2025 turned out to be an amazing year for video games overall. We got absolute bangers like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Battlefield 6, Hades 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Split Fiction, Death Stranding 2, Blue Prince, Ninja Gaiden 4, and so many more. If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably had your hands full with all these top-tier releases.
But no year is perfect, and 2025 had its share of letdowns too – games that didn’t quite hit the mark and ended up at the bottom of aggregate sites like OpenCritic. That doesn’t always mean they’re total trash, though. Sometimes a game bombs because of one big flaw, but has other parts that shine if you’re in the right mood or snag it cheap.
A quick note: We’re pulling from games that actually have scores on OpenCritic, and these picks come from the lower end of the list – not the absolute rock-bottom ones, but ones that have something worthwhile. Reviews aren’t wrong most of the time, but if a game’s on a deep discount or scratches a specific itch, it could still be fun.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (Score: 65)
The story mode in Black Ops 7 got a lot of flak, and honestly, it’s pretty forgettable – short, predictable, and not up to the series’ old highs. But Call of Duty has been more about online play for years now, and that’s where this one holds up better.
The multiplayer maps are solid, the shooting feels tight and responsive like always, and Zombies mode is a good time with friends. You can even run the campaign in co-op, which helps a bit. Compared to some recent entries, the online side feels like an improvement. If you’re missing that classic COD multiplayer fix and don’t care much about single-player, grab it on sale.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour (Score: 61)
This one’s basically a paid tech demo for the new Switch 2 hardware. It’s got mini-games, trivia, and demos showing off the console’s features – think better Joy-Con controls, improved graphics, and little tricks like mouse-like pointing.
At just $10, it’s not a full game, but if you just got a Switch 2 and want something quick to play while bigger downloads finish (like Mario Kart World), it’s kinda neat. It should’ve been bundled with the console, sure, but if you’re curious about the tech under the hood, it’s harmless fun.
Kiborg (Score: 60)
Kiborg is a roguelike beat-’em-up where you’re a cyber-enhanced prisoner fighting in a deadly TV show to win freedom. The story setup is cool sci-fi stuff, and the combat is the star – brutal, fast, and satisfying, with lots of weapons and bloody finishes.
The catch is the roguelike structure: early runs are tough and grindy until you unlock better upgrades. If you like that progression loop and don’t mind some frustration at the start, the fighting makes it worthwhile once things click.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact (Score: 58)
Anime fighting games can be hit-or-miss, and this one launched with rough online play – bad netcode and low player counts made matches hard to find. The weird title didn’t help discoverability either.
That said, the core fighting feels good: accessible combos for casual play, deeper mechanics for serious fans, and it captures the Hunter x Hunter characters well. Single-player modes and local play are decent. Wait for a big sale if you want to mess around with the roster offline.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos (Score: 54)
This is purely for hardcore Neptunia fans – nobody else needs to bother. The series loves quirky spin-offs, and this one’s a short arena game where you ride a bike, running over cute slime enemies (Dogoos) to collect them before opponents do.
It’s simple, repetitive, and over in about five hours, but those quick sessions can be mindless fun if you love the characters and humor. Neptunia games drop in price fast, so hold off unless you’re a die-hard.
Captain Blood (Score: 48)
Captain Blood feels straight out of the PS3 era – janky graphics, basic hack-and-slash combat inspired by old God of War, and rough edges everywhere. It spent years in development hell, and it shows.
But if you have nostalgia for those mid-budget action games from the 2010s – the ones that ended up cheap quick – there’s a certain charm here. Pirate sword fights and ship battles have that old-school vibe. Not great, but oddly endearing if you’re in the mood for something unpolished.
MindsEye (Score: 33)
Easily the most talked-about flop of 2025, MindsEye launched a buggy mess with tons of technical problems on top of mediocre gameplay. The hype crashed hard.
Credit where due: the developers stuck with it, pushing updates through the year that fixed a lot and improved things noticeably. Now it’s a decent third-person shooter with a surprisingly okay story and fun driving sections. If it had launched in this state, scores might’ve been in the 60s. Still not a must-play, but much better than day one.
Not every low-scorer game is secretly amazing, but a few have redeeming qualities if you go in with low expectations and a low price. Happy hunting for those deals!
