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[jshackles]

Which game came out this year that you were the most let down by? Something that you were totally hyped for, and it fell flat on its face? What's the one game you wish you could go back to January 1 2023, and tell yourself not to bother playing?

 

[DenchDeckard]

Final fantasy XVI

Bag o shite

 

[R6Rider]

Starfield

Bethesda games are among my favorites (Morrowind being my favorite RPG ever) and after forcing myself to the 20 hr mark I gave up. My single most disappointing game of all time.

 

[rofif]

Alan Wake 2.
Turned out you play 60% of the game as some lady with super powers and the ending sucks ass

 

[Dazraell]

Unfortunately Spider-Man 2. It's not a bad game by any means, but I didn't enjoyed it. I much preferred the first game. If I would knew how I would feel about it a few months back, I would most likely skipped it and bought it on a deep sale

 

[JokerMM]

Starfield
EDIT: i almost forgot FE Engage was this year....
it's between these two

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

FF16 and Starfield

 

[Field]

Resident evil 4 remake. It’s even more overrated than the original game. Still not god awful and the first section was alright but got progressively worse with each section.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Pikmin 4. A tight and amazing 15 hour experience could've been enough. Filled with bloat to the core that overstays its welcome.

Could've said FF XVI but

 

[GametimeUK]

Zelda TOTK.

Not because the game is bad or anything, but because the hardware is so dated it really compromises the experience. I can't stand how it looks and I despise how it runs.

 

[Antwix]

Definitely Lords of the Fallen.

Stuff like Redfall and some others were worse, but those didn't get any hype. Lords of the Fallen got pretty good reviews and hype.

 

[jshackles]

For me, it was Street Fighter VI.

I'm not typically big on fighting games anyway, but this one looked like it had a decently fun RPGesque single player mode. Nope. The character creator was interesting though!

 

[Doom85]

Final Fantasy XVI easily.

 

[Ogbert]

Diablo 4 and it’s not even close.

Blizzard have absolutely shat the bed.

 

[Topher]

Diablo 4 and it’s not even close.

Blizzard have absolutely shat the bed.

My pick as well

 

[Katajx]

Unfortunately Spider-Man 2. It's not a bad game by any means, but I didn't enjoyed it. I much preferred the first game. If I would knew how I would feel about it a few months back, I would most likely skipped it and bought it on a deep sale

Interesting perspective. I tried to get into the 1st one multiple times over the years.I even bought the ps5 version after Miles Morales and just couldn’t do it. Went through and Platinumed 2 in the first week.

 

[Punished Miku]

I actually think I made mostly great purchasing decisions this year. So technically I'm not that disappointed.

I skipped out on FFXVI, Resident Evil 4 and Spider Man 2 and in years past I would've bought all of them. Feeling very vindicated that I trusted my gut. They do not seem like something I need for $70, but I might go for it on deep, deep sale.

 

[Arsic]

No game I was legit hyped for turned out bad but I did impulse buy both MK1 & Lords of the Fallen.

Lords is a 1/10. I’d rather play the new walking dead game.

 

[Certinty]

This is going to sound so strange because it's probably the most enjoyable game I've played this year but Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

It does so many things right, the gameplay, traversal and combat are all extremely top notch and the game looks fairly nice too visually.

But some of the other aspects are just bad. The final third of the story is horrific to say the least, feels very rushed, anticlimactic and full of poor writing.

Then we also have half the side content which was outdated and repetitive, it's like they didn't learn their lesson from the first game.

The state the game launched in didn't help either, full of bugs throughout and without the ability to even change the weather and time of day post-game.

Extremely lacking with post-game content too.

 

[Deerock71]

Zelda TOTK.

Not because the game is bad or anything, but because the hardware is so dated it really compromises the experience. I can't stand how it looks and I despise how it runs.

The topic isn't most disappointing hardware.

 

[Nankatsu]

Final fantasy XVI

Bag o shite

 

[Mossybrew]

Yeah I'd have to say FFXVI, even though I'm not a huge FF fan and wasn't really looking for this game to be The Next Big Thing, it still disappointed. It was like one of those old school movie sets, it looks great at first glance from the right angle, but behind the pretty facade it's just bare plywood holding everything up.

 

[FunkMiller]

Final fantasy XVI

Bag o shite

/thread.

What a fucking dull, basic, by the numbers game, that strips away all of the FF charm, exploration and character, in favour of mindless spectacle, linear corridor environments, and a terrible GoT rip off plot.

Fuckin’ slag heap.

 

[Katajx]

Starfield. For their first new IP in 25 years and the dev time I just expected something different.

There were some improvements for sure, but for every step forward they took two back.

I get the simulation stuff, but they really need to update and modernize some of their systems.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Final fantasy XVI

Bag o shite

This one, 1000% percent.

I really wanted this to be the game that proved Square Enix still had it. That they could deliver a complete, polished mainline FF game in a reasonable timespan. It had Yoshi P directing. They hired the Capcom guy from DMC V/Dragon’s Dogma/MVC3 as combat director. Previews looked cool. Demo was freaking cool and raised my hype level to 11.

It ended up being the most boring mainline FF I’ve played and the only one I haven’t finished. Total shit whether you judge it as a character action game or as a JRPG. Literally the only parts I enjoyed were the boss battles and cutscenes.

 

[Revolutionary]

Starfield was disappointing, but some of that disappointment was somewhat expected because Bethesda refuses to move on from their engine.

FFXVI, on the other hand... as someone who adored FFXIV Heavensward, I was certain the team would knock it out of the park... and it was essentially just a poorly-paced XIV expansion in disguise. Biggest disappointment of the year, by far.

 

[diffusionx]

Final fantasy XVI

Bag o shite

This for me. I don't think it is a bag of shit but it's definitely not the game I wanted. I know I'm an old boomer but if I want to play Devil May Cry I'll play Devil May Cry.

I didn't play Starfield but I felt peoples' disappointment vicariously, I really was expecting them to deliver a banger but it was just another crickety, janky Gamebryo game with some of the same issues we saw in Oblivion, and more besides.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Resident evil 4 remake. It’s even more overrated than the original game.

Stopped reading right here

 

[stn]

Mortal Kombat 1, maybe? The fighting is actually very good and the game has tons of fun characters, but I hate the invasions mode, the excessive need to grind, the boring and bland character art direction, the roster missing some important characters, and the fact that the microtransactions are ridiculously priced ($10 a skin, in some cases). The core fighting gameplay is very good but most of the other features are boring and crappy. I still score the game a 7.5/10 but it could have been much better.

 

[MagiusNecros]

FFXVI, on the other hand... as someone who adored FFXIV Heavensward, I was certain the team would knock it out of the park... and it was essentially just a poorly-paced XIV expansion in disguise. Biggest disappointment of the year, by far.

Does it really surprise you with their current output with FFXIV Post-Endwalker? Such a poor entry as a mainline FF.

 

[SlimySnake]

Starfield.

At least FF16 had those epic setpieces. Starfield just bored me to death.

 

[rofif]

ff16 hate is strong here.
Yeah, they could cut out 10 hours of mmo bloat shit... but overall it was a fantastic experience..
I really had a great time with it. It's basically dragon ball final fantasy. 7 remake is way better. Even XV is better post mortem... but 16 is really great. Fantastic music, graphics and jaw dropping scenes/combat in some parts. The prologue alone deserves to save the game. It's the best prologue ever. I fucking cried on the demo.
edit: It's definitely the most I've gasped playing a game this year. Either due to amazing music, crazy action or cgi like graphics in some parts. Disappointing my ass... ok maybe a little bit

 

[Pancakes and Sausage]

Starfield

Space exploration was terrible, the entire UI was terrible, the menus are terrible and arduous to use.

Can’t believe I paid to play early

 

[rkofan87]

star f

Starfield

Space exploration was terrible, the entire UI was terrible, the menus are terrible and arduous to use.

Can’t believe I paid to play early

this

 

[winjer]

Starfield is a strong candidate for this title.
Miasma Chronicles, from the team that mad Mutant Year Zero, was also a big disappointment.
Red Fall, was also bad.

 

[diffusionx]

ff16 hate is strong here.
Yeah, they could but out 10 hours of mmo bloat shit... but overall it was a fantastic experience..
I really had a great time with it. It's basically dragon ball final fantasy. 7 remake is way better. Even XV is better post mortem... but 16 is really great. Fantastic music, graphics and jaw dropping scenes/combat in some parts. The prologue alone deserves to save the game. It's the best prologue ever. I fucking cried on the demo

Prologue is great, I agree.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Redfall and Starfield has killed any hope I had that Bethesda and Arkane may possibly still have that magic that they used to...

Zelda TOTK.

Not because the game is bad or anything, but because the hardware is so dated it really compromises the experience. I can't stand how it looks and I despise how it runs.

It really is a game that's hardware really undersells how great it can look. It looks damn good running via emulation and I think if the general public knew how much better Nintendo games were via emulation...They'd be annoyed.

 

[semiconscious]

Alan Wake 2.
Turned out you play 60% of the game as some lady with super powers and the ending sucks ass

easily my choice. i mean, 'remedy? alan wake sequel? what could go wrong? i just know i won't be disappointed, so lets by a digital copy, day 1, that i can't fucking return...'

i wasn't really expecting much from other games, so no real disappointment, otherwise...

 

[Arcadialane]

starfield and redfall

 

[rkofan87]

ff16 hate is strong here.
Yeah, they could but out 10 hours of mmo bloat shit... but overall it was a fantastic experience..
I really had a great time with it. It's basically dragon ball final fantasy. 7 remake is way better. Even XV is better post mortem... but 16 is really great. Fantastic music, graphics and jaw dropping scenes/combat in some parts. The prologue alone deserves to save the game. It's the best prologue ever. I fucking cried on the demo

this i did not want to say anything because i simp enough for ff16 as is but shit the hate for this game on gaf is off the charts did ff16 run over your dog or cat lmao.

 

[Bkdk]

Probably starfield but there are so many disappointing games this year. Starting from red fall, age of wonders 4, cities skylines 2, payday 3, to hogwarts legacy, ff 16, forza, wolong. Many more I don’t even want to list.

 

[BossLackey]

For me, it was Street Fighter VI.

I'm not typically big on fighting games anyway, but this one looked like it had a decently fun RPGesque single player mode. Nope. The character creator was interesting though!

Whereas I couldn't care less about single player content in my FGs. SFVI's core is really great, game looks great, animates great, has a ton of options, has great netcode, and is just fun to play. Roster isn't amazing, though.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Shartfield

Bag o endless Galaxy o procedurally generated shite

 

[LordOfChaos]

100% Starfield no doubt


I was hyped for it, it's clunky and a bit shitty with load screens every few minutes on SSDs for some reason, it feels like Skyrim era character conversations with dead on face shots with very little emoting, it just feels like a throwback to what I would have tolerated in 2009 but with thus far zero hook like Skyrim had and I'm just not dealing with it in 2023

 

[Ammogeddon]

Starfield.

All that time and money could’ve gone towards the next elder scrolls.

 

[MagiusNecros]

ff16 hate is strong here

From a strict Final Fantasy perspective the utter lack of RPG elements, quick 100 to 0 story and how flawed it's systems are all contribute to it being poor in every regard except artistic setpieces and possibly music?

Not to mention it is essentially the tattered remains of a Garlemald XIV expansion I think a lot of FF fans have every right to be divided on how they feel.

Also Jill was here.

It's an ok Action game but is a bad FF game.

 

[MiguelItUp]

There's a lot of bad games I didn't play. But of the ones I DID play, I feel like MK1 was the most disappointing. I didn't go in with huge expectations, and I still left disappointed. I beat the campaign, completed the Invasions mode, and have absolutely no desire to go back. Just kind of a shame, really.

 

[Aion002]

Starfield.

 

[SuperBabyMethod]

Final Fantasy 16. Good story and voice acting but every thing else is terrible.

Resident Evil 4 remake - not bad but grossly overrated.

 

[amigastar]

Diablo 4
Just didn't connect with me at all, grinding for that arbitrary loot.