Under Appreciated or Obscure Games

[Lucia]

Now we all know the heavy hitters in the gaming world, we all know the big name franchises and their ever increasing numbers next to their names, but maybe you've discovered a game that no one ever talks about or you went out on a limb to try a game that seemed interesting that you never heard of. This is that thread to show that love and maybe even get a few other people interested!

If you feel the game is not appreciated enough, feel free to go ahead and post about it! If you feel the game is obscure and you want to bring it out to a wider audience, post about it! The best thing that can come from this is teaching other people about cool new games they might have passed up or even never heard of. Maybe even an entry in a franchise that might have been ignored because it was some kind of side-story and had no impact on the main games themselves. Maybe it was a game that was poorly rated but you feel it was a perfect 10 because you saw through the flaws. This is that thread for you.



Probably a huge offender of a game that I absolutely love that not many people have played would be the first Zero's Escape game 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (for the Nintendo DS) as well as the second Zero's Escape game Virtue's Last Reward (for the Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita), both by Spike Chunsoft (with a third game currently in the works).

Both games are a puzzle adventure game (while also advertised as a visual novel game, I find them to be more like an adventure game with just really long cutscenes) that involve 9 people participating in a deadly game known as the Nonary Game. A concept which centers all around the number 9. Both games are wonderfully engaging with a story filled with twists and turns to mess with your expectations.

999 can be completed over a weekend, depending on how well you're head can work out puzzles and how fast you can read, with 6 endings for you to achieve. Virtue's Last Reward on the other hand boasts 24 different endings. Many of them are stock game over themed endings but there are 9 character specific endings with 8 of them needing to be achieved before you can tackle the 'true' ending. I wish I could splurge more details, but these games are story focused that are not to be spoiled under any condition.

Edit: Making a table of contents of everyone's recommendation in case this thread gets really big.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lucia: Zero Escape series / Ys series
Atticus: Spectrobes / Scribblenauts / Fossil Fighters
JuicieJ: Psychonauts
Ventus: Star Ocean / Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon / Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
Koosholts: Dark Souls
DarkestLink: Okami / Okamiden / Glover
Zorth: Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy / Spore
prince rallis: Call of Duty series / Sonic 3 and Knuckles / Sonic Heroes
TSter The Great: Okami / Okamiden / Mother series / Pokemon (console) series
Dan: Dynamite Headdy / Ultimate Spiderman
Vampire Squid: Bubsy series
LittleGumball: Ball Jacks
Lord Carlisle: The Professor Layton series
justac00lguy: Croc: Legend of the Gobbos / Simpsons: Hit and Run
musicfan: Sky Gunners
Mercedes: Don't Starve (but mostly any Indie Game)
MW7: Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
ILU: Eternal Darkness / Enslaved
Din Akera: Chameleon Twist
ScouseOctorok: Gex
Sonic: Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Spirit of Rutela: Obscure / Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

 

[Sydney]

Series I feel are under appreciated:
Spectrobes
Scribblenauts
Fossil Fighters

(I know you said games, but listing the individual games would be too long).

 

[JuicieJ]

PYCHONAUTS!

 

[Ventus]

Star Ocean is incredibly under-appreciated as a series. People don't even know it exists. When they see boxart, they say "damn isn't that Final Fantasy?" which, as a SO fan myself, is a bit harsh. The series boasts incredibly replayable combat in all iterations (except The Last Hope...suupid Blindside mechanic and lack of Fury Gauge!!1one). Sure, the space opera theme is a bit jarring and the story non-sensical at best, but it's still one of the better JRPG series out there in my opinion. Within SO, the most criminally 'obscure' title is Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Garnering some negative reception thanks to the buggy first release in Japan, it got panned by even North Americans who later hated the game for the story (plot twist was a bit out of the blue I admit). Even in spite of that, though, there have been whole crews dedicated to one thing and one thing only: obtaining 285 Battle Trophies. Yes, BATTLE TROPHIES - things you do in battle for rewards. Gosh, the amount of content in SO3 is amazing yet no one cares about it!

 

[Lucia]

Series I feel are under appreciated:
Spectrobes
Scribblenauts
Fossil Fighters

(I know you said games, but listing the individual games would be too long).

Not a problem! Series can count too! There's probably a whole bunch of people who haven't played the Ys series, that really should. ^_^

PYCHONAUTS!

I believe Psychonauts still counts, despite it now reaching Earthbound levels of hidden gem popularity. It is a game that should be played by anyone who can get it on something that it can be played on. Although I don't think the PC version of it is too too demanding.

Star Ocean

Star Ocean games, and many other Tri-Ace series like Valkyrie Profile, are pretty good as well as not really known over here, which is a shame. I do agree that Star Ocean 3 is criminally under appreciated as far as the series go, especially while the story is dumb dumb dumb REALLY DUMB, it boasts a really nice battle system that is fun to play and exploit. The Last Hope on the other hand might as well not even exist with how terrible it was. Which is a shame. The remakes of the first two games are pretty nice though, even though the SNES original of Star Ocean 1 was pretty cool. The GBC sequel to Star Ocean 2 was pretty cool if I remember correctly! Sorta played like that Quest 64 sequel on the GBA, I think!

 

[Ventus]

Star Ocean games, and many other Tri-Ace series like Valkyrie Profile, are pretty good as well as not really known over here, which is a shame. I do agree that Star Ocean 3 is criminally under appreciated as far as the series go, especially while the story is dumb dumb dumb REALLY DUMB, it boasts a really nice battle system that is fun to play and exploit. The Last Hope on the other hand might as well not even exist with how terrible it was. Which is a shame. The remakes of the first two games are pretty nice though, even though the SNES original of Star Ocean 1 was pretty cool. The GBC sequel to Star Ocean 2 was pretty cool if I remember correctly! Sorta played like that Quest 64 sequel on the GBA, I think!

Okay, so like...marry me will ya? You're the ONLY person on this site that has even heard of Star Ocean - at least that I personally know/remember.

Not a problem! Series can count too! There's probably a whole bunch of people who haven't played the Ys series, that really should. ^_^

I admit, I have not played any of the Ys series although I remember catching wind of Ys Origin which I have watched countless videos on. It - the series - looks fantastic. I imagine it plays the same way, although Ys Seven looks rather clunky (probably due to PSP framerate?)

 

[Lucia]

Okay, so like...marry me will ya? You're the ONLY person on this site that has even heard of Star Ocean - at least that I personally know/remember.

Oh. Oh my. :embarrassed: Hehe~

I admit, I have not played any of the Ys series although I remember catching wind of Ys Origin which I have watched countless videos on. It - the series - looks fantastic. I imagine it plays the same way, although Ys Seven looks rather clunky (probably due to PSP framerate?)

Ys Seven might not be the best game in the series, but it's really fun. The game plays smoothly and wonderfully and is just a blast to play, especially since it's the first game in the series with multiple party members and the option to switch to them on the fly instead of playing as series hero, Adol.

 

[JuicieJ]

Okay, so like...marry me will ya? You're the ONLY person on this site that has even heard of Star Ocean - at least that I personally know/remember.

 

[Koosholts]

This is easy for me, Dark Souls.

People have either never heard of it, or have heard of it and its unforgiving nature and then quickly pass it off as "too difficult" or "impossible to play." I can understand these complaints, as from the surface the mechanics of the game, and understanding how the game actually works, is incredibly difficult in-and-of itself. The game doesn't have much of an explanation or a tutorial on how the stats work or how the armor-system works, so to the casual gamer Dark Souls can get frustrating quickly. However, if you're patient with it and open-minded, I guarantee that any person who plays it will find it as one of the most rewarding gaming-experiences.

Now, games hand-hold you all the way through; they lack difficulty and are too mainstream. Dark Souls wasn't afraid to think outside the box to create an unforgiving and punishing experience that is filled with reward and gratitude every time you kill an average enemy, let alone the area-boss. The game has a fleshed out story hidden in cryptic dialogue and item-descriptions; you won't be told it, you'll have to search for it yourself which is something that I dare-say is revolutionary for storytelling. If not, it's at least a huge risk for a game-developer to take and IMO it worked flawlessly. The combat is simple yet effective, and the organic difficulty the game offers creates an unprecedented amount of re-playability in the form of NG+'s and self-made challenges. I could go on for hours about this game, and trust me, I have.

Do yourselves a favor and at least give it a very patient two-hour try. For only $25, you can't beat it.

 

[JuicieJ]

Now, games hand-hold you all the way through; they lack difficulty and are too mainstream. Dark Souls wasn't afraid to think outside the box to create an unforgiving and punishing experience

I agree that too many modern games hold players' hands throughout and that Dark Souls is a great & very underappreciated game, but I think you have to admit that part of a game's difficulty due to bad conveyance is not a good thing. A game should be difficult because it throws challenging situations at you after giving you the chance to understand its mechanics. Mastery of these mechanics should come AFTER the learning curve rather than being a part of it. That's a huge problem with the Monster Hunter franchise, however brilliant it may be overall. Gamers shouldn't feel like they're fighting the game itself. They should feel like the game is providing them with a fair challenge that can be reasonably overcome, however tough it may be. There needs to be strain, but not frustration, and Dark Souls does a piss poor job at this early on.

If you ask me, the perfect example of what I'm saying can be found in the beloved classic Devil May Cry 3. Tough as nails, but never unfair.

 

[DarkestLink]

Top 3 for me:

Okami
Okamiden
Glover

 

[Lucia]

This is easy for me, Dark Souls.

I agree that too many modern games hold players' hands throughout and that Dark Souls is a great & very underappreciated game.

I might be in the minority, but I believe the opposite. I believe it's OVERRATED. I can't actually walk two feet without someone talking about it and people exploding about how amazing and wonderful it is. Yes, Dark Souls is a great game, but too many people are in love with it and find it to be 'best game ever.' It's a great game and possibly the best game to come out of 2011, but underappreciated? I don't think so.

Demon's Souls on the other hand had a lot of build up when it was coming out and while it came out strong, it now seems like a forgotten relic of 2009.

 

[Zorth]

I find that Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy is a very underrated game, it's pretty rare too since I have only seen a copy of it once in my life and I managed to get it! :xd:
It feels like a Zelda game taking place in ancient Egypt since it has text bubbles, ancient fantasy creatures and similar kind of game play.

Another one that not a lot of people talk about is Spore, pretty much a God Game. You take control of a little cell in the water and guide its species through the stages of life, from cellular to macro organisms that have savage tribes, then becoming more civilized creating cities, which grow bigger and you take control over your own planet and eventually becoming so advanced that you invent interstellar travel and take control over the galaxy!
Super fun game got to say and a shame that EA doesn't seem to want to make a sequel since Spore 2 would be a huge success no doubt.

 

[prince rallis]

Top 3 for me:
Glover

I really liked Glover I thought it was really good(except for clipping.)

Anyways I think that for me it would be the Call of Duty series it kinda seems like people hate it just to hate it,I really like the campaigns and it has really addicting multiplayer,I think that CoD is the best First Person Shooter series.

I would also say Sonic 3 and Knuckles,I know people like the game,but it doesn't get the attention it deserves,whenever Sonic Team makes a 2-d Sonic game,it's usually based off Sonic 2,I'm saying Sonic 2 is a bad game but what about the people who like Sonic 3 and Knuckles the best?(Like me.)

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I definitely have to say Okami(den). Those are some great games, which I really don't feel have enough love. Anybody that likes Zelda should really give these games a try!

I also think the Mother series is rather under-appreciated. Now, to be fair, most of them are Japan exclusives. But Earthbound (Mother 2) was released in North America. I think most people only know these games exist because of Smash Brothers, and therefore do not know how great the games are. I'm willing to think there are some people who don't realize Earthbound and Smash Bros. are made by the same team.

One more game that I feel deserves more praise is the Pokemon console series. Everyone seems to be restricted to handheld Pokemon games, but the console releases (like Stadium, Colosseum, and XD) are all great games. I will admit that I personally prefer the handhelds, but I love the console games, and it seems like there are not a lot of people that really play them.