So, as promised yesterday, I'll make a list of games that I think should be mentioned. To start off, let me explain my criteria, so you know where I'm coming from:
- first of all, I like them. Should go without saying, but I want it to be clear.
- The games should interesting. They may not be "the best" games, and may have problems, but I'd take a rough gem if I find it. Interesting mechanics, gameplay, other elements. They should have something worth playing in them.
- the games most likely won't be featured on the front page. Seems that more popular games get featured there.
- the games are not guaranteed to be "unknown and underground". They may just be old. They may have been famous, as well. If needed, I'd highlight them because not everyone would have heard of them - maybe some are a "newer generation", maybe people just missed them.
Right, with that said, here we go:
Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines [http://store.steampowered.com/app/2600/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1] (-75%) - right off the bat, let me break my rule about "mostly unknown". I don't think Bloodlines is unknown. However, it is still not known enough. Given that it's my favourite game ever[footnote]a fact I've never tried to hide[/footnote], I feel I must use this opportunity to promote it again. The game is definitely not without its flaws, however you can always find [rul=http://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/4647/7/]the latest Unofficial Patch here[/url] which fixes a lot of the problems.
Thea: The Awakening [http://store.steampowered.com/app/378720/?snr=1_7_15__13] (-40%) - I'd describe this game as a "single player Civilisations game". I know it's slightly deceptive, as Civ already has single player, but I feel it's still an apt description. It is similar to Civ, in that you gather resources, develop your city and similar. There are no other nations, though - it's PvE. The mechanics are simplified in comparison to Civ, however, there are other things present - you get quests, you can also find and forge equipment for each of your units.
At any rate, why I like the game - I was first interested in the premise that its based on Slavic mythology. I thought it'd be a refreshing take on fantasy. Well, it turns out it also has dwarves, elves and orcs among baba Yagas, Koschei the Deathless, leshys and Perun. Eh, I can live with that. It injects some not-so-common fantasy elements to the fantasy that mostly repeats the same things over and over again. Moreover, the quests and mini-stories are rather refreshing to see - it's an interesting mix between a strategy and Civ. But another thing I really liked was the combat system. I'll make it short, though - you can take on enemies in combat, sure, but there are alternatives - some enemies can be reasoned with using social skills, others can be sneaked and assassinated, beasts can be hunted down, undead and magical creatures can be banished with magic rituals and others. Well, they all do use the same combat rules and mechanics but it's still good that the devs worked this in. In fact, straight combat is possibly the least effective method of dealing with enemies. Well, it depends on circumstances, but injuries from battle take days to heal and your units can suffer from them for multiple battles. Moreover, grave injuries may still kill a unit unless they are cared for and even then. Other challenges, however, generally keep your units healthy.
But if there is one reason I'd recommend this game, it's the following, let me relate a story - I got the game and I loved it. Then I saw that an expansion is being developed. "GREAT!", I thought, however, to my amazement, I couldn't buy it. Why? BECAUSE IT WAS FREE. Yes, I repeat - the expansion was given out for free to everybody. It introduces new story content, new units, buildings, some UI overhauls. I think it's a proper set of new content and I wasn't charged at all.
Black Closet [http://store.steampowered.com/app/400580] (-40%) - it's certainly a unique style of game. It's part visual novel, part turn-based investigation, part game of school politics. It's really...different. And interesting as a result. I'd want to see more like that.
You play as the president of the school council. Think anime school council. You task your underlings with handling matters, so you don't get your hands dirty. Your goal is to solve cases that can compromise the school's good name - students drinking, or cheating on tests, vandalising property, and other similar things. You have to investigate, find what's happening and stop it before the school's reputation is tarnished (game-wise - do not let the reputation bar be depleted). Sometimes you have to take some...underhanded measures, however - there may be no other way to solve the cases favourably. But cross the line enough lines, or rather, be caught crossing the line enough times and the students' support for the council can lapse (game-wise - don't let the support bar be depleted). You will be short on staff, short on resources, short on time, but definitely not short on enemies and challenges. I mentioned that you have your underlings that you use, right? Well, for a start, one of them is a mole tasked with undermining you. Random one each game (though you also have the option of picking). You have to find who they are before everything crumbles.
Consortium [http://store.steampowered.com/app/264240] (-60%) - this one had some news around it relatively recently. There was a kickstarter for the second part. Still, at any rate, it's relatively unknown (considering the kickstarter failed due to low amount of informdness[footnote]with that said, the devs did manage to find funding for the second game[/footnote]). The game tries to do a sci-fi RPG in confined space. It's that "one city block" thing. I won't say it's "great", but it's certainly worth a look. There are some mechanics that I'd see further explored by these devs here or other devs elsewhere. The conversation system, for example fascinated me - you still pick your numbered options but you are also not locked into the conversation. You can move around, or level, you can also refuse giving answers and other small touches.
I certainly think it's interesting enough to warrant recommendation. I'd also like to say it may be of more academic interest, not just gameplay-relted one. Oh, but if you're sort of on the fence still, I've got two more things that might tip you over: 1. The soundtrack is composed of Jeremy Soule. 2. The game is really cheap - it's, like, just about the price of chips.
Ghost Master [http://store.steampowered.com/app/6200] (-90%) - and this game is, quite literally, cheaper than chips. It's cheaper than a pack of gum, in fact. I found it quite good, though. It's sort of like Dungeon Master in spirit. You play as some entity from the spirit realm and you have ghosts at your disposal. There is quite a variety of them and they also have different powers, strengths, weaknesses. You compose a "team" of the ghosts for each mission and then your goal is generally "scare everybody".
The game has some really amazing things that I don't know how haven't made it into other games. It's definitely a good source to showcase some ideas. For example, all ghosts have keywords associated with them and almost all items in the game also have keywords attached and a ghost can only be summoned in in or around his affinities. For example, an air elemental (yeah, apparently falls under ghosts) can be summoned outside or somewhere associated with air, the ghost of a man died by electric chair can be summoned near murder scenes or electrical equipment and so on. Second, all the mortals you have to spook have different fears. Moreover, they may have a subconscious fear which is vastly more effective. Sometimes their bios (yes, all the mortals have them) can give you clues what would be effective, too. Last but not least, it's the command/obedience system. This is just so good - once you summon a ghost, you can just let it run wild or try to give it commands to follow. The more you try to make it obey, the more receptive to commands they would be. And that's really marvelous - you can construct some quite complicated commands the more obedient the ghosts are. At first you could do something like "don't do anything" or "only act with mortal in the room" but then you can give them commands with multiple conditions, like "unleash this specific power on any blond male that walks in but not John".
Postmortem: One Must Die [http://store.steampowered.com/app/263140] (-85%) - another game cheaper than a pack of gum. On the other hand, it's a lot shorter than Ghost Master. At any rate, I do recommend checking it out.
You play as Death. Or an agent of Death. Your task - go to a party and kill a person. You are free to pick any.
The interesting part comes from the fact what happens. Now, you're told that it doesn't matter who you kill, however, you can talk to the people and you find out that there is quite the political and social tension in given that there is a war. The death of any of them would influence the months or even years to come. Moreover, you talking to them can also make them reconsider or maybe reaffirm their views which also has an effect.
In general, the game is quite short. You can finish it in about a minute[footnote]did that the first time - I just went in and killed the first person I came across[/footnote] or up to about an hour at most, if you want to explore everything and read all the dialogue. Subsequent replays can be shorter because you will likely skip some of the dialogue. Still, that's the game in a nutshell - go in, talk to several people, kill one. Then you get an ending that shows the consequences of your actions.
I wouldn't say it's the most eventful gameplay, but it is both cheap and short, so I believe I can justify recommending everybody play it. If you don't like it - well, you wasted maybe half an hour - whatever. But whether you love it, hate it, or are anywhere in between, I think the game's concept is important to be spread to the masses.
Aarclash: Legacy [http://store.steampowered.com/app/222640/] (-90%) - well, some of the suggestions above can be considered "artsy" or otherwise "not game" by some, I understand. I think the interesting game mechanics and design decisions are worth spreading. But this game is different. It's just good to play, screw design and mechanics choices.
It's a tactical combat game - it's a bit like an RPG (think NWN or KOTOR and other party-based games) but stripped down to the essential combat. And no, it's not a "oh glory to the old school RPGs!" either. You get a party of four characters, each with unique skills and abilities, and a real time with pause combat. The characters themselves I quite dig. I did say "unique" and I mean it. Sometimes you have characters that just have different configurations of the same pool of abilities but each of these is different - there is a healer who only regains mana by inflicting damage to allies, a goblin with a giant clock at his back and various assassin-related abilities, a lich which you can specialise in different ways and others. I quite like that they aren't the exact same holy trinity you'd see in many an other games. Sure, the same archetypes you can find, but they do stuff differently at least.
The only complaint I have is that the story is atrocious. It's really bad. And I only want to point this out because the rest of the game is just amazing - the soundtrack is breathtaking, the visuals are gorgeous, the combat is engaging, even the backstory and setting you get are well thought out and fascinating. But the main story? Ugh. You can ignore it and you should ignore it. It stands out by how bad it is because everything else is so good - if the rest of the elements were just about above average or so, it'd be less of an issue, but I'd personally give everything at least a 9/10 while the story deserves a 4/10 at most.
Commandos [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4156/] collection (-85%)
Desperados [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/35015/?snr=1_5_9__403] collection (-75%)
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood [http://store.steampowered.com/app/46560/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1] (-75%)
I'm grouping these three together because they have a lot in common. First of all, they aren't really that unknown. They are a bit old, though, but not that old. Second, they are all members of a genre that somehow didn't really make it into the big scene. Not entirely sure why, but I like it. The three games are really similar in how the operate but the settings are different - they are a tactical real-time strategy where you control a small group of characters. I'm not sure the genre really ever got a proper name but these games perfectly exemplify it. You get several characters, each will have some skills and you'd have to have them work together to beat the levels. Commandos gives you military personnel, Desperados is set in the Wild West, and Robin Hood you should be able to guess is about the titular archer and his merry band.
As I said, each character would have their strengths in these games. For example, in Commandos, you can have the spy, who knows German, hence can translate what the guards are chatting about (and you probably need that information), can also impersonate high ranking enemies, if you secure an uniform and is thus able to command ordinary troops (like tell them to go patrol elsewhere and such). He's not really good at fighting, however, and would be in real trouble if exposed. A green beret, however is just a tough soldier - he's good at hand to hand and is strong enough to carry corpses without being slowed down much - he can also carry heavier stuff like machine gun turrets. The thief, however, can move faster and perform sneaky stuff, however, he's not really that muscly, so while he can carry people, he'd be slower than the green beret.
And so on and so forth, you get the idea. All the games have similar things. I'd recommend them from top to bottom. Hopefully somebody who hasn't heard of them, likes them and maybe, just maybe, we may see a re-emergence of these games.
