Best 2025 Video Games for user interface design

#1 Donkey Kong Bananza
5.0

User interface design was praised for the helpful layer checklist that makes collectible tracking easier.

Pros: fun factor, world interactivity

Cons: frame rate stability, boss design

#2 Hades II
5.0

The interface receives praise for carrying the art direction into menus and buttons, putting Supergiant near the top of UI craft.

Pros: combat system, progression system

Cons: originality

#3 Kirby Air Riders
5.0

One reviewer praised the presentation, menus, UI, unlocks, sound, and graphics as beautiful.

Pros: battle mode quality, content variety

Cons: learning curve, competitive balance

#4 Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
5.0

User interface design receives praise for being clean and easy to navigate.

Pros: combat system, faithfulness to franchise

Cons: narrative quality, frame rate stability

#5 Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
4.7

Interface changes, shortcut assignments, and UI overhaul were praised for making these old games easier to play.

Pros: remake/remaster quality, combat system

Cons: difficulty balance, grind level

#6 Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
4.5

User interface design was one of the clearest improvements, bringing more information forward and modernizing menus.

Pros: remake/remaster quality, voice acting

Cons: content variety, camera behavior

#7 Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
4.5

UI feedback was positive when reviewers discussed improved, adaptable, or visually polished interface presentation.

Pros: combat system, narrative quality

Cons: save system reliability, learning curve

#8 Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
4.5

User interface design is praised for thoughtful fictional UI and a radial menu that makes road management easier.

Pros: narrative quality, combat system

Cons: difficulty balance, weapon balance

#9 Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
4.5

User interface design was praised for easy navigation and a modern UI, though evidence was limited.

Pros: remake/remaster quality, combat system

Cons: content variety

#10 Capcom Fighting Collection 2
4.5

The user interface is praised as sleek and easy to enter from the outset.

Pros: content variety, value for money

Cons: cross-play support, competitive balance

#11 Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
4.5

The customization interface is praised for letting players place and manage island objects quickly and efficiently.

Pros: core gameplay loop, narrative quality

Cons: crafting system, multiplayer design

#12 Hollow Knight: Silksong
4.5

User interface design has limited positive evidence around attractive mission HUD illustrations and attention to detail.

Pros: difficulty balance, art direction

Cons: economy and resource balance, checkpoint system

#13 Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
4.5

User interface design was mixed, with praise for faithful Zelda-style menus but other reviews criticizing map/interface clutter.

Pros: combat system, character roster

Cons: level design, mission design

#14 The First Berserker: Khazan
4.5

User interface design earns praise for an encyclopedia that explains abilities and systems.

Pros: combat system, boss design

Cons: narrative quality, difficulty balance

#15 South of Midnight
4.4

User interface design was praised for simple navigation and a fitting aesthetic touch.

Pros: soundtrack quality, narrative quality

Cons: combat system, enemy variety

#16 The Alters
4.2

UI design was mostly praised as clean, tactile, and not intrusive, with some interface quirks noted.

Pros: narrative quality, replay value

Cons: difficulty balance, pacing

#17 Digimon Story Time Stranger
4.0

UI design was polarized: some reviewers called it clean and easy, while another strongly criticized clutter and constant pop-ups.

Pros: progression system, narrative quality

Cons: pacing, content variety

#18 Elden Ring Nightreign
4.0

User interface design was considered streamlined in inventory and improved through later UI updates.

Pros: co-op experience, fun factor

Cons: difficulty balance, social features

#19 Avowed
4.0

UI options such as text sizing and subtitles were appreciated as useful interface support.

Pros: combat system, narrative quality

Cons: difficulty balance, enemy variety

#20 Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
4.0

The interface has useful touches, such as clear ammunition information, but it also inherits glitches and awkward presentation from the game’s broader technical roughness. Usability is functional rather than consistently...

Pros: immersion, fun factor

Cons: bug frequency, AI behavior

#21 Tales of Xillia Remastered
3.9

The interface is cleaner and more usable for some reviewers, while others still find portions dated or awkward, particularly settings buried too deeply in menus.

Pros: combat system, remake/remaster quality

Cons: animation quality, environmental detail

#22 Sniper Elite: Resistance
3.7

Clear weapon information, unlock goals, collectible tracking, and notification clearing help usability. Busy layouts, reused presentation, and small text remain points of criticism.

Pros: overall quality, level design

Cons: innovation, mission design

#23 Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
3.6

The interface earns praise for sharp presentation and convenient challenge tracking. Ranking requirements and stage-completion markers are less clear to some players.

Pros: overall quality, difficulty balance

Cons: frame rate stability, performance optimization

#24 Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted
3.6

The interface is clearer and more modern in places, yet scaling and consistency remain uneven. Small text, mixed legacy elements, and awkward transitions are especially noticeable on larger displays.

Pros: fun factor, remake/remaster quality

Cons: graphics quality, soundtrack quality

#25 Ghost of Yōtei
3.5

UI evidence is mixed: restrained maps and menus are praised, but one reviewer reports low-contrast text and hard-to-see map elements.

Pros: combat system, narrative quality

Cons: grind level, innovation

#26 Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage
3.5

The interface draws mixed reactions: colorful menus and live match feeds are useful, but some players think the overall presentation has not evolved enough for a modern fighter.

Pros: remake/remaster quality, combat system

Cons: content variety, character customization

#27 Absolum
3.5

User interface design was mostly fine but received a handheld-specific caveat around small text and lack of font scaling.

Pros: combat system, replay value

Cons: narrative quality, grind level

#28 Anno 117: Pax Romana
3.5

The interface can be clean and accessible once learned, but opinions split sharply over confusing tabs, dense screens, and console-oriented navigation.

Pros: fun factor, graphics quality

Cons: learning curve, bug frequency

#29 BALL x PIT
3.4

Character-specific meters, optional sharper text, and detailed stats earn praise. Town building is less consistent: identifying structures and repeatedly moving them can be cumbersome.

Pros: fun factor, upgrade system

Cons: user interface design, grind level

#30 The Outer Worlds 2
3.3

Interface design was split between a UI that stayed out of the way and a cluttered UI complaint.

Pros: combat system, progression system

Cons: pacing, AI behavior

#31 Europa Universalis V
3.2

UI opinions are sharply split. Nested tooltips and organization can make huge amounts of data manageable, but dense screens, unclear actions, overlapping text, and readability problems remain common complaints.

Pros: gameplay mechanics, fun factor

Cons: learning curve, AI behavior

#32 Cronos: The New Dawn
3.1

User interface and inventory usability drew mixed evidence, with some one-button convenience but repeated irritation around inventory management and reloading.

Pros: combat system, narrative quality

Cons: boss design, puzzle design

#33 Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
3.0

User interface design is divisive: some like the comic-book styling, while others criticize small text, weak UI, or barebones menus.

Pros: content variety, gameplay mechanics

Cons: learning curve, user interface design

#34 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2.8

The user interface drew criticism for clutter and painful Picto/menu navigation despite stylish presentation.

Pros: narrative quality, combat system

Cons: map and navigation design, menu usability

#35 Silent Hill f
2.8

User interface design was split between praise for the journal’s care and criticism of poor organization in notes and collectibles.

Pros: puzzle design, narrative quality

Cons: combat system, enemy variety

#36 Mario Kart World Review
2.5

User interface design was mixed-to-negative, with complaints about missed music selection and underdeveloped online feature presentation.

Pros: content variety, soundtrack quality

Cons: open-world design, exploration quality

#37 Arc Raiders
2.5

Inventory UI was criticized for lacking search and customization even though basic grouping exists.

Pros: sound design, combat system

Cons: voice acting, menu usability

#38 Atomfall
2.5

User interface design had limited negative evidence, with one reviewer saying full-screen menus broke immersion.

Pros: narrative quality, exploration quality

Cons: combat system, AI behavior

#39 Yakuza Kiwami 2
2.5

The Switch 2 interface can look noticeably blurry on 1440p or 4K displays because some 2D assets are not rendered at native resolution. It is a visual blemish rather than...

Pros: narrative quality, combat system

Cons: onboarding experience, difficulty balance

#40 Borderlands 4
2.2

User interface design is one of the clearest pain points, criticized as poorly conceived, flat, slow, or a step backward despite one positive UI comparison note.

Pros: movement feel, loot system

Cons: performance optimization, narrative quality

#41 Lego Voyagers
2.2

Interface clarity was criticized where the game's visual language made interactable options or progress less obvious.

Pros: co-op experience, puzzle design

Cons: controls responsiveness, replay value

#42 Football Manager 26
2.1

The redesigned UI is the clearest weakness, repeatedly described as clunky, unintuitive, slow or overly console-oriented. A minority appreciate its cleaner look or adapt to it, but the new layout...

Pros: gameplay mechanics, animation quality

Cons: user interface design, bug frequency

#43 Battlefield 6
2.0

UI design was a common complaint, especially streaming-app-style menus and loadout screens.

Pros: multiplayer design, sound design

Cons: narrative quality, map and navigation design

#44 Dispatch
2.0

The user interface is a recurring gameplay complaint, especially on controllers. Reviewers describe selecting map icons as fiddly or confusing when several timed calls overlap.

Pros: choice impact, narrative quality

Cons: gameplay mechanics, QTE design

#45 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
2.0

The default Zombies interface is considered visually uninteresting and too close to the information-heavy Call of Duty HUD style that some players want to escape.

Pros: multiplayer design, level design

Cons: fun factor, narrative quality

#46 Goodnight Universe
2.0

User interface design had a negative console/set-piece example where cursor text highlighting bogged down the experience.

Pros: narrative quality, emotional impact

Cons: controls responsiveness, platform-specific feature support

#47 Monster Hunter Wilds
2.0

User interface design was criticized where radial menus felt unresponsive and UI friction recurred during repeated hunt cycles.

Pros: combat system, narrative quality

Cons: difficulty balance, endgame content

#48 Pokémon Legends: Z-A
2.0

User interface design drew criticism where feedback during combat was hard to parse.

Pros: combat system, exploration quality

Cons: graphics quality, voice acting

#49 Marathon
1.8

The interface is the most consistent criticism. Menus, inventory icons, loot management, and information density are stylish but frequently described as cluttered, confusing, or unnecessarily hard to use.

Pros: fun factor, loot system

Cons: difficulty balance, quest design

#50 Civilization VII
1.7

The user interface was the most repeated complaint, often described as inadequate, ugly, missing information, or confusing even when later improved.

Pros: fun factor, economy and resource balance

Cons: progression system, user interface design