[Post here] Underrated and Overlooked Games

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Dragon's Fury/Devil's Crush/Devil Crash for Genesis/TG-16. While it's part of the already-niche genre of pinball games/simulators, the visuals and sound are pretty flashy for the time of its release and the pinball mechanics and physics are absolutely spot-on. The game's just so dazzling and satisfying to play.

[K.B.]

Eh, the physics seemed a tad off to me (as with most older pinball video games), but definitely agreed that it's fun and that the music is awesome.

A few recs in this thread that I'd never heard of; I'll have to check them out.  For now, my nomination is Grim Fandango.  I didn't think it would have been overlooked, but over 95% of people in today's gamefaqs poll hadn't played it.  Point-and-click adventure; arguably the best in the genre and one of the funniest games ever made.

[Zerviscos]

Yeah I ended up having to toss the developer into the search since it's a short, real-word title.

Short trailer
Some random dude's Let's Play with commentary via YouTube annotations (I skipped to Part 3 because the initial area is both pretty short/boring and... weirdly probably more spoilery than the stuff soon after, and he doesn't enter the first area proper until midway through Part 2.)

But, I mean, it's a Myst-style adventure game (pretty much contemporaneous with Riven), so while I adore the hell out of it, it may not be the most exciting thing in the world to watch. :V

Oh, looks interesting point and click adventure. I haven't read the plot, but the game is like Alone in the Dark with Science. It also looks pretty advance for it's time.

Eh, the physics seemed a tad off to me (as with most older pinball video games), but definitely agreed that it's fun and that the music is awesome.

A few recs in this thread that I'd never heard of; I'll have to check them out.  For now, my nomination is Grim Fandango.  I didn't think it would have been overlooked, but over 95% of people in today's gamefaqs poll hadn't played it.  Point-and-click adventure; arguably the best in the genre and one of the funniest games ever made.

Wait what? Grim Fandango was made by Lucas Arts? Oh God my childhood, I never knew!
That game was awesome!

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

Oh, looks interesting point and click adventure. I haven't read the plot, but the game is like Alone in the Dark with Science. It also looks pretty advance for it's time.

Though warning: have fun actually finding it. :V (Also if you do I have no idea if it runs on modern systems, I ended up running it in a Win98 virtual machine last time I did play it but I'd already set that up for something else so I figured might as well as long as I had it, skipped even trying to run it on Vista.)

[Reddyne]

As always with these threads, there are answers, there are correct answers, and there is Terranigma.

Thiiiiiiis. Terranigma is fantastic. Remake the whole wide world from the ground up - literally. Just play it with a guide so you can get all the cool stuff.

Dark Cloud was pretty decent. Dark Cloud 2 was better in lots of regards, including trimming off the pointless player characters.

I still have a save file with 65 hours pumped into DC2. Max has the best lighter-weight wrench with the best ray gun equipped. Monica has the best lightest-weight sword with the best amulet thing equipped. The frozen fish and tiki head were more fun to use though.

Seiken Densetsu 3

This was my high school experience with games. Lise as a Star Lancer, Duran as a Swordmaster, and Hawk as a Nightblade provided a combo of stat and weapon buffs for your party plus debuffs for the enemies. 

 
Hey! Look what the Game Grumps are playing! Why, it's the best SNES game that no one played! 'Member how you're here because you like playing as a miko who shoots and dodges stuff in games with lots of Japanese mythology tied to it? Then how come you never played this?
 
Am I the only one who remembers Tyrian/Tyrian 2000? Got me into shooters, it did. Shame it works so poorly on Windows 7.
 
I also have to plug Company of Heroes again. A game that I never heard anyone talk about until I just picked it up and tried it by my lonesome. This is the most satisfying RTS game I've ever played. It took 7 years to get a sequel, which looks and sounds delicious.  Also, Metro 2033, a story and immersion-heavy FPS that received just enough notice to get a sequel too. DON'T LOOK AT THE KREMLIN!

[Desu_Cake]

Magical Starsign
Gameplay-wise, it's typical RPG fare, but DAT DAMN STORY!
And practically no-one I know has ever heard of it ;_;

[KrackoCloud]

Magical Starsign
Gameplay-wise, it's typical RPG fare, but DAT DAMN STORY!
And practically no-one I know has ever heard of it ;_;

Ah ha ha. I thought it was a neat game, but there wasn't much to make it stand out from the rest of the rpg crowd. I can't say I remember much about the plot, although it was fairly straightforward (in a way that was a good thing).

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

Am I the only one who remembers Tyrian/Tyrian 2000? Got me into shooters, it did. Shame it works so poorly on Windows 7.

I remember Tyrian 2000 from much much more recent history, because it's on GOG for actually free.

[trancehime]

Battle Garegga (arcade, Saturn). A favourite in the STG scene for being one of the early bullet hell games - and being very difficult for one considering its near-invisible bullets. Soundtrack's laced with loads of Detroit techno and FM synthesis goodness.

I'm not sure I'd call this obscure. Compared to the other games in the list anyway. :V

Magical Starsign
Gameplay-wise, it's typical RPG fare, but DAT DAMN STORY!
And practically no-one I know has ever heard of it ;_;

I found it kinda boring :derp:

Wait what? Grim Fandango was made by Lucas Arts? Oh God my childhood, I never knew!
That game was awesome!

It really was.

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

Lemme also drop back in here with a recommendation for King of Dragon Pass. Because it is the very best game.

I'm not really the best at describing things but it's sorta of a hybrid between a simulation game and a choose your own adventure. The best recommendation I can give for answering the question of "would I like this game?" is to read the first few game-years of the two fantastic Let's Plays on the archive.

Anyone who does decide they want it, it's available on GOG in its original form, or on iOS in a slightly-updated rerelease which adds some new events and streamlines a few tasks like crop ratios and some tasks 99% of the player base all did the same thing on anyway (always maxing out crafters, removing Children as an option for your magic because actually putting points in it blows and leaves you a mountain of useless mouths to feed, etc.)

[Tommy Vercetti]

Here's one that I don't think was mentioned in this thread: Actraiser. The first game was an excellent mix of strategy, simulation and platforming with some awesome music. Your avatar could use some magic, albeit it's limited to finite uses per stage. It's a shame the second game killed the series with its difficulty spikes.

Here's another game that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned yet: Startropics. This one's an interesting case: It wasn't obscure at the time it was released. Now, it's seemingly all but forgotten. It's similar to the first Zelda game. You play as Mike Jones as he finds his missing uncle. However, it adds some more to the plate compared to the first Zelda game. Such as: puzzle bosses, quirky dialogue, interesting puzzles and powerful items. It's on the NA/EU Virtual Console if you want to give it a try.

[[Y]oukai [J]esus]

All the people on this forum who I could potentially discuss Geneforge and I guess by extension Avernum with are Singaporeans.

HMMMM....

Well I played every Geneforge game and stuff etc etc eue

HMMMM.....

[trancehime]

Here's one that I don't think was mentioned in this thread: Actraiser. The first game was an excellent mix of strategy, simulation and platforming with some awesome music. Your avatar could use some magic, albeit it's limited to finite uses per stage. It's a shame the second game killed the series with its difficulty spikes.

Actraiser was particularly iconic for its music and interesting village sim element though?  :wat:

Here's another game that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned yet: Startropics. This one's an interesting case: It wasn't obscure at the time it was released. Now, it's seemingly all but forgotten. It's similar to the first Zelda game. You play as Mike Jones as he finds his missing uncle. However, it adds some more to the plate compared to the first Zelda game. Such as: puzzle bosses, quirky dialogue, interesting puzzles and powerful items. It's on the NA/EU Virtual Console if you want to give it a try.

DeceasedCrab did LPs on Startropics and its sequel, and I think it's exposed a lot of people to it. I guess to be fair though it is kind of on the underrated side of the spectrum as it's pretty much fun fluff and the dialogue is pretty great too.

[Garlyle]

Here's one that I don't think was mentioned in this thread: Actraiser. The first game was an excellent mix of strategy, simulation and platforming with some awesome music. Your avatar could use some magic, albeit it's limited to finite uses per stage. It's a shame the second game killed the series with its difficulty spikes.

ActRaiser is mildly well known among more classic/retro gamers these days, but yeah, it's really worth checking out.  The second game just... isn't the same.

Here's another game that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned yet: Startropics. This one's an interesting case: It wasn't obscure at the time it was released. Now, it's seemingly all but forgotten. It's similar to the first Zelda game. You play as Mike Jones as he finds his missing uncle. However, it adds some more to the plate compared to the first Zelda game. Such as: puzzle bosses, quirky dialogue, interesting puzzles and powerful items. It's on the NA/EU Virtual Console if you want to give it a try.

StarTropics 1 and 2 are great and I think they were run in SDA marathons over the last couple years.  Either way yeah they're really neat if you like Zelda-like games, though there's some stuff in them that is just straight up "what the fuck how was I supposed to know this" in the first one.

[Zerviscos]

Though warning: have fun actually finding it. :V (Also if you do I have no idea if it runs on modern systems, I ended up running it in a Win98 virtual machine last time I did play it but I'd already set that up for something else so I figured might as well as long as I had it, skipped even trying to run it on Vista.)

...okay, well that goes down my brain toilet. I don't really want to bother looking for "very hard to find" games on the internet. Though if you still have it, can you upload it?

Magical Starsign
Gameplay-wise, it's typical RPG fare, but DAT DAMN STORY!
And practically no-one I know has ever heard of it ;_;

Wow, it looks cute! :yukkuri:

Lemme also drop back in here with a recommendation for King of Dragon Pass. Because it is the very best game.

I'm not really the best at describing things but it's sorta of a hybrid between a simulation game and a choose your own adventure. The best recommendation I can give for answering the question of "would I like this game?" is to read the first few game-years of the two fantastic Let's Plays on the archive.

Anyone who does decide they want it, it's available on GOG in its original form, or on iOS in a slightly-updated rerelease which adds some new events and streamlines a few tasks like crop ratios and some tasks 99% of the player base all did the same thing on anyway (always maxing out crafters, removing Children as an option for your magic because actually putting points in it blows and leaves you a mountain of useless mouths to feed, etc.)

It looks like one of those choice-based RPGs.

Actraiser was particularly iconic for its music and interesting village sim element though?  :wat:

Personally I loved the game. It reminded me of old Castlevania on NES(NOT SIMON'S QUEST...I hate that.).
---
Anyways, since Dragon's Crown is coming out. I'd have to recommend a Vanillaware game, which really aren't that popular to begin with. It is Odin Sphere. It is a very amazing 2D sidescroller RPG, and it was the first game I bought developed by Vanillaware. The story, the art style and gameplay are all rather unique than most RPGs out there. It's like platforming, but less puzzly and it's an RPG. A must-play for JRPG gamers, or atleast people who likes games like these.

Truthfully I missed out the first game, GrimGrimoire, and bought Odin Sphere first, it was 2 years after that I then knew about GrimGrimoire, and that Vanillaware made the best 2D sidescroller RPGs I played(yes, almost all they made are 2D sidescrollers). I was gonna recommend Princess Crown but it was a game that was only released in Japan(even the re-release on PSP was only in Japan), so it might be impossible for some people to play it.

[trancehime]

I am not sure it is fair to say that all Vanillaware games are underrated or even implying they are unpopular.

Especially considering that Odin Sphere got 83 on freaking Metacritic, and even GrimGrimoire for all its quirks still got a 79 on the same goddamn place. :V

[Zerviscos]

I am not sure it is fair to say that all Vanillaware games are underrated or even implying they are unpopular.

Especially considering that Odin Sphere got 83 on freaking Metacritic, and even GrimGrimoire for all its quirks still got a 79 on the same goddamn place. :V

I'm not saying they were underrated, but they are pretty overlooked by mainstream gamers.

[Kaze_Senshi]

One game that I think that is very underrated is Gruntz. It is an awesome strategy game with great sound effects and music, the game characters are soo charismatic, its humor it's very good with funny parodies and its puzzles are pretty intense and creative, the combination of gimmicks in the scenarios and the tools that each Gruntz can hold could create an almost infinite combination of challenges. Even if all these features it seems that I am the only guy who played this game in my country, I wonder why this game didn't have a continuation



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SDNAtMYskc

[Tengukami]

This is quickly becoming the "your game isn't obscure enough" thread.

[t0k]

Treasure of the Rudra (Rudra no Hihou) uses a classic Square visual engine ala FF6 and feels similar to it in a lot of ways.  You progress three separate scenarios (and a fourth final one after) which tell the tale of different heroes with different goals during the last 16 days before humanity is apparently going to be 'wiped out' to make way for a new race - though you have the freedom to progress through each tale independantly, they each occur simultaneously, so the plots are neatly interwoven.  On top of great presentation, the game's spell system is truly unique - you actually name the spell and the game creates the spell based on what you wrote - literally anything works!

I was just playing this a few weeks back and I really enjoyed it. I haven't played many JRPGs so it was really a novel experience for me. The music was so good....  :V

[trancehime]

This is quickly becoming the "your game isn't obscure enough" thread.

To be fair, it is mostly me brushing aside the idea that people post titles in this thread because it's not particularly talked about wherever it is they are - certain titles, simply because they are not as well-known as a Final Fantasy game, does not constitute "overlooked" or "underrated" status. >_> Like, the only reason why anyone would consider the original Valkyrie Profile game for the PSX "overlooked" is because it was in limited print, and so it became very rare. Yet, VP: Lenneth is a thing. There was VP2, even, so obviously people cared enough about the first game for it to warrant further games.

If you really must go and say "thread is being ruined or warped" then just dump it all on me and call it a day

[Zerviscos]

To be fair, it is mostly me brushing aside the idea that people post titles in this thread because it's not particularly talked about wherever it is they are - certain titles, simply because they are not as well-known as a Final Fantasy game, does not constitute "overlooked" or "underrated" status. >_> Like, the only reason why anyone would consider the original Valkyrie Profile game for the PSX "overlooked" is because it was in limited print, and so it became very rare. Yet, VP: Lenneth is a thing. There was VP2, even, so obviously people cared enough about the first game for it to warrant further games.

If you really must go and say "thread is being ruined or warped" then just dump it all on me and call it a day

Wasn't that the point? I'm pretty sure I meant overlooked by some gamers. It doesn't mean the game you should post should be infamous, or something like that. Just a game that can be overlooked, or games that were pretty underrated that they really deserve to be. I mean, even if I love video games, that doesn't mean I have the time to look for games underneath famous games. Even I miss out some obvious titles that I would just come to know a few years after...even maybe more. I mean, there were also heaps of platforming games I missed out last gen, since there wasn't much any ads, and since GF doesn't update quite easily(some games aren't included).

So yes, VProfile can be considered overlooked if some people didn't even bother to look for it, unless they played the sequels, they will probably look for it. It's like saying Xenogears was overshadowed by Final Fantasy VII, and yet most people I know doesn't even know what Xenogears is. All they know is Xenosaga, and no...they don't even know Xenoblade. Games like these can be considered overlooked for some gamers because they were overshadowed by more famous games. You could also tell that from some games Tales series, and Atelier. Metro 2033 was also overlooked by a lot of people in 2010, and people only knew about it during the Steam ad for the sequel, Metro 2034. Sure you could say you know a lot of people who knows it, but that's just you and people "you know" that really WOULD know it. What about people who doesn't? People who were busy, they would just settle for games from ads/demos, or just a famous franchise instead of looking for awesome games that and wouldn't bother to look for undiscovered gems, which the majority of people in planet earth is.

I'm not saying you should post games that seemingly not a lot of people would know. Just post games like for example the game is in a franchise, and most people know about the games, but there was one game that was overlooked. That's it, just post that game that people wouldn't bother to look unless they were hardcore fans of that certain franchise. Like how Ace Combat games were pretty decent and famous then, but now most of their games are overlooked by most gamers.

Again, it doesn't need to be overly overlooked. Just consider some titles that you think most people just don't know about.

[trancehime]

I guess my issue is that a lot of titles I already had in mind are titles I already expect people to know about >_>

[Edible]

I don't really want to bother looking for "very hard to find" games on the internet. Though if you still have it, can you upload it?

This is not a recommended course of action.

Your laziness in piracy is one thing, but asking for or sharing game links is frowned upon here.

[Ghaleon]

I almost feel bad wanting to contribute after that but perhaps other people are interested too.

Anyway i never thought the game was overlooked at the time but nowdays im convinced it is...
Ogre battle for the snes/psx, and ogre battle 64 for the n64. I mention them because all i ever hear is tactics ogre this, tactics ovre that, and frankly tactics ogre seemed like juat another tactical rpg to me, ogre battle on the other hand was way more memorable and fun for me.

Extremely obscure, good luck finding it but "odyssey: the legend of nemesis" for macintosh (before imacs were a thing). Very cool rpg with a sweet soundtrack.

Not obscure at all but lots of people havent played the Ys series, dont be one of them. Its a classic and if you like it, you got a whole series of games to look forward to that are all quite similar so no dissapointments for you... Only problem is its damnable platform hopping.

Warlords battlecry 2 is a really cool real time strategy for the pc. I dont like rts games so much but that one is quite unique. With like a dozen different races which are actually quite different, and its own hero system which grants exp to spend on an effton of diff stats BETWEEN games, if you like it youll literally never ever finish building all the races and specs and stuff. Too bad its bgm is like a watered down soundtrack of homm4.

Speaking of homm4.. People hate it cuz its not like homm 2 and 3. But if you play it like it's its (i dont think ive ever naturally said that before...) own game and not part of the series, you may grow to like it... Kinda like advance wars days of ruin.

[theshirn]

HoMM4 and Days of Ruin were both fantastic games (with their own issues, but no worse in that regard than any other game in their respective series) and had awesome soundtracks to boot.

[Ghaleon]

Yeah, i hope i didnt imply it was bad, its just jarri g that WBC2
S soundtrack sounds like its LITERALLY homm4's soundtrack with like... Half the instruments, melodies, etc. its like when one speaker in your headphone dies and everything sounds worse than mono now, kinda like that but not quite.

I also wanna clarify about Ys' platform hopping. I don mean ledge jumping, i mean they cant stick to one damn console/system... Or two, or three... Arghhhh.

[Zerviscos]

This is not a recommended course of action.

Your laziness in piracy is one thing, but asking for or sharing game links is frowned upon here.

Woops, sorry. I thought a private message would be sufficient for the link share. Guess not then...

Speaking of homm4.. People hate it cuz its not like homm 2 and 3. But if you play it like it's its (i dont think ive ever naturally said that before...) own game and not part of the series, you may grow to like it... Kinda like advance wars days of ruin.

I personally disliked it. It's obscure than the older games. Gameplay-wise I mean.

[Ghaleon]

Age of wonders 1 and 2 (and shadow magic, which is like 2+) are great games... kinda like homm only more deep...It's like Homm meets Civilization kinda, where you can build towns, and have more worries regarding income, upkeep, what structures to build next (homm structure building is mostly no brainers really), etc.

AND HOLY SHIT I JUST FOUND OUT that Age of Wonders 3 is supposedly being released THIS fall...that game was an abandoned franchaise I thought, for like 10 effing years.. YESSSS.

BTW, have you played the 2 Lufia games on the SNES? great rpg gems, you may know them as estpolis...Don't play the crummy DS version, holy carp that game insults the original. 2 is more popular than 1, and it's better in many ways, but halfway thru or so the difficulty nosedives hard which kinda sucks... its ancient cave mode is quite addicting though.

[Edible]

Woops, sorry. I thought a private message would be sufficient for the link share. Guess not then...

Asking for it is a bad idea as well.  Like I said, we don't really do the whole game piracy thing here.