5. Kingdom Hearts 3
The latest installment in a celebrated gaming franchise, Kingdom Hearts 3 had its positives for sure, but overall felt like a disappointment. One reason for that is the length and pacing — it’s a loooong game, with a slow pace that made it a bit of a chore to finish (case in point: the ending alone drags out for multiple hours). Add to that the usual long-winded dialogue and some boring Boss-fights and you’ve got a much-anticipated title that just didn’t quite fulfill our magical fantasies.
4. Borderlands 3
Gearbox’s third Borderlands entry gave its fans exactly what they expected — and that’s kinda the problem. That awful writing, random plot and cringeworthy humor were endearing the first couple of times, but now it’s just starting to feel lazy. Repetitive missions and level design didn’t help either. Well, at least the gun fights are still a blast.
3. Jump Force
Shonen Jump has been a massive force in manga, anime, and Japanese culture for the past 50 years, and Anime fans were really looking forward to this game — but sadly Jump Force just didn’t live up to the hype. As our reviewer Andrew Gilbert lamented, the brainless combat, embarrassing performance problems and terrible cut-scenes all made for a supposedly AAA title that frankly, felt unfinished.
2. Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Don’t get us wrong, killing Nazis is always fun, but as our reviewer Paul observed, Wolfenstein: Youngblood failed to capture the tone and style we had come to love about the previous Wolfenstein games. The dynamic of the Blazkowicz girls had a certain charm, to be sure, but the lack of a defined villain to make our blood boil with sufficient hatred and a new, complicated hub environment made us feel like we were wasting our time when what we really wanted to do was melt Nazis with the Laserkraftwerk.
1. Anthem
Bioware was a game developer badly in need of a hit in 2019 … and Anthem unfortunately wasn’t it. For a studio renowned for its storytelling, Bioware gave us a curiously thin narrative that failed to bring purpose to what was, at the end of the day, a pretty generic loot-shooter. Long load screens, a frustrating user interface and cut-and-paste missions made for a forgettable, disjointed affair. Hey, we were really rooting for Bioware, but this jumble of half-baked elements somehow even made flying feel boring.
Well, what do you think? Are there some we missed? Let us know and be sure to keep it locked on COGconnected for more Game of the Year lists!