gaming Underrated Video Games

[Zink 80]

The Killer Instinct Series.

I used to play it in the arcades and I still play it whenever I see a machine.

I am still longing for the Third game.

[Crystal Skull 53]

NiGHTS into dreams was way overlooked. It was an amazing game. I don't think people saw the games full potential. I think SEGA made a fantastic game that was not appreciated enough.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

Crystalis is an RPG on the NES. The world is as expansive as it is in The Legend of Zelda, so there's lots of places to explore, and each new area presents unique challenges, but the game is slightly nonlinear in that you can backtrack all you want and it's sometimes possible to reach new places before you're ready. The plot is kind of unique and follows many of its contemporaries in predicting that the end of the world would come before the year 2000. It's funny when you think about it and it gives the game an added bit of nostalgia for players born before 1997. Sadly, it seemed to get overlooked back then, overshadowed by many other titles. The Gameboy Color received a butchered port that did no justice to the original; avoid it.

 

As I said, new areas presented new challenges, and sometimes would leave you completely perplexed for a bit as to how you should proceed. If you're in the market for a new RPG, give this one a try.

 

[uuunph 288]

Oh I used to play Deus Ex a lot before, still have it. It's pretty old, and the graphics aren't the best, but that's the good part because my computer is a box full of scrap metal that runs Fallout 3 with min quality and low-res mod on it at about 15 fps, which is just downright pathetic, but wait, there is more! It also overheats every 40-ish minutes and then I have to close the game and browse something while it cool. Well back to Deus Ex, it was a great story and the atmosphere was also very good. Nice RPG elements to the usual FPS stuff, you could stealth through the whole game, or do a non-lethal play through ( just knock the buckers unconscious), it had multiple paths, different endings, and it changed depending which NPC's you killer or let live ( they could come later in the game and help you if you haven't killed them before)... Oh well, good time

15fps as downright pathetic? Dude, when I used to "game" on my Intel Celeron, all it took was high settings and Adrenaline Oblivion to get down to 2FPS. I would remember that "it would be awesome if I could just get 20FPS!". I'd play Oblivion on low settings too, so I know how that feels.

 

Anyway, those days are over, but still.

[FractalMoon 378]

Valkyria chronicles: great story, fun gameplay... overall one of the best shooters I've ever played.

Anything in the Dept. Heaven series: Yggdra Union, Riviera, Knights in the Nightmare... all fun, and all VERY unique games.

Ace Combat: Planes... SO MUCH PLANES

Payday: the heist... guns, crazy plans, and heists... what's not to love?

Wargame European Escalation: Strategy, plain and simple

Command and Conquer (any but four, mostly Generals): Again, a pure strategy game that is too much fun to play. (though not so sure how underrated, most people I talk to don't know what it is.)

EVE online: again, not sure how non-widely known, but small for an MMO and a LOT of fun to fly around in the huge ships.

Artemis: Possibly THE most underrated game on this list... made by ONE guy, and a ridiculous amount of fun to play with friends.

If you ever need an RPG/MMO/Strategy game then feel free to drop me a line.

[F7UC 43]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

My friends say it sucks but I think it's one of the best games ever made. The whole concept and playstyle are so unique.. :3

 

And it scares the living shit out of me. I'm absolutely horrified and anxious whenever I play it.

[Faceless 101]

Sid Meier's Pirates is an awesome game to play. I've spent many hours battling through the high seas!

 

James Bond Nightfire is a game that just moshes together everyone from Bond. It's like the next best thing to Goldeneye. Also, the campaign is quite fun to play too with missions in helicopters and cars

[TheTEChguy27 273]

Two games come to mind when I think of underrated: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Psychonauts. They're both very unique in their own way, have been praised by reviewers, but never really sold well for whatever the reason.

 

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile was originally released on the PlayStation, but was semi-recently updated for the Wii. The remake was simply titled "Klonoa". It's a 2.5D platformer with a cute art style. You play as Klonoa, a rabbit-like creature that traverses dreams. It's a relatively short game, but the levels within it are rich and packed with surprises. If you like platformers of ANY kind, I'd highly suggest Klonoa to you. Just be warned, if you get the Wii version... go into the settings and switch the speech from English (or whatever the default is) to Phantomilian. The voices in English sound a bit too silly, in my opinion. Phantomilian is a fake, Japanese-esque language that Klonoa and the people of Phantomile speak. Sounds better in my opinion. Oh, and one last thing; the music is top-notch. Just listen to the main theme:

 

 

Psychonauts is a 3D platformer from the mind of Tim Schafer, who also created Grim Fandango and co-designed the early Monkey Island games. The easiest way to pick up the game these days is via Steam, but it was also released for the PS2 and Xbox. In Psychonauts, you play as Raz, a young boy with psychic abilities who escaped from home to visit a psychic summer camp. The game has a wide variety of locations, each very colorful and unique. It's also very comedic - there are several points in the game that will make you laugh til your sides hurt. Just to give you a taste of what you can expect from this game, check out this scene from the level "Milkman Conspiracy":

 

 

Eeyup. Exploding milk bottles. You can easily pick up Klonoa from a local game store for $10-$20 bucks, and Psychonauts is available on Steam for $10 bucks (even less when it's on sale, which happens often). These two games are, in my opinion, very underrated, yet they're two of my favorite games of all time. Please check 'em out. You won't be disappointed. 

Edited January 6, 2013 by TheTEChguy27

[Colt 555]

• When talking about good games I like to talk about experiences, games that makes takes your soul up and down with the emotions intended to give while playing or going through their stories.

I’ll go with the PS1 in this chance for there are so many unknown treasures there everypony needs to play.

• Einhänder: As many of you have said with your posts the late 90's where the golden years of Squaresoft every game they put in the market was solid fun and in many cases exceptional. This was a side scroll shooter In witch you take the role of a “Kamikaze” pilot from the moon in a suicide mission to make as much damage to the earth as possible. Made with amazing 3D graphics and the unique “manipulator” mechanic this game is one of the best 2D shooters ever made.

• Alundra: From Working designs and Maxis this game show can a Zelda game should be made. Let the rage begin. With a dark deep well told story and one of the best Level design I have ever enjoyed from an adventure game I just can say that you are losing one hell of an experience not playing it.

• Threads of Fate: Kick ass music, lovely characters, great controls in one 3D adventure gameplay and two separated adventures make this another PS1 Squaresoft treasure.

• Megaman Legends Series. Here in my county very few players gave this once the chance so I will mention it. Till this day the MML series is one of my most beloved franchise ever. The level of detail tight gameplay wonderfull world story chars and the overall “feeling” it translated to me is something I wish all video game fans can experience. Play them forgetting all you know about megaman with an open mind and not expecting a thing, it will steal your heart.

Edited January 6, 2013 by Colt

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

Dark Cloud 2 was my all time favorite PS2 game, I spent months playing it, and I beat it over ten times.

 

Midway Area 51 was a really good shooting game and it's freeware on the PC.

 

Darkwatch was a game with a cool and unique concept, I enjoyed playing it, if you like vampires and shooters games you'd probably enjoy it.

 

Chromehounds was the best mech game I've ever played, with it's awesome multiplayer, great customization for your mech, and amazing gameplay mechanics, it was a blast.

 

Gex deserves more popularity, it was my favorite series for the PS1. It was hilarious and I loved playing it quite a bit.

 

[Just some guy 1,070]

Dark Cloud.

 

It was a very fun dungeon crawler.You had to be careful and watch your weapon's HP,lest it break in the middle of the dungeon,as well as your thirst meter before you die of dehydration.Plus,getting all the sphere thingies (Atla?I don't exactly remember) and building towns as you see fit (unless you wanted to comply with people's wishes,which is actually a very good thing to do) was pretty fun to do whenever you weren't dungeon crawling.

 

The weapon upgrading system was pretty unique.I forget how it goes,but you basically put...gems,I think it was?Anyways,you put these upgrades on your weapon of choice,and you kill enemies for ABS,which is basically XP for your weapon.The weapon levels up,takes those upgrades and makes it a part of its base stats.I think you can also add elemental effects as well,but my memory's not too keen on that.But the real interesting part is the fact that your weapon needs certain stats to evolve into your weapon of choice.

 

So for example,my sword has,let's say,100 damage.It can take two paths--one that requires 150 damage to evolve and another that requires 100 damage and 25 fire damage.I can either boost damage more to take the higher damage one or keep adding fire gems until it has 25 in the fire damage stat.Or I can not evolve my sword and keep leveling it up with whatever I please.

 

It really gave a good degree of weapon customization.I remember having a sword with ridiculous amounts of damage,both raw and with every element.It took a really long time,but I could decimate enemies with ease.I should really play that again...

[Megas 27,697]

 

• Megaman Legends Series. Here in my county very few players gave this once the chance so I will mention it. Till this day the MML series is one of my most beloved franchise ever. The level of detail tight gameplay wonderfull world story chars and the overall “feeling” it translated to me is something I wish all video game fans can experience. Play them forgetting all you know about megaman with an open mind and not expecting a thing, it will steal your heart.

This. So much. Hell I'm still pissed that Capcom cancelled the third game and never released the Prologue Demo. I wish Inafune was still working there sometimes

[)NightmareLulamoon( 51]

The Tower of Druaga- It's like one of my favorite games and I feel like it's the spiritual older brother of Zelda II: Adventure of Link (As in, both games are ridiculously hard)

 

also, The Nightmare of Druaga: Fugishino Dungeon- Despite it's extremely aggravating death penalty, the game is pretty fun. (the big reason why i like it alot is probably the sole fact that it's like the original game in a more modern way of playing the game)

 

I also agree with Metal Gear Solid, as it's one of my favorite game series  

[Loriem 639]

De Blob and Be Blob 2, these games were GREAT!

 

De Blob started as a third party game on the Wii, I remember it's commercials, but was unimpressed. But when i played it, I thought it was pretty damn good.

 

De Blob 2 is avaliable on the Wii Xbox 360 and PS3, and it was PHENOMENAL! The gameplay was improved more, new awesome gameplay mechanics, and even better music.

 

Yet, I hardly here anyone around talk about these games, as they have fast and unique gameplay, good music, and both are generally fun.

[Gamerlin 6]

Did anyone else play Indigo Prophecy? I have it on PS2. It was made by the people who made Heavy Rain, so it's really deep and interactive experience. You can download it on XBL arcade now.

[~Lawful Sturdy Wing~ 522]

The two most underrated, glorious games of all time are the following

 

Arcanum: A top down viewed steampunk RPG styled after the old fashioned pc rpgs, it mixes steampunk and typical fantasy in such a manner that it's incredible. Great story telling, great gameplay, and just good overall

 

Advent Rising: A totally underrated third person scifi shooter that I enjoyed beyond reason, uses good mechanics, and a good power system it needs to be played more.

[Commander Urdnot 2,680]

I think these are all AMAZING games, it is a shame they' are so underrated.

 

Custom Robo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5rM5PyHXlI

 

Katamari Damacy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgrnIBlxZCk

 

Chibi-Robo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwOnn-ObtNo

 

Monster Hunter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvcqtPpvk8w

[thor9356 540]

Underrated games. Let's see.

 

Blacklight Retribution: A free to play first person shooter for PC. This game deserves more attention than it gets. It has more customization options than both Halo and COD. The graphics are also on par with both games and it's incredibly addictive. The environments are incredibly well done and did I mention that you can pilot mechs called Hardsuits? I seriously don't know what's more fun. Killing others with a mech or destroying one. I never get that sense of accomplishment from either COD or halo.

 

Bioshock 2: Now I know most of you are going to say that the bioshock series is well known but I think the second one deserved more credit than it got. Sure it was made by 2K marin and other developers but if you put some thought into it it kinda makes sense. Now most people weren't really impressed with it cause they've been in Rapture before but allow me to point this out. Subject Delta the protagonist of the game is you! Let me elaborate on this. Now when you played as Jack you were seeing Rapture for the first time in all its beautiful dystopia glory but in Bioshock 2 you play as a Alpha series big daddy known as Subject Delta. Who HAS been in Rapture for sometime and seen it in its dystopia glory BEFORE waking up again. Sound familiar? No? If your a seasoned bioshock vet who's played the first one and is playing the second one then the feeling happens directly to you cause your not playing as someone going into Rapture for the first time. Your playing as someone who's been in Rapture and has seen what happened only now its 10 years later and its in worse shape than it was before. Not only that but your facing new enemies. This is where the first 10 minutes of the game blew my mind. Cause if you've seen the big daddy's in Bioshock 1 and now your playing as one in the sequel then you should feel pretty fucking powerful in the beginning right? Wrong! The game show's you how tough and powerful your enemies have become over the last 10 years and it still makes you feel weak against them. For a game to do that to a player is pretty fucking impressive. When you take on the Big Sister for the first time in the Adonis your armed with a giant drill, a rivet gun and the electro bolt plasmid. So your pretty positive you can take her on right? Again wrong. Cause you can see how quickly she depletes your health and your barely doing any damage to her whatsoever. So how do you beat these enemies? BY PLAYING THE FREAKING GAME! You upgrade the weapons and plasmids to your preference, you research your enemies, you scavenge for money and ammo. By the time you reach Fontaine Futuristics or Persephone you will feel pretty damn powerful! Now I agree with some that the ending to the game wasn't that great but I think that the Minerva's Den add-on more than makes up for it. The amount of emotion that is put into the characters of this short single player add-on is not only amazing but the ending itself will blow your freaking mind that its worth paying a few bucks for. I'm not joking I lost my shit once I beat the add-on. The protector trials which is another add-on is also good if you want to challenge yourself and come up with better weapon and plasmid combinations. Whew sorry for the long rant on this one lol

Edited January 8, 2013 by thor9356

[Leatherbehlt 465]

Unreal tournament for PS3. Like COD, but less... real.

Paper mario, mario kart, (gamecube) Dark mirror, tekken 5 (probably not underrated but still fun) Luigi's Mansion was great (also scary when I was young) Cod 3 (PS2) Incredibly fun online, great campaign, and a lot of nostalgia,

[Musketeer341 10]

Suikoden (Series)- Think pokemon, but on steroids...with epic music.  The best game of the series is 2 and I would agree.  Besides the story of good vs. evil, you are to collect 108 characters (especially if you are trying to get the best ending) The music is fantastic and how every character makes a big difference in gameplay.  For example: you would come across a character who is trying to open a armour shop, you help him with a certain deed and you mention him about a castle you own (that is later in the game) He would join your army and he would have an armour shop built at your castle (and would change the look of your castle)  where you could buy armor from him from other armor shops you have visit...at a discount!  It is a game I highly recommend to your PSX collection. 

 

Here is a video from the battle game...which what makes part of no. 2  shine:

 

and here is an example of regular gameplay:

http://youtu.be/BAW-X4SMKUk
 

[Middnight Snack 24]

If you know about this game and have played it you're and instant friend of mine. It was made by the people who made the original fallout so you know it's got to be good. This is also my favorite game of all time. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jvpU6lR5E

[Shanks 10,816]

Actraiser: It can be best described as if Golden Axe and Sim City had a baby. You are a god who is tasked with finding more worshippers, the more worshipper you get the more powerful you become. To find followers you build and protect cities and gather tribute from the population but before you can do that you have to clear the area of monsters, demons, fallen angels and other threats.

 

Earthbound: It was one of the most popular games ever released in Japan but it with the exception of a loyal cult following did not really catch on here. It is a very interesting spin on the classic RPG story, instead of a knight in medieval times fighting dragons and monsters you are kid and his friends fighting aliens, wild animals, people who have gone completely insane and even inanimate objects that have come to life such as gas pumps, signs, taxi cabs you name it it wants to kill you.

 

Dragon Quest: This RPG series easily rivals Final Fantasy in quality of games and while it is popular in Japan and helped form many of the standards of its genre it is not anywhere near as popular here.

[Dr. Eggnog 203]

A lot of 3D platformers are way underrated like The Hobbit, A Bugs Life, and Jersey Devil. 

 

But the most underrated game I've ever played is Final Fantasy V, which is my favorite 2D game.

[Faceless 101]

Mad World for the Wii was a bit underrated, if you ask me.

 

Sid Meier's Pirates is not only underrated, but is very nostalgic... I don't know, have many people heard of this game?

 

Finally, Sonic Heroes. I feel like I'm the only person who liked this!!! It seems quite underrated by everyone. I thought it was good 

 

And finally, Crash Bandicoot! Wrath of Cortex. I love this game.

 

I don't think my games are as underrated though... oh well, there you go.

[Mutemutt 773]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this one yet, the Disgaea series. It's a really niche game. The sheer amount of content they pack into the games is ridiculous. It's a huge grindfest; leveling up to 9999 and then reincarnating so that you leveling back to 9999 countless times so that you can acquire gargantuan stats. And don't even get me started on the farming innocents like statisticians and gladiators  to make godlike equipment. Seriously, the post game content is where most of your time will be spent. The series has great humor too and the skill animations are way over the top. 

 

Quite a unique game series, and I suggest that anyone interested in SRPGs give it a try.