Which game(s) that you love do you consider underrated/unheard of/ unloved.

[LottiexxxSims]

This has more than likely been covered somewhere and if so- fab- point me in the direction because this is a topic i love.

 

There are so many games out there and so many opinions.

Some titles fall by the wayside with little fanfare or get lost in the shadow of a big release.

So many hidden gems to discover or titles that you might feel didn't get the love they deserved on release.

I love hearing people write so passionately about the games they love. 

So pick a title...any title...any genre...

It doesn't have to be a little indie game, it can be a big name that you just feel isn't discussed or appreciated as it should be. 

Why do you love it? Why should others play it?

I'm interested to see what others present! I'm curious to see if one of the games I'm thinking of makes an appearance as anyone's choice!
 

[Antiope_Apollonia]

Hmm... Probably Total Annihilation: Kingdoms.

[Khlas]

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights 

Plok (the music is good for a very old game)

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (unique combat system and rich storyline)

Eternal Darkness : Sanity's Requiem (RE1-like, but more psychological and dark fantasy)

Edited August 24, 2022 by Khlas

[steelpanther24]

For us older gamers, there are titles that newer gamers (anyone not born in the 60s or before) never got to play.  By today standards, these games are unheard of, but they were among the most popular and highest rated games in the early years of PC gaming so.... I guess it really doesn't fit your OP.

 

XCom: strategy/resource management/turn based combat

Aces of the Deep: WWII German sub simulation

Fleet Defender: Very realistic (for the time) F-14 flight simulator.   I may be biased because I played that game while serving onboard a carrier in the USN

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe/Battle of Britain: WWII flight simulator with a campaign mode.

Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space: Management simulation that really shows how extremely hard the race to the moon was and how luck played a big role.

 

 

Modern games:

Alpha Protocol:  RPGish/FPS game

 

 

[MasterWolf2169]

Tyranny. Its such a good game and its one of the few that lets you be the bad guy AND takes itself seriously. Don't get me wrong I love games like fable and overlord but sometimes I want to feel like the bad guy in a serious setting instead of one that makes everyone out to be ridiculously stupid and immature making constant jokes about everything, including being attacked by a murderous psychopath (me). I also really like the the way you decide at the beginning of tyranny how you helped Kyros (the overlord/god/thing that rules over you) in his conquest. I legit would play an entire game of just that and it really helps teach you about the factions in the game so that you can kind of get an idea of who you might side with or against. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to finish it because my save where I was a good way through just mysteriously vanished and I haven't had the energy to start all over again. I'm pretty sure its a pretty short game so I should probably just do it but losing my save just really killed my mood.

[LottiexxxSims]

13 hours ago, Khlas said:

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights 

Plok (the music is good for a very old game)

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (unique combat system and rich storyline)

Eternal Darkness : Sanity's Requiem (RE1-like, but more psychological and dark fantasy)

Eternal Darkness was great! I've not thought about that one in a while I remember playing that for the first time a few years after it came out at a sleepover with a friend (think we played through some of Condemned and that had only just been released at that point) we enjoyed it. I'm a fan of psychological elements in gaming and the sanity meter was a great feature i think. 

[Mr. Otaku]

Prototype. That game was insanely good with such a cool concept and really fun, engaging mechanics. It wasn't groundbreaking or anything in terms of story but it was good enough and the gameplay around the whole concept was so cool. It never rose to the upper ends of gaming but man it deserved to in my opinion. The second game was kind of a hit or miss though, and since there's practically no activity within the Prototype fanbase from back in the day the likelihood of a a third Prototype game is slim to none, which is sad.

 

Next in my list is Spec Ops: The Line. Unlike Prototype this did create a bigger buzz but still, it's usually not a game people think of when they're asked to name some of the best games from the early 2010's. I think the graphics looked incredibly good for it's time and still looks pretty. The gameplay wasn't crisp like CoD but it didn't need to be for what it was trying to do with the narrative. The level designs are so clever right from the beginning, if you know about the stop sign at the start you know what i'm talking about. I'd love to see another Spec Ops game with meaningful commentary on warfare as a concept.

 

Deadpool 2013. This came out of nowhere and presented something very simple yet very fun, a highspeed and satisfying hack&slash game with Deadpool's humor (the unconscious mutants scene still makes me laugh every time, if you know you know). The visuals looked great and stylized, the combat loop was very well done and the level design was amazing. The game didn't make much waves in the community though, and due to some corporate licensing bullshit it's not sold anywhere anymore so it's virtually impossible for newer gamers to know about it unless they go out of their way to look for it. Luckily i have a physical disk of it from back in the day when mom bought it for me.

 

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down - Team Sabre. This was way back in the way, i was 5 years old when it came out in 2004 lol. This game was the perfect military game in my eyes, it was nothing like the action movie combat of CoD and Battlefield. This was a no nonsense "here's your mission, here are your objectives, you don't get any hand holdy clues, go do your thing" type game. To this day it's incredibly hard and demands quite a lot of concentration and foresight, it's easy to kill the enemies but it's also easy to die. I doubt anybody's even thinking about recreating games like these on modern game engines so that's a big shame because these type of games are sorely lacking in the current market.

 

There are more games that i think are underrated but i'll keep it at 4 for now.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Mr. Otaku
"Do you know the definition of a typo?" -Crazy Man With A Mohawk

[LottiexxxSims]

1 hour ago, Mr. Otaku said:

Deadpool 2013. This came out of nowhere and presented something very simple yet very fun, a highspeed and satisfying hack&slash game with Deadpool's humor (the unconscious mutants scene still makes me laugh every time, if you know you know). The visuals looked great and stylized, the combat loop was very well done and the level design was amazing. The game didn't make much waves in the community though, and due to some corporate licensing bullshit it's not sold anywhere anymore so it's virtually impossible for newer gamers to know about it unless they go out of their way to look for it. Luckily i have a physical disk of it from back in the day when mom bought it for me.

It's a real shame, as you mentioned, that new people probably won't get to experience the brilliance of Deadpool it's such a great experience. I was incredibly lucky to come across a physical copy of the game in a second hand game store a few years back and it only cost a few pounds for the privilege.  it's a brilliant game. The combat, the dialogue, the humour all excellent. I always cautious about lending it out through fear i might not get it back again haha 

[RoninDog]

None of the games I like are unloved because I like quality, but I know a few underrated games that deserve more publicity.

 

The Swapper: Very intelligent and well-made puzzle platformer that really engages and is top quality for an indie game, but I don't think a lot of people have heard of it.

 

Talisman: Best fantasy board game imo. I think it has passed under most peoples' radar because most people don't play board games online and it's slow and buggy. With a group of nice people and a good setup it has an amazing potential.

 

Devotion: Good horror game from Taiwan that was removed from Steam because it contained a painting that insulted the president of China. A very dumb and sloppy thing to allow in final release. I managed to get it before that though and have played it to the end.

[Decèdere]

1 hour ago, RoninDog said:

Devotion: Good horror game from Taiwan that was removed from Steam because it contained a painting that insulted the president of China. A very dumb and sloppy thing to allow in final release. I managed to get it before that though and have played it to the end.

I thought about this when I entered the topic. They sell it now in their online store. Another horror game that seems to go under the radar is Mundaun. It's set in Mundaun, Switzerland and all the dialogue is in the local language and the story is based on local folklore. It has a really unique art style too. Definitely one of my favorites up there with Devotion.

[spoonsinger]

Drakensang - River Of Time & Phileasson's Secret

[Mr. Otaku]

6 hours ago, LottiexxxSims said:

It's a real shame, as you mentioned, that new people probably won't get to experience the brilliance of Deadpool it's such a great experience. I was incredibly lucky to come across a physical copy of the game in a second hand game store a few years back and it only cost a few pounds for the privilege.  it's a brilliant game. The combat, the dialogue, the humour all excellent. I always cautious about lending it out through fear i might not get it back again haha 

 

Don't lend it to someone you don't absolutely trust, that disk is a piece of history lol. I'm just glad to see that i'm not the only one on this site that knows and remembers that awesome game. People often talk about how Insomniac's Spiderman games are proof that movie/comic book licensed games can be good while Deadpool already proved that point almost a decade ago, yet it barely gets talked about anywhere. What an enormous shame.

[LottiexxxSims]

44 minutes ago, Mr. Otaku said:

 

Don't lend it to someone you don't absolutely trust, that disk is a piece of history lol. I'm just glad to see that i'm not the only one on this site that knows and remembers that awesome game. People often talk about how Insomniac's Spiderman games are proof that movie/comic book licensed games can be good while Deadpool already proved that point almost a decade ago, yet it barely gets talked about anywhere. What an enormous shame.

Haha i shall guard it with my very life.

Absolutely, that's one thing that infuriates and saddens me is that Deadpool has been robbed of that love and the accolades because of damn licencing nonsense.  

I'm glad there's the odd playthrough video about that people can watch to experience that way but there's nothing quite like actually playing through a tile for yourself. 

[ANGRYWOLVERINE]

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen

Ogre Battle Let Us Cling Together

 

[legendarytoyou]

Xenogears, not to be mistaken with Xenosaga or Xenoblades.  It was hinted to be the original plot behind Final Fantasy 7 but was deemed to dark.  Its a VERY underappreciated JRPG, great story and great characters.  About the only thing that is lacking is the very linear combat system/gear system.  Its very generic and linear.  The rest of the game though is something to behold, especially for people like myself who are helpless romantics.

[Grey Cloud]

Talonsoft's Campaign Series or at least West Front and East Front II circa 1998/99.

[FauxFurry]

The Deception/Kagero franchise are some of my favorite games to date yet they are some of the only older games that Tecmo-Koei deems unworthy of bringing over to the PC. They'll put costumes from its heroines in other games without hesitation yet they likely never consider giving the games themselves a remaster to provide some context to the costumes. 

 

Of course, a series that generally focused on relatively frail female characters using their wits to trap those who stalk them rather than facing them in direct combat may draw attention from all of the wrong people. They probably do not want the series to receive widespread attention that way. Then again, they probably would never get into the gameplay as they would be distracted by the outfits that the villainess protagonists of Deception 2 and 4 wore to boot the things up. 

[mircislav]

The Saboteur - beautiful (in every aspect) game, forgotten... sadly...

Edited September 28, 2022 by mircislav

[NickNozownik]

Men of War Assault Squad 2. WW2 (or WW1 if modded) RTS that actually tries to be realistic and doesn't ruin it with "muh balance" nonsense. Has quite a few big and well made mods for it, very easy to use editor and very good destruction system.

It's not a hidden gem, but I rarely hear about it.

[DrDunhill]

Maybe not underrated but Hotline Miami is my go to. Such a well written and developed game. I return to it year after year with no complaints.

[belegost]

Betrayal at Krondor.

My first contact with a story-driven, open-world RPG. Probably the only game I have so much nostalgia towards, yet never finished it. Probably never will, though it was a sole reason I created a Good Old Games (now just GOG) account, back when they only had oldies in their catalogue, so I could get a copy that worked under WinXP (yeah, it's been a while ago). Apparently based on a book series I don't know a thing about. It was never translated and published around these parts.

Edited March 20, 2023 by belegost

[Honeycrust]

Probably Gauntlet Legends/Dark Legacy, to me it felt overlooked for how great it was.   Really amazing gameplay leveling/progression and the music is endlessly memorable and what was lacking in the poor 2014 release which was a soulless game with nothing of this... can't even remember any music in the 2014 game, just ambient noise.  As you level in the game, your character not only physically is stronger, but runs faster, attacks faster and physically grows in size, by the end of the game you are a real beast compared to the start.

 

A great way to play it is the gamecube Dolphin emulator since the gamecube version is likely the superior on in graphics the fact you can use the Dolphin emulator for force widescreen, even ultrawide screen... and on top of that you can zoom out which was the major complaint of the game back at its original release for how you were far too closely zoomed in.  Only thing is its a bit janky since running at like 16:9/21:9 will cause image pop in for any 3d image that has a animation linked to it... although static 3d images don't pop in as bad which makes the zooming and ultrawide really improve gameplay if you can adjust to the constantly offscreen pop in from the unrendered parts of the game.

 

Screenshot of 21:9 of Dark Legacy on the Dolphin emulator... look at this damn thing.  You can see how far i can zoom out and it can actually render some parts of the game beyond the original 4:3 ratio which is just crazy stuff for a console game from the late 90s.

[Grey Cloud]

On 3/20/2023 at 1:18 AM, belegost said:

Apparently based on a book series I don't know a thing about.

Raymond E. Feist - The Riftwar Cycle. Good reads.

[belegost]

2 hours ago, Grey Cloud said:

Raymond E. Feist - The Riftwar Cycle. Good reads.

Yes, I altavistad it a while ago. It just isn't available in here and frankly I'm not that interested.

Edited March 28, 2023 by belegost