Most underappriciated games

[Calax]

I've noticed that some really good games are literally unknown by the wider gaming community. I thought that we ought to give homage to these games because nobody else except for the cults behind them will.

 

 

My top Pick is: Zone of the Enders: the 2nd Runner

THis game is probably one of the fastest paced combat games I've ever seen. It's mixture of anime and cg effects (and cell shading can't forget that) combine to make the most proper robot fighting game if your looking for somthing to give you that Gundam Wing "My one ship can kill all of j0" feel. It adds a few things that weren't in the origional (which actually sold more mainly because the MGS2 demo was in it) like grab attacks and it changes around the subweapons.

 

And for those who love Gradius it' has the Vic Viper.

 

There is one thing that this falls flat on its face. It's voice overs are garbage, and it doesn't have a second audio track you can switch to. Somtimes the voices sound like they are starting a completly new conversation in the middle of a sentance. Other times the mouth sync is off so that it becomes traditional kung fu theater (10 seconds of mouth moving, "HEY YOU!" being said really really fast)

 

Eurogamer gives it an 8/10

Oh and for those who will liked the way Metal Gear was done it should be pointed out that the producer was none other than Hideo Kojima

and Now some pics

Edited December 13, 2005 by Calax

[kumquatq3]

Surprisingly with this crowd, Silent Storm and especially it's follow up Sentinels are under appreciated.

 

Super Monkey Ball is like Marble Madness on 'roids and is under appreciated.

 

I'd even say Pirates! is a bit under appreciated

[Kalfear]

hmmmm, thats hard to say because its so open to personal tastes.

 

For me, I think older games like the gold box games, original Wizardry, original Might and Magic are under sppreciated now adays because the majority of folks now on the forums never played them (and wont because they so old).

 

Those really were "gems" and alot more companies should use them as learning material for their own games.

 

Newer doesnt always mean better!

[Janmanden]

I'm somewhat of a FO:T fanboy, so I'm biased. I've also played JA2 and Silent Storm and I can understand why they both may be underappreciated. JA2 is at least fun with the party banter, cutscenes and combat too, but Silent Storm is just plain boring unless you happen to be a die hard fan of tactical combat - and I'm not, I need more.

 

edit: some grammar and a point.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Janmanden

[kumquatq3]

FO:T

 

Agreed.

 

Let me toss in Herzog Zewi (Still a great 1 on 1 game)

 

 

And anyone remember the adventure game Noctropolis? That, Oregon Trail for the Mac, and the Great Machine put PC gaming on the map for me.

[Kalfear]

FO:T

 

Agreed.

 

Let me toss in Herzog Zewi (Still a great 1 on 1 game)

 

 

And anyone remember the adventure game Noctropolis? That, Oregon Trail for the Mac, and the Great Machine put PC gaming on the map for me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

LOL, I played Nectropolis

 

It was definately under rater but then again, except for a short period of time, all those style of games (multimedia cut screen games) were (phantasmagoria 1 and 2, Gabriel Knight; The Beast with in, ect).

 

I remember I REALLY thought companies were finally going to start making games FOR adults (rated R) back then (nectropolis had breif nudity and Phantasmagoria was definately mature in theme) but they seemd to back off almost immediately afterwards. Real shame IMO that gaming companies are not like movie companies and make content for a wide assortment of preferences.

 

I dont mind nudity or swearing when it FITS the part (hate nudity and swearing when its added for the sake of having it or saying it), I hate it when the part should have something like that and people water it down to allow for a younger audience. Its like when a movie does a bad editing job to get a younger rating even though it leaves the movie flat and with out appeal (see almost any directors cut vrs theater release for what I mean. Directors Cut is 99% of the time better!)

[mkreku]

Everytime one of these lists pop up I just have to mention Gothic. Before Gothic, I was able to enjoy games like Baldur's Gate and the like. But after experiencing the immersion of Gothic, I just can't turn back. I am a 'fully explorable 3D-world' whore now. Unfortunately, no other game has even come close to the immersion factor of Gothic and Gothic 2 since then for me, except perhaps Deus Ex, but that's a whole other genre.. sort of.

 

I need more games with huge maps where you can stay off the main quest for a week if you want!!

[alanschu]

Were you also a huge fan of Morrowind? Seems to match that criteria perfectly.

[mkreku]

Were you also a huge fan of Morrowind?  Seems to match that criteria perfectly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, I absolutely despised Morrowind. I did, however, love Daggerfall.

 

Yeah, I agree. Morrowind fit my personal taste so well on paper that I pre-ordered a Collector's Edition from the US because it was released over there almost a month earlier than in Sweden (and it is still the most expensive game I've ever bought). When it arrived I played it for 30 hours before realizing how much it sucked the fun out of my life. Since then I've practically hated it.

 

Morrowind.. The main story is too vague and uninteresting. The combat sucks in every way imaginable. The graphics engine didn't support long viewing distances and it ran like a hog. The dialogues were as much fun as reading a telephone book. Side-quests were retarded beyond repair. The caves/dungeons were small, uninteresting, uninspired and generic, and every dungeon/cave/tomb/hole in the ground had a DOOR. How stupid is that? And finally, the character development system was ridiculously unbalanced. In my first hour of playing I entered a cave (with a door..) and the phone rang, so I ran off and talked for a good 45 minutes to 1 hour. When I got back to the game a rat had found my character standing there abandoned and had nibbled on him for the entire phone conversation. So I killed the annoying creature and saved the game, not noticing that my block skill (I think it was.. or armour skill or something) had reached ridiculous proportions. And that's basically how the system turned out to work. Jump like an idiot all the way when you walked somewhere, and before you even reached the destination you'd have leveled 3 times. Insane.

[Darque]

Yeah... I'll admit Morrowind has it's flaws... "

[Hurlshort]

I'll definitely say Jagged Alliance 2 is under-rated. It had so much character to go along with the awesome combat.

 

I would also say Xcom is under-rated, because despite selling well and being well received, there has been little attempt at recreating a game of this type.

 

Oh, and all the Lucas Arts SCUMM games and Sierra adventure games are in need of a revival. Quest for Glory in particular.

[Cantousent]

Darklands, the original PoR, Zork, Zork, Zork, Sundog.

[Spider]

I would also say Xcom is under-rated, because despite selling well and being well received, there has been little attempt at recreating a game of this type.

 

You mean apart from the two sequels (and no, X-Com: Enforcer and X-Com: Interceptor don't count) and the much more recent "spiritual succesors" UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock (the latter which was released only a few months ago).

[Volourn]

Around here, it's easily NWN. What's really funny is that many of the same people who constantly bash the game are some of the people who are still playing it. Go figure.

 

Three + years, and I still play it full time. Every other game, no matter how much liked it ie BG or FO or the Ultimas, I play them for 6 months if lucky, and then I throw them in the trash 'cause they have outlived their usefulness. But, not NWN which is the Everlasting Game tm.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Volourn

[Blank]

Yeah... I'll admit Morrowind has it's flaws...  "

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... admit it's flaws? flaws are what characterize the Morrowind series. You know it isn't Morrowind if you are having fun. Combat is absolutely disgusting, 100x worse than the fighting system of Intelligent Cube, and that doesn't even have a fighting system. like, your weapon, won't hit the thing, even though it just did! you see that it hits the thing but it doesn't!

 

the dialogue, which Mreku also stylistically pointed out, is something i would be ashamed to wipe my crack with. the graphics caused me temporary blindness when i realised that it was the actual game that i was playing, and not some sadistic joke the programmers had placed to fool people into thinking they had just bought a modern game with graphics of the same caliber as 1942 (i have a very biased opinion based on my experience with this game)

 

This game has forever ruined my perception of 'fully explorable 3D-world' rpg's. in a post about these games i made a couple weeks ago i said, "it was like a MMORPG without the second M and the O and without quality for the R and P. basically it was in its own money-wasting genre. in essence, an MRPG: Massively Really Pathetic Game."

[Hell Kitty]

I liked Noctropolis, and still wish I had my old copy.

 

My vote goes to Beyond Good and Evil.

[kirottu]

Were you also a huge fan of Morrowind?  Seems to match that criteria perfectly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, I absolutely despised Morrowind. I did, however, love Daggerfall.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Daggerfall gets lots of loving. Morrowind was so many ways a step back from Daggerfall it

[Hell Kitty]

Dagerfall gets lots of loving, but what about poor old Arena?

[mkreku]

Dagerfall gets lots of loving, but what about poor old Arena?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The version of Arena that I played was so buggy that it was almost unplayable. I never really got into that game because of all the bugs. All I remember from it was that it began in a dungeon and you had to fight your way out, and when you did you ended up in a town. The town crashed on me everytime I was to enter a store or talk to someone so I basically gave up right there.

 

I've tried replaying it after Bethesda generously released Arena for downloading but I guess it's one of those games I'll never be able to play and fully enjoy. Which is sad.

[Musopticon?]

Nethack, wankers. I don't know where to begin, it's so...real.

 

 

 

For the record; Morrowind's world was hugely original and I loved the art direction of it.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Musopticon?

[Hell Kitty]

One of my all-time favourites, Midwinter II: Flames of Freedom.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Risk. It's just like the board game, has different scenerios you can play as well.

[Meshugger]

Baten Kaitos on the gamecube. Very interesting battle-system.

 

A quote from Eurogamer:

 

The game does exhibit some of the design brilliance that characterises its battles and art direction elsewhere, to give it its fair due. One element I really enjoyed was the constant breaking of the fourth wall - involving the player, referred to throughout as Kalas' Guardian Spirit, directly in the gameplay. Your characters refer to you by name, ask you questions directly, and turn around to look out of the screen straight at you - a real break with traditional RPG conventions (although Fire Emblem does something similar) and quite a nice addition to the game. The music, it should be noted, is also absolutely excellent, with Motoi Sakuraba contributing a score which easily matches the beauty of Yasuyuki Honne's art direction

Edited December 12, 2005 by Meshugger

[Musopticon?]

Is that the one where all the characters have wings?

[Meshugger]

Is that the one where all the characters have wings?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yup.