Most underrated video games of all time (ever)

[twerk_face]

The title explains it. please say a game, it's system, and why it was so good.


for me, it is, without a doubt, "Cell Damage," for the Gamecube and the XBox. This game has it all. Huge explosions, hilarious one liners ("Me show you how lawnmower works--hold still!"), cartoony antict, and missles being shot out of a car. This beutifully animated car combat features cell shading. You know, the type of animation done in the Zelda game Wind waker. This game kept me and my friends entertained for countless hours on end, and the only reason we stopped playing is "Mario Kart: Double Dash" :smalltongue: Anybody who likes any sort of multiplayer videogames should have an obligation to at least rent this. AND YET, the critics thought it was abysmally average!!!!!!!!!! horrendous. Who else played this?

Anyway, please respond.

[Arang]

Baldur's Gate 2 (PC) was underrated. I don't care how high you rated it, it was still too low.

[Setra]

Shadow Hearts

[Soniku]

Cell damage was the best! Dynamite crossbow, lawnmower, everything :smallbiggrin: Gotta love the crazy

[Dispozition]

Phantom Crash for the XBox...Without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played, but it was so underrated...Literally no one even know's what it is...Let alone how damn awesome it is...

[416365416c]

Nethack. It's been around for 20 years now, and it's still a great game. It will run on practically any computer hardware, it's free software, it's got everything: challenge(maybe more than is needed), Liches, Leprechauns, a D&D basis and the extremely important OotS reference (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/GuestStrips.html).

More seriously this game is so underrated because people these days care more about flashy graphics than challenging and thoughtful game play, and it has no corporation to make press releases. I'd say that it is as good as Baldurs Gate 2, not as good graphics, not as varied locales, smaller party, but so much more you can do (genociding Leprechauns comes to mind).

Also, it's had 20 years to be underrated. That helps if we are looking over 'all time'.

[Maryring]

Earthbound is the most underrated game I have played. It's timing was bad, as it fell right in at the time when an RPG was supposed to have swords and magic, rather than baseball bats and PSI. Still the humour is fantastic.

[Ranis]

Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits for PS2. It was awesome. I loved the simplicity, yet complexity of the new combat system, coupled with a storyline that, imo, is on par with Final Fantasy VI. Absolutely great game.

[Elidyr]

Vampire Bloodlines. Best RPG in the past few years.

[jjpickar]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.

[Inigo_Carmine]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.

Cool. I got this for free recently. I'll make sure to check it out when I have more time.

For me, it's the Legacy of Kain Series. Specifically Soul Reaver 1&2. I don't know why more people haven't played this one. Excellent adventure game (though combat in the second one can grow stale), a suprisingly intricate plot with good twists and turns (in a good way, not a Metal Gear Solid 2 way), and hands down the best voice acting in any videogame ever. SR2 is on my list of top 5 games, though the others on it are more well known.

[Ranis]

...a suprisingly intricate plot with good twists and turns (in a good way, not a Metal Gear Solid 2 way),....


Aww, MGS2's plot twists were awesome. I'm hurt D:

[elliott20]

Sword of the Samurai, PC 386 era gaming.

In this game, you play an aspiring samurai trying to gain enough honor and prestige in the eye of your lord to finally succeed him and hope to one day become the new Daimyo. Great game with lots of arcade action.

[Reinforcements]

Aww, MGS2's plot twists were awesome. I'm hurt D:
Eww.

Uh... I always thought Viewtiful Joe never got the recognition it deserved. I love that game pretty hard.

[averagejoe]

Earthbound is the most underrated game I have played. It's timing was bad, as it fell right in at the time when an RPG was supposed to have swords and magic, rather than baseball bats and PSI. Still the humour is fantastic.

I was gonna say that. First game that came to mind when I saw this thread.

[DeathQuaker]

It's hard to say because sometimes you think something's unheard of only to find that it's more popular than you thought. And there's relativity to how underrated something is... but...

Planescape: Torment - This is a weird one because in some ways I think it has more vocal fans now than when it came out in 1999. It won RPG of the Year but didn't sell well; now tons of people are trying to find a copy. Awesome game that should have been marketed better.

The Suikoden Series - Depending on who I'm talking to, it seems like this is either really popular or extremely obscure. At any rate, I'm not a massive JRPG fan, but this is a series I've really enjoyed. In a world where it seems of console RPGs all that anyone seems to talk about is Final Fantasy, Suikoden offers some of the best of that genre while also offering a really unique world and some very cool ideas and wonderful characters.

Shadow Hearts Covenant - Just played this a little while ago and wondering why I seem to be the only person who's heard of it. Another JRPG, but with a very different feel than the others I've played, set in an alternate World War I era Earth with fantasy elements.

I second another poster's mention of Nethack. Good old Roguelikes.

Titan Quest -- This is a fairly recent game, having come out last summer, but didn't get widely marketed. It's very Diablo-like in gameplay, with an "ancient-worlds" setting. It's well-written and paced; the interface is nothing new if you've played Diablo, but it's a well-done game and should get some credit where it's due.

[Agatsuma]

Shining Force II for Sega Genisis. Remarkably good for your typical save-the-world RPG.

I agree with Nethack, for its endless playability. Since you tend to die a lot.

[Pronounceable]

Geneforge series (from Spiderweb Software). It has one of the coolest settings, and a very good plot.

Any game where you are attacked by a pack of genetically enhanced cows is cool.

[Assasinater]

Although I agree with Nethack, I think ADOM is far better.

I second Majesty too, it was truly an unique game.

And if I would add a nominee myself, it would be Gangsters. Basically, it was a X-COM type game in early 1900's, where you ran a mafia gang along several other rival gangs. Anyone heard or played it?

[elliott20]

Any game where you are attacked by a pack of genetically enhanced cows is cool.
You mean like, Diablo 2?

[Ronsian]

I like Nethack, but think as a whole the roguelike genre has been grossly underrated. Only a small amount of people have been exposed to it, and I can easily say they are among the best I have ever played. What you give up for in graphics, you get back in gameplay (and depending on which, plot).

[Tom_Violence]

I'm gonna go with The Dig as my nomination. Excellent point-and-click adventure game with an interesting and original plot, and decent puzzles to boot.

Baldur's Gate for me was overrated. If it was half as long then it wouldn't be, but the game just drags in my opinion. I agree with the Planescape and Soul Reaver nominations though - excellent games that for some strange reason have only become as popular as they deserve in more recent times. Funny how some things go.

[Dragor]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. A hidden gem on the GameCube. Amongst the first 20 to be released, but none of my friends had even heard of it until I told them about it.

I will not rest until Eternal Darkness is granted the credit it deserves.

Oh, and I'm on the Cel Damage bandwagon. That game rules. "What do you expect? I'm EVIL!"

[Indon]

Colonization. Magnificent game, dating back to about the same time as the first Civ game (and made by the same people if I'm not mistaken). You play as one of the European powers and build a trade/religious/military empire, the objective of the game being achieving independence from your original european nation.

[Reinforcements]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. A hidden gem on the GameCube. Amongst the first 20 to be released, but none of my friends had even heard of it until I told them about it.

I will not rest until Eternal Darkness is granted the credit it deserves.
To quote Tycho of Penny Arcade: "... it had an extremely overwrought title. Fortunately, the game itself is wrought to exacting specifications."

[Jacob_Gallagher]

Kung Fu Chaos. Great 3D fighting game, tons of maps, characters, and alterable bits to keep it fresh.

[BooBooSpooki]

Star Control (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Control). The setting is way too creative to die out!

[elliott20]

Kung Fu Chaos. Great 3D fighting game, tons of maps, characters, and alterable bits to keep it fresh.
my friend used to own that game. I gotta be honest, it was really fun in the beginning. But after about 2 hours of playing the game, it got old really quick. (Especially since the fighting system itself is not very solid.)

[Lemur]

I agree that Bloodlines is underrated. Some games, like Planescape: Torment and the Thief series were never very successful in terms of sales, but they do have some very vocal and devoted fans (like me).

Still, I see more people who know about Torment or the Thief series than who know about Bloodlines, which deserves a better cult following than it seems to have.

[Woot Spitum]

The Secret of Evermore. Too many people couldn't get over the fact that it wasn't Secret of Mana 2 to give it a chance. They missed out on a great game.

Earthworm Jim 64. Overlooked, but the humour was every bit as good as it was in the first two Earthworm Jim games.

[Totally Guy]

I played a game on the PS2 called Shadow of Memories, where a guy turns up in a small German town and is murdered. He meets a being names Homunculus that has time travel powers to give him another chance, so the game is you, going back in time over and over to continue to prevent your own death my many methods.

I've never seen anyone ever talk about this game. The game said it had 5 ending on the box but I think I counted up to 8 endings.

For that it unlocked a bonus god mode where you (the character) already knew all the plot twists at the start and can resolve the entire game in a few small actions.

[Om]

Planescape is critically acclaimed but those clods who buy games (yes, you) refused to be lured by its excellent gameplay and stunning writing. The fools!


Nethack. It's been around for 20 years now, and it's still a great game. It will run on practically any computer hardware, it's free software, it's got everything: challenge(maybe more than is needed), Liches, Leprechauns, a D&D basis and the extremely important OotS reference (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/GuestStrips.html).

More seriously this game is so underrated because people these days care more about flashy graphics than challenging and thoughtful game play, and it has no corporation to make press releases. I'd say that it is as good as Baldurs Gate 2, not as good graphics, not as varied locales, smaller party, but so much more you can do (genociding Leprechauns comes to mind).Pffft complaining about flashy graphics detracting from gameplay is one thing but really... an ASCII game? Maybe the graphics fans have a point here :smallwink:

[Sirelroka]

I liked Beyond Good and Evil.

And Nethack does indeed, rule.

[416365416c]

I would agree that Planescape Torment and Soul Reaver are good games, but the amount of support they are getting is undermining their underrated status:smallwink:.

And I admit that Nethack is the only roguelike I've ever played. I probably should try some other ones, as they are probably just as underrated.


Planescape is critically acclaimed but those clods who buy games (yes, you) refused to be lured by its excellent gameplay and stunning writing. The fools!

Pffft complaining about flashy graphics detracting from gameplay is one thing but really... an ASCII game? Maybe the graphics fans have a point here :smallwink:

And you submitted an ASCII post, how is that supposed to be appealing :smalltongue: ?

But ASCII is only one step above sitting at a table and having someone verbally describe the in-game world to you. And that's sure to be boring :smallwink: [/sarcasm]

If ASCII REALLY bothers you, feel free to write a unicode port :smalltongue:

[DeathQuaker]

And you submitted an ASCII post, how is that supposed to be appealing :smalltongue: ?

But ASCII is only one step above sitting at a table and having someone verbally describe the in-game world to you. And that's sure to be boring :smallwink: [/sarcasm]

Heh. Yep, exactly.



If ASCII REALLY bothers you, feel free to write a unicode port :smalltongue:
[/quote]

Or just play Vulture's Eye, which is Nethack with a graphical interface. (But I tried it and meh... interfered with the gameplay... it's weird how your mind adapts to things... it was easier for me to recognize a "G" as a gnome than a little sprite of one.)

[NEO|Phyte]

Or just play Vulture's Eye, which is Nethack with a graphical interface. (But I tried it and meh... interfered with the gameplay... it's weird how your mind adapts to things... it was easier for me to recognize a "G" as a gnome than a little sprite of one.)
I hear ya.
Look at some Dwarf Fortress screenshots with custom tilesets and you're sitting there looking at a tiny image of a dwarf going 'wtf kind of dwarf is that?!' rather than a nice color-coded smily face thing.

[averagejoe]

Kung Fu Chaos. Great 3D fighting game, tons of maps, characters, and alterable bits to keep it fresh.


my friend used to own that game. I gotta be honest, it was really fun in the beginning. But after about 2 hours of playing the game, it got old really quick. (Especially since the fighting system itself is not very solid.)

I have to agree with Elliott, it does get old after awhile, but I think that such a genre in fighting games has potential. (they should definitely have thrown out the non-fighting levels as well.) The game could have done better, but they should make more fighting games with altering terrain. (Levels like rainbow ride in SSBM are a step in this direction.)

[NinjaTaco89]

Clay fighter 63 1/3, for the N64. sure it was nothing more than a button masher,but its got some of the most hilarious junk you've ever seen!

[Elidyr]

Planescape is critically acclaimed but those clods who buy games (yes, you) refused to be lured by its excellent gameplay and stunning writing. The fools!

Actually, PS: Torment had the worst gameplay of all the Infinity engine games. Yes, the combat was horrible, which is too bad, the game could have been much more successful.

[Assasinater]

Actually, PS: Torment had the worst gameplay of all the Infinity engine games. Yes, the combat was horrible, which is too bad, the game could have been much more successful.

Fortunately, combat isn't what the game is about.

[Maryring]

Both Secret of Evermore and Beyond Good and Evil are great, underrated games. I loved them both.

[Morty]

I don't really think P:T is underrated. Every cRPG fan will tell you that Torment is at least good.
As for underrated games, I nominate Neverhood. It's excellent, hilarious game(from 1997) yet few people remember it. And I was dying from laughter while playing that.

[Baalzebub]

Planescape: Torment. Good ol' 2nd edition game. And I have a copy bwahaha

[sun_tzu]

I submit the Tex Murphy games. I've played both "Pandora Directive" and "Overseer" (had "Under a Killing Moon", but couldn't get to work - long story), and was amazed at how awesome they were.
Great characters.
Great puzzles.
Great plots.
It was art. An interactive movie - and a good one to boot. Tex Murphy is awesomeness incarnate in a fedora-wearing 21st-century down on his luck private eye.

[Om]

I don't really think P:T is underrated. Every cRPG fan will tell you that Torment is at least good. The critics loved it, the RPG fans loved it, the forum goers loved it. Everybody loved Planescape except for the gaming public who ignored it in their droves. Despite being routinely hailed as the best cRPG ever, it was a complete and utter commercial flop.

[Morty]

The critics loved it, the RPG fans loved it, the forum goers loved it. Everybody loved Planescape except for the gaming public who ignored it in their droves. Despite being routinely hailed as the best cRPG ever, it was a complete and utter commercial flop.

Because Torment isn't flashy, has too many dialogues, too complicated plot and isn't on any console. That's why media and public ignored it. But that's preety common, so I wouldn't call Torment "underrated" because of that.

[Om]

Because Torment isn't flashy, has too many dialogues, too complicated plot and isn't on any console. That's why media and public ignored it. But that's preety common, so I wouldn't call Torment "underrated" because of that.Again, the media loved Planescape. I remember reading the review in PC Zone, I probably still have that copy somewhere, and for months afterward the game featured in every writer's "What are you playing now box".

What this comes down to is a definition of "underrated". Is it critical acclaim or sales volume? In terms of the former Planescape is a veritable giant of the genre while in the latter its notable solely for being a flop. I hate to say it but Planescape is one of those rare instances where the reviewers got it right and the public wrong.

[Assasinater]

I suggest that we define "underrated" as "very good but really unheard of" for this instance, because people here usually know about games like Planescape: Torment, and there are already threads for those kind of games. I believe it would be more interesting and helpful if "games that even 'hardcore gamers' might not know" are talked about instead.

[Nathander]

Shadow Hearts

Easily agreed.

I'd also say that the Xenosaga series is, to me, fairly underrated by the mainstream base, and slightly overrated among the hardcore base. It's one of my personal favorites, but I don't think it's the end all/be all I once did. I also feel Earthbound was extremely underrated.

[Pepper]

Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay Xbox

Bought this for 10 bucks new, and it's easily the best FPS with a story ive ever played. Great atmosphere, and graphics, that rival any xbox game ive ever seen.

[Scroofy]

Tribes 2....nuff said

[Icewalker]

I'd like to mention Devil May Cry 3. I'm pretty sure it got very little attention because the second one totally sucked in comparison to the first.

Warcraft II also. What a fun old game...

Can't think of any others atm.

[Dispozition]

Has no one else heard of Phantom Crash? My god...I am the only one to have ever played it...Damn...It was such a good game too...

[Holy_Knight]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. A hidden gem on the GameCube. Amongst the first 20 to be released, but none of my friends had even heard of it until I told them about it.

I will not rest until Eternal Darkness is granted the credit it deserves.

Man, I don't know, I have to go with the detractors on this one. It seemed extremely dull and repetitive to me when I played it--going down identical corridors and fighting identical enemies over and over. Maybe it gets better as it goes on, but the beginning didn't impress me nearly enough to justify trying to find out.


The Secret of Evermore. Too many people couldn't get over the fact that it wasn't Secret of Mana 2 to give it a chance. They missed out on a great game.

I didn't finish it, since I only rented rather than owned it, but I agree that this was a fun game.


Warcraft II also. What a fun old game...

I don't see how Warcraft II can be considered underrated. When it came out, it was quite popular.

[SITB]

"Magic & Mayhem"*, am I the only person who know of this game?

That aside, I think it's an awesome game even today. I really liked the gameplay of having "Places of Power" to recharge your mana and having the ability to summon various mythical critters. And having the grimoire record info on creatures, items, places and spells was a nice touch too.


*I'm referring to the first and good one at any rate.

[Fri]

Earthbound, by no doubt. I can't spend enough time promoting it to my friends, but now, it's become more difficult, with those PS3 and Xbox 360 and Wii, damn.

I wrote a review about that game in most forum I've joined. Haven't write one for this forum, though.

[Logic]

I add my weight to recommend Beyond Good and Evil.

I add Jet Force Gemini to the list of considerations.

[Snipers_Promise]

The "No one lives forever" series, one of best ive played in a long time.

[The Evil Thing]

Hostile Waters
Clever plot with Dr. Who narrating (well, Tom Baker anyway). Graphics that still look good despite its age. No multiplayer or skirmish limited its replayability.

Giants
The unintelligent and unoriginal drivel that fills our game shelves now is a highly deserved punishment for this game not selling well. You knew it was a good game because it had cockney aliens in it.

Startopia
Lovingly crafted with the same care as Dungeon Keeper, with all the mandatory British irony included.

Evil Genius
Same situation as Startopia, but with less aliens and more evil.

Planescape: Torment
Pretty much summed up by almost every post in this thread.

Beyond Good and Evil
Charming and clever adventure game cunningly disguised as a photo-'em-up.

The Dig
Not the best, but still a nice 4 hour jaunt through point-and-click land.

Grim Fandango
Simply the best adventure/puzzle game ever made.

Project: Nomads
Fun, if strange title that never sold well because it wasn't formulaic enough for the public to really understand. For shame.

Anachronox
Surrealist adventure game in a similar vein to Final Fantasy, but with more puzzles and less faux-epic.

[Jacob_Gallagher]

Independence War

A space combat sim where, unlike most games, you command a medium-sized warship- that, and full, ultra-realistic Newtonian physics. And a kickass storyline, and a pretty good sequel.

[soozenw]

Any game where you are attacked by a pack of genetically enhanced cows is cool.

I'm totally sigging that.

[Reinforcements]

Okay, so, it's not out yet, but I'm so afire with anticipation that I have to mention it. If Odin Sphere doesn't get the attention it deserves, I may lose all faith in humanity.

[Fri]

Planescape torment isn't underrated. Critics love it, and gamers who had played it worship it everywhere. It's just underplayed.

On second thought, can anyone give me the difference between underplayed and underrated?

[Tom_Violence]

Anachronox
Surrealist adventure game in a similar vein to Final Fantasy, but with more puzzles and less faux-epic.

And David Bowie!!!

[PlatinumJester]

Tales of Symphonia for GC. Harvest Moon and Battle Realms are also underated.

[turtleant120]

Okay, so, it's not out yet, but I'm so afire with anticipation that I have to mention it. If Odin Sphere doesn't get the attention it deserves, I may lose all faith in humanity.

Yeah that does look pretty good. Actually, now that I think about it, all the PS2 games that came out after the PS3 launched have been pretty good. It's kinda wierd don't you think.:smallconfused:

[Innis Cabal]

i have that one pre-orderd to, may 22nd cant come fast enough, oh and earthbound and Okami are up there

[Sneak]

Giants
The unintelligent and unoriginal drivel that fills our game shelves now is a highly deserved punishment for this game not selling well. You knew it was a good game because it had cockney aliens in it.

Yes! I was just about to mention Giants! I love that game!

In fact, I just bought a new copy because I couldn't find my install CD.

So, my vote goes to Giants. I will never know why Kabuto is a citizen, but the game is still cool as hell.

[Om]

Evil Genius
Same situation as Startopia, but with less aliens and more evil.Uggh. I never got past the first island. When I got it I was thinking "Goldfinger evil" but it turned out to be "Pointy Haired Boss evil" with all the micromanagement that goes with it. Click, click, click on the stupid little men!

[Maldraugedhen]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.

Wow, massive coincidence for Majesty, here--I was thinking of it before I read your post, AND I wasn't the only one.

The early entries in the Gothic series outside of Europe bombed, but were excellent if you managed to get ahold of them. The first two were much better than what I have played of the third.

LucasArt's old adventure game Loom was underrated. An adventure game in which your goal is not actually to kill someone--AND you aren't really forced to along the way, unless you count that guy who basically kills himself on you--was a refreshing change. Still waiting for the rest of the trilogy. Probably'll come after we stop revisiting Hoth.

Star Wars: Force Commander was pretty horribly underrated. Just mute the game and avoid the music, better yet, run some Evil Genius Orchestra versions of the same songs in the background, too (Cocktails in the Cantina is an excellent and hilarious CD, their version of the Imperial March gives a very clear mental image of Darth Vader swinging from tree to tree George-of-the-Jungle-style). It's actually a fairly solid strategy game.

Not enough people have heard of Golden Sun for me to be satisfied, but those who have played it don't rate it poorly, so I don't know if it qualifies. Also waiting for the final game in the trilogy.

Phantasy Star Online (and now Universe) seems to get very little press for such a solid game.

[Dispozition]

Not enough people have heard of Golden Sun for me to be satisfied, but those who have played it don't rate it poorly, so I don't know if it qualifies. Also waiting for the final game in the trilogy.

My whole year level knows that game, and likes it a fair bit. The gameboy rom was floating around last year and everyone got their hands on it...Much killing was done :P

[Khantalas]

Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth was underrated. I don't think it was even rated.

*sniff* I could never finish it, though. Stupid disappearing nut.

[The Evil Thing]

Uggh. I never got past the first island. When I got it I was thinking "Goldfinger evil" but it turned out to be "Pointy Haired Boss evil" with all the micromanagement that goes with it. Click, click, click on the stupid little men!
Ugh, the game certainly was a nightmare to play. By the second island I got fed up and used the money cheat. I also hacked the game files and quadrupled my minion limit. Funnily enough, I got a lot more enjoyment out of it. :smallamused:

[Corlindale]

Planescape is wonderful, best dialogue and story I've ever seen in a CRPG.

Giants most certainly deserves a mention, very fun and original game, with interesting and varied gameplay.

In the same vein we have Sacrifice - my all time favourite RTS. Great graphics, and insane gameplay with some very interesting twists. The whole soul-gathering aspect in particular is interesting, as it means that merely killing the enemy army is just a minor setback if you don't manage to convert the souls of the fallen to your cause as well. And you ALSO have to manage spellcasting and tactical movement while you're at it. No other game can get my adrenaline pumping like this.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura is among my favourite CRPGs. It had a few issue with bugs and with magic being extremely powerful compared to tech, but that aside it was a great game with a very interesting and detailed world, and great roleplaying oppertunities with multiple quest solutions, especially nice for evil characters(something alot of CRPGs sadly lack). The soundtrack was very stylish as well.

[Sereneprophet]

I pick....FINAL FANTASY X...totally underrated. :P


But seriously, lets see here... definitely Vampires: Bloodlines. One of the best games I have ever played, period. My only complaint was the poor graphics coding.

And just so I dont seem like im jumping on the bandwagon, I will also add

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. I have heard barely anything about it besides reviews on sites, but I enjoyed the game immensely. Decent graphics, fun story, and great atmosphere. Its just a shame Headfirst ended up going down.

[Dispozition]

I pick....FINAL FANTASY X...totally underrated. :P

I do hope you are joking :P

But anyway...Still no love for Phantom Crash? Has no one ever even heard of it? Please tell me it isn't so...

[hanzo66]

I'd like to mention Devil May Cry 3. I'm pretty sure it got very little attention because the second one totally sucked in comparison to the first.

Most people blame the fact that God of War came out roughly the same time...

The schism between the two still has not been fixed...

[JadedDM]

I played a game on the PS2 called Shadow of Memories, where a guy turns up in a small German town and is murdered. He meets a being names Homunculus that has time travel powers to give him another chance, so the game is you, going back in time over and over to continue to prevent your own death my many methods.

I've never seen anyone ever talk about this game. The game said it had 5 ending on the box but I think I counted up to 8 endings.

For that it unlocked a bonus god mode where you (the character) already knew all the plot twists at the start and can resolve the entire game in a few small actions.

I rented that game once. It was quite entertaining, but I think it would have made a better movie than a video game. It primarily consisted of just moving your character around, talking to people, and watching cut-scenes.

[TheSorrow]

Psychonauts!!! amazing game from the guys who did Grim Fandango. Was on the short side but still a very pleasing and hilarious game. I wish it had a sequel.:smallbiggrin:

[TheSorrow]

*By the way*

For american gamers "Shadow of memories" is called "Shadow of destiny" in the U.S.

[Maldraugedhen]

Psychonauts!!! amazing game from the guys who did Grim Fandango.

Huh, didn't know it was the same guys. That's certainly boosted my interest.

[Gungnir]

Jet Grind Radio and Jet Set Radio Future. Great games, but a lot of people are put off by the music.

[TreesOfDeath]

Bloody roar 2, and the inferior but still good 3. Pf is decent, though 1 and 4 can sod off.

Probably not the most underated game OF ALL TIME, but definately underatedd and dam awesome

[Oeryn]

I totally second the Tex Murphy games. God, but they were a pain to get working on any computer I've ever owned, but it was pure joy once you did. Those games STILL crack me up.

Also, I can definitely get behind "Beyond Good and Evil". Great game, I have no idea why it wasn't more popular.

As for my original selection, I'd have to say "Second Sight", for the PS2. I stumbled across it in a used game store for about $6. I didn't have high hopes, but it turned out to be one of my favorite all-time games. It's about a guy who wakes up in a top secret government installation with no memory, and tries to figure out his past. The story was really interesting, and the gameplay was totally awesome. One of the best and most intuitive control schemes I've ever played on a console. Not to mention, it's just plain fun. I'd heartily recommend it to anyone.

[Wyris]

I think a little game for the Sega Genesis called Lost Vikings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Vikings) doesn't get the attention it deserves. I hardly ever see it mentioned, but it ranks amongst the most challenging, fustrating, and enjoyable puzzle games I've encountered.

[Arlanthe]

Ah, I remember the Shining Force games. I concur that the series should have continued, and indeed the "tactics" series of games as we know it was probably birthed by SF.

I also concur Earthbound was underrated, and would love to see it re-released on DS. Or even a new one in development!

There was an old Sega game called Starflight (which was on an earlier console), which was great and in many ways ahead of it's time.

Ultima Online is still the best MMO, IMO. (Heh.) It's too bad most people won't touch it due to it's old graphics.

An old Nintendo game called Maniac Mansion was extremely clever. I miss the likes of it.

[Arlanthe]

I think a little game for the Sega Genesis called Lost Vikings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Vikings) doesn't get the attention it deserves. I hardly ever see it mentioned, but it ranks amongst the most challenging, fustrating, and enjoyable puzzle games I've encountered.

Sorry for the DP. The company that made it, Silicon and Synapse (who also made Rock & Roll racing, another classic) turned into a company called... BLIZZARD, and make other lesser known games.

In their niche game "World of Warcraft", the Vikings from Lost Vikings- Erik, Olaf, and the Other One, can be found in a cave in the game as Viking looking dwarves.

[Maldraugedhen]

Erik, Olaf and Baleog pop up in WoW!? Awesome! I'd seen throwback references to Starcraft in various WCIII maps, but I hadn't seen any extend as far back as Lost Vikings.

Played and beaten both Lost Vikings and Norse by Norse West, the sequel, and both were extremely fun.

[Pronounceable]

I got sigged? My plans for world domination are closer to fruition than ever...


And I had forgotten Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth. It's very awesome. Even a better adventure than Larry series (the last one is NOT a Larry game). I should play it again sometime...

Is Larry series underrated?

[Archonic Energy]

Planescape torment isn't underrated. Critics love it, and gamers who had played it worship it everywhere. It's just underplayed.

On second thought, can anyone give me the difference between underplayed and underrated?

on release it was severly underrated.
since then it has acheived an almost cult like following... almost like Firefly.

i wouldn't part with my Torment Disks for less than £500. and the only people i *know* who've played it are online. i dare not lend it out to any of my mates because i don't want the disks to be damaged.

i think Alpha Centauri was underrated too. my mate gave me his disk because he didn't get it... more fool him! i had problems getting Crossfire when it came out. now it's nearly impossible to get.

finally i have to agree that Evil Genius is underrated... however it really needed work on release. i think that, that took some of the magic away from the game. i've played buggier though... (Elite: First Encounter anyone)

[Maldraugedhen]

I spent multiple hours looking for agents, then right-clicking them, to issue weaken tags to keep my heat for dead agents down. You may say it's underrated, I say it had horrible, horrible gameplay issues.

[The Evil Thing]

It's much easier to just build trap complexes that they can't escape from. Remember, agents can't resist a Lvl3 or Lvl4 door so use that to your advantage.

Or you could just tag them. You can hold down control (or is it shift?) and tag the whole team. Armies of social minions make soldiers rather obsolete.

[Gol_Stoan]

Universal Combat, and the other stuff in the Battlecruiser 3000AD series. The game has such scope, but has suffered from buggy releases and disagreements with publishers. You have to be creative to get fun out of it though, after all of the patches of course. You are given a starship and no direction, you are free to do anything you want and go wherever you want, the campaign is just a set of events that happen as you play, if you are there to do something great, if not well... life goes on anyway.

You will probably be too busy setting waypoint paths to deploy mining drones to make extra cash anyway since you are paid (depending on career) every eight hours, and this game has no time compression. It can take a while to do upgrades and repairs as well, you might have to set down somewhere and shut down for a while, the same if you have to take a whole bunch of fatigued crew off duty. Keeping track of fuel levels, making sure there is enough food, and repair parts for damaged vehicles, and making sure crew are all doing their jobs make this game a micromanagement nightmare in some ways though.
The game can be pretty fun though, you might have some cloaked ship follow you through three or four jump points, and then jump you when you least expect it, sneaky little bastards. :smalltongue:

[Daze]

Just to add to the list..

Kessen II .. I thought this was a great game, the magic skills and troop skills were awesome, the characters memorable and the strategy wholly fun.

Think I'm the only person in the world who thinks so... but hey, what can you do?

[Vuzzmop]

Barely anyone played "Psychonauts".

If you have not yet played, I truly pity you.

To play is to stare at the face of god, I kid you not.:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:

[J_Muller]

Kohan: Ahriman's gift--one of the best RTS games I've ever played, and nobody I know has even heard of it.



Also, I second what people are saying about Evil Genius. Good game, good concept, fun to play some of the time, but too buggy and too much micromanagement.

[lumberofdabeast]

Barely anyone played "Psychonauts".

If you have not yet played, I truly pity you.

To play is to stare at the face of god, I kid you not.:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:

I wanted to like that game. I really did. But I just did not have the patience to fight that camera.

[Rob Knotts]

Okay, so, it's not out yet, but I'm so afire with anticipation that I have to mention it. If Odin Sphere doesn't get the attention it deserves, I may lose all faith in humanity.
It would definitely be a shame.

For modern consoles, I'd have to pick the first two Oddworld games, Oddysee and Exoddus (both for the Playstation). These were essentially side-scrolling platformers, but there were extremely well done, offering communication and pet control as alternatives to usual lever-pulling and weapon combat (not to mention some very original concepts for a brutal-but-humerous cartoon world). Back in the 90s there was kind of schism between Nintendo games aimed at younger audiences and Playstation games aimed at older adolescent audiences (a somewhat artificial seperation), but the first two Oddworld games were able to bridge that gap.

Unfortunately the studio behind the games, Oddworld Inhabitants, withdrew from producing games after thier fourth Oddworld game was released (supposedly the plan was originally for five), and it now has become a purely artistic studio devoted to creating characters and settings for movies and games, although new Oddworld games and movies from outside productions companies are still possible.

For older consoles, my main pick would be Guardian Heroes (Sega Saturn), the multi-plane, 2d side-scrolling beat-em-up with simple RPG elements that forever spoiled 2d combat and modern console RPGs for me. Characters could only face left or right, they could switch between near/far/central planes (primitive and a little glitchy back them, but still innovative for the time) allowing for real-time combat with smooth 2d graphics and almost-3d movement.

I only got to play GH a handful of times, but ever since I've been disappointed by RPGS with 3d animation of unpredictable quality that force you into staged combat. Given the chose between real-time 2d combat and staged 3d combat, I'll go with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

PS: I've heard rumours that Guardian Heroes is likely to be released for the PS2 as part of a classics series from Sega. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it can get a U.S. release.

PPS: Planescape Torment is many things, a good number of them impressive, but one thing it has never been is underrated.

[cavalier973]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.

Yeah, but they needed an option to let you take on the role of one of your adventurers, to see how you would fare in your fantasy paradise.

[cavalier973]

Kind of hard to say if these were really underrated, or if people just stopped talking about them quickly...

Imperialism: I still have this one, and pull it out to play every now and then. I would say it's underrated for its genre, because of the excellence of Civilization, etc.

The Broken Sword (aka Circle of Blood) series: I only played the first and the third game in this trilogy, but it has interesting puzzles (if somewhat simple) and funny dialogue. It took a cue from Lucasarts, and made it where the main character couldn't die or get stuck (because he forgot, in Act 2, to pixel search all over the monkey cage for the secret key to the 2nd National Bank's vault, and now you have to replay like 2 hrs of stuff).

REALLY early game here: Alice in Wonderland, by Windham Classics. I played this until my eyes bled. I can recall the "dup dup dup DEEP" as you move Alice through the landscape, jumping over stuff, using your parasol when you fall. Using the Mad Hatter's Hat to fly up the hole. Matching the correct song with the right character. Good times...

Add to that one the other Windham Classic, Below the Root. This game actually caused me to be a minor fan of Zilphia Snyder's. Read just about all her books.

[SurlySeraph]

Deus Ex: Invisible War. Was it as good as the first Deus Ex? Arguably. Is it a truly great game? No. Is it still a game that you can suddenly remember you own, install in ten minutes, and then play for five hours? Yes. While it's nowhere near as deep as most RPGs, the short campaign is still a lot of fun. Think a cyberpunk version of The Elder Scrolls that takes 8 hours to complete instead of 40. That's basically DE: IW.

[Rat_Summoner]

Metal Arms:Glitch in The System..................
Imagine if you took Halo, twisted it into a witty cartoonish robot shooter, and switched the view to 3rd person. This is Metal Arms................plus it had kick awesome multiplayer.........Some of my best gaming experiences include picking up another player with the hovercrafts claw, and throwing them into a pit full of my recruited robots.......

[Wojiz]

Definitely my votes go to Harvest Moon 64 and Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. Two amazing N64 games that were both pretty much commercial failures, and yet I can't fathom why. Easily some of my favorite games ever.

[J_Muller]

Definitely my votes go to Harvest Moon 64 and Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. Two amazing N64 games that were both pretty much commercial failures, and yet I can't fathom why. Easily some of my favorite games ever.

I second HM64. Though the new GC HM isn't as good, the N64 game was addicting as all hell.

[Logic]

...was addicting as all hell.

I thought I was the only one that still said this phrase. :smallconfused:

I am going to throw in another game for your consideration, though it may be too niche for most.

Star Trek: Starfleet Command.

It is nominated for the following categories:
Best starship simulator.
Best Star Trek game ever.
Best use of a licsense that wasn't doing too hot at the time.

[Caelestion]

To bean-counters, underselling equals underrating. Any wildly popular game that gets cancelled simply through lack of sales is clearly underrated.

[Bandanna Jones]

Chex Quest and Chex Quest 2 were the best things to come out of a cereal box, ever. And the best things to come out of the original Doom engine, come to think of it.

As far as more recognizable games... Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, hands down. Such a brilliant game, despised because it wasn't "A REAL FINAL FANTASY!!!" Beat the tar out of the "real" Final Fantasy games.

[Konig]

Hard to say whether or not it was underrated, as it was released as a 'gold edition' at a later date and has a cult following to this day. I'd argue it is underrated because most gamers I talk to aren't familiar with it.

Released shortly after FF7, I went to the store to buy Final Fantasy Tactics; the salesman warned me it wasn't anything like FF7, and I bought it anyways.

The game opens with a painfully slow monologue. "God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice." taking a good minute to appear on the screen. Followed by a battle with a set of inch-high soldiers marching in place. I think half of the people who played FFT quit at this point. I was disappointed, to put it lightly.

What emerges after you play it for a time is a game with real depth and variety. The sheer character options you can throw together is astounding. I played through the game at least twenty times over the course of two years, setting challenges for myself (a team of all thieves using only thief skills, a team of dragons with a 'monster trainer' hero, etc, etc.) The storyline is fairly deep, the art is pretty good for this game type.

Magic: The Gathering is designed with the philosophy that there are three types of gamer. Spike plays to win, Timmy plays for the experience, Johnny plays for creativity. FFT is a game for creative players.

[Neon Knight]

Silent Storm and its expansion pack Silent Storm: Sentinels. Basically a 3d Jagged Alliance or X-COM set in WWII witjh minor sci-fi elements.

Anyone who has played either Jagged Alliance or X-COM and enjoyed them has got to check S2 and S3 out. All the same tactical combat goodness in a 3d package.

[Querzis]

The N64 is full of underated game but the most underrated game of all time is definitly Ogre Battle64. Its my favorite game ever but hardly anyone as heard of it and it was just mentionned once in this thread!

The Phantasy Star series, eternal darkness and Disciple 2 are also very underated. By the way, Golden sun is not really underrated. Its one of the best RPG of all time and its way better then any Final Fantasy and everyone I know has both game and agree with me...I hope there is going to be a Golden Sun 3.

[Deathslover]

mmmmm if we are talking about pure game play the Jackie Chan Stuntmaster for the PS1 has to be the most underrated game of all time. The game is pure fun as you make your way through the maze of buildings performing all kinds of stunts and martial arts on a variety of bad guys. Dodging cars and trains, fighting on top of trucks and subway trains, jumping from roof top to roof top. This game has all the elements of making a great movie which is the premise of the game. the Graphics are sub par making most folks pass over the game. A remake for the a new console would be out of this world.

[J Dubs911]

Golden Sun and Golden Sun:The Lost Age for GBA. Two best games I've ever played (I've played a lot of games), yet no one knows what the heck they are. Sad, really. Also, there's the entire Harvest Moon series, and the Mega Man Battle Network series always got lower ratings than it deserved.

[Tekar]

Silent Storm and its expansion pack Silent Storm: Sentinels. Basically a 3d Jagged Alliance or X-COM set in WWII witjh minor sci-fi elements.

Anyone who has played either Jagged Alliance or X-COM and enjoyed them has got to check S2 and S3 out. All the same tactical combat goodness in a 3d package.
Silent storm is fun until you encounter the Pantzerkleins. Luckilly the expansion fixes this a bit so I was able to finish that.

[Dispozition]

Golden Sun and Golden Sun:The Lost Age for GBA. Two best games I've ever played (I've played a lot of games), yet no one knows what the heck they are. Sad, really. Also, there's the entire Harvest Moon series, and the Mega Man Battle Network series always got lower ratings than it deserved.

I've played all these, all the people in my year level have played them...In fact, most of my school has...Except maybe harvest moon...But Golden sun was all the rage for about 3 months last year...I know that much...

[Kaun]

Nintendo: Shadowrun the game

Hours of fun

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

In no particular order:
Planescape, Earthbound, Eternal Darkness, Shadow Hearts...Psychonauts was underplayed, though not under 'rated'; got great reviews.

I also meet a lot of people who haven't played a Thief game (or only played the latest one, which I gravely dislike), and it's on my mind- so throw that in, too.

[Mr. Mud]

thats tough,

i'd have to go with Super Smash Bros. Melee, Becasue there was no comerical, no hype, no adverising for it (atleast that i saw). i know TONS of people will disagree with me but it erally DID get no advertising. :smallconfused:

--

I think it is a great game

[Flying Elephant]

Definitely Majesty. It had no micromanagement of "troops", and therefore, was easy to play. After I beat a level sometimes I would leave the game running by itself for quite some time, and my town was perfectly fine.

[Shaoc]

Anachronox I agree has to take pole position as the most underated game. Evil Genius is also high up there, as for all the mentions for Vampires: The Bloodlines, it was a good game, but how could you even mention it without mentioning its predecessor Arcanum.

[Tekar]

but how could you even mention it without mentioning its predecessor Arcanum.
Ah, and that game is on it's way to my home as I type this message. :smallbiggrin:

[Xuincherguixe]

Nintendo: Shadowrun the game

Hours of fun

That's what got me into the pencil and paper one :P


But, here's a game so underrated I don't think it's even been mentioned here!

Auqanox. It was kind of a short game. Futuristic underwater submarine combat simulation. You needed a pretty beefy system at the time in order to play it which didn't help.

Still, there was so much background in that game. There was enough there for like ten games. An Auqanox MMO would have been easily doable to. Well, if they could have financed it which since the company went bankrupt obviously they couldn't.

It blended a lot of different elements reasonably well. Cyberpunk, HP Lovecraft, Greek Mythology got in a little... I can not say enough good things about this game. It had one sequel, which seemed rather disconnected, and a third one was going to put them together however it was never made. Still, the sequel has a good story too.

Game just wasn't marketed well enough.


Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth there's mixed opinions. It feels pretty dated, and it took seven years of development time. The company that made it also went bankrupt making the game. It felt very well put together and it's one of the few times that a linear storyline doesn't bother me much. It gave me some mild nightmares, but the fact of the matter is I have nightmares about pretty random things. Still, I'd like to give it some credit because I do not scare easily. At least monsters rarely do.


Call of Cthulhu is pretty cheap these days so probably worth it, and the Auqanox games are DIRT cheap. I saw one copy for $2 Canadian a few years ago. WHAT?! It's not some ancient DOS relic! Almost enough to make me cry. But, still, cheap game.

If you can find it.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Legends of Valor - an old Origin production.

I originally played it on a Commodore 64/128 and returned it to the shop because it was essentially bugged and unplayable. I later had a chance to play the PC version and placed it about third in my personal rankings after Ultima V (Commodore version) and Elite (also Commodore version).

It had the most complete combat system I have seen, and a well thought out (if still bugged) magic system. I still dust it off and play it occasionally.

[Mr. Mud]

Definitely Majesty. It had no micromanagement of "troops", and therefore, was easy to play. After I beat a level sometimes I would leave the game running by itself for quite some time, and my town was perfectly fine.

Yea i remember "Majesty" Good game ovre all but VERY underrated

[Hermit]

Psychonauts!!! amazing game from the guys who did Grim Fandango. Was on the short side but still a very pleasing and hilarious game. I wish it had a sequel.:smallbiggrin:

Thank god someone else played it too. Love that game to death, as while its a little short its got more charm, in-jokes, subplots, and general madness than pretty much anything else available. Its also got some genius one-liners which would be prime quote material if anyone else had actually played it.
And yeah, Tim Schafer is a genius, looking forward to whatever he's working on at the moment, even though it won't be the desperately needed Psychonauts 2.

As for others, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines comes to mind. Was terribly buggy on release, but with the unoffical patches its a really entertaining game with a nice bit of originality. Its a shame Troikia went under because of the poor sales, if they'd given the game the few months of polish it needed before release it would have done so much better.

Also both No One Lives Forever games were fantastic, and were seriously underrated.

[BanjoTheClown]

Super Smash Bros Melee. That game was pretty underated.

[PlatinumJester]

Mashed (X box) - almost as good as mario kart
Mario Kart (GBA) - the gba version was better than SNES version.
Rocky (GC) - best boxing game ever.
Star Wars Podracer (N64) - great if you can master it
Star Wars Rogue Leader (GC) - screw battlefront, get this.
LoZ: OoT (N64) - why do people say FF7 is better :smallfurious:. THIS is the best game ever and I won't stop until everyone acknowledges it's greatness.
Lylat Wars/Star Wing - Planes. Tanks. Subs. Good Times.

[Mad Jyle]

This is kind of a fun trip down memory lane, here's a few games I remember:

Pre-Halo Bungie Games
Marathon Series: This was the first set of games I played by Bungie, Halo is based on them as well. The single player had a very well written storyline involving out of control AI's and marauding aliens, what really stuck out for me though was the multiplayer. Marathon was the first FPS I experienced who's multiplayer feature was actually designed for it. This meant maps specifically designed for the various game types. This included the usual deathmatch, team deathmatch, and fun ones like kill the man with the ball and my personal favorite king of the hill. The game made good use of physics and had probably the best map editor I've ever seen.
Myth Series: I had hoped that the Myth series was going to be the next logical step in RTS, unfortunatly that wasn't the case. Once again came a great physics engine, but more over came set army sizes. No more resource gathering, instead you focused your attention primarily on the tactics on the battlefield. In addition individual units had names like Ori, a dwarf molotov thrower, or the hilarous names of your claymore wielding barbarians like Knee Deep in Blood, these units would progress with you on the campaign becoming more effective. I nearly cried when a Fetch disintigrated Ori.
The multiplayer aspect had a kind of Warhammer feel to it, you had so many points to spend on troops of various value. Once your points were spent you marched into battle without reinforcements so tactics were everything.

Bullfrog Games
Just about anything from Bullfrog was great from Dungeon Keeper to Theme Hospital. The overall systems were fun and challenging but with a hefty helping of humor (I loved treating people with Bloaty Head).

Probably the least known game, but the one that killed more hours for my friends and I was a small one called Bolo. You had a tank, a LGM (little green man) to build stuff, and pillboxes. From there you formed teams and began waging war to capture all the pillboxes in the zones. You had bases to restore ammo and armor, you collected trees to build roads and walls, and had land mines to stop tanks or make difficult terrain. It was simple, but it worked.

[Dragor]

This is kind of a fun trip down memory lane, here's a few games I remember:

Bullfrog Games
Just about anything from Bullfrog was great from Dungeon Keeper to Theme Hospital. The overall systems were fun and challenging but with a hefty helping of humor (I loved treating people with Bloaty Head).

QFT. Dungeon Keeper II was my first Bullfrog game. They were truly on top of their game when it came to depth and originality.... and humour.

"Your dungeon is full of yoghurt."
"Your dungeon is at a slant. Angry imps cannot play marbles."

[Rowan Intheback]

Way of the samurai (1 & 2): (PS2) The best sword based combat I've ever seen. The story was completely up to you. You could take out your sword when ever you wanted and kill whoever you wanted. Each one whad multiple endings and addictive game play. They were the most underrated games I've ever played.

Gungrave (1 & 2): (PS2) Best shooters ever. I love third preson shooters and nothing comes close to these.

[PlatinumJester]

you mean like Oni right, Mad Jyle

[Mad Jyle]

you mean like Oni right, Mad Jyle

Oni was a Pre-Halo game, but it is not part of the Marathon series (if thats what you meant). I think Oni had potential but was rushed due to the Microsoft purchase of Bungie.

[Fualkner Asiniti]

Has anyone here played Second Sight? It was a fanastic game. The story was incredible, especally for a shooter. The game combined shooter and psionic powers! Invisibility, Psi Blast, Projection (later turns into possession), Healing and Telekinesis. Incredible game. GET IT IF YOU SEE IT!

[Deepblue706]

Vagrant Story (PS1, square, 2000) is pretty darn underrated.

[PlatinumJester]

Oni was a Pre-Halo game, but it is not part of the Marathon series (if thats what you meant). I think Oni had potential but was rushed due to the Microsoft purchase of Bungie.

Still, kick arse. Guns plus kung fu are a winning formula. Plus the heroin was much more cooler than Lara Croft. They should so make a sequel.

[Steelwraith]

Ultima 7. I loved how every npc in the game had a routine: the baker would get out of bed, head to the bakery, bake bread (by taking some flour, spreading it on the table, getting water, kneading the dough, and putting in on the hearth), go to the tavern after closing, then back to bed. No other game I've played since has bothered to put that much detail in their world.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Stubbs the Zombie, in Rebel Without a Pulse. 'Nuff said.

[GryffonDurime]

I'm going to have to support my mysterious love of Quest 64.

Yeah. I'm one of the four people in the world that liked that game...more for what it could have been and what it hinted it might have become than for what it actually was.

[Emperor Ing]

KOTOR II, classic DND style fighting on steroids! :smallbiggrin:
No joke, all dnd stuff is there! even the 3 types of saves!

[Sewer_Bandito]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.

Yeah, I still play Majesty, that game was so much fun, and there's never been a RTS like it since it came out.

[Iskandar]

heh, thought I was theo nly one ot like Majesty. coolness.

let me think.
Missionforce: Cyberstorm. TBS game set in the Earthseige/Starseige universe. it was well liked by critics, but almost no one I know has ever heard of this game. of course, the incredibly horrid sequel didn't help matters....

System Shock 2. from the same people as the Thief series, same type of RPG/1st person shooter hybrid as Dues Ex just years earlier, Sci-Fi horror setting. lovely game all around. still the only game that scares the outright beejesus out of me on a regular basis.
the cyborg midwives especially. "I'll rip out your spine!"
or the hybrids: "I'm sorry" as they attempt to beat you to death.

brrrr.

[0oo0]

Escape Velocity, and its sequel Escape Velocity: Override were two of the most entertaining games I've ever played. I love the world exploring combined with trading, becoming a pirate, or following one of the story lines you could pick up in a bar. I had a great time exploring all the different ships I could buy and the weapons I could equip. Great games.

[Qooroo]

I second Jet Force Gemini. That game was excellent. I'm now eager to go play it again.

I also second Okami. It was better than OoT, and nobody figured it out.

To this day, I cannot fathom why DK64 doesn't get way more credit than it does. It's one of the best 3D platformers ever.

The single most underrated game though, IMO, is Mystical Ninja for N64. I still argue it as the best 3d platformer ever. Great music, great visuals, fun story, addictive gameplay...it was the whole package.

Also, Super Mario RPG never gets enough credit when discussing SNES RPGs.

[Jibar]

Oh God, the multiplayer on Jet Force Gemini meant if the N64 on and I had friends round, it was there.
Seriously. We played nothing else.
Donkey Kong 64 was also brilliant. I was very impressed when I managed to get all the Banana Fairies, and would then spend many an hour just wandering round, shooting stuff with homing missles and going all crazy coconut powers on beavers.

[SmartAlec]

'Chaos' on the ZX Spectrum was pretty awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_%28video_game%29

One of the most fun multiplayer experiences I've ever had. Trying to guess what spells the opposition had, trying to save up your best spells for the right occasions, or the nail-biting difficulty of trying to play with a weak hand - there were elements of bluffing in there, stategic elements of chess, and so many different ways to fight depending on what spells you were randomly given to use.

Awesome for its' time.

[Jothki]

I'm going to have to support my mysterious love of Quest 64.

Yeah. I'm one of the four people in the world that liked that game...more for what it could have been and what it hinted it might have become than for what it actually was.

The game was pretty far ahead of its time in some aspects, especially the world size and the feel of the magic. I'm probably never going to pick up the game again due to its more obnoxious aspects, but I'd buy a true sequel in an instant.

[Rakin]

I'm going to have to say Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1).

Makes me want to buy a PSP just to see if D&D Tactics is as good.

[TheOtherMC]

I'm going to have to say Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1).

Makes me want to buy a PSP just to see if D&D Tactics is as good.

Ok first:

Tactics is being rerelased on the psp soon so break out the nostaliga.

Second: How the hell was FF tactics underrated? Everyone i know loves it.



My personal vote goes to Breakdown for the Xbox. AMAZING story, unique perspective and gameplay moments that truly make you feel "godlike" (Your final future Tlangen injection comes to mind. *SHORYOUKEN!*)

[Jensik]

It's been said already (probably more than once) but it is worth saying over and over again. Suikoden RULES!

And for my all time favorite old school game that almost nobody I know has heard of....

Archon: The Light and the Dark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon_%28computer_game%29)

Seemingly simple, but I tell you I've yet to beat the computer player! Maybe I'm just bad at it, either way I don't care. I love that game.

[Mr._Blinky]

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I spent countless hours on this game just spending my hard-earned cash blowing s*it up in creative ways, reloading, and doing it all over again. Like the time I used a C4 charge to launch a civilian car into a gunship, destroying both.:smallbiggrin:

Star Wars: Rebellion, for PC. Seriously, am I the only person who has ever played/liked this game?

[Drascin]

The single most underrated game though, IMO, is Mystical Ninja for N64. I still argue it as the best 3d platformer ever. Great music, great visuals, fun story, addictive gameplay...it was the whole package.

As plataformer, the second one was specially good, though it was controlled in 2D. I had it and loved it to bits, and got pretty much everything that gould be got. Yae was the best character in there, too. Kickass mermaid samurai with a freaking bazooka. You don't get much better than that.


Vagrant Story (PS1, square, 2000) is pretty darn underrated.

Yup. I got it recently thanks to eBay, haven't still beaten it, but what I'm playing is awesome. The combat system is strange, but in a good, original way. Anyone that can get it, please do. And if you can't, use an emulator. Every RPG fan should at least try Vagrant Story.


I'm going to have to say Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1).

Makes me want to buy a PSP just to see if D&D Tactics is as good.

I dunno. I didn't play it in its day, true, but I got an ISO of it and at least in the beginning it's got nothing on a lot of other tactic games. I honestly found myself bored pretty quick. Of course, that might be because the awesomeness of NIS games has spoiled me a bit on the SRPG front ^^u.

[Rakin]

Ok first:
Second: How the hell was FF tactics underrated? Everyone i know loves it.


Fair enough, I guess, I just don't remember there ever being a big stink about it and it was one of those games I kind of just found by accident.

/shrug :smallsmile:

[Elektro]

I definitely want to second Alpha Centauri. the game is probably not "underrated," but it was definitely underloved. Much better than the Civs from both a story and mechanical point. If was just updated with some nicer graphics and the Civ 4 multiplayer system, I'd die happy.

Another game that I love that seems unknown is Uprising. It was a fun little mix of FPS tank combat and a RTS game. Really cool idea and still a blast.

[Lenlalron]

Two games:

First, Gunstar Heroes.. It's a 2d side-scrolling shooter for the Genesis. It's pretty much the only game I know of that you hold the shoot button down the entire time, and still have tons of fun.

Secondly, Warsong . I love that game so much. Old Genesis strategy game. The combat system is fun, with a decent amount of strategy. The only complaint is that it made the enemies too powerful at times, so your basic troops just got overwhelmed -_-.

Third, Riviera: The Promised Land. RPG for the Gameboy Advance/soon to be PSP. It's fun, it has multiple endings, and the overdrive/limit breaks are cool. It had good writing, and, if you're into that sort of thing, girls and jugging romance.

Fourth: Valkerye Profile's probably not underrated, but if you haven't played it, freaking play it.

FFT's not underrated, although there may be people who haven't heard of it.


These people must be educated. ;)

[Maldraugedhen]

Star Wars: Rebellion, for PC. Seriously, am I the only person who has ever played/liked this game?

Played, no. Liked, possibly. The ship combat engine didn't work on my rig, so I had to autocalc everything, which meant the whole game was basically just econ slugging with some diplo thrown in.

[jazz1m]

1. Clash at Demonhead NES - Great game in a time of linear games (mario, zelda, etc.) You end up at the same ending, but instead of a strict path you take you can choose from multiple 'routes' and therefore can go to different places out of sequence. It's also pretty funny and I must say that the character designs are unique (enemies especially)

2. Nobunaga's Ambition NES - probably one of the first and I personally think best war strategy games out there. You choose one of the numerous damiyo and build up your empire, train soldiers, make alliances, keep your people happy, grow rice, etc. There's a lot of options and it has a pretty steep learning curve, but it's always fun and has a lot of replay value.

3. Zanzarah PC - For the time it came out, the graphics are amazing. The environment is well-rendered and smooth. It's kind of like pokemon, but cooler. You collect fairies to help this world you were transported to, and sometimes you have to battle fairies against each other. The battle system is done in a FPS mode and you shoot magic beams at other fairies. Pretty cool.

4. Darwinia PC - really cool interesting game where you go around and save these little green creatures called Darwinians from a virus. Great strategy game with lots of combat and pretty fitting and cool graphics for the virtual themepark motif.

5. Space Rangers 2 PC - Space fighting game where you choose from multiple races, trades, and ships and each one of these affect which planets you can go to, your enemies and so forth. Besides this, it's really open ended for people who just want to go around and explore (a little too open-ended at times). There's also a lot of different gameplays rolled into one. You have a text-based adventure game, RTS, space battles, and even an arcade looking section. It even comes with the first Space Rangers, really f-ing awesome.

6. Raze's Hell Xbox - Fun shooter game (that can get really hard later on because of the ludicrous enemy AI) where you can kill amazingly cute things. That's right, the cute things are way too cute for their own good and must be destroyed.

7. Oddworld - Stranger's Wrath Xbox - Great shooter western where you play as the stranger - a bounty hunter. Your ammo is live animals and they each have different attributes. Great environment and really different storyline.

8. Okage PS2 - a turn-based RPG full of humor and interesting fights. Back in the day, the animation was something new, nowadays the oversized anime heads are pretty standard. Basically, what happens is your shadow gets taken over by the shadow king and you are on a quest to find his power and take over the world. A great thing about this is that there aren't any random battles as you can clearly see them on the board. Definitely worth the try if only for the humor alone.

9. Dark Cloud 2 PS2 - amazing action RPG. If you're not one for dungeon crawls where you have to find the key and go through numerous levels to exit, this probably isn't the right game. But there's a lot to do, like making inventions by taking pictures and making towns from geostones to change the course of the future. And the interesting part is that leveling your character is not the main focus, but rather leveling your weapons. Not sure if this is underrated or just unrecognized, I don't know of many people who have heard of this game.

10. Culdcept - take one part magic the gathering and another part monopoly and you have culdcept. It's a fairly straight forward game where you have to save the world from an evil cepter (person who uses cards for battle). You place your cards on matching elements (green - earth blue - water red - fire yellow - sand white - neutral) and try to gain as much matching territory and adjacent territory as possible. The more territory you have, the more the land value increases (like monopoly). You can also invest money on the land to increase the price and increase the HP and attack of the creature on the land (if they match). Other players can battle your creatures and whoever reaches the goal amount first wins. It's simple yet complex as you need to plan out where to place creatures, which one to level up, etc. Worth checking out.

[wumpus]

I'd like to nominate (if I'm allowed non-RPGs):

Need for speed: Porsche unleashed. From what I understand, reviews were pretty good, but poor sales finished off the studio which produced it (being on time so that it came out right after annother studio made an inferior NFS didn't help much either). Its yet annother driving game, but you can drive any car as long as its a porsche (roughy 50 356s, 50 911s, 10-15 930s, 5 or so 944s and so on). Who ever does the Grand Tourismo take note: the whole drive training/licenseing scheme was replaced with a storyline about test drivers, and actually encourage players to run through the thing without being required.

Also will second the wonderful No one lives Forever, NOLF 2 games. I can't believe they just threw it away for the so called sequel (though I never tried it).

[Cyrano]

Battlezooooone!
Good old FPRTS

[Hoggy]

OMG yes, Battlezone. I should re-install that sometime. The second Mars level was epic.

[Artanis]

Man, I am SO going to get yelled at for this one, but...Star Control 3. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a great game, or even a particularly good one. In fact, I'd say it's pretty thoroughly mediocre when taken on its own merits. But since everybody compares it to Star Control 2, it's treated like a rancid, festering boil spawned in the armpit of some unholy abomination, rather than the "meh" game it actually is. And that means it fits the definition of "underrated" to a T.


An underrated game that I think is actually good, on the other hand, is Massive Assault. It's a turn-based strategy game that takes a lot of the luck (and, due to being a TBS, the "twitch") out of the game, allowing it to be decided by actual...you know...strategy. However, that very same thing makes people decide it's not that great, since they prefer their strategy games to require rolling dice against hypercaffeinated 8-year-olds rather than actual thinking.



Star Wars: Rebellion, for PC. Seriously, am I the only person who has ever played/liked this game?
I liked it! It wasn't the greatest game ever, but it was a fun game, and a lot simpler than the Civ games IMO.

[Tekraen]

I liked Rebellion for the PC, only in that my friend and I could start a game and run all afternoon without actually attacking one another.

[Daimbert]

I liked Rebellion for the PC, only in that my friend and I could start a game and run all afternoon without actually attacking one another.

Rebellion is one of the few games that I can get totally engrossed in so much that I completely forget what time it is. I started playing it one afternoon, looked up at about 3 and said "I'll have to think about getting something to eat soon", looked up again and it was about 8 and thought "You know, I haven't eaten yet" [grin]. The whole character and diplomacy thing is what sold me on it, which is why I haven't picked up the newest game like it yet ...

As for underrated games, if it hasn't been said already, Fatal Frame on the PS2. I mean, it's "Go out and shoot ghosts with a camera", but it's one of the creepiest games I've ever played.

[Tekraen]

My friend and I actually had an agreement on that we would intentionally avoid contact for six hours, then bring our fleets together over a predetermined world and see who had the better equipment by the end of that time. I usually had a Death Star and an SSD by then, and we always fought to a standstill. I hated Imperial fighters in that game - they were completely worthless.

[valadil]

My vote goes to Savage: The Battle for Newerth.

Savage was a hybrid of first person shooter and real time strategy. A team of FPS players was supported by a single commander who researched techs and managed resources in an RTS style game. Two teams fought it out until one base was destroyed or the time ran out.

At it's best, the game was wonderful. All of my favorite moments from video games come from Savage. The problem is that play was inconsistent.

Having a team rely on a single commander put a lot of pressure on that player. If someone had to stop playing, even if a new commander took over, that team's growth was severely stunted. What was worse was that some players wouldn't play for some commanders. You'd see people switch teams as soon as they decided their commander was a noob. This was especially bad because there was no single player training - the only way to learn to command was to give it a try and hope your players had some patience. The end result was that there was a lot of wasted time between good games. I'm sure the clan experience was a bit better - having a single dedicated commander and players who knew each other would have gotten rid of all the commander related problems, but most players gave up on the game before getting into clans. Inadequate marketing didn't help much either.

Savage2 is due out fairly soon, and it sounds like there will be improvements. To attract attention, Savage has been released for free. You can download it from s2games.com (no I'm not a spammer, I'm just a guy who really really likes this game). Last I checked there were still plenty of active servers. Oh and the best part (what attracted me to savage in the first place) is that there are versions for windows, linux, and mac (although the mac version may not be free).

[Cubey]

I hated Imperial fighters in that game - they were completely worthless.

In other words, the game sticks to the Star Wars lore.:smallbiggrin:


Here is my nomination - Ufo: Enemy Unknown. Also known as X-Com or Ufo Defense. A 1993 Microprose strategic game when you take the role of the leader of X-Com, an organization tasked to repel the alien invasion on Earth. Here's the trick: the aliens are very stealthy and finding their ships is as difficult as downing them. And if your performance is bad, you'll be cut on funding and lose the game - heck, the aliens can even turn some countries against you!
What makes this game so great is that you can FEEL that Earth technology is vastly inferior to that of the aliens', and you have to rely on surprise, advantage in numbers or (preferred choice) superior tactics, especially during ground combat when your soldiers CAN and actually WILL in most cases die from a single enemy shot. The ground gets evened a bit after you research and use the aliens' weapons against them, but then they start to use even more devastating weaponry, up to and including psionics.
Oh, and the aliens themselves are genuinely creepy. Cryssalids, anyone?

I am not saying that this game is unknown (haha, pun), quite a few people around are familiar with it from what I know. But it isn't as popular as it should be.

[webgem]

I'd have to agree that final fantasy tactics is probably not underrated, or unknown in it's fan base, same with super smash brothers in my opinion. I don't know anybody who hasn't heard of it, plus it's one of the most anticipated games on the wii.

I'd have to go with that star wars fighting game, masters of teras kasi or whatever it was called. I looked it up in IGN and it has a rating of 4, so I'd call that a pretty hefty undercutting. I thought it was actually pretty fun, if not exactly extremely difficult, granted I like some of the naruto fighting games too, and I don't think it's just because I'm a fan boy. They aren't as difficult as some of the really intense fighting games, but I still always had a good time.

[EvilElitest]

Baldur's Gate 2 (PC) was underrated. I don't care how high you rated it, it was still too low.

seconded
from,
EE

[Mr._Blinky]

Advent Rising. It had decent graphics (excellent in the cutscenes), a good story, and uneven but fun gameplay. And yet pretty much everyone I've talked to has hated it.:smallconfused: Not a great game, but definitely not worth the intense dislike I've seen some people express.

[Inhuman Bot]

Lets see.
1. Beyond good and evil. Its a good and origenal game. Few know how good.
2. Dragonshard. Atari Really didnt promote it enough sadly. if you see a copy its worth picking up.
3. Maybe CIMA: the enemy.

[Inhuman Bot]

Lets see.
1. Beyond good and evil. Its a good and origenal game. Few know how good.
2. Dragonshard. Atari Really didnt promote it enough sadly. if you see a copy its worth picking up.
3. Maybe CIMA: the enemy.

[TheEmerged]

RE: Majesty. Seconded. Once you get the mechanic of not directly controlling your units this is a LOT of fun. Better in the expansion because of the way elves needed correcting.

RE: Alpha Centauri. Whether this counts as underrated depends on which circles you run :)

RE: Startopia. Seconded. There's a certain gap right at the beginning of a sandbox game that will either make or break you, but other than that a game you can really get lost in.

RE: Evil Genius. I wanted to love this game. I tried really, really hard to love it -- but the level of micromanagement just killed it for me. When I found myself on the second island, I just couldn't bring myself to continue.

RE: Cel Damage. And yes, there's only one L in Cel (it's a pun, trust me). Great fun, the only game I played on a demo and immediately went out to buy. I wish it didn't require the massive unlocking it did, but cheat codes are wonderful things...

Nominations I haven't seen

Tropico: Yeah, you need the expansion to play but the music on the original is x100000000000 better. I used to load this game just to pause it and let the music play.

Dragon Wars: yeah, I'm acknowledging how old I am here. One of the first games Interplay released when they left EA, and surprisingly deep for its day. Especially interesting was the way your actions could change the world at a time when a lot of RPG games you could revisit the same dungeons endlessly -- insert joke about rooms with 4 groups of 99 barbarians here. Also an excellent example of puzzles that had more than one solution.

Lords of Magic: Turn-based strategy, real-time tactics. Not as balanced as it tried to be (a couple of the factions have serious advantages) and luck can play a larger role than it should due to the loot/artifact system (I once managed to get one of the most powerful spells as a loot from an early dungeon). Having said all that, DARN fun to play and didn't get the attention it deserved.

Arcanum: Steampunk RPG. Like my previous entry, not as balanced as it wanted to be (it's supposed to be about the balance between magic & science, but magic has serious advantages). But a fun game (especially after a patch corrected a problem with how NPC's gained experience) with a good story (albeit cliched plot) that didn't get the attention it deserved.

Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor (the computer version). DARN fun, especially if you're a little OCD. Essentially an RTS where you can control one unit. A lot more fun than it likely sounds.

XBOX: Nightcaster. The sequel stunk, but the original was a nice 'popcorn muncher' game. Essentially single-player Guantlet with a growth engine. There is a plot, technically, but ignore it and enjoy just playing the game :)

XBOX: Justice League Heroes. I hope to someday be able to play this two-player with a competent second player. As fun as a game where you can be members of the Justice League should be. Be warned there is a MASSIVE jump in difficulty from the 3rd to 4th tier. Surprisingly replayable for a game in the action-rpg genre. The voice acting and one-liners are a major selling point for me.

[Aeriander]

Holy crap I remember Cell Damage! I played it with my friends all the time!
I remember the wood chipper and the nerdy guy with the space ship kinda car!

[Tom_Violence]

In other words, the game sticks to the Star Wars lore.:smallbiggrin:


Here is my nomination - Ufo: Enemy Unknown. Also known as X-Com or Ufo Defense. A 1993 Microprose strategic game when you take the role of the leader of X-Com, an organization tasked to repel the alien invasion on Earth. Here's the trick: the aliens are very stealthy and finding their ships is as difficult as downing them. And if your performance is bad, you'll be cut on funding and lose the game - heck, the aliens can even turn some countries against you!
What makes this game so great is that you can FEEL that Earth technology is vastly inferior to that of the aliens', and you have to rely on surprise, advantage in numbers or (preferred choice) superior tactics, especially during ground combat when your soldiers CAN and actually WILL in most cases die from a single enemy shot. The ground gets evened a bit after you research and use the aliens' weapons against them, but then they start to use even more devastating weaponry, up to and including psionics.
Oh, and the aliens themselves are genuinely creepy. Cryssalids, anyone?

I am not saying that this game is unknown (haha, pun), quite a few people around are familiar with it from what I know. But it isn't as popular as it should be.

Many people are young - UFO is an old game, but many older gamers seem to know it well indeed. That said though, I do also wish it had set the world alight a bit more. Maybe then we'd actually see some sequels!

[Artanis]

Many people are young - UFO is an old game, but many older gamers seem to know it well indeed. That said though, I do also wish it had set the world alight a bit more. Maybe then we'd actually see some sequels!
Yeah, X-Com was a great game (one of my all-time favorites, in fact), and actually did spawn quite a few sequels. Unfortunately, all those sequels weren't quite as good as the original, causing the series to slowly die off :smallfrown:



Edit: By "not quite as good", I also mean "at best".

[Archonic Energy]

anyone mentioned "Z" yet?

[Cristo Meyers]

Yeah, X-Com was a great game (one of my all-time favorites, in fact), and actually did spawn quite a few sequels. Unfortunately, all those sequels weren't quite as good as the original, causing the series to slowly die off :smallfrown:



Edit: By "not quite as good", I also mean "at best".

Terror From the Deep wasn't even supposed to exist at all; Apocalypse was supposed to be the sequel. Microprose was facing pressure from outside to get a sequel to UFO Defense out ASAP and Apocalypse wasn't finished yet so they slapped a new skin on UFO Defense. It did relatively poorly, they started losing support for Apocalypse, and so a game that would've been incredible became the lackluster third installment (we won't even get into Interceptor...).

If you can find it, try and find an article about Microprose's original plans for what was supposed to be included in Apocalypse. They had big plans.

[Om]

Many people are young - UFO is an old game, but many older gamers seem to know it well indeed. That said though, I do also wish it had set the world alight a bit more. Maybe then we'd actually see some sequels!Well UFO was well known and it did spawn a whole range of sequels and clones. Maybe its an age thing but the X-Com series was always well regarded and popular.

[Winterwind]

I second Alpha Centauri, and add Master of Orion (2, specifically). While both were acknowledged and popular games, they were not nearly as much so as they deserved (Civilisation seemed to be always more popular than they were - yet both are vastly superior to Civilisation, in my humble opinion).

As for UFO: Enemy Unknown, it is one of the greatest games ever and was my most favorite game for many years, but I'm not sure whether it really qualifies as underrated - it was quite popular back in its day after all.

Another series which, while it received acclaim, never reached the "everyone should have played it, at all cost!" status it deserved would be the Thief series.

[Mr.Moron]

Lufia 2, for the SNES. I don't know if that's a case of underrated or underplayed though. In any case it may as well be both, as nobody ever mentions anything but chrono trigger or Final Fantasy 6 when it comes to SNES rpgs. Really I like Lufia 2 more than either of them, and they were great games!

Also from the 16-bit era, Phantasy Star IV on Sega Genesis . Again, it's probably plenty well-rated it just never seems like of it because of two massive star-players from that era.

[Argent]

Total Annihilation for the PC. It seems like it's got a strong cult following but I don't see it mentioned a lot in any serious RTS conversation. Still easily the best interface I've ever seen in an RTS, and I loved the fact that there were new units issued every week. What a great game.

Then TA: Kingdoms came out and ruined the whole thing. BLEAH.

[GimliFett]

Syphon Filter.
Warlords II.
Sanity.
System Shock II.


Lufia 2, for the SNES. I don't know if that's a case of underrated or underplayed though. In any case it may as well be both, as nobody ever mentions anything but chrono trigger or Final Fantasy 6 when it comes to SNES rpgs. Really I like Lufia 2 more than either of them, and they were great games!

I LOVED Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals! Played and beat it way more often than FF6!

[Tengu]

I wouldn't put Lufia 2 as my favorite SNES game myself, but it is very good - the story is pretty interesting, the puzzles are interesting and the dialogue between the characters is one of the best in a jRPG I have ever seen. Combat is pretty bland, but at least goes fast - and it is not the focus of the game.

[Om]

Total Annihilation for the PC. It seems like it's got a strong cult following but I don't see it mentioned a lot in any serious RTS conversation.Its not hard to see why - despite its qualities TA was never revolutionary on the scale of the original C&C - but TA was a commercial and critical hit on release.

To my mind underrated does not equate to "old". It is natural that people no longer avidly discuss games that are a decade old. That does not mean that at the time a game was not lauded or appreciated.

[Tom_Violence]

Well UFO was well known and it did spawn a whole range of sequels and clones. Maybe its an age thing but the X-Com series was always well regarded and popular.

The only true sequel to UFO that I consider was Apocalypse (which I am currently desperately trying to make work again). Terror From The Deep was basically a fudge, and the new ones follow the same vein (nice enough ideas, but a serious lack of quality of delivery). So yes, only one sequel, eons ago. And I think I already asserted its popularity anyway. :smallbiggrin:

[warty goblin]

Its not hard to see why - despite its qualities TA was never revolutionary on the scale of the original C&C - but TA was a commercial and critical hit on release.

To my mind underrated does not equate to "old". It is natural that people no longer avidly discuss games that are a decade old. That does not mean that at the time a game was not lauded or appreciated.

I think that it could be argued that TA was revolutionary in ways that Starcraft was not however, and Starcraft still recieves plenty of recognition for "revolutionizing" and "defining" the RTS genre.

Games that I find to underrated:
- Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Sure its not great, but its really pretty good, and it had some pretty fun fights in it. Fights that I found every bit as memorable as those from games like Halo, which I also liked a lot.

- Overlord. This game has a great sense of humor, and is actually refreshingly different to play. I never played Pikmen, with which it is frequently compared, but I found that the combination of third person action and RTS elements to be most appealing.

- Age of Wonders. Sure it got pretty good reviews, but I have an almost feverish devotion to this game, having beat the campaign multiple times on various difficulties. Plus, who can't love a game with suicidal goblins blowing up elves?

[MellowMelon]

So many have mentioned Majesty that I looked it up. Is it worth a $10 download?

Anyway, I'd like to add Shadow Watch (PC) to the list. It was a turn based tactical rpg that was pretty cool. It got pretty bad reviews because of it's poor presentation and length. It was lackluster in places but it was still loads of fun to create your own missions.

[† Dran †]

Id like to add F.E.A.R to this list. Never heard anything about it apart from the reviews when it came out but i picked it up 2 weeks ago along with its expansion and i got to say im loving every moment of it. Great mix of horror and good old fps with a pretty damn twisted story.

[Celitholar]

Majesty. This game captured the spirit of an adventurer's world without being an RPG which is an accomplishment in and of itself. But its also a really fun game.
Agreed. It was awesome.

[The Duskblade]

Donkey kong country II. I absolutely loved that game. But I never here anything about it. (Bless'es the Wii's virtual console.)

[Om]

The only true sequel to UFO that I consider was Apocalypse (which I am currently desperately trying to make work again). Terror From The Deep was basically a fudge, and the new ones follow the same vein (nice enough ideas, but a serious lack of quality of delivery). So yes, only one sequel, eons ago. And I think I already asserted its popularity anyway. :smallbiggrin:The quality of the sequels is unimportant though (personally Terror From The Deep was my favourite) when gauging the reception of a game. UFO spawned half a dozen sequels (not including spiritual successors). It was also a commercial and critical success at the time. So hardly under-rated then :smallwink:


I think that it could be argued that TA was revolutionary in ways that Starcraft was not however, and Starcraft still recieves plenty of recognition for "revolutionizing" and "defining" the RTS genre.Again, I think this is the age thing. I would compare TA to C&C, the two being rough contemporaries, without even thinking of SC. All three were praised and sold well. SC obviously went on to conquer the world (or Korea at least) but by that relative standard every other RTS ever made has also been under-appreciated.

[Jakezor]

Bard's Tale For the Xbox, Hillarious, totally worth every penny (I have a soft spot for hideous singing and dancing midgets I guess) Only problem being that it's short.... 4 1/2 hours short, but I was laughing the whole time. more than I can say about any "comedy" movie i've seen recently... and this game is twice as long to boot. Not for those who cry over broken 4th walls.
Jade Empires Pitty the combat was a tad too simplistic for my tastes, it would have made it... well, even better. Its just, well, after the first hour or so, you can basically beat every encouter in the whole game on the hardest difficulty without taking a blow. a learning curve like a sidewalk curb. Verticle, but about 3 inches high.
Colonozation Silly provides me with hours of amusement, and the games been out for, what? 12 years? I don't even remeber.
Oregon Trail 2 You have died of Cholera
The Way of the Samurai I don't care that a play through the game only takes 3-4 hours. I don't care that the camera could be clunky, the best (realistic (sans easily surviving several cannon shots)) samurai action game to date. Be as divine and helpful or as horrible ad spiteful as you want. Murder anyone who happens to even slightly cheese you off, or be a self-sacraficing hero. Doom a small region, or unite it (though the latter was quite difficult and took me many play throughs)
To a lesser extent...
The way of the Samurai 2 Some said the first was too hard. so they made it easier. Unfortunatly, they made it a bit too easy (read: jade empires) but the storylines were much longer and more in depth, but required less finess to pull off to the end in most cases, and so much in others that you can only get some endings if you just so happen to be in exactly the right place and exactly the right time 3 or 4 times in a row. Other than that, an amazing (if less realistic) game.

Theres this other game too, one I've been searching for for ages. I think it was for playstation or playstation 2... I don't really remember much about it, except you killed monsters, got "coins" of them from defeating them, and then could transform into those monsters using those coins... Anyone know which game this one was? Whenever I ask, people look at me like i've got something large and silly on my face... But yeah.

[Tirian]

I'll give a shout out to Beyond Good and Evil, Majesty, and Star Wars Rebellion. For heaven's sake, if everyone who loved BG&E bought a copy, how could the sales have possibly been so disappointing that they didn't make a sequel (yet)? Grrr.

Anyway, here are a few new ones to throw on the pile.

Ultima IV: It was the first CRPG that involved a gameplay device other than defeating a BBEG. I'm not positive, but it might be the only one.

Magic: The Gathering (Microprose): Fully functional MTG Make your own decks for free, including banned cards.

Heaven & Earth:The most enjoyable puzzle game ever. I might be the only one who ever played it.

Star Wars DroidWorks: LucasArts takes the Quake engine and uses it to make a physics tutorial. And it's great fun at the same time.

A Mind Forever Voyaging: Someone's got to bring up the old Infocom text adventures. This is probably the simplest, but far and away the most moving.