Hidden Gems: The Games that Seemingly Only You Played

[Spak]

/raisethread

Has anyone else played this underrated masterpiece?

I got this way back '05 as a birthday gift. You would think the DK Bongos would be really gimmicky and kind of lame but surprisingly enough the game implements them very well to create a game that plays like nothing else. I can genuinely say that this game is some of the most fun I've ever had on my GCN. Everyone I've ever introduced to this game loved it and yet ten years later nobody talks about this game. Needs more love IMO.

I remember playing a demo of this years ago in an EB Games (before they all transitioned to GameStops), but I never got it. It was fun, but somehow it never made my Christmas list.

 

[waluigithewalrus]

Back when I was still in elementary school, my dad convinced me to buy a game called Worms: Forts Under Siege. It is still one of my favorite purchases. It's still a worms game with it's turn based battle system, but instead of the traditional worms 2D games, this one was in 3D. Also, this game added the ability to build forts with towers, keeps and more. With better buildings came better and crazier weaponry, such as "Chile con Carnage," which was exploding Jalepeño, and a "Super Hippo," which was a Hippo with a rocket strapped to it. The expressions were priceless, and the "random acts of God" really added to it. A person won the game when either all their worms were dead or when their stronghold of their fort was destroyed. The only people who knew about the game's existence that I met were my brother and one of my best friends. Anyway, it was a blast and I feel I need to break out my PS2 just to play it again now!

 

[Spak]

Legend of Dragoon:

Spoiler

This is a severely unappreciated JRPG for the PS1. It had a brilliant battle system (with the number of hits determined by the number how good you were at timing your button presses), an encounter meter to increase the chance of an encounter as you continued to roam the area, a great plot, a stunning twist at the end of disc 1, and is 4 discs of a solid JRPG. Also, the Dragoon form makes the battles a whole lot more interesting and adds a new dynamic to the strategy.

Freelancer:

Spoiler

Freelancer is a Space Trading and Combat Simulation Game (Long Genre title) in which you are a merchant who travels across multiple systems dealing goods, fighting against enemy vessels, go through the twisty life of Edison Trent's life after his cargo ship gets destroyed on a space port that is attacked (with him barely escaping). There are some surprises along the way and although it has laughable voice acting, it has extremely solid gameplay and a strong modding community. It also had servers and LAN support, but there are only private servers since Microsoft shut down Digital Anvil.

Neverwinter Nights:

Spoiler

This game is a masterpiece that was fairly popular whenever it came out, but I feel was relatively forgotten whenever NWN2 was released. It was a game where you could make your own character and send him through the Forgotten Realms, searching for the cure to the Wailing Death. It had an extremely strong plot, wonderful characters, directly followed the D&D 3rd ruleset, and a great soundtrack. I remember the graphics being impressive for its time, but looking back, they look a bit primitive. Also, there is a vast class system that widely effects how you can/will play the game, ensuring that you will have a different experience every time you are willing to try something new. Also, it has LAN and had online servers, meaning that you could share this experience of a game with all of your friends.

I will have more games up later, but I need to get to bed.

 

[BKTang']

I don't know if these are masterpieces, but they bring me back so much memories!! One of the first games I beat when I was a child, some awesome music even if it was on Megadrive

Cool Spot

Spoiler

This one was all about collecting tokens to be able to free your friends, hard difficulty is... hard, because you have more tokens to collect (60 instead of 30). I hate some levels, like Pier Pressure, or the one with a train and dolls (?). Fortunately there was an awesome cheat code to skip the entire level

Garfield : Caught in the act

Spoiler

Oh God. For those who played this game, you probably have cried searching how to beat the first boss (Dogcula Count? the vampire dog). Cheat codes help you again, and the other levels were really great in my opinion, especially the last one (Curse of Cleofatra I think)

Greendog : The beached surfer dude

Spoiler

This game. Just the subtitle, "beached surfer dude" show the awesomeness. Another platform game, awesome music, awesome levels, awesome dude. The only horrible thing was the skateboard level before going to the subway, with all the flowers eating you when you miss a jump.

 

[Alakaslam]

I don't know if these are masterpieces, but they bring me back so much memories!! One of the first games I beat when I was a child, some awesome music even if it was on Megadrive

Cool Spot

Spoiler

This one was all about collecting tokens to be able to free your friends, hard difficulty is... hard, because you have more tokens to collect (60 instead of 30). I hate some levels, like Pier Pressure, or the one with a train and dolls (?). Fortunately there was an awesome cheat code to skip the entire level

Garfield : Caught in the act

Spoiler

Oh God. For those who played this game, you probably have cried searching how to beat the first boss (Dogcula Count? the vampire dog). Cheat codes help you again, and the other levels were really great in my opinion, especially the last one (Curse of Cleofatra I think)

Greendog : The beached surfer dude

Spoiler

This game. Just the subtitle, "beached surfer dude" show the awesomeness. Another platform game, awesome music, awesome levels, awesome dude. The only horrible thing was the skateboard level before going to the subway, with all the flowers eating you when you miss a jump.

I guess mega drive is our 32x

Knuckles chaotix

Indycar 500

Ahhhh... I can't remember what else

But like beach surfer dude is both made of wood and Nekkid what is this

 

[Twewy]

In the far flung future of four years ago we will be fighting monsters and robots in space.

http://www.adultswim.com/videos/harvey-birdman-attorney-at-law/back-to-the-present/
"The magnificent and far-off year of 2002!"

 

[Spak]

I guess mega drive is our 32x

Their Mega Drive is our Genesis.

 

[Spak]

Part II:

Lost in Shadow:

Spoiler

Lost in Shadow was a game that was better in concept than execution. It had a really neat idea of being a shadow, moving light sources and manipulating your environment's projection in order to progress. You also learned about your story along the way by collecting memories and even fight shadow monsters. It was an interesting puzzle platformer, but there were a few parts that it felt monotonous because they ran out of some ideas, possibly because of a failing budget (Hudson Soft went out of business a year after this released) and the primary weapon gave virtually no range, causing combat to be frustrating at times. Otherwise, it's a solid game and a gem among the shovelware.

Wipeout XL:

Spoiler

This futuristic racing game takes place in the year 2097, a year where there is apparently no racing sponsorships left other than Red Bull. It has the fast-paced action of an F-Zero game and the items of a Mario Kart game. It has a multiplayer feature, but I've never used it for one of the few reasons I didn't play this game more often; it required a device I had never heard of: the System Link. I never had a PS1 (my Grandpa did, but he didn't have any games requiring a system link), so I could never play this game multiplayer. Also, the person who decided everyone should need 2 PS1s and a connector chord in order to play a feature on a game the person already bought should be fired. I understand the extra processing needed, but forcing someone to have two PS1s is just impractical.

Golden Sun:

Spoiler

This game is one of the best JRPGs I have ever played. I didn't play this game at release (don't blame me, I was four), but after I played it years later, I was astounded. The sound design is great, the gameplay with the Djinns is game-changing, the use of psynergy outside of battle made me think about how to manipulate my surroundings to complete the puzzle at hand, and the story kept me interested the entire time. Although this game has received critical acclaim since day 1, it didn't foster as much attention as it should have. In recent years, it's drawn more of a crowd, but when I bring out my GBA on the bus and start playing, people never know what game it is. Unfortunately, the series hasn't seen a release in 5 years, but I'm definitely on board for the next one that comes out (if it comes out).

Advance Wars:

Spoiler

This game is one I only got about 1-2 years ago and I was completely blown away! I never knew that Intelligent Systems had a series apart from FE, so when I learned about Advance Wars, I had to get a copy. This game has made me think really hard about resource management, capturing waypoints, mounting frontal and sneaky assaults, and was difficult enough to keep me on the edge of my seat and pleading to the screen not to let my large tanks and bombers die. This is a crazy fun game that anyone should play if they are looking for a challenge.

I was about to do something on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, but I think that was too well-known.

 

[Daxter]

I'll bet many of you haven't played one Sheep Dog N Wolf, also known as Sheep Raiders; a Looney Tunes game for the PS1.

It was absolute genius, although a bit tough for its intended age range. You use a number of Acme gadgets to steal sheep from the little known character, Sam Sheep Dog. You get as many tries as you like because you're the villain, so you can get blown up, punched, eaten and still come back for more. The best moment of its charm? You can sprint in the air for about 2 seconds - any longer and Ralph Wolf notices he's not on solid ground, true cartoon style, and falls. :D

I can also think of Kurushi, Jumping Flash, Fluid, The World Ends With You and Crash Bandicoot NTranced ad great examples.

EDIT: Here's a few videos of Sheep Dog N Wolf, Fluid and TWEWY in that order. I've started them in as spoiler-free places as possible! Fluid is a music game primarily where the aim is to mess with the tune until you do well enough, and can move on to another area. TWEWY requires you to concentrate on 2 screens at once in battles; not as easy as it sounds! The green light they're passing to each other amplifies each other's strength, so you need good rhythm to master fights.

http://youtu.be/0Rg1JInYYxs?t=3m13s

http://youtu.be/OjvNCOKEWB8?t=42s

http://youtu.be/DoOg7Bihwd0?t=2m24s

 

[Ultresmasher5]

-Azure Striker Gunvolt
-Mario Paint
-Super Mario Bros. X (Fangame)
-Sonic Chrono Adventure (Fangame)

 

[Polimario]

Okami. Okami Okami Okami. A masterpiece of a game that flew under the radar and ended up being a commercial flop for whatever reason.

Beautiful art style, a unique and fun mechanic in the Celestial Brush, memorable characters, Okami is wonderful.

It shares some traits with Zelda, but personally I feel it "out-Zelda's" Zelda. The atmosphere, the fun, the story. All amazing.

 

[finalark]

Okami. Okami Okami Okami. A masterpiece of a game that flew under the radar and ended up being a commercial flop for whatever reason.

I really wouldn't call Okami a "hidden gem" these days. Nine years ago, sure. But these days it's one of the best known cult classics out there. Or maybe it's one of those games that everybody seems to talk about but only a few people have actually played. Like Eternal Darkness or NiGHTS.

Anyway:

This is one of those games I'd classify as "flawed, but enjoyable" like Croc or Sonic Adventure. The first of its glaring problems is that it's a first person shooter on the Dreamcast, which guarantees wonky controls. That being said, if you can get past that, this game is actually pretty damn fun. Especially if you can find a few buddies who are willing fiddle around with the settings until they find a setup they can play with. It's a fast-pace arcade style shooter, similar to Quake but with a focus on 4-player action specifically. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing a squeal to this some day with the same style of game play but with some updated mechanics and hopefully on something with two sicks or a keyboard and mouse.

 

[GloriousV]

Not many people have played this underrated game unfortunately. Gotcha Force was one of those games that just flew under people's radar. Its childish tone was really off putting for some people and so they based the game off of that, even though it had great gameplay and plenty of content.

Gotcha Force is basically a 3D Fighter/Shooter where you collect Borgs to built a team to use in battle against other teams of Borgs. Borgs are really similar to Pokemon in a way, there's over 200 Borgs which you can collect and there's many types of Borgs for example: Machine Borgs, Demon Borgs, Ninja Borgs, Gun Borgs and many more.

You can also play split screen!

I don't know how difficult is it to acquire this game now, but if you can you should try it out, its so fun!

 

[Minato]

@ GloriousV I really need to play that game. I've seen it mentioned, and it looks really fun.

If you're ever itching for more of that style, I recommend checking out the Gundam VS Gundam series. Some of the earlier games was made by the same team as Gotcha Force. Even if they're not working on the latest titles, they still feel similar. Unfortunately it's PS3 import only for the latest one, but they're fun. I know at least one of them made it to the US on PS2 way back though.

 

[GloriousV]

@ GloriousV I really need to play that game. I've seen it mentioned, and it looks really fun.

If you're ever itching for more of that style, I recommend checking out the Gundam VS Gundam series. Some of the earlier games was made by the same team as Gotcha Force. Even if they're not working on the latest titles, they still feel similar. Unfortunately it's PS3 import only for the latest one, but they're fun. I know at least one of them made it to the US on PS2 way back though.

Man, that really jogged my memory. I had a friend way back in middle school that ONLY used to talk to me about Gundam games, even though I didn't knew anything about Gundam.

I've been on a retro game spree for a while, playing a lot games I missed. Ones I finish Xenogears I might check this game out.

 

[Spak]

I just thought of another one.

Guns of Icarus:

This game has gone unappreciated for the past 2-3 years and it's always been on my list of "Games that look cool if I had enough time to play them" list until yesterday. I was blown away by the complexity of different plans and strategies that come along with this and if more people start playing, I wouldn't doubt this game growing a competitive scene.

In this game, you play as one of three classes; a Captain (only one, controls where the ship goes), an Engineer (runs around the ship buffing, repairing, and putting out fires), or a Gunner (uses guns as the name implies). Anyone can carry around three tools of their class and one tool from each of the other two classes. You and a team of three other people fly around in a blimp of the captain's choice (there are numerous types of blimps and your captain can customize the guns on their ship). Everyone in your blimp is referred to as a 'Crew'. You and 1-4 other Crews fight against 1-4 enemy Crews depending upon the type of battle. Your goal is to get a certain number of kills on the enemy team while keeping your ship aloft. You can also customize your characters with outfits (which are unfortunately pay-to-unlock, which is a shame because the game costs money in the first place).

This game is sparsely populated at the moment. When I got the game yesterday, the count of people playing was a grand 190 and today it was up to a whopping 321. When I was trying to do novice matches, I was almost always forced into a normal match (some of which with lvl 49 people) because there weren't enough new players to make a completely new room. This may be a problem just because of my tough luck, but I feel like this game should get more love, especially because update 1.4.0 just came out yesterday.

If you like games that require teamwork and strategizing, I would recommend this game. It does, however, require a certain amount of maturity to keep a level head in the situations presented to you and make split-second moves that could either save or kill your ship, so I would advise someone who isn't at an age where they can handle that yet to steer clear for another couple years.

EDIT: The pic was extremely small, so I changed it.

EDIT 2: The spoilered pics weren't working well, so I just found a smaller one and unspoilered.

 

[SomewhatMystia]

I've always wanted to play Guns of Icarus, but I can't bring myself to grab a copy knowing that I'd either have to play with randoms or wait for the planets to align so my two friends' schedules line up nicely. Considering they have microtransactions in the game already, I'd really love to see this one go free to play.

 

[HeavyLobster]

This game was my N64 racing game. The racing tracks were pretty solid by themselves, but Beetle Battle is the best battle mode in a racing game that I have ever experienced. There's only six tracks, but they're fairly long and all decently interesting with lots of shortcuts and alternate routes. Beetle Battle is where you try to collect all six colors of beetle and race to the finish without getting taken down by the weapons and powerups you can get across the course. It's decent with 2 people, but really gets chaotic when 3/4 people are involved. I rented it at Blockbuster because it had the punchbuggy on it, but I quickly fell in love with the game itself and had to get it.

 

[finalark]

This game was my N64 racing game. The racing tracks were pretty solid by themselves, but Beetle Battle is the best battle mode in a racing game that I have ever experienced. There's only six tracks, but they're fairly long and all decently interesting with lots of shortcuts and alternate routes. Beetle Battle is where you try to collect all six colors of beetle and race to the finish without getting taken down by the weapons and powerups you can get across the course. It's decent with 2 people, but really gets chaotic when 3/4 people are involved. I rented it at Blockbuster because it had the punchbuggy on it, but I quickly fell in love with the game itself and had to get it.

Holy ****, I remember this. When I was a kid a friend of mine had this game and kept on insisting that it was absolutely amazing. I never got a chance to play it before he moved away, though.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this game yet.

One of my favorites from the GCN era. It may have control & camera issues, but it's still a solid game. Also, don't let the cutesy graphics fool you. It gets pretty difficult later on. For the other things I liked about this game, the soundtrack is extremely catchy. If you look up the music for it, you'll know why. It also has a multiplayer mode, and it's pretty fun the last time I've played it.

Not a perfect game, but still a pretty good one overall.

 

[Twewy]

Did you know this game got a limited re-release in Japan recently?

 

[Atrabilious]

Known as Epica Stella in Japan. A strategy RPG, and in my opinion a real gem. The game has a medieval-meets-advanced technology setting, the in-game story goes that one day on the continent of Eptina (which was embroiled in a massive continent wide war for control and resources) the kingdom of Pharastia dig up some massive armoured mechs powered by a magical gem-stone during their excavation efforts in the war. Using these mechs which they all ATAC's (all terrain armoured combatants) they basically go on to curbstomp all the other nations and bring peace to land. Other countries eventually discover ancient ATAC's buried beneath their respective countries, and begin reverse engineering the technology to create their own mass produced models (which are weaker than the ones they excavate from underground). ATACs become common place and become a staple of every nation's military power. Fast forward some time and war kicks up again, resulting in the death of the Pharastia Kingdom's king. The empire begins a tyrannical rule over the land, which is where your main character Bastion comes into play.

Basically a bunch of people piloting badass knight mechs and fighting to the death in the name of peace/war/love/whatever. What's actually quite pleasant about this game is that it's got a hell of a lot of content. Not only does it have a fairly lengthy campaign with an enjoyable plot and humorous characters but it also has two secret campaigns to play through as well, which basically explore 'what-if' scenarios if the main character had made different choices at certain junctions. Not as deep as say FF-Tactics: WoTL or Tactics Ogre: LuCT but still very fun.

I'm pretty sure it is available on the JPN PSN, and was released on the American PSN a few years back. Said they would release it on the EU one but never did, so unless I feel like dishing out £200 on an original copy I won't be playing this again any time soon.

And yes, that is in fact a badass sword wielding mecha-Pope on the cover. The Ultragunner, thing is goddamn ridiculous in-game.

 

[xCerealSoup]

-Yugioh Duelist of The Roses: Great SRPG, really under the radar for a pretty good game. Nothing mindblowing but definitely deserves more attention.

-The Wonderful 101: Great character action game on Wii U, severely underlooked for such a brilliant game.

 

[finalark]

-Yugioh Duelist of The Roses: Great SRPG, really under the radar for a pretty good game. Nothing mindblowing but definitely deserves more attention.

I really don't think I'd consider Duelist of The Roses to be underrated, since most people I've talked to consider it to be the best Yu-Gi-Oh game, but maybe I'm just being myopic.

However, on that note, has anyone else played this:

It's not an amazing game by any means, there are certainly better strategy games out there. But it is pretty fun once you get a hang of the overwhelming amount of mechanics the game throws at you. Plus its nice to see one of the more interesting games from the manga show up in playable form. Even if it is highly altered from the admittedly simplistic rules it had in the manga.

I'm sad that Konami really doesn't make YGO games like this any more. From the start of YGO GX onward every game was just a digital recreation of the card game. A while I like the card game and still play, I wouldn't mind seeing them revisit capsule monsters, dungeon dice monsters or just use the licence in a more creative way. I'd even be okay with them making an all new game not featured in the manga but with the same memorable characters, dark tone and occult themes as the original series.

 

[GameRat]

Advance Wars:

Spoiler

This game is one I only got about 1-2 years ago and I was completely blown away! I never knew that Intelligent Systems had a series apart from FE, so when I learned about Advance Wars, I had to get a copy. This game has made me think really hard about resource management, capturing waypoints, mounting frontal and sneaky assaults, and was difficult enough to keep me on the edge of my seat and pleading to the screen not to let my large tanks and bombers die. This is a crazy fun game that anyone should play if they are looking for a challenge.

Dude, I used to play Advance Wars all the time when I was little.
It's one of the best favorite strategy games I've ever played.

I'm glad to see there are other fans of that game.

 

[TheRealBlueBlur]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this game yet.

One of my favorites from the GCN era. It may have control & camera issues, but it's still a solid game. Also, don't let the cutesy graphics fool you. It gets pretty difficult later on. For the other things I liked about this game, the soundtrack is extremely catchy. If you look up the music for it, you'll know why. It also has a multiplayer mode, and it's pretty fun the last time I've played it.

Not a perfect game, but still a pretty good one overall.

Definitely this. Also, I don't know if anybody mentioned the Ape Escape series, but the PS2 ones are severely underrated. It's too bad the last AE game is almost 10 years old now...

 

[Heroine of Winds]

Despite the tank controls, the first Croc game's still a classic to me. It also has a very memorable soundtrack that just takes me back to when my brother got a PS1 for the first time. It also has a sequel, but to me, it doesn't beat the first one. Croc 1 still holds a special place in my heart as one of my favorite PS1 games.

 

[Tikivoy]

One of my personal favorite GBA games:

Spoiler

The Sims Bustin' Out:

Pretty much nobody I still know has played it, and back then most people I knew who did hated it for not being a traditional Sims game, but I thought it was a real unique game using various elements from the Sims. Instead of being a life simulator game limited to your house, its an adventure game where you have full control of your Sim and venture through the city, completing goals different characters give you to progress through the story, improving friendships with other Sims by selecting from various different dialogue options, and earning money from taking part in various (and very fun) mini-games, all while watching your needs (like Bladder) and improving your skills like in traditional Sims games. It was overall a pretty hilarious game, and definitely worthy of the title "Bustin Out", I've pumped a ton of hours into it way back in the GBA era, and may end up playing it again one of these days.

Urbz GBA/DS is essentially a sequel to it, but BO is still slightly better to me. Sims 2 GBA was similar though not nearly as well done as either of those two games, and Sims 2 PSP was really inspired by it in how it was also an objective based adventure game, though it also didn't really compare. Sadly we'll probably never see anything like it after that, since future handheld Sims after this pretty much try to copy the traditional gameplay of the series.

 

[finalark]

Despite the tank controls, the first Croc game's still a classic to me. It also has a very memorable soundtrack that just takes me back to when my brother got a PS1 for the first time. It also has a sequel, but to me, it doesn't beat the first one. Croc 1 still holds a special place in my heart as one of my favorite PS1 games.

Me and a buddy did a completely blind play through of this game a few months ago. I never played this in my childhood, leaving my opinion completely nostalgia free. That being said, it's actually a pretty decent game. It's not perfect, but it's really fun for what it is. IMO its one of those "flawed, but good" games like Final Fantasy IX or the Sonic Adventure series. Yeah, it's got a lot of issues but it all comes together to make a very enjoyable game.

 

[Carrill]

Anyone heard of Meteos for the Nintendo DS?

I absolutely adored this game as a kid despite having no one to play it with. It was an fast-paced puzzle game designed by Masahiro Sakurai. You play as one of many alien civilizations and use the touch screen to connect at least three blocks in typical puzzle game fashion. The difference is that when you connect at least 3, the blocks form rockets that propel the other blocks on top from out of your planet's atmosphere. Every planet has a different composition of elemental blocks, different levels of gravity, a different launch power, and a dynamic soundtrack that shifts as you play. My favorite was always planet Wiral, an civilization with extremely intense gravity but an drastically increasing launch power as you consistently lined up blocks.

They made a sequel but unfortunately, it used Disney characters instead of the unique looking alien civilizations from before. Then, after that they released a true sequel on Xbox Live Arcade only it didn't have the same intuitive touch controls.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

Anyone heard of Meteos for the Nintendo DS?

I absolutely adored this game as a kid despite having no one to play it with. It was an fasted-paced puzzle game designed by Masahiro Sakurai. You play as one of many alien civilizations and use the touch screen to connect at least three blocks in typical puzzle game fashion. The difference is that when you connect at least 3, the blocks form rockets that propel the other blocks on top from out of your planet's atmosphere. Every planet has a different composition of elemental blocks, different levels of gravity, a different launch power, and a dynamic soundtrack that shifts as you play. My favorite was always planet Wiral, an civilization with extremely intense gravity but an drastically increasing launch power as you consistently lined up blocks.

They made a sequel but unfortunately, it used Disney characters instead of the unique looking alien civilizations from before. Then, after that they released a true sequel on Xbox Live Arcade only it didn't have the same intuitive touch controls.

This is definitely one of the best puzzle games I've played on the DS. I used to own the Disney one, but I didn't think it was as good as the first Meteos. That one felt too much like a desperate cash grab due to the Disney license.

 

[Spak]

Anyone heard of Meteos for the Nintendo DS?

I absolutely adored this game as a kid despite having no one to play it with. It was an fast-paced puzzle game designed by Masahiro Sakurai. You play as one of many alien civilizations and use the touch screen to connect at least three blocks in typical puzzle game fashion. The difference is that when you connect at least 3, the blocks form rockets that propel the other blocks on top from out of your planet's atmosphere. Every planet has a different composition of elemental blocks, different levels of gravity, a different launch power, and a dynamic soundtrack that shifts as you play. My favorite was always planet Wiral, an civilization with extremely intense gravity but an drastically increasing launch power as you consistently lined up blocks.

They made a sequel but unfortunately, it used Disney characters instead of the unique looking alien civilizations from before. Then, after that they released a true sequel on Xbox Live Arcade only it didn't have the same intuitive touch controls.

I think I remember seeing this in a Nintendo Power once upon a time...

 

[TimeSmash]

I think I remember seeing this in a Nintendo Power once upon a time...

It most definitely was! A good eye

While most likely known in general, I haven't run into a lot of people who have played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Mostly I see people who have played its PS1 predecessor, whose battle system and maturity were preferred. However, FFTA is a wonderful title to play especially when you're younger, and has much longevity for a portable title released around this time (2003ish). There are multiple jobs to master, most of which are pretty viable. And since you can mix and match abilities, there's a lot of depth and customization present. There are little things like the Monster Bank and Free This Place! Missions, which add nice little elements to the game that you don't even really need. The system of laws is a unique idea and presented quite well for the most part, and I really liked the story as well. The graphics are colorful and the hand-drawn portraits of some characters are appreciated. It's a wonderfully prepared game, easy to get into, but hard to get out of. Its sequel was also amazing

 

[Deleted member]

dé Blob for the Wii is way too underrated.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

I know one obscure franchise I love that not many people talk about, and that's Klonoa. I hate Namco Bandai for not giving any of the games some advertising. It's a great franchise that was sadly put on ice 5 years ago after the Klonoa 1 remake failed.

 

[Minato]

I know one obscure franchise I love that not many people talk about, and that's Klonoa. I hate Namco Bandai for not giving any of the games some advertising. It's a great franchise that was sadly put on ice 5 years ago after the Klonoa 1 remake failed.

Klonoa's great. The Wii version, I own, and I also own the second game. Used to own the first but had to return it since it was really scratched. It's available digitally, but owning a physical copy would've been nice. I've played the GBA games but I never actually owned any of them. Those were pretty fun and even emphasized more of the puzzles.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

 

[Atrabilious]

I know one obscure franchise I love that not many people talk about, and that's Klonoa. I hate Namco Bandai for not giving any of the games some advertising. It's a great franchise that was sadly put on ice 5 years ago after the Klonoa 1 remake failed.

I love the Klonoa games, they're really well-made and charming games. Always have fond memories of playing Door to Phantomile on my PS1 when I was a child. Big part of me was really hoping Klonoa would make it into Sm4sh as a third party character when Namco Bandai's involvement was announced. Was never going happen with Pac-Man being a thing for Namco, but still couldn't help hoping. The Wii remake was gorgeous, shame it didn't really take off.

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Not entirely sure if this counts seeing as it's far more recent than most, but this is one of those games that whenever I mention it to someone, nobody's ever heard of it.

When I first heard about this game a few years back I just wrote it off as another one of those creepy harem dating sim games that Japan seems to pump out on the regular without really giving it a chance. Fast forward a few years and my best friend, and primary gaming buddy, said he'd bought it second hand and kept telling me how great and different it was from other stuff on the market. I told him what I had assumed it was, and was summarily informed that I was completely wrong, should borrow the game from him and give it a fair shake. So I begrudgingly did so, and very quickly realised I was completely wrong it write it off. It's absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. The gameplay alternates between playing in the real world where the main character, Vincent, is trying to maintain and salvage his relationship with Katherine after cheating on her with a blonde girl called Catherine, and the dream world where you attempt to navigate a vertical puzzle wall of blocks which you pull and push around to create pathways. The puzzles make up the bulk of the game and they are fiendishly difficult. Maybe it's because I went in with incredibly low expectations but I was genuinely surprised at how good it was, and it ended up being one of my favourite games of last gen. Definitely worth a try if you can find a copy second hand. Has a lot of replay ability too, multiple difficults, challenge levels, like 8 different endings I think? It's good stuff.

 

[Minato]

@ Atrabilious I'm glad you gave Catherine a shot. A really underrated game that gen. It's rare to see a non-indie game take chances and experiment like that. The game was nice and short with interesting gameplay to match the game's story. A lot of stages got me thinking and made it a fun experience. I've only gotten one ending so far, and I'm looking forward to replaying it later this year.

Anyone with a PS3/360 should check it out. Atlus frequently does sales for US PSN, so the game can be picked up for relatively cheap.

 

[ansossy]

Chu Teng. Only play via Emulator since before the game files were dumped by someone who had a copy of the game, were impossible since the game was that rare. Probably the rarest game in history as the creator never knew where the copy was.