The Hidden Gems of Gaming

[HardRockSamurai]

For every generation of video games, there are always a string of mainstream titles that take the spotlight. Then there are the hidden gems; games that are just as good, if not BETTER, than the popular games that go unnoticed.

What "Hidden Gems" can you think of?

Here are some off the top of my head:

Psychonauts (Xbox, PS2, PC)
Beyond Good & Evil (GC, Xbox, PS2, PC)
Space Station Silicon Valley (N64, PS1)
Body Harvest (N64)

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Those first 2 you posted are no longer "Hidden Gems". I supposed we should just throw in Okami and Shadow of Collosus because ya know, NOBODY has ever heard of them. This thread has been done to death, but I'll throw in a game.

Turok. Yeah, I know. It apparently wasn't what everyone wanted, but it was more than I asked for when I bought it. It was a great game and had some seriously fun online. From this generation, Turok=my hidden gem.

 

[Lyiat]

Populous (PC)
Gunstar Heros (Sega Genesis)

 

[ZeroMachine]

Mischief Makers, back for the N64. The writing and story sucked, but the gameplay was amazingly fun (in my opinion, at least), and the music was kinda catchy.

 

[mr mcshiznit]

Mine goes for Psi-Ops: The Mindgate something or other. Its not really a hidden gem on the Escapist but in most circles people have never heard of it.

 

[Good morning blues]

The Witcher, especially the Enhanced Edition. It is without a doubt the best RPG I've played since at least KOTOR.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Mine goes for Psi-Ops: The Mindgate something or other. Its not really a hidden gem on the Escapist but in most circles people have never heard of it.

The Mindgate Conspiracy. You can get it for free off fileplanet, and it controls a bit better on PC even! Just gotta sit through an advert every time you boot it up.

Allow me to add- Red Dead Revolver.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

Freelancer (PC) - Really well designed Space-Sim.
Dark Messiah (PC)- Seems to be like it's a bit of a "Vegemite" game.
Fallout: Tactics (PC)

Beyond Good & Evil (GC, Xbox, PS2, PC)

And that. I never finished it though... I'll get onto that.

 

[Audemas]

One game that I will love unconditionally for the rest of my life is an old PC game called Septerra Core. This game got me involved with RPG's and the story was very good. Check it out if you can find it which I doubt.

 

[vede]

Agreed on Dark Messiah. I played the demo at 10 FPS and loved the combat system.

But a game that I can play at full speed that is a hidden gem of gaming? ROGUE.

It seems like I'm the only one on the internet who still plays it.

If you want to know what the magic of ROGUE is, well... <a href=http://members.cox.net/pmaranci/ROGUE.EXE>EPICNESS LIES WITHIN THIS HYPERLINK

(Just press '?') (If you're running Vista: haha, you can't play!) (Actually, you can... <a href=http://www.roguelikedevelopment.org/archive/index.php>there's a version of ROGUE for most everything in here. Pretty sure there's a version for the iPhone and iPod Touch on iTunes, too. And it's free.)

 

[VTSK]

I'll bet almost no one has ever heard of Sacrifice, my third favorite game of all time. Probably one of the most inventive, twisted, and exiting games I've ever played. After that, there's Oddworld: Strangers wrath (my second favorite). I've only met one other person who ever played it. Finally, there Armed and Dangerous, the most hilarious video game ever made. Kindof like Monty Python: the Holy Grail, but with guns.

 

[VTSK]

Allow me to add- Red Dead Revolver.[/quote]

agreed. I never got to finish it though.

 

[VTSK]

The Witcher, especially the Enhanced Edition. It is without a doubt the best RPG I've played since at least KOTOR.

The Witcher sold pretty well, actually. I only played the demo, but the combat was pretty good. The dialogue was aweful, though.

 

[Mullahgrrl]

Mount and blade, Yes I know there was a review her on it but no body plays it anyway.

It is just so damned good, There is a free trial on steam and a ton of other places so you people go play now!

 

[PirateKing]

Psychonauts (X Box)
Okami (PS2) My game of the year for 2006
God Hand (PS2) The craziest beat 'em up ever!
Also, I don't think a whole lot of people played Viewtiful Joe(Game Cube). That was good.
Killer 7 (PS2)

 

[Draygen]

Allow me to add- Red Dead Revolver.

Hidden gem? Everyone I know has played Red Dead. Mainly because I stood over them with a board covered in nails, and wacked them every time they looked like they might put the controller down.

 

[Coolness]

For me, it's gotta be Jade Cocoon for PS1 and Jade Cocoon 2 for the Ps2. The monster combining system was relatively deep and the ring combat system was pretty deep. I enjoyed it stylistically. While the production values weren't high and it was never hyped, I still found it quite good.

 

[SwiftFlux]

Crystalis (NES)

It's practically the precursor to the exact same fighting styles as the Secret of Mana/Seiken Densetsu series

 

[CapnGod]

One game that I will love unconditionally for the rest of my life is an old PC game called Septerra Core. This game got me involved with RPG's and the story was very good. Check it out if you can find it which I doubt.

I bought that off the cheap titles rack at Target years ago when I used to be the photo monkey. Never could get it to run on my computer, though. Looked pretty sweet. Wonder if I could find the disc...

 

[Audemas]

One game that I will love unconditionally for the rest of my life is an old PC game called Septerra Core. This game got me involved with RPG's and the story was very good. Check it out if you can find it which I doubt.

I bought that off the cheap titles rack at Target years ago when I used to be the photo monkey. Never could get it to run on my computer, though. Looked pretty sweet. Wonder if I could find the disc...

If you can find it and run it then I would say but some time into playing it. The story was pretty good and the battles were fun and challenging.