15 Most Disappointing Video Games of the Generation (So Far)
The most frustrating fumbles of the generation.
The current gaming generation has been one of the strangest and most polarising in history.
For one, it had the misfortune of kicking off during an especially brutal peak of the pandemic, while the last few years have seen layoffs sweep the industry, and the rise of AI has meanwhile caused hardware costs to skyrocket to unconscionable levels.
This is without even getting into the fact that many are disappointed by the lack of major technical innovation this generation - it hardly feels like the PS5 or Xbox Series X have even nearly showcased their full potential, and yet we may be barely a year away from their successors being released.
Now, that doesn't mean this generation hasn't served up its share of all-timer bangers, but it's also fair to say that it's delivered a sizable haul of gutting disappointments.
And so, from 2020 to today, these are the 20 games that fell furthest short of expectations. Not all of these games are bad, but each nevertheless whiffed it relative to all the pre-release hype and years, perhaps even decades, of waiting...
15. Starfield
Starfield has been one of the most anticipated video games of the entire 21st century to date, with Bethesda lending their peerlessly immersive RPG stylings to an epic sci-fi universe.
Director Todd Howard promised players "Skyrim in space," and while Starfield released to solid reviews from critics, the player response was decidedly more downbeat.
For many, Starfield simply lacked much of a personality or clear creative vision at all. This was a generic, often boring open world sci-fi RPG with a stupefyingly forgettable story, unremarkable characters, strangely empty world, and repetitious gameplay.
Is Starfield a bad game? No, but it fell far, far short of the epochal title Bethesda had led players to get excited for.
This was instead a dead ordinary space RPG that's ironically best remembered for how utterly flavourless and, well, forgettable it is.
Needless to say, Bethesda will need to knock The Elder Scrolls VI way out of the park to redeem this disappointment.