Worst Entries In The Best RPG Franchises

A few major franchises consistently lead the RPG market globally. Classic Japanese RPGs have been popular in Japan since the 1980s, and games inspired by tabletop RPGs remain incredibly successful in Europe and North America. Each new release builds on their reputation, earning them even greater praise over time.

Even the most successful series have weak entries. Sometimes these games try innovative things that don’t quite land, and other times they’re simply disappointing and drag down the reputation of the entire franchise.

The Original Dragon Quest Is the Worst Game in the Franchise

The first Dragon Quest is a classic role-playing game. While it borrowed ideas from games like Wizardry, it created a unique and enduring formula by blending open-world exploration with traditional turn-based battles, all brought to life with the beautiful art of Akira Toriyama.

Despite being a classic, Dragon Quest is generally considered the least impressive of the main games. Because you only control one character, the game’s challenge and enemy placement feel quite limited. The story is also very short, easily completed in just a few hours. Fortunately, the series quickly improved with the second game and has been consistently strong ever since.

Baldur’s Gate Can’t Compare to Games Like BG3

When the original Baldur’s Gate was released, it was highly praised for faithfully bringing the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules to life on computers. However, the game wasn’t without its flaws. It often failed to clearly explain its complex rules, even for fundamental aspects like Armor Class.

The first game was incredibly challenging, often resulting in one-hit deaths, particularly for players using the Thief or Mage classes. Fortunately, Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn was a significant improvement. It featured more engaging dungeons, a much wider variety of spells and creatures, and characters started at a higher level, making them better equipped to survive battles.

Revelations: Persona Is Lacking an Identity

The Persona series really came into its own with Persona 3. This game was the first to successfully blend everyday high school life and time management with the traditional dungeon exploration and monster collecting elements. Earlier Persona games were quite similar to the Shin Megami Tensei series they originated from, except they centered around high school students.

The first Persona game feels more like a typical RPG compared to its sequels, which are known for their engaging characters and stories. It emphasizes exploring dungeons more than building relationships, so players hoping for a strong focus on friendships and romance might find it less appealing.

Monster Hunter Wilds Was a Step Backward

The Monster Hunter series consistently got better with each new game, especially starting with Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate. However, Monster Hunter Wilds feels like a significant step back. After Monster Hunter World expanded the game’s overall scale and Monster Hunter Rise added a lot more combat options,

Okay, so Monster Hunter Wilds is seriously beautiful, but honestly, it throws way too many ‘follow me’ quests at you and makes you listen to a ton of dull chatter. But the biggest letdown? They took away the Silkbind moves from Monster Hunter Rise – those things made combat so much better! – and just… didn’t replace them with anything. It feels like a huge step backward, and it’s really frustrating.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Gacha Mechanics Are Frustrating

I absolutely love the battle system in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – it’s really engaging! But honestly, the game just throws you in without teaching you how everything works, which is super frustrating. You pretty much need to look up a guide online to figure it all out. And that’s not even the worst part, though. The game has a really uncomfortable, overly-sexualized vibe, constantly focusing on the female characters in a way that just feels creepy and unnecessary. It really drags the experience down.

The game’s length is unnecessarily extended by a strange system where you collect characters – called Blades – to use in battle. What’s worse, some of these character designs are among the most unsettling and overly sexualized ever seen in video games.

Suikoden 5 Nearly Killed the Franchise

The Suikoden series includes many great games, but Suikoden II is often considered the best and was recently updated with improved graphics for newer consoles. After that, three more main Suikoden games were released for the PlayStation 2.

Suikoden 5 is the latest main installment in the Suikoden series. However, it suffered from significant technical problems, particularly frequent and lengthy loading screens that disrupted the experience. While some performance issues might be understandable in older games, Suikoden 5 came out in 2006 – the same year as the PlayStation 3 – meaning Konami really should have been able to optimize the game for the hardware.

Fallout 76 Got Better, But It’s Not Good Enough

Fallout 76 signaled a shift for Bethesda, where the focus moved towards endlessly collecting items rather than creating a meaningful experience – a trend that continued in Starfield. Unlike previous Fallout games known for their strong stories and characters, Fallout 76 removed almost all NPCs and replaced compelling narratives with repetitive tasks focused solely on acquiring gear.

Look, I really wanted to love Fallout 76. It definitely got better with all the updates and new stuff they added to the world, but that launch was rough. So many bugs turned a lot of people off, and honestly, I can’t blame them. There are just so many other great MMOs and live-service games out there with more to do and way cooler worlds, so it’s hard to go back to Fallout 76 when there are better options.

Dawn of Many’s Gameplay Is a Mess

The Mana series includes both fantastic and disappointing games. Dawn of Mana, a game for the PlayStation 2, was a particular low point. It had the potential to revitalize the series, but was so poorly received by players that it discouraged developers from trying new things with future Mana games.

Dawn of Mana has a really strange design flaw: characters lose all their progress and start back at level 1 with each new chapter, and it doesn’t add anything meaningful to the gameplay – it just feels like unnecessary work. On top of that, the controls, movement, and camera are frustratingly bad, making the game generally unpleasant to play.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Is Infamously Buggy

As a Pokémon fan, I’ve noticed a weird trend: sometimes the new games are so flawed, they actually make me appreciate the older ones more! Like, Sun & Moon was pretty straightforward, but at least it had all the Pokémon. And yeah, Sword & Shield wasn’t perfect with some graphical issues, but honestly, it felt amazing compared to the mess that is Scarlet & Violet. It’s like each new release sets the bar lower somehow!

The game was plagued by constant technical problems and didn’t run well. The environments felt empty and lifeless, with cities appearing as simple, uninspired structures. While the game offered different story paths, they weren’t fully developed and didn’t become engaging until the very end, creating a false sense of choice.

Final Fantasy 2 Is the Worst Entry in the Franchise

The first Final Fantasy isn’t perfect, but it remains a fun role-playing game, even with the updated Pixel Remaster. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Final Fantasy 2. While it tried to be innovative, it didn’t quite succeed.

Compared to the first Final Fantasy, the sequel boasts a much richer story and more developed characters. However, the game’s new combat system – where characters get better by simply using their abilities – ultimately detracts from the overall experience.

The game had a strange system where taking damage actually increased your health, and spells didn’t work properly without being cast over and over. This made the gameplay incredibly boring and felt like a frustrating task. While there are many disliked games, this one stands out as particularly bad.

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2026-04-13 03:40