Underrated video games that you really enjoy?

[crantheman]

I love playing gems that go under the mainstream radar. One series that comes to mind is de Blob, a platforming series that was originally on the Wii and had a sequel released on all consoles at that time (DS, Wii, 360, PS3). It was my childhood favorite growing up, and I loved how the soundtrack weaved in with you progress throughout the levels (ex. the music would get more lively as you progressed through a level). It was a fun and charming game series that I wish would get a third game at some point in my lifetime.

I'm curious if there's anyone else on deskgen that has a favorite game that's similarly underrated.

 

[Corpocore]

Picayune Dreams! It's a VERY chaotic survivors-like with a breakcore soundtrack. Pretty fun for a few hours.

Not really underrated per se, but my all time favorite has to be Patapon 2. God I miss that series. Bring back Japan Studios, Sony! :(

 

[Andrew]

They have a cult following, but Overlord 1 & 2. Such an incredibly fun set of games, the first game is very explicitly a parody of Fable. (You play as Sauron but have a morality system, because everything had a morality system then!) though then again, this takes on an entirely different light when you actually finish the game. Turns out you were once part of the team of heroes that took out the previous overlord, and then set up to be his successor/vessel. It's a fantastic twist that I'd love to see done in a more serious manner one day.

By the time of the second game they've got their own unique style figured out and a way better combat system. Really wish we could get a third, years ago Triumph told me it was up to Codemasters... who then released a spinoff that sold terribly & announced they were exclusively doing racing games from then on.

Something these games do that I wish more would: your upgrades are directly tied to the restoration of your big evil warlock tower. As you become stronger and stronger you get to watch the hub area grow with you. It's so good.

 

[Lesdeux]

Xenosaga 1-3. The series is part of the wider Xeno masterseries, which includes Xenogears and Xenoblade Chronicles, but you hardly ever hear about it. XS 1-3 sold a total of about 1.7 million copies globally to this day while Xenogears alone sold 1.2 mil. My older sister picked up a copy of 3 (in a fuckin' Toys-R-Us store) back in 2007 cause she liked the box art and ever since then the trilogy has been something that my siblings and I have come to really love.

It was originally supposed to be 6 games but due to poor sales it got cut down to 3. The series has some of the best music in any JRPG I've ever listened to. The gameplay itself (while typical for JRPGs, turn-based) has enough unique factors to it that allow it to feel fresh even all these years later, though 2 can be a slosh if you aren't prepared for it. The story is solid even after being cut down significantly--which is surprising cause that almost never works out--and I love the theming they portray throughout.

Spoiler: Game 1 story spoiler

KOS-MOS being found crucified in tangled wires goes hard.

They only got through a third of the planned story, most of 2 was supposed to be in 1.

XS1 has an email system that is time determinative as well as location based, and some of these emails are chains so you can miss out on shit if you don't go exploring properly (I know not everyone is a fan of this type of mechanic, but I like them). I found a boss that my brother didn't even know existed until I did a playthrough last year.

I could literally go on for hours about the minutiae of the games, but I will spare everyone here my insane ramblings so there is room for others to talk.

 

[Scott]

playing my older sister's copy of xenosaga 1 when i was like 10 or 11 probably had a real cool effect on my brain. one of my favourite series for sure.
kos-mos and elma were included in the group shot at the end of the monolithsoft 25 year anniversary video (no fei though; free my man). obviously this means remakes are underway, not that they had models in xenoblade 2 or anything. zero cope here.

honestly xenosaga might be my pick too. i have a lot of old games in my head that I remember loving but haven't really gone back to to see if they hold up, so picking them might not be accurate. or others that I know have pretty extensive cult followings so I don't really feel comfortable calling them "underrated", though I guess xenosaga falls under this category too so i dunno.

probably too much thought for a simple question so I'll go with Koudelka for ps1. it's part of the Shadow Hearts series, taking place before the first game and it's like a mishmash of resident evil 1 and a turn based jrpg. awesome atmosphere and soundtrack, and while I don't think it's perfect it's definitely a unique little oddity worth going back to if you're interested in old ps1 games or just weird genre combinations. parasite eve might be one comparison for this mashup of genres but i don't think the games are particularly alike outside of those labels

 

[Lesdeux]

kos-mos and elma were included in the group shot at the end of the monolithsoft 25 year anniversary video (no fei though; free my man). obviously this means remakes are underway, not that they had models in xenoblade 2 or anything. zero cope here.

Yuki Kaijura did a studio reprise of Godsibb a few years ago as well. More evidence towards the clearly being made remakes. Any day now.

 

[ball]

idk if it counts as underrated anymore: kane & lynch 2 bombed on release but has proven to be one of the best aged works to come from 7th gen cinematic iterations on the third person shooter genre. it is a texturally unpleasant experience. shaky cam, faux-digital video artifacting, pixelated gore. filthy urban environments. gameplay consisting of little more than cacophonous, brainless cover shooting in linear corridors. it is the sum of its parts and it rules
it feels like every studio of that era wanted to take a crack at exploring the psychological effects of excessive violence on the player character but IO finding its balance in deliberate tastelessness hits a billion times harder than any hack morality play or conradian narrative because rather than the work positioning itself as an observer, critic, or mirror for the player, k&l2 finds its voice in just embracing disgusting visual noise as a means to an end

 

[log64]

I’d have to say Amazing Island for the GameCube. It had this unique feature where you would literally draw how you want your (cursed) monsters to look like. Then it would generate a 3D model of it. It was basically Spore before Spore was a thing.

I think I must’ve rented it from Hollywood Video like, 5-10 times lol. I think it’s aged pretty well too, I know Jaiden did a play through not too long ago.

 

[KeplerElectronics]

So there's this game called Infra...

play as a civil engineer taking pictures of derelict infrastructure and uncover the corruption that led to the decay.

It's got source engine jank, it's got cheesy voice acting, it's got beautiful locations and so much lore it's not even funny


I've been meaning to make some sort of writeup on this game, I first played it summer '22 and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. It's got the best sort of brainrot that forces you to see cracked concrete and exposed rebar in a whole new way.

 

[crantheman]

So there's this game called Infra...

play as a civil engineer taking pictures of derelict infrastructure and uncover the corruption that led to the decay.

It's got source engine jank, it's got cheesy voice acting, it's got beautiful locations and so much lore it's not even funny
View attachment 1300View attachment 1301View attachment 1302

I've been meaning to make some sort of writeup on this game, I first played it summer '22 and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. It's got the best sort of brainrot that forces you to see cracked concrete and exposed rebar in a whole new way.

Man that looks gorgeous, reminds me of what a Black Mesa-style remake of Half Life 2 would look like

 

[KeplerElectronics]

Man that looks gorgeous, reminds me of what a Black Mesa-style remake of Half Life 2 would look like

It's really beautiful, and being stuck underground just makes the sections where you see the sky that much more impactful. There isn't anything as juiced up as Xen, but it's running a much more stock version of Source 1 than Black Mesa was.

as an aside, I'm really excited to see what Crowbar Collective is working on now, afaik they're doing a new IP, curious how that will turn out, they definitely have the chops to make something memorable.

 

[Super Crab Deluxe Turbo X]

There's a lot of answers I think I could have for this, but the one that always comes to mind first is Fighter's Destiny. Doomed to obscurity by being a N64-exclusive fighting game not named "Super Smash Bros.", it sets itself apart from the other Virtua Fighter copies of the time with something I haven't seen from anything else in the genre: a points system



Fights are suddenly decided by a throw or a counter catching you off guard while "boring" ways to win like ring outs and waiting for time to run out get you less points. It's super fun. You can also fully customise how much everything's worth in the options if you don't like the defaults.

The characters are pretty boring design-wise (aside from one of them being a literal cow) and it was only on the N64, so I get why I never really see people talk about it, but it's definitely worth checking out for a while. Another developer should totally just take this concept or something for a new game

 

[Knito]

So there's this game called Infra...

play as a civil engineer taking pictures of derelict infrastructure and uncover the corruption that led to the decay.

It's got source engine jank, it's got cheesy voice acting, it's got beautiful locations and so much lore it's not even funny
View attachment 1300View attachment 1301View attachment 1302

I've been meaning to make some sort of writeup on this game, I first played it summer '22 and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. It's got the best sort of brainrot that forces you to see cracked concrete and exposed rebar in a whole new way.

That looks so beautiful man, the seconds picture especially reminds me of Mirror's Edge. I love these exploration games so much, like Rain World or Lorn's Lure. It's just nice to walk around a beautifully built environment