Underrated & Obscure Games

[Pai]

Another game that is really obscure but great is Legend of Legaia. The battle system was based on the tactical arts system, which resembled fighting games involving combinations of up, down, left, and right, and it had a decent length and story.

Yes.
Actually, Legend of Legaia is my favorite game on the Playstation, although I didn't like the sequel very much. Eh. Still, it's definately a great game, and anyone who (Likes RPGs && has a (Playstation || Playstation Emulator)) should get it.

I totally forgot about that game... I really liked it. I agree that it was a nice change from the typical JRPG mechanics. I loved the soundtrack.

Anyone else play Jade Cocoon? That was a pretty interesting little game too.

[Amnesiasoft]

Anyone else play Jade Cocoon? That was a pretty interesting little game too.

Yup. And I absolutely hate the infinite corridor for the infinite part. I managed to get 100 deep before giving up finding and end.

[aeki]

Can I add The Last Express to the Critically Acclaimed Commercial Failures list along with Psychonauts/Beyond Good and Evil? It was a late 90's adventure game that had real-time events taking place with a limited but detailed cast in an enclosed area, which made for one of the best character-driven storylines I've ever seen.

[Marlowe]

Operation Flashpoint? Overlooked because it was too bloody difficult for the masses...

[pinkgothic]

Riven++
Zork: Nemesis++

Adding to the lot: there is, in fact, a video game adaption of the book Sophie's World (yes, the bestseller by Jostein Gaarder).

"The only thing we require to be good philosophers is a sense of wonder."

Like the book, it's edutainment. It's very much a child of the 90's (it was released in 1997), but it was made with epic amounts of love. In this incarnation, it's also a puzzle/adventure game - very much of the slideshow style point-and-click, even entirely sans turning. But it still sucks you in, because it doesn't pretend to be anything else but a purely virtual environment.

And that's all I'm revealing!

Anyway, I lost my copy years ago and about a month ago decided I absolutely had to have a copy of it again... so I hunted for it on eBay.

I found it.

Do you think a single other person bid on it, though?!



Mini-gallery spoilerised for containing a shot fairly late in the game - which in itself isn't a spoiler, but in case you're curious now and want to play it without knowing even the backgrounds of any screens beforehand:

Spoiler:

[Various Varieties]

Burning Rangers on the Saturn. It often gets overlooked in favour of Sonic Team's other "main" Saturn game, NiGHTS Into Dreams (which is admittedly the better game), but Burning Rangers is well worth checking out too. It had a great system of randomising level layouts once you'd completed the main game, to add replay value (although perhaps not enough to make it worth the inflated prices it goes for on eBay these days). The navigation system was innovative too: if you get lost, press a button, and you hear the voice of the team leader radioing you advice on where to go next. (Although the lack of variety in the sound clips did grate after a while. If I hear "I cannot access the map of the area you are in" one more time...)

Sadly it was perhaps a bit too ambitious for the Saturn, with all those fire effects taking a toll on the framerate, but the central concept - a team of futuristic firefighters rescuing people from disaster areas - is excellent. It's a shame there haven't been more firefighting games; I'd love to see what today's systems could do with all those flame graphics...

So NiGHTS got a ressurrection; why not Burning Rangers? Personally I'd love a Phantasy Star Online-style cooperative online game (although with more action and less inventory management), with small teams coordinating their exploration of disaster areas.

[Cloudchaser]

Previously mentioned, and I agree:
Thief 1 and 2. Awesome, refreshing change from the typical FPS. I LOVE being sneaky.

Arcanum. That game was great. Plate-wearing warriors vs wizards vs gunslingers. How I wish they'd make a sequel. . .

And I don't find many people that agree, but I loved Sid Meiers' Alpha Centauri. His Civilization series always got the big press, but I still play SMAC to this day and love it.

Oh, and the antithesis of this thread? One word: Daikatana (that is to say, one very poorly translated word).

[aion7]

And I don't find many people that agree, but I loved Sid Meiers' Alpha Centauri. His Civilization series always got the big press, but I still play SMAC to this day and love it.

Alpha Centauri was awesome.

Daikatana

Hahahahahaha!

[pinkgothic]

SMAC is awesome, but given the amount of people I know that don't like it (that would be about 0%), I wouldn't call it underrated.

Though it's a pain to get my hithero-living boyfriend to start playing it with me. I yearn for those future LAN mini-parties, I really do, but all he says is, "Gee Willikers, NOES, it'll take me forever to get the hang of it!", and just teaching him basics doesn't work because he's an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist... so it's currently queued for the very abstract timeframe labelled "when I'm done studying and have time". Uh-huh. Sure.

[thecommabandit]

SMAC is awesome, but given the amount of people I know that don't like it (that would be about 0%), I wouldn't call it underrated.

Though it's a pain to get my hithero-living boyfriend to start playing it with me. I yearn for those future LAN mini-parties, I really do, but all he says is, "Gee Willikers, NOES, it'll take me forever to get the hang of it!", and just teaching him basics doesn't work because he's an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist... so it's currently queued for the very abstract timeframe labelled "when I'm done studying and have time". Uh-huh. Sure.

Give him the manual and let him devote a day (Sunday? No-one does anything important on Sundays) to memorizing the manual.

[pinkgothic]

Give him the manual and let him devote a day (Sunday? No-one does anything important on Sundays) to memorizing the manual.

But that's the problem! He doesn't have a day. Not to mention that he's sure that once he's read and understood it, he'll actually want to play, which then makes for irritating anxiety across the following days (this being a paraphrased quote).

Besides, I already promised I'd teach him SMAC with extra comfort, snuggling, and small amounts of expensive alcoholic beverages (e.g. Amaretto).

Yes, it really is that complicated. See what I mean?!

[INRI]

Damn it, Riven was amazing, but it confused the hell out of me. Maybe because I was like... 9. Shame I can't play it again, my ps2 has bit it
I have the feeling I'm gonna get shot for this, but... Half Life 2. I seriously think it is THE best shooter, if not one of the best games, ever. And I'm the only one of my gamer friends who's actually played it for more than a level. Sure, it has flaws, but... it's the closest game to perfection IMO. I think I just need new gamer friends.

[segmentation fault]

I have the feeling I'm gonna get shot for this, but... Half Life 2.

this is not the OVERrated games thread.

[INRI]

I have the feeling I'm gonna get shot for this, but... Half Life 2.

this is not the OVERrated games thread.

Replace "I'm" with "you're".

[DarkNova]

Beyond Good and Evil was really good. It never really made much impact though.
Dungeon Siege 1 and 2 are amazing, and way too underrated. Two of the best RPGs I've played.
I personally feel Heroes of Might and Magic was a bit underrated...yeah, V was kinda disappointing but the others weren't that bad surely?

Also on my list are the Castlevania games and Trackmania. Trackmania especially.

[AshlerZ]

I don't know if this was mentioned already here, but I think Dr. Mario is one of the most underrated games ever. Seems like anyone I challenge to a match either has never heard of it/or hates it. The point is, it's awesome, and about five thousand times better than Tetris!

[zombie_monkey]

I like Dr. Mario! We should play.

[Skateside]

stuff

So, basically, just like Crackdown except replace MGS with Halo 3 Beta?

Quite possibly, but since I don't trust Microsoft and am adverse to buying the Xbox or 360 on those grounds, I honestly wouldn't know.

[I Am Raven]

I think, pirate games, in general, are underrated. Ofcourse I'm not sure about this, but I don't hear many "Oooh"'s and "Aaaahhh"'s when I mention them. At the moment I play Pirates Of The Caribbean. Not the game of the movie, but one entirely different. It's when you play the character of Nathaniel Hawk. I really like it alot, with sailing, fighting and trading and all, very cool.

[aion7]

I think, pirate games, in general, are underrated. Ofcourse I'm not sure about this, but I don't hear many "Oooh"'s and "Aaaahhh"'s when I mention them. At the moment I play Pirates Of The Caribbean. Not the game of the movie, but one entirely different. It's when you play the character of Nathaniel Hawk. I really like it alot, with sailing, fighting and trading and all, very cool.

*cough*SkiesofArcadia*cough*

[Skateside]

I think, pirate games, in general, are underrated. Ofcourse I'm not sure about this, but I don't hear many "Oooh"'s and "Aaaahhh"'s when I mention them. At the moment I play Pirates Of The Caribbean. Not the game of the movie, but one entirely different. It's when you play the character of Nathaniel Hawk. I really like it alot, with sailing, fighting and trading and all, very cool.

Isn't that the game where if you try to play the story line, the game crashes?

And entire chunks are left out, meaning that you come across someone for the first time who draws his sword and say "Ah - there you are! I know you killed my brother!"?

And you can fight the Black Pearl at the end by using your mystical orb, which suddenly appears in your inventory out of the blue, and damages the skeletons without the slightest hint of a reason?

Although I've never played it, I'm told it's a really good fun game

[I Am Raven]

No. If you play it by the story, everything is just REALLY hard, so I don't.
But you can fight The Pearl. Though she's very dificult to hit, I've heard. I've just started playing so I can't tell you myself, but even with the best ship your only chance is to shoot 10 very good aimed salvo's at her to bring her down. But as far as I know, no things appear in your inventory...
But what you just summed up sounds very cool too!

[Skateside]

I think the one I described was actually supposed to be called something like Sea Dogs 2, but when Pirates of the Carribean came out, they decided to cash in, but blatently did it in a hurry leaving some of the most entertaining bogus gaming moments in the history of gaming.

[I Am Raven]

Wow. So we were in fact talking about the same game...
Well, good to know.
As to the topic: yes, that is a very cool game!
Oh God, I'd give anything for a frigate, instead of a stupid sloop. Or a lugger...

[Joeldi]

A while ago I saw Beyond Good and Evil in my local EB for $20 or so, and picked that up, and it lived up to expectations very well.

To the guy on the first page looking for Eternal Darkness: the other week I got a sudden thought of "I must play this game". I won a pristine copy on eBay for $20 (inc. Postage from the UK) and it is also living up to expectations. Best fucking magic system I've ever played with.

The moral of the story is eBay is god.

[Jebobek]

A while ago I saw Beyond Good and Evil in my local EB for $20 or so, and picked that up, and it lived up to expectations very well.

To the guy on the first page looking for Eternal Darkness: the other week I got a sudden thought of "I must play this game". I won a pristine copy on eBay for $20 (inc. Postage from the UK) and it is also living up to expectations. Best fucking magic system I've ever played with.

The moral of the story is eBay is god.

Speaking of underrated games and ebay, I bought Vagrant Story for 20 bucks. It was a disc in the wrong case, and i bought it for that REASON, because if the game has all the origional stuff with it its 55 bucks.

Oh and the first time i read it I thought the game was called

Eternal Darkness-"The other week I got a sudden thought of 'I must play this game.'"

[GyRo567]

Tribes Vengeance was a lot better than the initial buzz, which I remember being fairly negative. The multiplayer was apparently broken (I eventually got it working to find not much of a player base), but the singleplayer was great fun if a little bit unpolished in that rough-around-the-edges Irrational Games way. The story was also very good, picking drama over anything epic.

[Günter]

Not enough people love Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox. It is possibly the best action game ever made.

[Rinkatze]

I think, pirate games, in general, are underrated. Ofcourse I'm not sure about this, but I don't hear many "Oooh"'s and "Aaaahhh"'s when I mention them. At the moment I play Pirates Of The Caribbean. Not the game of the movie, but one entirely different. It's when you play the character of Nathaniel Hawk. I really like it alot, with sailing, fighting and trading and all, very cool.

Man, i remember playing this game for hours and hours. i always kept the boat you started with because it was so fast and just boarded enemy ships instead of sinking them. i put all my points into fencing and boarding. i also remember the loan shark in the very first city was bugged, you could borrow money from him, put it in a box next to him, and then borrow more, and repeat the cycle until you have as much money as you need. heh, one of my friends accidentally conquered the city he was in and deleted his file because he had destoryed his main source of income .

skies of arcadia was another really underrated game. the fights were fun, the ship battles were fun, and come on, flying boats? hells yea.

dragon warrior monsters as well, but man i had such bad luck with that game. just as i managed to breed a really powerful dragon (i didn't know about video game guides at the time so this was a long, painstaking, trial and error type thing) to go with my unicorn, who also took alot of work to get, i forgot the game in my swimming suit pocket and jumped into a pool with it. erased my file. the game was pretty screwed up for a while and would delete itself randomly, but eventually it started working okay again, and i got another good file going. by now i had discovered guides, so i was able to catch up to where i was before in about half the time, and even managed to get myself one of the stronger monsters (dracolord or something) when i once again forgot the game in my trouser pocket, and this time it ended up in the washing machine. The game never worked properly since then, and i've never ever forgot to check my pockets before swimming/changing clothes since that day. learned that lesson the hard way.

[Shadic]

One of my favorite puzzle games of all time is Wario's Woods. Wicked learning curve but once you're good at it, you can do amazing combos. I've spent a lot of hours on this one.

Yes. SNES or NES? I couldn't get into the NES one... I guess I was spoiled as a kid with the fancy one.

Time to make it fix'd.
legend of zelda II. everyone hated it because Gee Willikers it was nothing like zelda 1. despite it being not very difficult in any way but totally unforgiving of any minor mistake you may make due to the it was actually a game that deserves a playthrough to show that differenet doesn't mean better (or even equal).

The only thing they could have added to make the game more of a bad experience would be jumping puzzles. Jumping puzzles ruin everything.

It's not bad because it was different. It's bad because it wasn't a good game.

Wrong.

What's the difference between "Difficult," and "Punishing for mistakes." ? You seem to act like making a Zelda game in which dying is actually a possibility as some sort of mortal sin.

Zelda II is awesome.

[Jebobek]

You seem to act like making a Zelda game in which dying is actually a possibility as some sort of mortal sin.

The mortal sin was not the possibility of dying, it was the extra lives which meant you were expected to die alot. And you did. Zelda games are meant to be played through, not trudged through. That last castle? Redic..

Difficult is "getting hit alot, stay on your toes, shield dance against the knights"
Getting punished for mistakes is "hit once, get knocked a meter back and fall into a pit, insta death." Not even Mario ONE made the knock-back mistake.

They should have made a second zeldaII-style game for the ds about 4 years ago, immediately upon release of the DS. A top menu for a quick-selection of your spells using the L+R buttons? Come on, it would be perfect. If the New Super Mario Bros. was a hit this can be too.

[Various Varieties]

You seem to act like making a Zelda game in which dying is actually a possibility as some sort of mortal sin.

*Looks at end of game death count for Ocarina of Time*
*Hides in shame*

Bloody Shadow Temple boss...

[Cecilff2]

Personally, I think Prey was underrated. Just because you can't lose past a certain point doesn't make the game suck. The environment and setting was amazing.

Also, I need to mention Out of this World. Excellent adventure game. The developer of Heart of Darkness made this game first, and it's in the same vein. It's also named Another World sometimes.

[headprogrammingczar]

You seem to act like making a Zelda game in which dying is actually a possibility as some sort of mortal sin.

*Looks at end of game death count for Ocarina of Time*
*Hides in shame*

Bloody Shadow Temple boss... :x

That was my favorite boss. The trick is the hookshot+bomb+arrow. hookshot paralyzes, bomb does massive damage, and the arrow detonates it instantly. I forget if you can get ice arrows before that point, but those would help too.

[Skateside]

You seem to act like making a Zelda game in which dying is actually a possibility as some sort of mortal sin.

*Looks at end of game death count for Ocarina of Time*
*Hides in shame*

Bloody Shadow Temple boss...

That was my favorite boss. The trick is the hookshot+bomb+arrow. hookshot paralyzes, bomb does massive damage, and the arrow detonates it instantly. I forget if you can get ice arrows before that point, but those would help too.

Really? That complicated?

I never had a problem with good ol' Bongo Bongo. I just shoot the hands, turn on the Lens of Truth, whip out my sword and charge it up. Releasing it just before his eye crashes into you will stun him and then you're right next to him with a sword. Getting the Biggoron Sword before you take him on will cut down the time it takes to kill him.

[headprogrammingczar]

Really? That complicated?

I never had a problem with good ol' Bongo Bongo. I just shoot the hands, turn on the Lens of Truth, whip out my sword and charge it up. Releasing it just before his eye crashes into you will stun him and then you're right next to him with a sword. Getting the Biggoron Sword before you take him on will cut down the time it takes to kill him.

I only do it that complicated to see if it works. That one did work for me, but I tried it after doing it the normal way. I tried beating the witch sisters with fire and ice arrows and was disappointed when it wouldn't do any damage.

[Griffin]

Since noone else has, I have to second Hardwar. That game was the awesome.

Playing with 7 other actual people in a world with a major involved plot, with some players as pirates, some as police, some as traders, some as bounty hunters, some as scavengers, and most dabbling in a couple of the above has to have been one of the most fun things I've done. I loved that game - If you haven't played it, you totally should.

On a nother note, Starsiege. You know, the game Tribes was a sequel to. I loved that game for its storyline and its super fun mech mechanics. I liked being able to shoot off enemy weapons at attachment points so I could scavenge them after the battle and stuff like that, too. Or just frying the pilot with radiation and stealing the entire mech. Plus you actually interact with your squad, and some of them might be spies or traitors. Fun, fun times, and I still love cybrids.

[aion7]

I am seriously disappointed with the lack of praise Bangai-O Spirits on DS has been getting. It's a fudglingk awesome shmup with brilliant level design, weapons, mechanics, controls, old school graphics and music. It also has a fantastic level creator. The replay value is some of the highest in the last five years.

[Mr. Mack]

I've heard that Rocket Knight Adventures didn't sell too well, and I can confirm that it is an incredible game. I'd also like to second The Lost Vikings.
Although according to digitpress.com, the rarest game I own is The Ooze. Which, although not a great game, is really awesome and definitely unique (although there may be a reason for that).

Wait, I double-checked, Slamscape is the rarest game I own, but it isn't underrated at all. In fact, now that you've heard about it, it is now officially overrated. That was enough to push it over the line.

Speaking of Playstation, Kagero: Deception II is another unique, awesome, underrated game. Think Home Alone meets Saw and you'll get the general idea. For instance, you can drop a bucket of paint on someone's head, except the paint is nothing but oil, then you crush them with a boulder and throw them into a lava pit, all to the music of The Nutcracker! (assuming you mute the TV and put on that music).

[aion7]

I'll second Rocket Knight Adventures. It's one of the best games on the console.