6 Games That Were Hated At Launch But Are Now Considered…

The launch period is of vital importance to a game's success. It's when the hype should be at its peak, sales should be rolling in, and review scores and word of mouth alike crowing about the title in question's quality. First impressions are everything, after all, and sometimes there's no recovering from a terrible start. Nobody's exonerated E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Amiga after all these years, have they?

Rebecca, Chris and Sheva, Umbrella Corps

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Nonetheless, today, it's possible for patches, updates, and other fixes to repair a lot of the damage caused by a bad launch. Over time, developers may even get a lot of that player trust back. In other cases, it wasn't a matter of a game's lack of quality, but attitudes towards them changing dramatically. Either way, a lot of these titles are beloved now.

6 The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Zelda Like We'd Never Seen It Before

There's no denying that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was a real shock on its original reveal. This was a game from a beloved franchise, a game that would reinforce the GameCube as an option for truly committed players among all the jokes about its appearance and family-friendly nature. The cartoony art, then, was completely contrary to that, and many surely decided to boycott the game then and there.

Such a decision, of course, was a terrible mistake. The Wind Waker may be "cute," but those visuals are far from simple. It's only when you look closely that you appreciate the remarkable level of detail, the loving attention paid to every little thing. From the insects flying around a light source to every jiggle of a Moblin's jowls, the animation is sublime. The lengthy seafaring sections can grate a bit, but the dungeons are wonderfully designed and the tale is one of the most emotional in series history. Discovering the fate of the sunken Hyrule is just one moment that absolutely sticks with the player. A fantastic cozy ocean game.

5 No Man's Sky

Slowly Became The Intergalactic Extravaganza We Crazed

Now, a little confidence goes a long way. As noted, early hype is key, and there was much ado about No Man's Sky as its launch neared. We were about to witness one of the most ambitious games of all time, in which a vast universe would be our playground. Getting swept up in all of that, sadly, led to crushing disappointment for many, when the constraints of the game became immediately evident. It arrived rather half-baked, and was roundly criticized for it.

The good news, though, is that little by little, Hello Games was able to augment the experience, adding more content and fixing previous bugbears. The ambition of the game meant that the project of getting it up to standard was an enormous one, but the team's commitment is to be applauded. The true No Man's Sky took shape, and many years after it first released in 2016, it is now the great intergalactic sandbox we were initially promised. Newer features such as the customization of Corvettes embody the game's mission.

4 Death Stranding

A Misunderstood Masterpiece

Hideo Kojima is known for his uniquely creative games. When he attaches himself to a project, you know it's going to be a unique take on a genre, boasting utterly unexpected mechanics and some remarkable characters. There is, however, a bit of a downside to this approach: When you make an effort to be as distinctive and esoteric as possible, it's likely that some will completely misunderstand your intentions and the resulting game. Death Stranding, on its arrival, was one such case. From early gameplay, some dismissed it as a walking simulator full of bizarre, pretentious imagery. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, though, and it was only when players took the time to really engage with the game and its systems that they came to understand what Kojima had achieved here.

Death Stranding 2 Sam Porter Bridges kissing blonde baby on the forehead key art

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In an industry that so often recycles its most popular series and genres, we really had seen nothing quite like Death Stranding before. BRIDGES courier Sam Porter Bridges has the vital role of delivering packages around an almost-doomed world, but retro classic Paperboy this is not. As he bridges also restores some semblance of hope to what's left of humankind by re-establishing communications between them via a network. The convoluted story, revolving around Bridge Baby Lou, everyone's true identities in this peculiar universe and the looming threat of the Last Stranding can be difficult to follow (not unusually for the creator of the Metal Gear series), but Death Stranding came to be celebrated for its originality and spawned a successful sequel, 2025's Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.

3 Sea Of Thieves

The Pirate Fantasy Took Some Time To Come To Life

You could say that Sea of Thieves is the No Man's Sky of the ocean. When it finally launched in 2018, players had been harboring fantasies of a sort of multiplayer take on Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag for years. The pirate concept is one that has been explored many times in games, but, from the very first trailer, it was the sense of humor and cartoony visuals of Sea of Thieves that promised to set it apart. Though it delivered a unique sense of style and ship customization options at the time, it was rather limited on the content front, offering an open sea that was a bit empty.

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It's a concept that's ripe for all kinds of content additions, and that's exactly what it's seen over time. From the Bone Caller that summons skeleton minions to vastly expanded quest systems, events, and in-depth side activities like fishing (with private safe servers being another crucial plus), there's infinitely more to do on the high seas than there was at launch, and players have rewarded the developers' dedication to the game with their own: It's still very popular. This live-service superstar did an excellent job recovering from its awful launch.

2 Destiny 2

Another Sci-Fi Adventure On An Increasingly Grand Scope

With a looter shooter, the key is a great glut of content. A title such as Borderlands 2, for instance, can seemingly last for an eternity, if players are committed to leveling up their Vault Hunter to the maximum and tackling all the DLC packages. Destiny 2 was quite lacking in that area on launch, which was a shame because the original game had suffered in that area too. FPS veterans Bungie, however, weren't ready to give up.

Through Beyond Light, Lightfall, The Edge of Fate and other frequent updates, the game saw additions of new Raids and challenges, as well as fundamental gameplay changes like Stasis and the ability to craft weapons. Inevitably, not all of these changes were loved, but the solid and varied gameplay and satisfying customization system means that players are still supporting the title and it continues to receive new content. The Renegades expansion closed out 2025 by adding Equilibrium and some fascinating new weapons.

1 Street Fighter 5

A Worthy Addition To A Beloved Series, Eventually

One-on-one fighters, generally speaking, mostly revolve around the multiplayer experience. Playing against friends in person, or challenging the world online in an attempt to rise through the ranks. The single-player component can be considered practise for the main event in a lot of cases, with training modes, combo practise arenas, and the likes of survival challenges where players tackle CPU opponents one after the other. Street Fighter 5, sadly, was sorely limited in that department in 2016, lacking the story mode that is a fundamental world-building element of so many fighters. Not every character can be a major tournament winner, but every game can be salvaged.

The previous game in the series had been quite the phenomenon, and when fans were counting on this installment to surpass it, this was a particular blow to the storied series' reputation. It took several years for Capcom to reach the final version of the game, Street Fighter 5 Champion Edition, which was complete with the missing modes and improved online play, as well as more sophisticated mechanics. This expansive version of the game provided something of a blueprint for the next installment: Perhaps by way of an apology for the originally-absent singleplayer offerings in 5, Street Fighter 6 added the enormous World Tour mode, a sort of singleplayer RPG chock full of challenges.