2025 will be remembered as a great year for gaming, at least if we are talking solely about games. Headline stories are a different matter entirely. With Clair Obscur, Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Battlefield 6, Hades 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Split Fiction, Death Stranding 2, Blue Prince, Ninja Gaiden 4, Monster Train 2, Arc Raiders, Ghost of Yotei, Dispatch, Europa Universalis 5, Sword of the Sea, Mario Kart World, and Dark Deity 2, you have likely been kept very busy, and that is hardly an exhaustive list of 2025's stellar games.
However, like any other year, 2025 did not solely hit home runs, and it had a few notorious stinkers or disappointments that failed to live up to their potential. Additionally, due to how rankings work, certain games are relegated to the bottom of sites like Open-Critic, forever doomed to be remembered among their year's lowest-rated projects. Should you completely ignore all of 2025's worst games? Or, could a few of them be worth trying in specific circumstances?
Well, you read this article's title, so you know the answer already.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Open-Critic has not scored every 2025 game, and only titles with aggregates will be considered.
- The following games were selected from the lowest-rated 65 titles of the year. They are not the 7 absolute worst-rated releases of the year, since they need to be worth playing to an extent. The highest-rated one ranks as the 498th best game of 2025 according to Open-Critic. So, you know, pretty low.
- I'm not saying the reviews are wrong or that you MUST go out and play these games. For the most part, these games deserve (or deserved) their scores. However, they could be worth playing on a deep sale or if you are craving something really specific.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (OpenCritic Score: 65)
Campaign Is Bad, But Multiplayer Can Be A Lot Of Fun
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
- Released
- November 14, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
The discourse surrounding Call of Duty has gradually grown more critical over the last few years, and this trend reached its apex with Black Ops 7. Following a few mediocre entries and going up against the successful debut of Battlefield 6, the 2025 entry just seemed unnecessary, and this perspective reflected its performance. Don't get me wrong, BO7 was still one of the better-selling games of 2025, but it was not a runaway hit like its predecessors.
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2025 may have been a stacked year for the video game industry, but there were inevitably going to be a few misses alongside the many hits.
Straight up, BO7's single-player campaign is lackluster and disappointing, and a "65" average accurately reflects its quality. Honestly, it might be a bit kind. However, Call of Duty is primarily about multiplayer nowadays, and BO7 shines far brighter in this area. The maps are generally great, and the gunplay is as rock-solid as ever. Heck, you can even play the campaign in online co-op, which makes it somewhat more enjoyable. Zombies mode is also a blast, which tends to always be the case. Just focusing solely on the multiplayer, BO7 is better than BO6 and MW3, at the minimum.
While I completely echo the yearning for another great single-player COD campaign, that aspect is just not a priority for the franchise anymore, and it has been that way for roughly a decade.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour (OpenCritic Score: 61)
Should Have Been The Switch 2's Pack-In Game
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
- Released
- June 5, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Genre(s)
- Mini-Games
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch 2
While not a complete repeat of the 1-2-Switch blunder due to it being only $9.99, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour should have been included with the console. The whole project revolves around the system's tech, with mini-games and trivia designed to educate players on what they just purchased. Like, this is the perfect little distraction for new buyers who want something to do while waiting for Mario Kart World to download. The content is short but relatively engaging, at least if you are interested in this type of thing.
Nintendo used to have such a great history with pack-in titles, but the company has seemingly abandoned the concept for the Switch era. The good thing about Welcome Tour is that it delivers exactly what it promises, making it very easy to predict if you will enjoy it. Does the idea of completing short demos and then answering trivia questions about the Switch 2's tech sound good to you? If the answer is yes, then it might be worth dropping $10 on this release.
Kiborg (OpenCritic Score: 60)
Satisfy Combat Framed By A Frustrating Roguelike System
Kiborg
- Released
- April 30, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sobaka Studio
- Genre(s)
- Action, Roguelike, Beat 'Em Up
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
Sobaka's debut game, Redeemer, was so fun that it bought the studio quite a bit of goodwill, at least with me. Kiborg is arguably both the company's best and worst release, and your perception will almost definitely be shaped by your appreciation and tolerance for roguelike progression. You are a prisoner who is trying to escape his ludicrous sentence by taking part in a TV show where you gain freedom by killing everyone and everything. As far as premises go, Kiborg is classic sci-fi, and that is by no means a bad thing.
Similar to the developer's previous effort, Kiborg's combat is intense, bloody, and visceral. Both you and the enemies hit hard, and you need to stay focused since a few mistakes quickly spell your doom. The controls are responsive and intuitive, and variety is offered through the need to constantly use new weapons. The game is worth playing for its combat, but you need patience to survive the first few hours with your will to continue intact. Kiborg follows pretty much the standard formula for a roguelike, albeit with an onboarding process that is (arguably) among the worst. It will take a LOT of failed runs before you have enough upgrades to properly enhance your base and, more importantly, experiment with build variety.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact (OpenCritic Score: 58)
Impressive Fighting Mechanics Buried By Terrible Online Performance (And A Weird Name)
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact
- Released
- July 17, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood and Gore, Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Eighting
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Anime
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5
Fun Fact: If you search for "hunter x hunter nen" on Steam, this game doesn't appear. You have to drop the "x" to find it, which is an own-goal that should have been avoided. For a second, I thought Bushiroad had pulled the game from the store.
Anime fighters are synonymous with mediocrity and quick cash grabs, especially with IPs that do not regularly produce games. For example, One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows sits in my Steam library as a constant reminder that love for the source material can only carry an underwhelming game so far. As beloved as the manga and anime are, Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact was a hard sell when it launched at full price and peaked with 181 players on Steam. Why bother picking up a multiplayer fighting game when it is basically already dead?
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Honestly, do not buy Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact if you are looking for an online fighter. The netcode is not great, and you will struggle to find matches in 2026. However, if you are simply craving a tag fighter with enjoyable combat and fun-ish single-player content, you should keep Nen x Impact in mind for when it goes on a deep sale. The gameplay is surprisingly good, and it manages to blend accessibility and depth well. If you just want to mess around with your favorite HxH characters, you can just use auto-combos to get through the story missions. Conversely, people who want to really dive into the mechanics have a well-done tutorial mode at their disposal.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos (OpenCritic Score: 54)
With A Steep Discount, Neptunia Fans Might Want To Give This Spin-Off A Try
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos
- Released
- January 28, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Compile Heart
- Genre(s)
- Action
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
This one is a special case, as I'm definitely not recommending Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos to everybody. Frankly, I'm recommending it to almost nobody, except people who know and love Neptunia. Just to be crystal clear, "love" is not optional.
Neptunia has a history of producing weird-ish spin-offs that move away from its turn-based RPG routes. Most of these are hack-and-slash musou titles, but Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos shakes things up by going in a genuinely unique direction, and I'm not talking just within the context of this franchise. In an alternate dimension, Uzume has to use her trusty bike to drive over Dogoos, defeat opponents, and help her goddess friends. The vehicle-based gameplay loop involves driving around an arena while running over Dogoos, which allows you to collect them. To win, you have to avoid the wrong Dogoos and collect enough of the right ones before your opponent. Easy enough, and the gameplay is a blast for short sessions where you just want to clear a few stages.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is really short, to the point that you will likely be done with nearly everything in about 5 hours (and that goes beyond the story's length). For all their flaws and repetitiveness, Neptunia games are often lengthy, so this project's brevity is surprising. Also, while fun, the gameplay is pretty shallow. Therefore, it is impossible to recommend this game at its standard price; however, Neptunia projects go on sale relatively frequently, so you can just wait.
Captain Blood (OpenCritic Score: 48)
If You Miss Low-Budget PS3 Games, Then This Game Might Be For You
Captain Blood
- Released
- May 6, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Seawolf Studio, General Arcade
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Full disclosure: I have a ton of nostalgia for janky games from around 2010; in fact, I wrote a whole article expressing my love for these types of releases. As most people probably don't share my fondness for yesteryear's forgotten failures, you should probably take my relative enjoyment of Captain Blood with a grain of salt.
Captain Blood had been stuck in development purgatory since the seventh console generation, and that history is on full display in the final version. This project looks and feels like a low-budget PS3 game that would have been relegated to bargain bins within a year of its release. The visuals would have been rough in 2012, the hack-and-slash combat mimics God of War without any hints of depth, and the production is far from polished.
Captain Blood feels like a time capsule of a bygone era, and there is a certain charm in that. More importantly, character-action games are hard to come by nowadays, especially ones inspired by classic God of War. Sure, Captain Blood is not a great example of the genre, but it is, at least, an example.
MindsEye (OpenCritic Score: 33)
2025's Worst-Rated Game Has Improved Quite A Lot Since Its Debut
MindsEye
- Released
- June 10, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Build A Rocket Boy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
2025's most infamous game, MindsEye built up quite a bit of hype en route to its debut, only for all that to come crashing down due to a launch version riddled with technical issues. Even beyond the bugs, the game was not particularly fun or interesting; honestly, the glitches were probably the most memorable part.
Now, Build A Rocket Boy and the game's publisher, IOI Partners, deserve all the criticism in the world for launching such a mess of a game. That said, the developer also warrants some praise for their continued support of MindsEye, as Build A Rocket spent the second half of 2025 releasing updates that greatly improved the overall experience. Nowadays, MindsEye is a passable third-person shooter with a better-than-expected story and solid driving mechanics.
If it launched in its current state, the game might have received a score in the high 60s on Open-Critic. Still not amazing, but fine enough. Instead, MindsEye sits among the likes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, Alekhine's Gun, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric as one of the worst games ever, according to Open-Critic.
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