Recently, we went over the greatest games of all-time. Now, we’re going to do the opposite and talk about the most overrated games of all-time. While these games may not be bad games, they are incredibly overhyped and not deserving of the unabashed praise that they receive. Some are multiple Game of the Year winners, others are simply very popular titles. Regardless, each title lacks the elements that comprise of an excellent game. On our review scale, excellence is considered a nine or higher. Despite the non-stop critical acclaim these games receive, they simply do not reach that level. With that being said, let’s get started.
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts is by no means a bad game, as it lacks any technical problems, but it’s a fairly generic title. If the Disney and Final Fantasy brands weren’t attached to it, it wouldn’t be as beloved as it is, and it would not have spawned multiple sequels or gained the critical acclaim it accrued. The story is fairly generic and the combat is your typical action-RPG gameplay. It plays on Disney nostalgia in order to draw you in, and does a wonderful job of doing that. Despite this though, if you strip Disney and Final Fantasy from Kingdom Hearts, it’s fairly mediocre. It’s repetitive to a fault and gets old fast. There are some cool environments, but this is only because they take place throughout the Disney multiverse. The Final Fantasy characters are a nice touch, but they have little to no function. They’re simply there, masquerading as if they have a purpose when they don’t. They’re merely fan service for Square Enix fans to hide the simple but obvious truth that Kingdom Hearts isn’t a great game on its own merits.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 propelled Mario into the world of 3D. It is considered by many to be revolutionary and has informed all 3D Mario titles since its release. Despite this fact though, the game has some serious problems, mainly its camera function. It rendered the game almost unplayable at times. While an enjoyable title, it is nowhere near one of the best Mario games (2D or 3D), or even one of the best games on the Nintendo 64. Ocarina of Time’s release two years later made Mario 64 look smalltime. It had a superior camera system, cleaner gameplay, and was truly excellent. It left Mario in the dust. Some may argue that Super Mario 64 helped inspire Ocarina of Time, but this is irrelevant. Mario 64 is the most overrated game to ever be released on the Nintendo 64 and while it can be enjoyable, it’s nowhere near excellent. In fact, it’s rather frustrating.
Majora’s Mask
Some herald Majora’s Mask as the best Zelda game, beating out Ocarina of Time. This is laughable. Majora’s Mask isn’t even a top-five Zelda game. While the time limit feature is innovative for sure, it’s incredibly frustrating. Termina is incredibly small and nowhere near the scale of Hyrule in size and scope. The music isn’t as good as Ocarina’s, or almost any other Zelda title, and the sidequests, while heartfelt, feel like a drag. The dungeon design is solid, but there are only four of them. Reliving the same three days over and over again simply isn’t enjoyable. Collecting all of the masks isn’t even necessary, as I never did so and still defeated Majora, the final boss, easily. It lacks the heart and soul of almost every other Zelda game and while it took risks, they didn’t pay off. It was a copy/paste job of Ocarina of Time, just not nearly as good. What should be a fun and enjoyable experience feels like a chore; not even Breath of the Wild feels this way.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Uncharted is one of the most overrated video game series’ of all-time, but Uncharted 4 takes the cake. It may have been lauded as a great game by critics, and it may have won multiple Game of the Year awards, but this doesn’t shield it from criticism. It’s a film masquerading as a video game. Wait; in fact, it’s a soap opera masquerading as a video game. The final installment is so laughable in its story that it plays out like a bad soap opera, with Nathan suddenly having a long-lost brother. The combat/gunplay is rudimentary and it seems like you spend an eternity swinging on a rope. The puzzles are boring, and Nathan Drake is a horrible character. He’s a Han Solo/Indiana Jones wannabe and fails miserably. His ludicrous jokes don’t help matters either. The game has some nice set pieces, but the characters simply aren’t compelling enough and the gameplay isn’t stellar enough to warrant the kind of praise it has received.
Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the most overrated game of all-time. This isn’t because it’s a bad game, but because it has fundamental flaws in its design. Nintendo took some incredible risks and many of them paid off. Hyrule is both enormous, beautiful, and rife with exploration, the Sheikah Slate is a unique and innovative gameplay mechanic, and the difficulty level gives players a true challenge, something Zelda fans have been asking for for years. That being said, there are a lot of problems. Item durability causes balancing issues, puzzles are lacking both in the overworld and in the dungeons and shrines, the bosses have very little variety, and the story is non-existent. It’s hailed as a masterpiece, but it’s anything but. If it didn’t have the Zelda name attached to it, it would simply be regarded as a great game, nothing more. But because it’s Zelda, critics and gamers alike hold it on a pedestal. The game simply doesn’t warrant it.
There never feels like there’s a true threat. Calamity Ganon is merely a mindless monster who simply seeks to destroy, unlike previous incarnations of the character. Link lacks any kind of character and is near-expressionless, which is surprising for a Zelda game. The shrines are plentiful, but are far too short and don’t hold a candle to traditional dungeons. The Divine Beasts are super short. The freedom that Breath of the Wild offers is truly refreshing and is a huge step forward for the series, but it simply sacrificed too much in the process.
Breath of the Wild set a superb foundation, but now with the return of Ganondorf looming in Breath of the Wild 2, its sequel seems that it will have a coherent story and not feel so unfulfilling, which is great news. Breath of the Wild is a great stepping stone for the future of the Zelda franchise, but it needed a little bit more to catapult it into elite status. Hopefully, its sequel is able to build on the incredible groundwork Breath of the Wild laid.