 2 never really reached the heights that its predecessor did thanks to being held back by a limited selection of playable classes and a gameplay loop that many players found derivative despite its intention to innovate.

Although credit must be given to its wide selection of weapons, maps, and modes, they were ultimately let down by its gameplay, which was hamstrung by the presence of only three playable classes with fixed functionalities. That’s especially saddening when one considers how many people worked on it as opposed to the original game.

Atomfall: Wicked Isle DLC

Although Wicked Isle did bring meaningful additions to Atomfall’s main story, they weren’t enough to make up for its lack of new enemy types and glaring omissions that made its runtime more tedious than it should have been.

That’s especially egregious considering how the main game always found a way to keep us on our toes, and the DLC’s new weapons, skills, and characters could not justify its lack of enough content to justify its price tag. Wicked Isle is another presence on this list that could have been so much more but ultimately failed to live up to the expectations it generated.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest

While getting to dive back into the main game’s story and learning more about the tragic events that brought about the Beira D’s destruction was certainly exciting, Mhairi’s search for its data logger was a disappointment thanks to its shorter runtime and technical issues that actively made it far less appealing than the main game.

Although it did bring a fairly interesting narrative to the table, it was not enough to deserve the same praise that the main game earned, mostly in part due to The Chinese Room’s attempts to address the linear nature of the main game only to get caught up in pathing and other technical issues that were obstacles to obtaining the full experience on offer in the DLC.

That’s a paradox many studios would rather avoid. 

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

After 26 years of silence, Fatal Fury fans were all “REV”ved up to receive a new title in the popular  SNK franchise. Bringing innovative new mechanics and excellent visuals to the table, it’s quite surprising that KOF Studios failed to do more with a franchise that had many gamers very excited about returning to the 2D fighting experience it offered.

That was unfortunately the extent of its traction, as an uninspired RPG mode and a distinct lack of heavy hitters on its playable roster brought disappointment to its fans despite the presence of excellent fighting systems that would challenge newcomers and veterans alike.

FBC Firebreak

A co-op multiplayer shooter set in the world of Control had us immediately invested in what we assumed would be another banger from Remedy Entertainment. However, FBC Firebreak failed to live up to that hype with a gameplay loop that quickly became repetitive while its inspirations were largely relegated to the background with a few notable exceptions.

A limited selection of weapons and little to no variety in locations and enemy types marred a gameplay loop that was frantic and action-packed until it revealed a slew of unlockables that required way too much grinding for the average player.

All is not lost, however, as Remedy could bring changes that puts this exciting yet flawed shooter back on track.

MindsEye

Oh, MindsEye. We really wish Build a Rocket Boy could have made this game live up to the high expectations that we and the rest of the gaming world had for it. We once expected it to be the perfect title to ease our sorrow at the delay of GTA 6. On paper, MindsEye has everything a modern hit should bring to the table. An interesting narrative backed up by a gorgeous open-world that blurs the line between man, machine, and AI.

But Redrock’s empty streets and non-responsive NPCs worked in tandem with its uninspired mission design, lackluster story and buggy execution to rob us of what could have been one of this year’s finest titles. We wish we could say this was a bittersweet experience but we have to lean more towards the former than the latter.

Were there any games that you believe failed to live up to your expectations? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!

To access the DLC, players need only head to the Wyndham port and speak to the ferryman (one of the new NPCs) standing on the docks. Beginners are welcome too, since Wyndham can be entered right from the beginning of the base game.

As expected, the large bulk of said content takes place on an isolated isle apart from the base game’s mainland areas. Backtracking to the mainland is also a decent chunk of the DLC’s main quest, but more on that later. So, how large is the new DLC island? Well, it’s comparable to other regions of the base game. In particular, Midsummer Isle resembles the Casterfell Woods region in size and geographical features. So, if you loathe those druid-infested woods as much as I do, you’re in for more of that.

Of course, being an isle, there is water surrounding the entire landmass. My first death in the DLC was caused by a group new Aquatic Ferals enemies that emerged from the depths of some beach water. They look like 50s sci-fi horror mermen, and they pack quite the wallop. There’s also a new enemy faction that behaves identically to the base game’s druids. Besides these two new enemies, which are basically reskins if we’re being honest, there’s not much players won’t have experienced combat-wise in the base game. Wicked Isle doesn’t feature any groundbreaking new boss fight mechanics or particularly noteworthy encounters, and that’s a bit of a shame.

"Wicked Isle doesn’t feature any groundbreaking new boss fight mechanics or particularly noteworthy encounters."

What lets the enemy design down even more, however, is the reappearance of those annoying unkillable Mutant Plant enemies. They’re placed in irritating zones too, discouraging exploration in one noteworthy instance. Another small complaint is the high number of druid packs patrolling many of the island’s landmarks. As I said earlier, Casterfell Woods was my least favorite location in the base game, and man was I disappointed when I happened across similar packs of druids in yet another wooded area. Sure, there’s some patches of grass overgrowth allowing for a stealthy approach, but Atomfall works best with its tightly crafted indoor level design, which this DLC has little of.

But Midsummer Isle stoops even lower than the lesser regions of the base game. This is because there’s no access to the Interchange whatsoever on the island. The Interchange rendered traversal manageable in the base game thanks to its interconnected entrances hiding within every region. Lacking an Interchange entrance is bad for several reasons. For one, you don’t have access to your storage tube. All that shiny new loot will have nowhere to go thanks to the severely limited inventory space and no Interchange access. Well, unless you decide to hoof it all the way back to the mainland via ferry. Yes, unfortunately, fast travel options or inventory expansions didn’t get added to this DLC. Not that I really needed it in the base game, but again, I had the Interchange to go to and from the various regions. Here on Midsummer Isle, I must manually hoof it to the boat, go through a load screen, and then hoof it from the Wyndham docks. You really feel the traversal padding with this DLC.

The second reason no Interchange access is bad is due to the backtracking-heavy quests within the DLC. And not just any old backtracking, fetch quest backtracking. Yeah, bit of a bummer combo that. One of the last steps toward completing the DLC’s main quest is finding four keys to unlock a crypt. But the game doesn’t just give you those key locations, you have to work for them. This is where one of Atomfall’s strongest design elements comes into play: leads. Turning lead tracking off in the options menu allows the game to organically guide the player to quest objectives. This typically involves clever deduction of written texts, uncovering info from NPC conversations, and good old environmental storytelling. And that mostly stays true in the DLC, even if guidance is a tad less effective this time around. I got lost more during this DLC than at any time in the base experience. Good luck finding the new metal detector, because with a total lack of clues or leads, you’re gonna need either luck or objective markers turned on to find it.

"I got lost more during this DLC than at any time in the base experience."

Regarding the four keys themselves, You can go after them in whichever order you see fit, but you better find all clues in one batch first before getting said keys individually. This is because each key is located within a region of the mainland. Some players will have made three separate trips to the mainland just for each key. This level of backtracking simply didn’t exist in the core game, especially given the smart layout of the Interchange connecting the regions. What makes it even worse is the total lack of expansion given to mainland areas or familiar NPCs. You simply use your newfangled metal detector in an old area of the base game and return back to the island with the quest items; that’s it. No re-contextualization of prior areas or new dialogue with old NPCs.

This fetch quest design exposes the need for an Interchange shortcut to the mainland or a fast travel feature update. A sizable portion of this DLC’s playtime is spent just backtracking and traversing across regions already explored in the main game, but without any added context, areas, or NPCs to make it interesting or fresh.

That said, not everything in Wicked Isle is backtracking or re-skinned content. The new blunderbuss shotgun is fun to shoot, even if ammo is very sparse, and the new daggers and cutlass at least look cool, even if they don’t play any different from their equivalent from the base game. Players also get access to a new set of Skills, which provide resistances and new capabilities relating to various status effects. Decomposition is a particularly enjoyable skill to put points into. It turns enemies into a puff of spores that you can extract upon stealth killing them, how cool is that?

"The new Decomposition skill turns enemies into a puff of spores that you can extract."

I wouldn’t say the amount of new items and Skills are particularly amazing here or anything, but their quality at least makes up for it (although those new skills sure do cost way too much). Apart from some fancy new gear, players will find side quests and lots of diaries and notes to sift through, as well as interesting new characters to argue with. Oh, and there’s a new ending players can engage with should they tackle quests and respond to dialogue in a particular way.

Speaking of characters, the first one you meet right from the beginning is one of the more intriguing of the bunch. The boatman who ferries you over to the isle has quite a tragic tale to tell, and his own journey through the course of the DLC earns some amount of empathy. Likewise, the main antagonists of the DLC (if they can be called that) speak in an Old English tongue that is ever so delightful to hear. In fact, the story that’s weaved from the ghostly Abbot and his retinue is one of the best things to come from Wicked Isle. The mysterious ‘angel’ that fell from the sky, it’s worshipers, and the 1600s events that the player learns about all tie into the main story of Atomfall wonderfully. Wicked Isle provides a clever insight into how a Britain 200 years in the past reacts to Oberon, perfectly complimenting how the more modern man with their technology reacts to it in the base game.

"The boatman who ferries you over to the isle has quite a tragic tale to tell."

Still, a good story isn’t quite enough to pull this DLC up from its ultimate shortcomings. Considering Wicked Isle is a third ($19.99) of the base game’s price, I expected a bit more from it. I enjoyed the base game’s content more than the DLC’s offerings. Fetching a bunch of keys from the old stomping grounds of the base game didn’t do Wicked Isle any favors, especially given the lack of fast travel or Interchange entrances. Plus, Wicked Isle just doesn’t have much meat on its bones.

With only a handful of new weapons and Skills, there’s not a sizable amount of stuff here that I can see roping players back into its world. But it’s decent enough to warrant a purchase for fans who really appreciate Atomfall. Wicked Isle is a nice compliment to the main game, enhancing and prolonging Atomfall in neat and rewarding ways, but it doesn’t necessarily provide a good enough hook to entice new players or bring familiar players back in.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.