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Hey everyone, I wanted to ask you all what do you think are some underrated games that you have played (It’s one thing to say you know something underrated, but it’s another to say you played it)

 

For me, Rhythm Thief and Tangledeep are two underrated gems that I always adore

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Metroid: Other M. I could write a book about why.

Bushido Blade. That was always a pretty underrated PS1 game, I think; definitely a hidden gem.

Pac-Man World. Yeah we all know Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Banjo-Kazooie, Mario, and them are great! But what about this early-era 3D platformer? It's better than it has any right to be.

Until Dawn is still one of the most underrated PS4 games I've ever played. I hear it reviewed well, but...that's it. "Yeah it reviewed well" but then no one ever talks about it.

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The only one I can really think of is Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It gets a ton of hate for not living up to the original 3 paper mario game standards, but I think if you look at it as an individual experience instead of comparing it to three legendary games, I find it pretty enjoyable. Hell, I like it more than Paper Mario: Color Splash, which is a pretty unpopular opinion.

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Most of my underrated games are retro games that … stayed retro instead of getting to participate in today's modern retro boom, which I guess qualifies certain games as evergreen or something.

The things I MUST mention though

PURE (2008) - My favorite non Neversoft Tony Hawk Extreme Sports game, even over SSX and Microsoft Skate - it is ATV and it is more Racing than tricking, but it does a TON and is a much more involved game than It appears on the surface.

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim - I have to fight my impulse to either hype it up or to begrudgingly admit that their is a logic to the "cult" indirect RTS being Dungeon Keeper is fair - But Cyberlore's Majesty should never be forgotten or underestimated. It is the kind of game that has stuck with me since childhood, that I've written 1200+ word reviews for, and I still buy certain  games just on the promise of Majesty-like gameplay.

Interstate 76 - The whole "Car-combat" sub genre was kind of short lived, and it's rare that you see people talk about anything other than Twisted Metal. (Vigilante 8 and Cel Damage even has an HD version on steam and switch) But Interstate 76, is one of the more unique ones in being on PC, having a huge modding community, a more story-heavy approach, good musical themeing. - It is somewhat disorienting in modern day with it's controls and it can spaz out a little if you hit slopes you aren't supposed to like the map border cliffs , but once you get the hang of it the gameplay is still fairly solid (although enemy count is lower than the more arena based console games in the genre) 

Puzzle Games - I say Puzzle Game master race as a comedic hyperbole, but I also do really think that the best ones DO make it the best overall genre in videogames. Will always be underrated overall, because you gotta look past a lot of cheaply made or simple casual matching games or item-key adventure-puzzle games that don't require much logic.

I remembered while typing that we had this topic in January.

I guess I also really like playing coin-op games on MAME, but it's hard to split the line between popular at the time / ignored by retro boom making it disqualified as underrated. The seriously important ones for me are Tokyo Wars and Alien Front. Which aren't even imitated (very vaguely in Earth Defense Force) - the tank Genre is dominted today by more sim-ish than arcade gameplay which I've always felt was a shame and I would buy something I felt was suitably close in a heartbeat.

 

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The Zero Escape series. I really enjoy its characters and writing, but the games didn't receive good enough sales or even attention.

Digimon Card Battle has a fun gameplay, although the AI sucks. Can't tell if it was underrated, though.

Rabi-Ribi is a fun, completely non-linear metroidvania with some of the best boss fights I've ever seen, but these qualities are hidden behind its otaku pandering, silly story and ecchi looks.

 

 

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Does Binding Blade count? It gets a lot of hate.

Anyways: Mariokart Wii, because it should still be nintendo's top moneymaker

Sonic and All-stars racing transformed: This game is absolutely massive: A huge sort-of story mode where you play challenges that get incredibly hard later on, amazing map design, (in general) characters that you've never heard of, (Seriously, who the heck is Vyse, and what is a Panzer Dragoon? And why is there yet another game with a place called arcadia? And don't get me started on B.D Joe. And Ulala...Cursed.) but this game is truly amazing, and has TONS of glitches, most of which are hilarious: In one of the maps, you can drive straight through a wall and clip through the whole map, in another, if there is three or more players on the T.V, the light doesn't load 90% time so you can't see where you're going...The list goes on, but I love this game very much, both for the amount of content and the humorous glitches. I haven' played the sonic games, gosh, was I eight when I played Sonic colors? Golly, time flies, but I still enjoy this game.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward sword is my favourite game of all time, yet almost everybody I've met thinks Twilight princess is far better. I liked twilight  princess a lot, but I'd say the one thing I liked more about it over Skyward sword was Midna, who is an awesome chracter. And Malo is good.

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21 minutes ago, Benice said:

Legend of Zelda: Skyward sword is my favourite game of all time, yet almost everybody I've met thinks Twilight princess is far better. I liked twilight  princess a lot, but I'd say the one thing I liked more about it over Skyward sword was Midna, who is an awesome character. And Malo is good.

Funny, those are the two 3D Zelda games that I have the most issues with. Twilight Princess is well put together, but it doesn't do enough to stand out on its own; seriously underutilizing its unique elements in favour of being Ocarina of Time 2 (and the Zant twist came out of nowhere). Skyward Sword is the opposite: it has enough to be unique, but it really is not well put together. The sky is boring and has very little in it, the gameplay depends a bit too much on motion controls, and as a leftie (left-handed), I can't stand that there's no option to play Link left-handed in a game so dependent on motion controls. 

 

As for games I consider underrated, those would be:

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: The Video Game: As far as movie-license games go, it's far from the worst. It's not a great game, but it a fairly enjoyable 3D platformer. 

Megaman Battle Network 6: Most reviews I've seen of it seem to consider it only okay. I haven't finished it, and I admit that I'm not an expert on the Battle Network games; having only played 5 and 6, but I think 6 was a great way to end the franchise: the return of the WWW, a new cast, copybots, etc. I also liked the Cross System; it's a big improvement over the Soul Unison system from BN4 and BN5. I liked the Beast Out mechanic; it had plenty of depth to it and the "3 Turns or Beast Over" mechanic is a far better risk-reward system than the Chaos Unison from BN5, which I frankly never used because of its weird system and because I didn't want to use Dark Chips.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures: I understand the criticisms of this game; namely the disconnected levels and the fact that multiplayer is only possible through those gameboy-gamecube connection cables. But, as a single-player game, it is very fun and, in my opinion, it has the best version of controlling a multiple-character-team in real-time combat that I have seen so far in a video game. 

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: 2D Zelda games that aren't A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds or Link's Awakening tend to get forgotten about when discussing great Zelda games, as most people seem to remember the 3D games more. Spirit Tracks had its flaws, but overall, it was an absolutely fantastic game and a bit of a personal favourite of mine. I love how tongue-in-cheek it is about the Zelda series; able to poke fun at some old tropes like Zelda always being in danger. Speaking of Zelda, Spirit Zelda has to be my favourite of Link's companions. Sorry Midna, sorry King of Red Lions, and Navi... I'm not sorry at all, but Spirit Zelda is just better. Not only is she immensely useful thanks to her being able to control Phantoms and being semi-controllable, not only is she also one of the best incarnations of Zelda: balancing Tetra's sass and fearlessness with other child Zeldas' wisdom and adorableness, but her dynamic with Link is one of the best I've ever seen in a Zelda game. It's like something out of a great buddy-duo adventure game, and it is downright adorable. 

Valkyria Chronicles 4: This game was very well-received when it released, which is great, because it is a fantastic game. However, it is still underrated, as it sold very poorly at release. 

Xenoblade Chronicles X: It has its flaws, and I have some personal issues with the game, but I can't deny that what it gets right, it gets very right. Its open world is amazing to explore and very creatively designed, its characters are interesting and the story's pretty good despite feeling like setup for a sequel. 

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I just remembered that I like Ribbit King more than Hot Shots Golf - using the live Frogs as Golf balls is fun in a cartoony alice in wonderland way, and the game's pretty funny. It also lets you have huge amounts of aftertouch and easy to visualize big midair curve shots, and I have a better feel for how Frogs hope after bouncing than golf balls bounce.

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Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

Just when Awakening made you think that IS lost any and all ability to design maps, this game came along with a ton of beautiful varied maps where success depended on your creativity in using the tools available to you, rather then simply crushing any opposition with your big numbers. In other words: An actual strategy game.
And the game takes full advantage of the 3rd dimension too, allowing you to interact with the environment in all kinds of ways. On top of just being very atmospheric in general, with your view being limited by what your characters can see. It's very commando-like in that regard.

It has it's rough spots of course. Most notably enemies in Overwatch mode are all kinds of finicky to interact with. And the difficulty scaling is a little... questionable.
And I suppose a lot of people judged the game based on the unpatched version. Which is fair. I can't comprehend why the game didn't have the ability to speed up enemy phase right out of the box.

It's such a shame they won't give this another go. I can't imagine just how good the game could be if those rough spots could be ironed out.


Castlevania 64 / Legacy of Darkness

Unfortunately I only played those games a few years ago. I wish I played them back when they came out because they ended up my favorite N64 games. And it just feels weird to say that about a game I only played through emulation.
As for the relationship between the two games, Legacy of Darkness is an updated version of Castlevania 64. With more stuff and a lot of the rough edges ironed out. There isn't much of a reason to play the original version when Legacy of Darkness is available. I just wish you didn't have to unlock Carrie and Reinhardt first since I admittedly think Cornel's gameplay is kinda dumb.

The game has a mix of levels that are either classic linear Castlevania platforming (well, sorta. This is a 3D game, after all) or are more exploration and puzzle based,  more like the classic Tomb Raider games. I think the platforming levels are a lot of fun and the exploration based levels are... not. The best thing about Legacy of Darkness is no doubt that it changed the ratio of platforming and exploration heavily in favor of platforming.

What made the game stand out to me is it's gripping atmosphere. The castle feels big and dangerous. Sure, you're playing this big hero with the divine whip or the girl with magic powers. Your character's feel strong and have a varied movepool for you to use. But it still very much feels like the castle could snuff your life out the moment you let your guard down. It's nothing like all those weird "Metroid but with grinding instead of exploration" games that they kept pumping out, which turned Dracula's castle into this big playground. Meanwhile Castlevania 64 almost feels like a horror game. And it just feels so good to make progress and descend deeper and deeper into the lion's maw. The clock tower in particular is just amazing.

Carrie also ended up being my favorite Castlevania character. Which I really did not expect. I figured she would basically be super goofy like Maria Reinhardt. Let's just say, she makes her namesake proud.
She is no-nonsense, willing to crush the creatures of hell without mercy and very aware of just how powerful she is. Of course being super badass is nice and all but there is more to her then that, things that are beautifully emphasized by her main antagonist of her route: Actrice.
Actrice might well be the most wicked character in Castlevania. She murdered dozens of children for Dracula to grant her immortality, including her own. She is so rotten that she can't even comprehend why Carrie, a girl who was orphaned twice and holds her adoptive mother in high regard, would not want to follow her example and murder other children for her own benefit.
It's actually kinda funny how Carrie's story contrasts with Reinhardt's, which is pretty straight forward about a noble man crushing wicked demons and rescuing a pure maiden. Needless to say, it's hardly as gripping as Carrie's. Her story also ends on a somber note in front of her mother's grave, while Reinhardt's is just straight up "happily ever after".

Edited by BrightBow
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Guild Wars 1 doesn't get anywhere near the recognition it deserves as one of the best CRPGs (hell, one of the best games) ever made.

 

Sacred Stones gets far more flak than I feel it deserves.

 

Dynasty Warriors and its genre gets a lot of critical panning that it doesn't really deserve. There absolutely are bad games in the genre (DW6, DW9, Fate/Extella), but the genre as a whole provides hundreds of hours of content to its dedicated fanbase while being one of the last bastions of local co op. And some of its games (FE Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, and the Dragon Quest Heroes games) are even praise-worthy.

Edited by Etheus
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3 hours ago, Etheus said:

Sacred Stones gets far more flak than I feel it deserves.

*coughcough*

The Kingdom Under Fire games(Namely The Crusaders and Heroes) are basically how I envision every hero or unit-based strategy game actually playing out, and it's a shame that this style of game only really existed for like, two games.

The Burnout(Takedown and Revenge mostly) and Road Rash(Mostly 64) series are two of the most fun arcade racing series that really capture how adrenaline fueled and aggressive that genre is... and are again, dead and buried. Under EA.

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On 4/22/2020 at 1:40 PM, Rapier said:

The Zero Escape series. I really enjoy its characters and writing, but the games didn't receive good enough sales or even attention.

 

2 hours ago, avensis said:

For me it's the Zero Escape, I don't understand why it hasn't been successful

As someone who got his first 3DS console in half 2017, I can tell you that the Zero Escape games are mentioned in every and all recommendation lists of DS and 3DS games. It is not my style, but I would never have imagined that they got no attention back in the day.


As for me, I believe that Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising is infinitely better than AW1, and should be the one game universally recommended.

I understand its not being revolutionary, specially when published so shortly after its predecessor. But why is this negative for it? It does the same, true, but it does it better: map design, character variety, balance, artistic design, campaign modes, extra content, even the story (as simple as it is) is more interesting. If anything, the first one is the game that seems rough when compared to its successor.

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10 hours ago, starburst said:

As someone who got his first 3DS console in half 2017, I can tell you that the Zero Escape games are mentioned in every and all recommendation lists of DS and 3DS games. It is not my style, but I would never have imagined that they got no attention back in the day.

I think 999 got a good enough reception to warrant a sequel, but VLR didn't sell very well (despite being even better, imo) and it was a miracle that ZTD was made (much because of fans backing it up and expressing their love for the series).

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Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarding- that game was my childhood and I still think it's a great game. That's all I can think of off the top of my head tbh. I'm pretty picky with what I choose to play, if it's generally not seen as a good game, I usually won't play it. I almost want to say Jump Force, but I think the criticisms of the game are pretty fair, though I'd give it a bit higher of a rating than what I've seen. 

Edited by SSbardock84
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If we're talking underrated in the sense of games few have played or are talking about despite being landmark technical achievements and/or just all around great games for their time:

  • Phantasy Star (the original for the Master System)
  • Crystalis
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine
  • Spider-Man 2
  • Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

If we're talking underrated in the sense of being part of a large franchise yet being unfairly dismissed by fans of said franchise.

  • Star Fox Assault
  • Metroid Other M
  • Bioshock 2
  • Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  • DMC Devil May Cry
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  • 1 month later...
On 4/30/2020 at 4:02 PM, Glennstavos said:

If we're talking underrated in the sense of being part of a large franchise yet being unfairly dismissed by fans of said franchise.

"If it's different, it's worse!" That line of reasoning "fans" spew all the time fills me with disgust.

-Code Name STEAM.
No, it's not Fire Emblem, maybe don't treat it like one? I recall most professional reviewers giving it mediocre scores, mainly because it wasn't Fire Emblem. There was exactly one review out of the handful I read that I liked, because the reviewer came across as objective and fair. Ironically, I think that reviewer actually scored it lower than most others. Music was excellent, art style was nice, gameplay was really challenging. Nice package overall.

-Paper Mario Sticker Star
Yeah, it didn't have much of a story, and it ditched the RPG elements. That said, the dialogue was top notch, I personally enjoyed that fast-paced combat, the game is gorgeous and it has the best soundtrack in the entire Mario series (that I've played, at least). Puzzle elements were also well done.

-Metroid Other M
One of the worst, if not the worst Metroid game created. And yet it still manages to be a good game. Shows you the high bar Metroid has as a series. Story is absolute B movie material, often veering into it's so bad it's good. Compare that to Fates for overall story, which was mostly just bad. Music was the most disappointing part, everything else holds up well. Lots of fun to be had with the combat system, bosses were a highlight. Looked really sharp too.

-Metroid Prime Federation Force
The only Metroid (besides pinball) that doesn't play like a Metroid in some way, shape or form. It has about 23 or so missions with defined goals and almost all them featuring a unique gameplay feature so things never get stale. Co-op is a blast and if that's not your thing, the vast majority of missions are easily done solo, compared to Tri Force Heroes which was not enjoyable for me and difficult to play on my own. Yes, the graphics and music are merely serviceable, but the rest of the game is well worth it. Customization is really fun, full of mods, you can't choose everything so you really have to think what would be best to take on a given mission. Missions also have a points system and goals, encouraging you to find optimal and timely ways to beat missions to unlock medals (bragging rights and cosmetics). You can have fun beating the game on normal and it's a nice challenge, but being good enough to master a level is an entirely different matter. Try doing so on hard mode as well, with its own set of medals!

-Dark Souls II
This is a game that expands on most everything the first in the series did, as any good sequel should. Very little was removed, most of it was either changed a little or flat-out improved. And platforming is a lot more important in this game than any others in the series. Despite being made by another team, the story respected the one in the first game while still going its own way. But those are all bad things, right? Good thing the devs listened to the outraged fans, because we got Dark Souls 3, which definitely doesn't feel like a Bloodborne game and most certainly isn't fan service for Dark Souls 1.....

-Dragon Age II
Best story, companions are all heavily flawed and have their own lives, huge emphasis on family, grey vs grey morality (yes, you can debate the morality stuff, let's not do that). Every success is brought down by a failure of varying degrees. The main protagonist isn't some destined hero, just simply someone doing their best for their family and city. I'd like more stories like this, where I don't feel like I'm a god in control of everything. Dialogue is great. That said, the repeated environments and stupid wave-based fights are genuinely bad.

There are more games to list, but I'm tired.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Underrated may be a stretch, as it mostly got 8/10 and higher from critics, but TMSFE is a contender. Or at least one aspect of its story. I actually liked how Atlus handled Itsuki, compared to how IS usually handles male Lord characters. He actually backs off and let other characters shine, which shows the teamwork dynamic better than the FE games, ironically. It's the same reason why I also like Yu from Persona 4, and Minako from Persona 3 Portable, as both also feature them as part of their teams heavily in their stories. In all three cases, they only really become the be-all and end-all heroes at the end of their stories.

Besides, the story otherwise is generally serviceable unlike Fates Conquest (and some parts of Valentia Echoes), the fanservice is actually appropriate also unlike Fates or even Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the gameplay is generally actually engaging unlike Awakening or the Akaneia DS remakes, and the music is one of the few J-Pop stuff that I actually like.

I mean, if the fanservice and J-Pop stuff is bad here, then you kind of have to say the same thing with Rise Kujikawa and her idol stuff, especially in Persona 4: Dancing All Night. I might even say that a particular part Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is more problematic even compared to Fates, not to mention TMSFE. The early stages of the original game had an anti-sexualization moral narrative for one of the characters - yet the P5D girls partake in a burlesque, and video clips of sexual acts in the ultimate music track!

Edited by henrymidfields
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