The Underappreciated Gems of Gaming

[Deathsong17]

Shadow Hearts

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

NES Ice Hockey was so much fun. As is Shadow Hearts: From the New World. I'd say something about Psychonauts, but there are too many Yahtzee-minded fans on the boards so I don't think this one counts in this particular sample as 'unappreciated'.

 

[Spektre41]

Why aren't any of you awesomed by Demon's Crest?!

 

[szs0061]

has anyone ever played chromehounds it was a robot fighting game released at around the same time as the xbox360 but unlike most its more squad stratagy based than combat its very interesting

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

SNES
snip

a good portion of this list are not underaprecited, and actually are quite well-remembered.

but you missed Earthbound. Silly

I never got to play Earthbound, to my great distress. I only listed games I own and can safely list from personal experience.

Games like Okami ARE underappreciated because, even if they've become cult classics, they didn't shoot to the top of the sales charts like they deserved to. It isn't even a problem of "virtually impossible to lay hands on anymore" like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus as I still see copies of Okami in every game store I visit (I recommend it to everyone I can). As long as a game hasn't received the attention it deserves, it's underappreciated.

...

Why has only ONE person said Zone of the Enders II: the second runner?

Sure the dubbing sucked but it's the best melee mecha game I've ever SEEN!

Oh yeah, ZoEII was FANTASTIC, but I listed the original because I felt II was appreciated enough and the first game gets a bit of a bad rap (admittedly II is MUCH better). On reflection I probably should have said both.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

I swear, it's like only a few people properly appreciate Baten Kaitos/Baten Kaitos Origins. Look, I'm not saying they're sacrosanct like the Zelda and Mario games, and they're not game-of-the-year titles, but what they are are deep, creative RPGs with a pretty original story with some twists you will not see coming, in addition to solid gameplay and fantastic music pieces written by Motoi Sakuraba himself.

More info on Baten Kaitos [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baten_Kaitos] for the Gamecube and Baten Kaitos Origins [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baten_Kaitos_Origins], the prequel, also for the Gamecube, can be found on the links I've attached. If I may be so bold, you owe it to yourself as a Gamecube owner, if you are one, to give Baten Kaitos the consideration it deserves. Peace out.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Fighting Vipers 2

Only because no one could find it to buy it. I loved the first one on the Saturn

My under appreciate games list consists of Mystaria (Riglord Saga) on the Saturn, Vagrant Story on the PS1 and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners Of The Earth on Xbox.

 

[Gado911]

Second Sight, nobody gave it a chance

 

[Gado911]

I'm pretty sure he's joking.

 

[balimuzz]

Otogi Myth of Demons
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

.........and VALKYRIA CHRONICLES!

Valkyria Chronicles makes me jealous of PS3 owners. That game looks so good. Anyways, for me I have to go with Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. The single player was annoying and frustrating, with puzzles sometimes revolving around doing something to utter perfection before they could be passed, but the multiplayer was actually a lot of fun. Playing with 3 friends was great, especially when someone found an awesome egg, and everyone started grabbing at it to hatch it.

 

[Paulrus_Keaton]

Shenmue 2 for the Xbox, despite my constant bitching about its horrible ending, is a game everyone should play once. It's unique in its own way. It's just a pity that even Duke Nukem Forever has a better chance of being released than a closing sequel.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Otogi has crap gameplay and worse AI, yes its a nice mindless hack and slash game....

I vote for Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah and Zone of enders:fist of mars

The entire Myst series. The entire Legacy of Kain series. (except for Defiance)

Defiance is under rated.

I swear, it's like only a few people properly appreciate Baten Kaitos/Baten Kaitos Origins. Look, I'm not saying they're sacrosanct like the Zelda and Mario games, and they're not game-of-the-year titles, but what they are are deep, creative RPGs with a pretty original story with some twists you will not see coming, in addition to solid gameplay and fantastic music pieces written by Motoi Sakuraba himself.

More info on Baten Kaitos [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baten_Kaitos] for the Gamecube and Baten Kaitos Origins [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baten_Kaitos_Origins], the prequel, also for the Gamecube, can be found on the links I've attached. If I may be so bold, you owe it to yourself as a Gamecube owner, if you are one, to give Baten Kaitos the consideration it deserves. Peace out.

Chrono Cross ruined me on card based games.

 

[Peach_hat]

Anyone want to bet on how long it takes Psychonauts to be mentioned?

You sly dog, you just mentioned it! Any bets we placed would be moot!

Anyway, I nominate Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus, maybe the other two are good too but I never did have an xbox so I wouldn't know.

But those two games blew my miiiiiind. Unique story, challenging (and at times frustrating) gameplay, and controllable farts. What more could you want in a game?

Damn you. I came into this thread to say Oddworld. Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus were the best. Munch's Oddysee was good, but the controls were kind of awkward. Stranger's Wrath was great. Though the giant talking chickens kind of killed the feel of Oddworld. And Stranger's Wrath wasn't on Mudos like the first three were.

Dude.
Do some research. It was never released here, ever.

The ones you may have seen would have almost definitely been imported by that store or bought on ebay and sold to it.

 

[Imat]

Alright, so I'm sure there are plenty of games out there that pretty much nobody ever played but you, but did you ever love them. What are some of the most underappreciated games you've played?

I'm going to say Silicon Valley for the N64. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one to ever love that game but it is completely amazing.

I'm going to have to agree that Space Station Silicon Valley was greatly unerappreciated. It was by far one of the best games on the system and to this day there's nothing like it.

I likes Rise of Legends, but I preferred Rise of Nations.

And, of course, Gal Civ's 2 is one of my favorite games in the genre. I kinda wanna see a multiplayer addon for it, but I don't know if that would make it better or worse...

 

[avelmen1889]

painkiller

 

[egwidalin]

stronghold and stronghold crusader for pc, those are right up next to starcraft in terms of great rpgs in my eyes, too bad the sequels were terrible and earned the game a bad name

 

[Imat]

Heroes of Might and magic 3-5. best turn-based strategy game of all time.

Titan Quest. Best RPG of all time (single player most of the time, but it has online play and a map editor).

Dawn of War: Soulstorm. Best of the DOW series, but it was not very well known and DOW2 has ruined the entire franchise.

Really? I liked Dark Crusade much more for the for the multiplayer and I liked Dawn of War 2 much more than the rest of them for the epic story driven csmpaign.

I agree, I would always opt for Dark Crusade whenever me and my friends would play LAN (do you other people say that too or is "LANing" just something we swedes say when we bring our computers to a friends place).
I haven't played the entire DOW2 campaign yet but the multiplayer sure beats the previous games, if with a bit of balancing issues.

As for a favorite neglected game Diablo 1 (I played this game far after its release so maybe I just missed the tide but it was an awesome game that next to none of my friends have played)

I LAN all the time. It's definitely not just the Swedes.

 

[roastbeefy]

The first Condemned, haven't played the second one yet.

 

[Yegargeburble]

I am going with Terranigma. I don't think I really know anyone besides my brother who has played it, and it was an amazing game.

 

[Danman1]

Oddworld- Strangers Wrath is the most underrated in the oddworld games. It's not bad its just really different.