Games are just media and, like most media, some games start out with a bang and slowly wear out their welcome. We’ve seen it time and time again and whether it’s from the early days of 3D gaming in the 90s or in games today, all eras are guilty in some form or another.
We’re going to check out some games that start out promising, but slowly show their flaws as you play through them. Sometimes that start is enough to grip you, but even the best openings cannot save the game themselves. Plenty of controversy is coming in this list, so get your popcorn ready and let’s jump in.
Note: I will be spoiling most of these games in a big way. Proceed with caution.
10 The Last of Us: Part 2
So Much Promise
The Last of Us Part 2 starts off with so much promise. You’ve got the aftermath of the first game hanging in the background, the intrigue of a new character and the still ever-present threat of the infected all over.
Then, after a thrilling sequence where we play as Abby for the first time, all of that promise comes crashing down.
Yes, we all knew Joel was probably going to die in this game, but the way it was done and specifically how early it was done was just such a buzzkill.
Then, the game forces you to play as Abby, who, regardless of your feelings about what Joel did at the end of the first game, you are supposed to hate.
Naughty Dog tries and fails to get you to be sympathetic to her, until she reveals she is also just a horrible person herself.
The story goes downhill, and we’re stuck forcing our way to one of the most underwhelming and nonsensical conclusions I can recall.
9 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
Eivor Could've Been Special
I was convinced in the first handful of hours that Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla was going to be an all-time great. The combat was weighty, the story was intriguing and the concept of Vikings exploring England was just perfect and well executed.
Sadly, the most intriguing story threads involving Sigurd and the one arm are left on the sidelines until way, way later in the game.
After a strong start, you are subjected to endless quests trying to help out the local lords you want to ally with, and each one feels more meandering and mindless than the last.
The combat starts to bog down as well, with a mind-numbing skill tree that is 90 percent full of things like «increase attack power by 3 percent».
The story, unfortunately, goes nowhere for about 40 hours and while there are some cool moments towards the end, the repetitive sieges and rinse and repeat quest style wears the game down pretty badly.
8 Tales of Arise
You Had Us In the First Half
Tales of Arise was a return to form for JRPGs. We were absolutely starved for a game like this to come back into the focus of the gaming world and, due to the relatively weak year of gaming, many were fine, calling it the best RPG of the year.
After the first 30 hours or so, things take a tailspin for the worst and, with JRPGs, that means you’re getting at least 20 hours of the worst tropes in the genre all coming at full speed.
The initially intriguing plot goes so far off the rails that you can barely remember what the initial story was about and the enemies get color assets swapped and repeated over and over again to the point that nothing is vaguely fun to fight anymore.
Your characters also plateau, with Bandai Namco forgetting to give them end-game techniques to unlock, so fighting any battle becomes an exercise in extreme tedium after a while.
The bosses also get worse, with some of them becoming ungodly damage sponges that can take up to 30 minutes to defeat, sometimes with no checkpoints in between.
It’s a shame because, as great as the game starts, it finishes just as badly, leaving you with a sour taste after getting fooled by what felt like the new JRPG standard bairer for this generation.
7 Dragon Age: The Veilguard
When The Hype Hurts
Dragon Age is one of the most beloved franchises out there, so when Dragon Age: The Veilguard got a release date, the hype was sky-high.
Unfortunately, with that came the trailer for the game and immediately, the questions began.
When the game finally released, there was some promise there as the initial hours are actually pretty engaging.
For some reason though, it felt like Bioware forgot what game they were making here.
The tone of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is so lighthearted and Disney-coded that it feels like it’s from a different franchise.
Gone are the deep conversations and in place are some horrificly quippy conversations that give you limited input on how you want to steer them.
The initial fun combat wears fast, as damage sponge enemies are everywhere and all the interesting skills are bafflingly level-gated to levels you won’t see until you’re 30 hours or so into the game.
The enemies also begin repeating in an egregious way, and you realize that you’ve pretty much seen everything the game has to offer in the first few hours.
It’s not a surprise that, despite some solid reviews, this game underperformed badly.
6 Cyberpunk 2077
That Budget Was Front-Loaded
Cyberpunk 2077 is a redemption story in many ways, but despite how great the Phantom Liberty DLC is and how great the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update was, nothing addressed the main quests of the game.
The story of Cyberpunk 2077 is very good, but it’s that opening that is really special. The initial quests are so engaging, with some incredible characters, weird and unique enemies and, overall, a cinematic flair that the rest of the game does not keep up with.
If I had to name the turning point it would be after Jackie dies. Something about the game just takes a dive in quality. It never becomes a bad game by any means, but it feels like it starts the game as a 9 and then quickly steers into 7 territory.
That would average out to an 8, and I suppose that’s plenty good, but the promise given by the opening hours promises an all-time game and I think it falls a bit short of that.
The quests get much less imaginative, and it feels like the budget was blown in the opening hours and CD Projekt Red had to scramble to get the game finished in time. The compelling characters lessen, the plot feels lazier and, overall, that energy the game starts with is nowhere to be found.
5 Final Fantasy 16
The Journey's Start is Among the Genre's Best
Final Fantasy 16 starts off hot, with an engaging revenge story and a mystery thrust upon you in the opening hours, and it seems like we’re going to get one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever made.
This momentum ultimately comes to a halt after the first 10 hours or so. For some reason, Square Enix thought it would be a great idea to kill off not only the most compelling villain in Benedicta almost immediately after we meet her, but also its most compelling character period in Cid.
While the game has some highs after this opening act, it never hits the same level of intrigue and consistency and the rest of the journey lacks a great antagonist and the presence of Cid is felt.
Square Enix had two of the most compelling characters the series has had in ages and killed them both off in 10 hours. It will never make sense.
4 Avowed
The First Area Has It All
Avowed was one of the most hyped games for 2025 and many thought it had a solid shot at Game of the Year just based off the name of the developers alone.
It starts off incredibly strong, with amazing visuals and an expansive and deep opening area to explore full of secrets to uncover and tons of side quests as well.
In fact, the best side quest in the game takes place here, called the Dawntreader.
This side quest feeds back into the main plot in such a meaningful way that it’s shocking more side content didn’t take this approach.
Unfortunately, once you’ve completed that opening area, you’ve seen almost everything the game has to offer.
There are different biomes, sure, but the enemies start repeating to a ridiculous degree and the side quests get worse as well.
The main story also bogs down, failing to introduce any interesting threads to push you through until pretty much the final act.
They also pretty much spoonfeed feed you what’s going to end up happening and when you get to the end of the game, you’re left with a huge feeling of «that’s it?» and it’s a far cry from the amazing promise the opening hours hold.
3 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
An Unfinished Masterpiece
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an enigma in so many ways. It’s one of the best games of its genre, but it is so front-loaded that it’s hard to fathom.
It feels like the budget of the game gets blown in the first 10 hours and the team at Konami was forced to scramble from there.
While the game starts strongly, with story and cutscenes and a great setup, that plot slowly dissipates throughout the game, leaving you with nothing but the open world and endless missions to take on that frequently have you wondering what the point of it is.
That stealth gameplay is great throughout, but the mission design gets worse and worse and then, missions literally start repeating.
There is also this crazy scene montage that promises an amazing second half of the game around the midway point and yet, none of that is followed up on.
It is literally an unfinished game in so many ways, and while it starts like a 10/10, it finishes like 6/10 that felt like the lights got turned off on the creative side at the studio.
2 Hogwarts Legacy
The Wizarding World is Quite The Bore
Hogwarts Legacy was an objective success, single-handedly kick-starting a franchise in a big way for Avalanche Software.
The game starts very strongly, letting you create your own wizard and giving you a healthy bit of story intrigue as the game kicks off.
Hogwarts is incredibly well realized, with the iconic castle having a ton of areas to explore, classes to take and side activities to take part in.
However, as the story progresses, you get sent out of the castle and, at first, that is amazing because you’ve got a broomstick, and you can fly everywhere, and it’s just gorgeous to look at.
After that feeling wears off though, you realize this is one of the worst open worlds out there. There is so little interesting to discover out here, and it’s so small that you’ll quickly tire of exploring.
It bogs down the game considerably and then the repetitive mission design takes over and what started out feeling like one of the best games slowly shows its cracks.
1 Ghost of Tsushima
A Victim of Repetition
Ghost of Tsushima is a great game, but there is a certain level of tedium you’ll need to become okay with in order to enjoy it.
The best part of the game is undoubtedly the opening hours. The building of the resistance against the Mongol forces is great and discovering the different stances is enjoyable as well.
The problem is, there are only 4 stances to learn in the entire game. You will likely have all of these after a handful of hours, and then it’s nothing but a Mongol-fest for the rest of the game.
The repetition of clearing out Mongol camps starts to take over, and you’ll be dying to fight any other kind of enemy. While you may find some occasional wandering tonins to fight or bandits, the majority of your encounters will be against the Mongols, who just don’t have much to offer in the way of variety.
Everything you’re doing in hour one you will be doing in hour fifty, and it unfortunately makes the back half of the game far less enjoyable than the first half.
