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Hidden Gems - Fave Obscure/Unfairly Overlooked Games & Recommendations?
JackBurton
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Sorry if there's already a thread or 12 like this, but I searched and couldn't find one.
Basically I'm after recommendations for great games that slipped below the radar or are pretty much unknown, etc. Preferably adventurey stuff and non-PC-based (DS, PS2, 360 and GC/Wii are all good) but whatever you feel like recommending to myself or anyone else.
2 prime examples for me would be Shadow of Destiny/Memories and Steambot Chronicles. Both superb, quite unique games that I'd never heard or read a word about until I bought SoD on a whim and stumbled across the Steambot thread in here.
No Ico or SotC though. :P
Basically I'm after recommendations for great games that slipped below the radar or are pretty much unknown, etc. Preferably adventurey stuff and non-PC-based (DS, PS2, 360 and GC/Wii are all good) but whatever you feel like recommending to myself or anyone else.
2 prime examples for me would be Shadow of Destiny/Memories and Steambot Chronicles. Both superb, quite unique games that I'd never heard or read a word about until I bought SoD on a whim and stumbled across the Steambot thread in here.
No Ico or SotC though. :P
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This game got very little love when it came out for the Xbox oh so many years ago. I think it's a brilliant platformer, with an incredible setting and fantastic character design.
Everyone raves about Psychonauts as an underrated platformer, but personally I prefer VV.
Sadly it's not backwards compatible, but people do need to give it a try.
Oh...
Nevermind.
XBL: Torn Hoodie
@hoodiethirteen
The true spiritual sequel to GoldenEye
possibly any other of the Capcom 5
Samurai Western.
Mount and Blade
Along with the cool mods. Definitely worth the like 13 bucks it costs now.
Another would be Yoshi's Touch & Go - absolutely underrated because so many gamers misunderstood what it was supposed to be. They expected a platformer and it was really an arcade puzzler.
I would also argue that purists rejected Meteos Disney without giving it a fair shot.
Freak Out
Gregory Horror Show
Kuri Kuri Mix
Gitaroo Man
Killer 7
Maximo vs. Army of Zin
Klonoa 2
Clock Tower 3
Freedom Force
Sacrifice
Ground Control
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Pathologic
Urban Chaos (PC version only)
Oni (ditto)
Anachronox
Discworld Noir
Clive Barker's Undying
American Mcgee's Alice
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Hostile Waters
I could probably go on...
There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility. - President Theodore Roosevelt
I've said it before, I'll say it again. Best RPG on the PS2.
I love you. You do know you and I are the only ones who feel this way though.
My gems...how about Herdy Gerdy, Adventures of Cookies & Creme, Technic Beat, Culdcept, Smash Cars, Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, Goblin Commander, and Rumble Racing.
That's enough for now.
I'd also like to recommend Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox). It's not without its problems, but I really enjoyed it (largely for the story).
I'm sure it's cliche, but Beyond Good & Evil (PS2/GC/Xbox) truly is a fantastic action/adventure game.
Indigo Prophecy is good, but the story does fall apart a bit near the end.
Irony! It was your review that made me buy it. And, LO!, you were right.
That and when I looked through the instruction book they had character classes to switch to. I was hooked.
You read the lime.
PS2: Wild Arms 3. I don't know why, but I liked this game a lot, and I dont like many RPGs. I love the intro, where it starts with each character in your party aiming their guns at each other, and then you play as each character separately to see how they got into this position.
360: Condemned. Really fun melee combat, and an interesting story. Too bad it doesnt have an ending.
Sly Cooper: Best platformer on the PS2, no contest. You can look past the sequels though.
There are definitely more but I cant think right now.
I'm going to start out by suggesting that you look for Robotic Alchemic Drive. It is the only game that really makes you feel like you are in control of a giant, city stomping, fully armed robot. I wish Sandbox had been the ones to do the Transformers game, because they made the superior product.
Devil Dice is a must for puzzle fans who are looking for a challenge. It gives both sides of your brain a workout. You manipulate dice on a board and try to line them up (2 2s, 3 3s, etc.) You'll never want to go back to falling blocks again. The 3 minute mode is something I wish I could see more often.
I wasn't sure if Hotel Dusk counted as overlooked, but since it's just now appeared, let me heartily endorse this post. HD is incredible, with amazing characters and a great story. The stuff it does with the touch screen is very innovative, and while there is a little bit of pointless wandering, the experience is definitely worth it. I just finished it the other day, and loved watching it all come together at the end.
It's exceptionally well written, and deserves to be owned by every DS owner.
Knew I was forgetting something.
Also, I really wish Robot Alchemic Drive was out in PAL. On the upside, we just got Global Defence Force, which is by the same people.
Is the game any good? Because I love the show.
Twitter: Cokomon | dA: Cokomon | Tumblr: Cokomon-art | XBL / NNID / Steam: Cokomon
It's a weird little survival-horror-adventure thing. I like it more for the atmosphere than anything else.
PAL only, mind you, but we did get it at budget prices. It's pretty easy to find for a fiver on Amazon or somewhere.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
My only real qualm with the game is that the "secret of Hotel Dusk" ended up being a lot less sinister than I would have preferred.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
Best stealth game on the PSone.
The Guardian Legend, Crystalis
SE++ Map Steam
Damn straight - excellent game.
And you can't buy it. The source code was released and the game is essentially free. This is the game that killed the Space Sim genre by A) being fuck-awesome, and
Since we all know this will turn into a general hidden gems thread - I'd like to chime in on my PC game choice for this as well - Monopoly Tycoon.
Absolutely brilliant strategy game that everyone should try.
Mischief Makers (N64) - weird action/platformer, basically centers around you grabbing, pulling, and throwing things. I thought it was great.
Space Station: Silicon Valley (N64) - platformer/puzzler involving using robotic animals to kill each other and solve puzzles. Glitchy, but lovely.
I also second Yoshi Touch n Go for the DS. I had much more fun with it than Kirby's Canvas Curse, somehow. Oh yeah, I'm not sure how overlooked it is, but the original Prince of Persia pwns the new series. I might get the remake on the 360 for prettiness, even though I already have the SNES version.
dream a little dream or you could live a little dream
sleep forever if you wish to be a dreamer
Golden.
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Riddick: getting more luv these days actually.
Pschonaughts: another critics pick and unlike the movies these critics know wtf they're talking about.
Good vs Evil.
Mech Assault: too many folks got no further then kitty city and decided the game was unballanced and the maps sucked.
Dunno how obscure this one is, just go download it and play it, it's a fun, SNES-esque game
Sanitarium.
The Entire Pro Pinball series (Big Race USA, The Web, Timeshock! & Fantastic Journey)
Space Rangers 1 & 2
GBA games:
Car Battler Joe (Quirky, but definitely fun)
Metal Slug Advance
Dreamcast:
Bangai-O (an odd space shooter made by Treasure, but very fast-paced, I just hate the anime characters, like Tezuka on crack)
PS1 games:
Arc the Lad Collection (one of Working Designs swag packs, all three games, plus totally cool swag)
Xbox:
Steel Battalion
Panzer Dragoon Orta
And I fully second Riddick, Deathrow, Good vs. Evil (although, hardly overlooked on these boards), Psychonauts (also hardly overlooked here), and Freespace 2 (which is distilled awesome).
That was going to be my suggestion as well. A glorious game indeed. And backwards compatible on 360!
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Body Harvest (N64)- You've been sent back in time to stop aliens from taking over Earth. Those aliens are basically enormous insects. You get to use all kinds of cool vehicles to complete your mission. If I were to describe it as an earlier version of GTA 3 with a b-movie alien theme, I'd be right on the money.
Intelligence Qube (Playstation)- Very quirky puzzle game. It basically involves you on a long platform suspended in oblivion, trying to destroy blocks that are intent upon crushing you, or shoving you over the edge. I was never able to find a retail copy of this one back in the day, only played the demo. But it was awesome.
Bio Freaks (N64 and Playstation)- Most people hated this game for some reason. Maybe it was ahead of its time, but executed poorly? Anyways, Bio Freaks is a fighting game that broke a few rules of the genre at the time. The characters in it were all equipped with a gun of some sort, and a jetpack. You were able to fly around in a 3-d arena and shoot at your opponent, or simply bash him with hands and feet like any other fighting game. What I really enjoyed were the various traps in the arenas, such as a giant meat grinder in one.