But as much as we hate to say it, there are a few titles that just didn’t click, and now have the dubious distinction of forming the lower end of the year’s releases. Let’s jump into which of this year’s games have made the list, and why.

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

With fatigue having set into the franchise for a while, a lackluster campaign, and some heavy competition in the form of Battlefield 6, Ark Raiders, and Ready or Not, Blacks Ops 7 has failed to breathe new life into the franchise, and has plummeted to being the lowest-ranked Call of Duty entry in history.

Despite its emphasis on a more tactical gameplay loop this time around, Blacks Ops 7 has ultimately failed to bring any meaningful innovations that can make it stand out in a long list of titles from a franchise that could use a bit of course correction. That’s especially disappointing in a year where some excellent shooters have made their presence felt.

2. Sacred 2 Remaster

While the original game might have been considered innovative at the time of its release, this remaster’s insistence on preserving the original experience has largely backfired thanks to the passage of time. Sacred 2’s clunky mechanics and dated visuals needed more than a fresh coat of paint, and it’s a game that’s going to be played only for its nostalgia factor.

Although it did many cool things with its setting and world, it simply doesn’t measure up to scrutiny today. The world may be unique enough to give this one so replay value, but every playthrough is such a chore that it could be very tempting to drop off the game and move on quite quickly. This one should have been a remake if it were to have had any chance at succeeding among a very discerning crop of modern gamers.

3. Double Dragon Revive

Basic combat, finicky targeting, horrendous character models, and a failure to live up to the promise of a series that had been dormant for over a decade, this one was all kinds of wrong for both franchise fans and newcomers alike. Its drab environments and lack of the flair that makes a fighter special made this one a very forgettable experience that quickly gets boring.

And don’t get us started on the platforming sections. We’re all for a challenge in our games but bad design being a part of that challenge is a recipe for frustration , not engagement. While it all could have been salvaged by some awesome combat, there were only so many times we could punch the air before giving up on it all.

What’s sad about this one is that it had the potential to be all that it promised. Countering enemy Aura attacks with a Special Attack of your own was quite satisfying but the minuscule timing window on those parries made pulling them off rely more on luck than on skill. As a fighting game, this one should have been very different, and so much more than it was.

4. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Combining a vampire adventure with a setting that pushes you in the direction of an investigation just like a detective sounds like a great concept, doesn’t it? However Bloodlines 2 fails to capitalize on that premise. Its emphasis on sending you all around its admittedly well-crafted world does little to disguise the fact that its exploration is just unrewarding.

While the setting on offer is reasonably good, the combat is too clunky to be entertaining and this is a game that simply doesn’t click on any level. It can even get tedious from moment to moment if you don’t try and diversify what you’re doing. In a year where Ghost of Yotei gave us a more nuanced take on detective work alongside a brilliant combat system, this one is sadly relegated to the shadows.

5. Game of Thrones Kingsroad

With honestly terrible recreations of popular characters from the franchise, and a gameplay loop that doesn’t stay as entertaining as it is after the initial thrills of being let loose in Westeros in a well-crafted RPG world wear off. Bad character models, visual glitches, and a progression system that actively worked against players looking to make progress were factors that broke the spell of some solid visuals.

The combat gets repetitive too quickly, and as an RPG, having to manage menus more than your character arc was a drag. Kingsroad is an ambitious attempt to bring a popular franchise to life in the gaming world, but unlike its presence in other media, this take on Westeros fails to be one to draw the masses.

It’s disappointing to place this one among 2025’s non-preformers but Kingsroad is one that’s better avoided thanks to the journey being too uninteresting to be relevant.

6. Drag x Drive Review

A reasonably good gameplay loop and solid performance on the Switch 2 might have been factors being praised if this one had managed to be more interesting. With its innovative use of the Joy-Con 2’s mouse mode, Drag x Drive Review could have been on the frontline’s of the console’s initial push into popularity after its launch.

But its high skill ceiling and unfamiliar control schemes work alongside a lack of content to keep things interesting to wall off most players from being incentivized to keep pushing forward through its gameplay loop until they get to the meat of why it can be enjoyable in the first place.

However, if you’re looking for a fun, unique 3v3 online title to dive into with your buddies, this one might just be worth picking up on sale when the chance comes along.

7.Killing Floor 3

While the legacy this one carried might tempt you to give it a go, you’re quickly going to find out that Tripwire Interactive failed to capitalize on the valuable feedback it received during the closed beta it held for it. While it can be fun on occasion, and even shines brightly when your plans for the chaotic decimation of Zeds line up well, its lack of content makes it too forgettable to be worth it.

For a game meant ot be played with friends or as a team, its solo survival mode might just be the most entertaining thing it has to offer. There was too little synergy between its playable classes for it to sustain any sort of engagement its initial hours might have garnered, and the lack of enemy types and bosses at launch meant that it soon became a rampage without consequences once we got used to its mechanics and combat.

All in all, there was a lot to like but too little of it to make Killing Floor 3 a game that holds its own against the year’s heavyweights, or enough to ensure it stayed off this particular list. Tough luck, though.

8. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror

In a genre where the world you craft is as much a part of the experience as your story and gameplay, Behind the Broken Mirror’s poor level design and a fairly predictable and uninspired story made it rank low among the year’s best horror experiences.

Frustrating puzzles peppered a progression path that was often blocked thanks to a lack of clarity on potential solutions stemming from poorly designed levels. It often felt like the game was working against us to be as frustrating as it could be, instead of with us to be entertaining instead.

The story is similarly all over the place, and you’re better off not joining Eliza on her journey to regain her lost memories.

9. MindsEye

In the end, MindsEye’s gorgeously crafted world was ultimately where its ambitions went to die. As if its lackluster story, subpar combat, and uninspired game design weren’t enough, the game’s AI was simply not up to the standard of a 2025 release. Policemen would walk idly by while you slaughtered an enemy in front of them, while the lack of life along the streets you go along made the entire experience feel like a massive letdown.

It’s a world that feels empty despite how its vibrant colors and futuristic buildings immediately stand out as soon as you see them. But MindsEye sadly doesn’t populate that world with enough life to make it matter to its players.

Making things worse was the lack of effective damage control from Build a Rocket Boy, and the eventual promise of a roadmap of fixes has ultimately failed to grab any attention. It’s a pity, but MindsEye is among the biggest failures of 2025 as far as gaming is concerned.

10. La Quimera

It’s a solid premise for a shooter. Its absolutely dystopian premise and environmental storytelling might have been the stuff of a legendary game. But Reburn’s Early Access version of a solid idea does nothing to make this game worth your time.

Its story fails to raise the stakes enough to make you care, which is quite surprising considering the setting it takes place in. Its combat is similarly vanilla, giving you farily powerful weapons and linear levels in which taking down enemies quickly became routine instead of a fight for survival in which either side could end up losing.

And in what’s going to be our top pick for most annoying mechanic of the year, your mercenary’s pockets only let you carry a limited amount of money. That’s counterproductive to the nature of your work, isn’t it? La Quimera makes too many of these blunders to be close to the experience it could be as it stands today.

11. Solo Levelling: Arise Overdrive

While its visuals and excellent audio design might have you believing that this one is worthy of the anime that inspired it, you’re going to want to temper your expectations with Solo Levelling: Arise Overdrive if you’re a fan or someone with a passing interest in what it has to offer.

It’s a story wastes the potential set up by the level designs, while bosses waste its combat system’s potential by having massive health bars whose only effect is that they make each one outstay their welcome. Despite a lot of depth, this one simply fails to make use of its strengths enough for it to be worth a shot.

And that’s a wrap on the year’s titles that might have been more than what they are if things had turned out different. We’re hoping that the talented teams behind these titles lift their chins up and come back stronger than ever with new projects in the years to come.

Although video games and the experience they provide are quite subjective, some titles that have come out this year have perhaps earned their bad rep. The good news is that they can serve as a lesson in hindsight for their developers and publishers while also allowing the rest of the industry to learn from their mistakes.

With that being said, it’s time to take a look at some of the worst games that 2025 has brought to our libraries.

10. TRON: Catalyst

TRON: Catalyst had the potential to put a unique spin on the popular TRON movies with its unique art style and top-down action perspective. However, Bithell Games dropped the ball here by playing it too safe, with the resulting experience never pushing its players beyond a certain limit and feeling quite underwhelming as a result.

Make no mistake, Exo’s adventures and the central conflict between the Core and Automata are a solid premise for a video game. But Bithell failed to capitalize on its source material in ways that mattered. The result is a game that seems ambitious on the surface but is largely forgettable thanks to its execution.

Its combat never challenges its players while its level design and narrative are merely serviceable instead of being great ways to present complex themes like corporate greed, time travel, and dystopian societies. Although it does have its takers, TRON: Catalyst should have been the definitive TRON experience for fans and newcomers alike. It’s a damn shame it didn’t make the most out of its source material, though.

9. Spirit of the North 2

Just like the previous title on this list, Spirit of the North 2 has the dubious distinction of wasting a fantastic premise. Infuse Studio had an opportunity to build on the mechanics and story it set up in the original game but instead failed to do more with its take on a fox and raven working together to dispel the influence of a truly malicious antagonist.

It’s rare that a game uses its opening act to make its players the catalyst for all the calamity that they will have to deal with as they continue their playthrough. That’s just what Spirit of the North 2 does, however. But that inspired piece of narrative flair soon falls flat in the wake of an uninspired world with insultingly simply puzzles and lacklustre exploration.

While its world-building was on point for the most part, this is a game that remains largely forgettable once you roll the credits on its relatively short adventure. We really hope that Infuse pulls up its socks and does more with a world that looked pretty darn good but had so little in it that it may have been okay to let it succumb to the influence of the dark shaman who was trying to corrupt it.

8. Creature Keeper

While Creature Keeper does deserve some slack considering it’s an indie title developed by a single individual, it does earn its place on this list thanks to the egregious wasted potential on display throughout its runtime. It’s ambitions to be a rival to Pokemon or Palworld are clear to see but it wastes the potential of capturing friendly beasties to battle at your side in favor of a befriending mechanic that’s more reliant on how many treats you currently carry in your inventory.

That lackluster approach carries over to its combat and world-building, seriously limiting its potential to be more than a passing distraction in a world filled with more entertaining titles. Sodland is not a place you might find yourself going back to in the interim between your last great game and the release of your next big one.

7. Captain Blood

A game that broke out of development hell and is based on a fairly interesting pirate novel should have been quite the entertainer, right? However, SeaWolf Studio’s take on piracy quickly disabused us of that notion, with Captain Blood failing to capture the highs and lows of the 1685 Spanish Main in an adventure that certainly needed more time at sea before it became a true swashbuckler.

Its hack n’ slash gameplay loop failed to make the most out of a combat system that seemed reasonably good but was ultimately let down by clunky controls and a main story that failed to dig up any narrative gold. Captain Blood is sadly the worst pirate we ever heard of.

6. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

It’s puzzling that a behemoth like Nintendo failed to learn from its rival Sony when it came to creating an experience that introduced Switch 2 owners to their shiny new handheld. Unlike Astro Bot, which was a free add-on for PS5 owners, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour fails to highlight any of the new device’s best features in a way that justifies its $10 price tag.

The best way we can explain it is by comparing it to a tour of a large office given to you by an intern who is clearly unpaid, and subsequently disinterested in what they do there. It’s quite disheartening to see such a half-hearted attempt from a studio that generally makes incredible games especially for its homegrown consoles. Nintendo will certainly want to revisit this title and perhaps get back to the drawing board for future additions.

5. Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator

It’s rather surprising that Aesir Interactive followed up its excellent Police Simulator: Patrol Officers with Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator. While one would expect that the studio would take what worked in its last outing and develop it to add new wrinkles to the subsequent one, what we were given was a buggy, uninspired mess that failed to capture the tension and impact of what a paramedic working under pressure would experience in the field.

Instead, we were left trying our best to get our patients loaded up in the ambulance while its day one patch rendered its diagnostic mechanic all but useless, leaving us with a bunch of patients whose pain and suffering were indicative of our own emotions playing this title’s mind-numbing minigames. Honestly, you’d be better off actually training to be a paramedic in the real world if you want to see what that feels like in action.

4. Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest

This DLC chapter to one of 2024’s most terrifying horror games is probably a surprising presence on this list much like the main game’s terrifying threats. However, Siren’s Rest fails to deliver on an exciting promise of uncovering more of what made the Biera D oil rig fall to the depths of Davy Jones’ locker.

With ten years passing between the DLC and the base game, a new protagonist looking to get more answers about the ill-fated oil rig fails to find the answers she needs thanks to a less linear approach to discovering secrets and annoying pathing issues that seriously limited her ability to find what she was looking for. The relatively shorter runtime also worked against it, making Siren’s Rest the weakest part of the experience that The Chinese Room brought to the table in a horror game that had us at the edge of our seats last year.

3. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror

We’ve seen everything that Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror brings to the table before. There’s an amnesiac protagonist who needs to visit a desolate location filled with the secrets of her past. There are spooky dolls, maniacal clowns, and a whole host of horrors standing in her way. There are puzzles to solve, and secrets to unlock.

But unfortunately, these staples of the horror genre take a backseat to a lackluster narrative, egregious pacing issues, badly synced audio, and severely limiting mechanics that make this game quite difficult to recommend. SODESCO’s attempts to build up its Dollhouse franchise needs a lot of work, and fast.

2. Game of Thrones Kingsroad

netmarbleNeo’s attempt to leverage of the success of HBO’s largely successful take on Westeros may have been a good attempt if it wasn’t for its progression systems that seemed hell-bent on eating into our wallets before allowing us to uncover more of its take on George R.R. Martin’s fictional world.

Trying to worm your way into the affections of the lords and ladies of the land is a tedious grind if you take the free-to-play route, taking a lot away from a Game of Thrones experience that brought an impressive character creator and a lot of cool moments with series staples like Jon Snow. It’s an unpolished take on Westeros that only the Lannisters might be able to successfully navigate given their seemingly deep pockets.

1. MindsEye

Build a Rocket Boy would certainly wish that their gaming debut was not the belle of the ball on this list but here we are. MindsEye brought a gorgeous yet empty open-world to its players, populating it with enemies and NPCs that were quite dumb by modern standards.

Those problems were further exacerbated by a boring combat loop, a mediocre main story, and a very puzzling endgame loop that we still cannot make sense of. Its bugs and frame drops only added to the confusion while Build a Rocket Boy’s poor damage control efforts have relegated their pilot project to the depths of gaming hell. As it stands, MindsEye’s best feature is that it serves as a bad example, and a benchmark in what not to do when making a new game.

What were your thoughts on these titles? Were there any others that you think deserve a place on this list? Hit us up in the comments and fire away at the games you thought were a let-down this year!

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror puts you in the shoes of celebrated singer Eliza de Moor. The story largely revolves around Eliza exploring her past in an effort to find herself again. The setup is quite simple; one evening, during a performance, Eliza suddenly collapses. On waking up, she finds that she has no memory of who she is or what happened, and has been taken into the care of Dr. Stern – a man claiming to be quite close with the de Moor family. In the early minutes of the game, Eliza and Dr. Stern come to an agreement about trying out an experimental treatment that promises to be extra spooky.

"The horror is ramped up very quickly once you actually reach Ravenhill"

Most of Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror takes place in the quaint town of Ravenhill, which was once well regarded for its dollmaking industry. The horror is ramped up very quickly once you actually reach Ravenhill and try to get to the de Moor family mansion, which is referred to by the people of the town as the Dollhouse. Interestingly, there aren’t any characters that you interact with throughout your time exploring Ravenhill. The story is almost entirely told either through vivid hallucinations, or through notes you find strewn about in the town and the Dollhouse. Even Dr. Stern, who is supposed to be accompanying you on this journey down memory lane, decides to maintain his distance from you in order to make sure that the “therapy” works.

In this way, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror does a pretty decent job at setting up its atmosphere. Since you’re always alone, the sense of isolation is incredibly thick. Interestingly, despite the lack of people in Ravenhill, the game does a good job in making you believe that there might be hope around the corner. Good usage of lighting through hanging lanterns and candles always gives you the impression that, “maybe this house is safe and has someone I can talk to.”

Through Ravenhill, the game is able to tell an interesting story of the downfall of a small town. Largely told through environmental storytelling, like how certain houses might be in disarray while others are surprisingly clean, you get a pretty decent idea of what went down when the dolls inevitably rose up to fight against their masters. And ultimately, you start having to take down these dolls as well.

Most of the gameplay in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror feels reminiscent of Resident Evil 7. You’re largely going to be exploring through dense environments, meticulously looking for clues and items that might help you figure out a way forward. Along the way, you’ll find cryptic puzzles that you have to solve, like finding the right statues to shoot in the correct order. And every now and then, you’ll have to use the more lethal qualities of your weapon to take on deranged dolls that are trying to kill you.

The puzzle design here isn’t particularly noteworthy. You’re not going to get head-scratching riddles that leave you running around looking for answers for hours on end. Most of the puzzles were fairly straightforward, and even managed to be quite self-contained to specific areas. If, for example, you happen to find a lock that requires a combination of numbers, you won’t have to go too far to find a letter that gives you the answer. The statue shooting example I used earlier was also confined to the same small area.

"Through Ravenhill, the game is able to tell an interesting story of the downfall of a small town"

Aside from having to fight against mindless enemies with limited resources, you also get similarly-cryptic yet simplistic puzzles, and even a minor crafting system that allows you to get more ammo. And considering the enemy AI, even fighting against dolls evokes a feeling similar to playing the Resident Evil HD Remake with modern controls that let you simply run around enemies without having to directly deal with them. Even the health and inventory system UIs feel like they might be from early drafts of a Resident Evil game.

The combat encounters in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror don’t come about too often, but just about every single time you do have to fight something, the game feels much worse for it. The combat feels incredibly clunky thanks to monotonous enemies and an excruciatingly-slow movement speed, and the amount of ammo you get from early on tends to erase quite a bit of the tension that you might otherwise expect from a combat-centric horror title. Just about every bit of atmosphere the game slowly builds up thanks to its creepy environments and story tends to get obliterated the moment you have to engage in combat, and the game would have overall been much stronger had it simply skipped having a combat system to begin with or you know, made it better.

One of the big twists in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror revolves around the use of mirrors. Every now and then, you will find mirrors that let you enter a different version of the area you’re in. Sometimes, this version might just be a glimpse into the past. Other times, it might end up being a much more surreal experience. These mirrors are used as a way to move forward, often marking a significant point in the game’s story. Sadly, there isn’t much more to these mirrors than just a sequence that occasionally happens. There aren’t any optional mirrors that you can find that might expand further on the plot, and they generally tend to stay on the linear path forward through the story.

"Just about every bit of atmosphere the game slowly builds up thanks to its creepy environments and story tends to get obliterated the moment you have to engage in combat"

Another area where the game loses quite a bit of its steam is in its visuals. While I am a firm believer that solid art direction is much more important to a game looking good than raw visual fidelity, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror definitely loses a lot of what it was going for from the very beginning. At the risk of veering into the realm of hyperbole, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror might just be one of the most dull and drab looking titles out there. Even at its highest settings, just about every surface looks like a muddy mess because of low-resolution textures, and the few characters you do meet early in the game tend to look like they might be ripped right out of an early PS3 game.

The only reason any of the thick atmosphere of the game is able to land is largely thanks to the clever use of lighting and the inherent creepiness of human-shaped dolls. The lighting is especially doing a lot of the heavy lifting here, and plays a big part in instilling any sense of fear that might arise from the very idea of turning around a corner.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is a bit of a disappointment. There are some interesting ideas in its story and the creepy dolls that you often have to deal with end up largely being window-dressing. While there are some frights to be had, largely thanks to the excellent lighting throughout, the general monotony brought on by the game’s clunky combat system, poorly-designed enemies, and excruciatingly-slow movement speed tend to make the very idea of playing the game a rather boring experience.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The Sessions series has been made to give players more details about the first-person horror title, including information on some of its characters and how gameplay will work.

Dollhouse: The Broken Mirror’s story will revolve around Eliza de Moor. Once a celebrated singer, her life was changed when she fell unconscious in the middle of a stage performance. Years later, Eliza wakes up disoriented and with no memory of how she ended up in a sanatorium.

Doctor Stern seemingly has a solution – an experimental treatment that might help Eliza regain her memories and maybe even allow her to leave. As part of this treatment, Eliza has to visit Ravenhill Village, once known for manufacturing dolls but long left abandoned.

The village is also home to the de Moor family mansion, known colloquially as the Dollhouse mansion. Eliza must explore its depths and the surrounding village to discern what happened to her. Throughout her time, Eliza will discover the fate of her various family members. The video describes their stories as being “as tragic as it is mysterious”.

Incidentally, Doctor Stern and his father have ties to the de Moor family. Both are esteemed psychiatrists running the Stern Sanatorium, and their ties to the de Moor family go back generations.

While exploring the de Moor mansion, Eliza will travel through two distinct realities. One will be in the conscious world, where Doctor Stern acts as her guide, and the other will be in the subconscious world, where she will experience the world from the eyes of her younger self. The dolls all over the place have also seemingly taken on lives of their own.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for a March 28 release.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror puts players into the broken mind of once-celebrated singer Eliza de Moor. Eliza is now trapped within a labyrinth made of her own forgotten memories, and has no other choice but to make use of Doctor Stern’s experimental medicine.

As Eliza, players will be able to explore two different worlds—reality and a strange, horrifying world behind a broken mirror. As Eliza makes her way through this harrowing journey, she will be faced with many challenges, including hordes of horrific dolls that watch her every move, and even puzzles scattered throughout the game’s worlds.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. While it doesn’t yet have a solid release date, the game is set to come out later this year.