The 15 Worst Video Games of the Year: 2025 Edition

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - December 21st 2025, 19:00 GMT+1

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 — Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

There’s a special kind of disappointment reserved for a long-awaited RPG that shows up like it’s still mid-download, and *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* has been treated that way by a lot of players in 2025. The vibe can absolutely hit with the rainy streets, sharp lighting, and that whole “don’t trust anyone” aura but then the moment-to-moment play steps in and starts scuffing the shoes. Combat has been a frequent target for complaints, often described as awkward or unsatisfying, and that’s a tough stain when you’re supposed to feel like an apex predator, not a confused mall cop in a trench coat. The bigger sting is the expectation gap: when people hear “Bloodlines,” they want meaningful choices, consequences, and role-playing depth that sticks, and the reception has often suggested the game doesn’t deliver enough of that. In a year full of releases fighting for attention, this one grabbed attention the wrong way by making fans argue over what it *could* have been instead of what it is. | © The Chinese Room

Fire Emblem Shadows cropped processed by imagy — Fire Emblem Shadows

The concept sounds like it should be fun: tension, strategy, a little paranoia, and the chance to feel clever instead of just well-equipped. But the reputation this one has picked up in 2025 leans more toward frustration than fascination, with complaints that it doesn’t give players enough real control to make its “strategy” side feel satisfying. When games like this work, you’re reading the room, anticipating betrayals, and making decisions that feel personal; when they don’t, you’re watching systems play themselves while you babysit the outcome. Some of the grumbling also points at a structure that can feel more like a service than a fully confident standalone experience, which is a fast way to get labeled among the worst video games of 2025, especially when the franchise name sets expectations sky-high. The most annoying part is that the pitch still sounds good even after you’ve played it, which is basically the definition of “missed opportunity” wearing a franchise logo. | © Nintendo

Cropped Splitgate 2 — Splitgate 2

Portals are still a brilliant gimmick until everything around them makes you feel like you’re beta-testing someone else’s stress. The core hook (fast arena shooter + portal outplays) remains the reason anyone cared in the first place, but the 2025 chatter around *Splitgate 2* has been dominated by roughness: uneven polish, design decisions that didn’t land, and a general sense that the game’s priorities weren’t always aligned with “make matches feel great.” Multiplayer shooters live and die by rhythm and trust – trust that your time is respected, trust that the game is stable, trust that you’re losing because you got outplayed instead of out-serviced – and this one has struggled with that perception. Monetization has also been part of the backlash, because nothing kills the thrill of a clean portal flank like being reminded you’re standing inside a store aisle. The tragedy is that the fun is still in there, buried under choices that made players roll their eyes harder than they flick their aim. | © 1047 Games

Tamagotchi Plaza

This is the kind of game that looks like a warm cookie and sometimes plays like an unpaid internship. *Tamagotchi Plaza* leans hard into bright charm and bite-sized activities, which should be a perfect match for a “pick up, chill out, put down” routine, but the common complaint is repetition that sets in way too early. Instead of discovering new little delights, you can end up looping the same few tasks with the faint dread of realizing you’re not relaxing – you’re grinding in pastel. Even when the presentation stays cute, the pacing can feel stubborn, like it’s daring you to find fun in doing the same thing again because the characters smiled at you this time. For anyone searching “worst games of 2025 Nintendo Switch 2,” this one doesn’t usually land there because it’s offensive; it lands there because it’s exhausting in the most polite way possible. The result is a cozy façade that occasionally cracks to reveal a checklist wearing a mascot costume. | © Hyde, Inc.

Tales of the Shire

A cozy Hobbit life sim should be basically impossible to mess up, which is exactly why it stings when one feels more sleepy than soothing. The big promise here is comfort – routines, neighbors, small pleasures, and that gentle “I’m doing nothing and it’s perfect” pace – but the reception in 2025 has often pointed to shallow systems and not enough interesting momentum to keep the charm alive. Life sims thrive on little payoffs: a conversation that changes, a task that opens something new, a sense that your days are building into a story, and this one has been accused of feeling thin in those departments. Technical issues and general friction don’t help either, because the whole point is to sink into the world, not wrestle with it. What makes it especially frustrating is that the vibe is there as you can almost taste the cozy but it doesn’t always translate into gameplay that feels rewarding minute to minute. In worst-of-2025 conversations, it tends to show up as the classic “pretty, pleasant, and somehow still disappointing” entry. | © Wētā Workshop

Cropped Minds Eye — MindsEye

There’s a particular kind of 2025 disappointment where the trailers scream “cinematic action thriller” and the actual game replies, “please ignore the glitchy parts while I try to remember what physics is.” *MindsEye* has been widely criticized for technical issues, uneven performance, and bugs that can yank you out of the story right when it’s trying to look coolest. The ambition is obvious – big set pieces, flashy presentation, a serious sci-fi tone – but the execution often feels like several good ideas sharing one controller and arguing over who gets to drive. Even when things behave, the gameplay has been called muddled, with mechanics that don’t always click into a satisfying loop, which is a rough fate for an action-adventure release competing for “best games of 2025”. It’s the kind of title that makes “worst video games of 2025” lists without needing a dramatic scandal but went ahead to make sure it got one anyway. | © Build A Rocket Boy

FBC Firebreak — FBC: Firebreak

If you’ve ever wanted paranormal co-op chaos inside the Control universe, the pitch basically writes itself.... and that’s why the landing hurt. *FBC: Firebreak* arrived as Remedy’s multiplayer swing, and a lot of the chatter around this 2025 release points to a core loop that can feel repetitive faster than it should, especially when the early hours don’t do enough to clearly sell the strategy of each job. The weirdness is there (in the best Remedy way), but players and critics have often described the onboarding as confusing, with progression and clarity issues that make teamwork less “tight squad” and more “three people politely colliding in a hallway.” The tone and setting can carry a mission or two, yet the longer you play, the more the structure can start to feel like it’s stretching a limited set of tricks across too many runs. In a year where co-op shooters live or die by momentum, this one got tagged in “worst games of 2025” conversations because the fun doesn’t always scale with the time investment. | © Remedy Entertainment

Lost Soul Aside

The combat is flashy enough to make you forgive a lot, right up until the story asks you to feel something profound and you realize you’re still learning who everyone is. *Lost Soul Aside* has earned praise for its stylish action and spectacle, but the broader reception in 2025 has often been mixed because the package around the fighting doesn’t always keep up. Pacing can be a sore spot: stretches that feel like connective tissue between the “cool parts,” plus narrative beats that don’t consistently land with the weight they’re aiming for. When an action RPG wants to be both emotionally dramatic and mechanically satisfying, it can’t afford to let characters or storytelling feel thin, because then the big moments read like the game is trying to skip ahead to the applause. It’s not hard to see why it shows up on worst-of-2025 lists despite having real strengths – people can enjoy the moment-to-moment action and still walk away feeling like the overall journey didn’t stick the landing. | © Ultizero Games

Ambulance Life A Paramedic Simulator — Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator

A simulator about emergency response has one job: make “routine” feel meaningful, because the fantasy is competence under pressure. *Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator* has taken hits in 2025 for a gameplay loop that can start strong – sirens, urgency, triage decisions – and then drift into clunky repetition, where the novelty wears off and you’re left wrestling the systems instead of feeling like a capable paramedic. Some criticism has focused on awkward controls and pacing choices that undercut the intensity the theme promises, which is a big deal when the subject matter is literally time-sensitive. There’s also the tonal whiplash problem: it wants realism, but the moment you notice jank or shallow structure, the illusion collapses fast. As “worst video games of 2025” entries go, this one tends to land there not because the idea is bad, but because the execution doesn’t consistently deliver the satisfying, skill-driven rhythm that makes simulation games worth sinking hours into. | © Aesir Interactive

Fast Furious Arcade Edition cropped processed by imagy — Fast & Furious Arcade Edition

The first few minutes can fool you in the best way: loud cars, ridiculous speed, and that arcade energy that makes you think, “okay, this could be dumb fun.” Then *Fast & Furious Arcade Edition* keeps going, and the cracks start showing – thin content, shallow racing structure, and a sense that you’ve already seen most of what it has to offer long before it stops asking for your attention. A lot of criticism in 2025 has centered on value and depth, because once the initial novelty fades, there isn’t enough here to justify the feeling of a full-priced console experience. The license does some heavy lifting, but branding can’t replace satisfying handling, meaningful progression, or modes that feel more ambitious than “do it again, but louder.” That’s why it’s floated in worst-games-of-2025 talk: not because it’s unplayable, but because it feels temporary – an arcade snack sold like a meal. | © Cradle Games

Qubyte Classics Glover — Qubyte Classics: Glover

Nostalgia is powerful, but it can’t wrestle an unruly camera into submission on your behalf. This 2025 revival of *Glover* has the kind of oddball charm that makes you root for it – rolling a ball through chunky 3D worlds feels like a time capsule in motion – but the port’s biggest enemy is often the port itself. A lot of criticism has focused on slippery controls, awkward movement, and camera behavior that turns simple platforming into a trust fall you didn’t agree to. When you miss a jump, it rarely feels like a “skill issue” and more like the game quietly swapped your depth perception for a prank. The result is a remaster-branded experience that too often plays like a stubborn relic, which is exactly how a contender sneaks onto “worst video games of 2025” lists: not by being offensively broken, but by being relentlessly frustrating. | © QUByte Interactive

Spy Drops

Somewhere inside this stealth throwback is a neat idea – bite-sized missions, quick runs, and that PS1-era spy vibe that practically hums with nostalgia – yet the execution keeps tripping over its own gadgets. Reviews have called out janky animations, undercooked stealth mechanics, and enemy AI that can make sneaking feel less like strategy and more like politely hoping nobody notices you. The story and presentation have also been criticized for feeling choppy, which wouldn’t be fatal if the gameplay carried the weight, but that’s the part that tends to wobble the most. One of the louder knocks has been the voicework, with some outlets objecting to the use of AI voice acting and describing the delivery as flat enough to drain tension out of scenes that need it. In short bursts it can still be mildly entertaining like a snack-size *Metal Gear* tribute but it’s hard to ignore why it gets filed under disappointing 2025 releases. | © Rainy Night Creations

Blood of Mehran

Revenge stories practically write themselves, which makes it extra painful when the basics like combat, animation quality, and polish don’t show up to do their part. *Blood of Mehran* swings for cinematic hack-and-slash drama, with deserts, palaces, and big emotions, but a chunk of the feedback has pointed at rough edges that keep the action from feeling clean or satisfying. Criticism has included clunky or weightless combat, awkward animation, and voice acting that doesn’t always match the moment, which can make dramatic scenes land with the energy of someone reading lines while checking the oven. As an indie release, it *does* get some leeway for scale, but 2025 is not a forgiving year for games that feel unfinished or inconsistent minute to minute. The harshest takes call it a good-looking idea that falls apart in motion – great for screenshots, far less great once you’re actually swinging the sword. | © Permanent Way Game Co.

Scar Lead Salvation cropped processed by imagy — Scar-Lead Salvation

“Anime Returnal” sounds like the kind of pitch you’d hear right before a friend insists you try it “just for ten minutes,” and then you emerge two hours later wondering why you’re not having more fun. The bullet-hell shooter concept can work but many reviews have described *Scar-Lead Salvation* as repetitive and lower-budget in ways that become impossible to unsee once the loop settles in. The rooms can blur together, enemies can feel bland, and the overall structure sometimes leans on “do it again” without delivering enough new twists to justify the encore. It’s not that the shooting is always terrible; it’s that the game struggles to build momentum, so even decent moments get swallowed by sameness. In worst-games-of-2025 conversations, this one often shows up as the classic “almost interesting” case: solid ingredients, but the recipe never quite comes together. | © Idea Factory / Compile Heart / Neilo Inc.

Gore Doctor

The title promises a nasty, pulpy horror ride, and the game certainly isn’t shy about aiming for shock – unfortunately, shock value can’t patch over design that feels thin. *Gore Doctor* has been criticized (especially around its 2025 console release window) for playing like a rough horror prototype stretched into a full product, with clunky pacing and gameplay that doesn’t consistently reward exploration or problem-solving. When the scares hit, they can be effective in that grimy “cheap nightmare” way, but a lot of the experience depends on you tolerating awkward interactions and a general lack of refinement. Horror fans are usually willing to forgive a budget as long as the tension is smart; the complaint here is that it often isn’t, so the fear gets replaced by irritation. It’s the kind of entry that ends up on a “worst video games of 2025” list not because it has no ideas, but because it doesn’t shape them into something that feels good to play. | © Salient Games

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Every year has its triumphs, its surprises, and then… the games that make you stare at the screen like you just paid for a practical joke. 2025 delivered plenty to love, sure, but it also served up a handful of releases that landed with the grace of a shopping cart wheel at full wobble. This list is for those moments when you want the tea, the receipts, and maybe a little closure (and if you’re in the mood to keep the “what happened here?” energy going, we also rounded up the worst movies of 2025 right here).

To be clear, “worst” doesn’t always mean “evil” – sometimes it means messy launches, baffling design choices, or big ideas that tripped on their own shoelaces. We’re rounding up the 15 worst video games of 2025 based on how loudly players groaned, reviewers sighed, and hype quietly exited through the nearest window. Buckle up: it’s going to be a lovingly critical ride.