Introduction
We all do it with video games sometimes. Sometimes you look at a video game, whether it's the graphics or just the overall vibe, and you think, eh, not for me. Well, today we're encouraging you to give some things a second chance. Here are 10 games that are generally far better than they look.
Rise of the Ronin
I've been banging the drum on this one for a while. This is a 2024 game from Koei Tecmo that didn't really seem to catch on like, say, Stellar Blade, but was relatively quickly forgotten. As it seems to be, the game did manage to sell relatively well. According to the publisher, it actually sold more than the entire Nioh series, their previous game. It was PlayStation exclusive for a year and ended up mostly flying under the radar, but with a PC version coming soon, we just hope that the game manages to get more of an audience because it really is one of the cooler games from last year. Even if it didn't hit everybody's game of the year list, it's still worth talking about. For a big open-world action game, Rise of the Ronin isn't going to blow anyone away with the graphics.
The open world can look straight-up rough in certain spots, and the world design is usually pretty bland. But there's actually a lot to like about this game. It's much better than you'd think, considering how overlooked it is. It's essentially Nioh or Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty but set in an open-world Japan, simplified somewhat, but it still has that awesome feel to the combat that makes every fight so much fun. That alone makes this game special. Inserting the fantastic combat mechanics from Koei Tecmo's other games into an open world just feels fresh, exciting, and fun to play. And it's got a lot more depth than what you normally see in these types of games. There are a lot of pretty creative ideas at work here too, like this branching narrative where your choices actually feel like they matter, kind of like a rival character that you create as well. There's stealth, there's all kinds of gadgets and weapon types you get to play with. Generally, it's not the prettiest game, it's definitely a flawed game, but it's a dense one with a lot going on.
Some of the open-world stuff is pretty rote, you know, it's still all the same stuff you'd expect from an open-world game, but again, the melding of that Nioh/Wo Long combat with an open world just really makes it fun. The combat is awesome here. Another note in general is that Rise of the Ronin is a lot more forgiving. You know, it's not really a Soulslike, even if it has combat mechanics from one technically like Nioh. It's not easy, you can still die pretty quickly if you're overwhelmed, and some of the bosses do not mess around, but the difficulty is nowhere near Nioh or Nioh 2. It's got all the depth without the uncompromising difficulty, and that's honestly refreshing. So don't let the somewhat ugly visuals of that open world scare you. This is a legit game and actually one of the best things from Koei Tecmo in a while, and hopefully, the upcoming PC version smooths out some of those rough edges.
Abiotic Factor
This early access survival game might look like a Half-Life mod from 2001, but don't let appearances fool you here. This is one of the more intriguing and fun survival games to come out recently. Instead of dropping you in like a wide-open randomly generated map, this game sends you into the depths of this mysterious research facility. There's no random generation here or anything, it's just an absolutely massive labyrinth of hallways, weird offices, and labs that you and your buddies just have to work your way through in order to discover what's going on. There are usual survival mechanics which mostly involve collecting resources in order to build up weapons and objects that can help you survive in this hostile territory because anything can happen here.
It's not just Half-Life; this is also part SCP where weird anomalies stalk these halls, and part of the challenge of the game is just figuring out how to deal with these things. You're not just trapped in the cramped confines of the facility; sometimes certain anomalies lead you to new dimensions that you can explore. There's this constant sense of just mystery and discovery in Abiotic Factor more so than any other survival game, other than like Subnautica. They added survival elements here just to make exploring this facility challenging and dangerous. But unlike a lot of games like this, Abiotic Factor is perfectly playable by yourself. Yeah, it'll be easier with a friend, but it's not a total drag playing on your own.
And this one's still in early access, so it's not feature complete yet. There are still a bunch of floors that need to be filled in, so at a certain point, the game kind of just stops. You can't really progress any further. There's still a lot of content here, and we're pretty confident that the devs will finish this thing because they have been consistently updating the game since it launched. There's a decent amount of content in the game already, but if you're the type of person who just prefers to wait until the game is "finished," then you'll probably want to wait this one out because at the time of writing, the game isn't feature complete yet. The stuff that is here though is excellent.
Echo Point Nova
This open-world FPS isn't going to be turning any heads, even compared to most other retro-inspired FPS games. This thing isn't that impressive visually, at least the graphics are pretty basic, but the gameplay here is fantastic. There have been a boatload of excellent indie FPS games in the last few years, of course, but Echo Point Nova is still one of the best. There are a lot of interesting ideas here. The game is basically plotless; they just drop you into an open world and walk you through the basics, and then you go do whatever you want. As an open world, this isn't the most graphically impressive game. It's just a whole lot of islands floating in the sky, but what they managed to do with them is incredibly fun.
Each island is its own challenge with a specific reward, and there are so many islands, so you're constantly getting rewarded for your progress. Because of that, the game gets more interesting and mechanically complex as you go. It's already got a lot going on, with all these movement powers and a huge selection of guns. Best of all, the hoverboard, which allows you to zip around the environment really fast. The whole game is seamless and addictive as hell, and the world is massive and just brimming with secrets. It's just a fun game to screw around in, and there's four-player co-op, which is where the game can really shine. But again, it's another one where it's good by yourself too. It's just a creative game, it's unique, and it's downright fun.
Lisa
One of the earliest and weirdest of the indie RPG boom is Lisa. If you missed this one, this is a dark, twisted, and challenging RPG that's really in a league of its own. There's nothing really else quite like it. Yes, it's got that similar low-fi aesthetic to something like Undertale, and both games are pretty clearly inspired by Earthbound visually and in aspects of the story, but Lisa is such a weird game. It's a singular vision from an absolute madman. Just on a narrative level, the game somehow manages to swing between kind of goofy Adult Swim style mean-spirited humor and then also Earthbound style quirkiness and absolutely devastating darkness seamlessly. How it just kind of handles this all is impressive. Like it's cruel and it's twisted, but there's this black heart beating in this thing.
Gameplay-wise, well, it's essentially Earthbound but really difficult because you can and will lose a party member or in certain instances just become permanently scarred and made weaker for the rest of the game. It's possible, though unlikely, to put yourself in a position where progress is actually impossible. Like I said, this game is actually kind of hard. It's difficult, especially the first time through where you just don't really know what to expect. This game just likes to throw curveballs at you out of nowhere, like this moment where you're forced to either sacrifice your party members or lose an arm, which seems so unfair the first time you go through but is actually not that devastating. The game is balanced around it. Look, as an RPG it's pretty linear and short, but as an experience, the game is pretty unforgettable, and that's sometimes all people are looking for.
Outward Definitive Edition
What makes this open-world RPG different is just how it emphasizes survival. It's not a survival game, quote-unquote. It's an RPG through and through, just that on top of that usual questing, you have to worry about food, avoiding sickness, and not getting mauled by wolves. Yeah, that last one is actually something that happens in every RPG, it's just that usually wolves aren't as much of a threat, and in Outward they absolutely are. You start out as a total chump in this game. Even the most basic enemies can brutalize you with ease, and the world is utterly unforgiving. Night is nearly pitch black, and just standing in a swamp can potentially leave you diseased. There really are no shortcuts in this game.
It makes for a grueling experience, especially when starting out, but it's also unique. If you're willing to suffer a little, there's a lot to like about Outward. It's a uniquely challenging RPG experience that doesn't quite play like anything else. It's not going to wow anyone with its graphics. They're functional, and some of the towns look nice, but even when it came out, this game was a little behind the curve with the visuals. But it doesn't matter here. It's fun, and again, another one you can play co-op, and it definitely gives you a smoother experience because you have some backup. But again, it's another game where you can play by yourself. Everything just takes a little bit longer.
Ultrakill
This roguelike FPS is pretty basic as far as graphics go. Yes, it's got this retro cool style; it just doesn't really matter, though, like whether or not how you judge it because Ultrakill is awesome to play. It's fast, it's brutal, and perfectly paced for a roguelike. There's no time wasted; it's just non-stop forward momentum. Blood is health, so staying close to enemies and constantly moving forward is the best way to play. You can parry bullets. Yes, you can parry your own bullets if it's fun. The game lets you do it; that's Ultrakill. It's hard, like you'd expect from a roguelike, but somehow always really fun even when it feels completely overwhelming because of the feel of the shooting, the movement, the old-school chaos.
There are also a bunch of secrets which is always a plus one for one of these games, and also an impressive amount of variety in these randomly generated stages. There's not a lot to it; you run around and shoot stuff, but everything just feels great. It's brutal, it's fun, it's Ultrakill. And this game's still in early access even after more than four years, but in this case, it doesn't really matter. There's more than enough game here to keep you occupied for a long time.
Lethal Company
There's no getting around the fact that this horror extraction multiplayer game is sort of ugly to some. You look at the game, and you're like, is this an artistic choice? Is this just amateur? Like, I don't know. The game works despite that or maybe even because of it. In Lethal Company, you play as a scavenger flying around space to randomly generated industrial facilities where you then wander around and collect salvage in the hopes of just getting some money, earning a profit. The goal is simple, but it's really effective. What makes Lethal Company so unique is its approach to horror. You never know what you're going to run into here.
There are a ton of different monsters and anomalies to deal with, and all of them have their own unique behaviors and weaknesses. Some of them can be killed, some of them can only be stunned, some can't be stopped in any way, some entities are completely harmless, but without a lot of experience, you don't really know what you're tackling, and most likely, neither do any of the friends you're playing with. This is one of the games that is best played with a group of buddies rather than with randoms online. It's just more fun to go in blind as a group of friends rather than playing with some guy online that already knows the most optimized way to do everything.
Look, Lethal Company isn't really a game about winning. It's more fun as a horror simulator that you can play with friends. There is something satisfying about actually completing a run with everyone alive because it can take so long to get to that point. And to Lethal Company's credit, it's not like the game is boring once you start figuring out its secrets. It's just that getting to that point is way more fun if you figure it out yourself rather than having someone else just tell you what to do. As far as horror multiplayer games go, they don't get much more intense than Lethal Company here. This one is just good.
Tokyo Extreme Racer
This Xbox 360-era racing game throwback is such a breath of fresh air in 2025. It's a racing game with actual satisfying progression and no BS. It's not always online, there are no microtransactions, it's just a game you buy and you play. Well, not exactly. It is still in early access, so it's not like 100% accurate to that old-school racing experience, but it's getting there. That's what it wants to be. The best thing that we can say about Tokyo Extreme Racer is that it's just good old-fashioned fun. It's a racing game that's just fun to play. It's arcadey without being too simple.
It's a simulation without being a drag. It's that sweet spot that many games from the seventh generation used to hit but you don't really see as much anymore. The game feels good to play. It's just not the graphical powerhouse you'd expect to see from most racing games these days. The cars aren't perfectly recreated, the actual raceways are pretty basic looking, but on the flip side, it's not a pixel art game, and it's not super stylized. It's got a mostly realistic visual style, just one from the mid-2000s and not the modern day. It's just so nice to play a racing game where you unlock cars by just playing the game. No annoying currencies to worry about or a million little fiddly gameplay systems just meant to keep you engaged.
It's just a game with an old-fashioned proper progression system that unlocks things at a steady pace as you play. And there's a solid selection of cars right from the start too. Most modern racing games are pretty stingy with vehicles at the start because they're trying to encourage you to either spend real-world cash or just play the game forever, while in Tokyo Extreme Racer, they just give you some cars. What a concept. Look, some racing games tend to feel like a second job, but Tokyo Extreme Racer is just fun.
7 Days to Die
The game that honestly just won't die. This open-world zombie survival game finally actually came out of early access in 2024, and yes, it is still considered great. What we've always liked at Game Ranks here at 7 Days to Die is that it's got this building block world where you can destroy pretty much everything, but it's not randomly generated. Everything is custom-made, and a lot of work and care went into the design of the world. Every point of interest isn't just some generic pre-fabricated building, there's actually fun stuff, and it's engaging to explore with their own secrets and navigational puzzles to solve. And there are a lot of POEs, so even though the map is pre-made, you can spend hundreds of hours just exploring and you'll still probably find something new. The game is highly customizable and playable in just about any way you want.
You could play with friends and just explore the map, or you can play the game as more of a survival horde experience where you just hunker down in one spot and create the most heavily defended base possible, fighting off these zombie hordes, and you know eventually you get overwhelmed. Either way, it's a fun game even if the visuals aren't great. There's not a lot of consistency of design here. The world is kind of blocky, somewhat exaggerated, while the zombies just look like humans, low-poly humans, but they're not really exaggerated like the environment, so it all just looks a little weird. Only a little though, because ultimately it doesn't really make that much of a difference. None of it matters how it looks. It's just an old but fun survival game out there, especially now in 2025.
Witchfire
Dude, this is like an unholy combination of Destiny, Doom, and Tarkov. It's a solo FPS extraction shooter that actually looks pretty impressive for an indie game, but it's not going to fool you into thinking it's the next big AAA shooter. This game knows what it is, and it does it right. The game is split into two sections. There's the hub, kind of like your traditional multiplayer hub area where you upgrade your equipment and prepare for your next run, and then the expeditions where you jump into a few different large open-world locations and explore, gather resources, fight enemies, and try to get out alive. The last part is easier said than done because Witchfire can be relentless, which makes getting slowly but surely more powerful a more satisfying incentive to keep going.
Each map is huge and full of secrets and objectives to complete, and while the game isn't finished yet, there's still a lot to do in it right now. While yes, it's essentially a grinding game with no online requirements, you don't have to worry about getting ganked by someone you can't see. Look, we're all for this growing trend of making offline extraction games. It has all the fun and danger of an extraction shooter without being quite as frustrating and meta-gaming and ultra-demanding as a multiplayer game would encourage you to be. It's a great idea for a game with a lot going on already, so we're looking forward to seeing more of it.
Conclusion
But like I said, these are 10 games that are far better than they look. Some people have been judging these at first glance and writing them off, maybe it's the general gaming public, sometimes even us here at Gamix. So today we just wanted to chat about some cool fun games. Like I said, there are so many more out there, so let us know if you've got any ideas in the comments. We'd love to make a follow-up to this blog. But as always, thanks for reading, and we'll see you guys next time.
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