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Hidden Gems - Favorite Obscure/Underappreciated Videogames?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by Starwind78, Jul 5, 2015.

  1. Starwind78

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    Quantum Redshift

    [​IMG]

    This was my absolute favorite racing game on Xbox. Looking back, the stereotypes of the driver nationalities were hilariously overdone, but I just loved the Mario-kart style combat racing too much to care.

    I put in so many hours on that damn game that I could win all of the levels in first place at the highest speed setting with very little effort and unlocked nearly everything there was to unlock. I never understood why this game didn't get more praise.
     
  2. Argentwing

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    Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales. Nobody has heard of this game and yet I can gush about it. It's clearly rough around the edges, but what other game lets you sail not only one ship (that you can switch out for other designs and/or customize with crew and upgrades), but a whole fleet under your command and play the loyalties of multiple nations in a tropical archipelago? Furthermore, you can fight on the decks of ships and attack forts guarding settlements and take over islands for yourself? Minus the high-budget polish, it's what Assassin's Creed IV wishes it could be.

    cover

    This game scarcely gets a tenth of the love it deserves. It has inspired an idea I've been cultivating for a similar gameplay style, except set in space with futuristic starships.
     
    #2 Argentwing, Jul 5, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  3. Pret Allez

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    Commander Keen: Goodbye, Galaxy!
     
  4. Kaeya

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    Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. If you love RPGs this game is a prime example of what role playing games should be.
     
  5. SabreBear

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    This may sound strange, but the original Madagascar game, and the Ratatouille (wii) game. Both of those games were a bunch of fun, and I loved playing them when I was younger. Both of them deviate from the movies they're based off of too, so it's kind of cool.

    Okami is a great game too, but it got great scores and a decent following, so I wouldn't say that it's a "Hidden Gem".
     
  6. Linthras

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    I've not only heard of it, but played.
    Love it, but it's not the first/only game like that:
    [​IMG]

    Personal hidden gems, besides those mentioned above:
    [​IMG]

    Game I managed to buy for 1 cent due to price tagging mistake in store:
    [​IMG]

    ---------- Post added 6th Jul 2015 at 11:18 PM ----------

    Yay another fan. Epic RPG.
     
  7. Kaiser

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    Quackshot
    [​IMG]

    It's Donald Duck going around with a plunger-shooting handgun, finding rare and valuable artifacts, while dealing with some petty gangsters and international shenanigans. A few other Disney characters, mostly from DuckTales, show up.

    The soundtrack is pretty awesome, as are some of the levels:

    Transylvania:
    You deal with bats, ghosts, and even Count Duckula. Yeah.

    Viking Ship:
    You deal with ghost vikings and their ghost viking king.

    South Pole:
    Killer whales and penguins want you dead.

    Boss Theme:
    It fits the game.

    Not a bad game, especially for those who enjoy platformers with light elements of strategy. It's good for a young child, and fun for anybody older.


    Rocket Knight Adventures
    [​IMG]

    It's a[n] opossum, in armor, with a rocket pack, flying around and saving the world from evil space pigs. It's a platformer, as was all craze during the 90s, but an enjoyable one. Definitely has some amusing graphics and a kick ass soundtrack:

    Stage 1:
    Epic and introduces you to the 'feel' of the game. Simple but effective.

    Stage 5:
    You are flying through a God damn space pig armada, dodging missiles and slaying pig soldiers. That's amazing.

    Stage 6:
    You're flying through outer space... dodging the final defenses of a space pig armada, so that you can board the mother ship and stop the pig overlord.

    Boss Theme:
    Dat bass. Love the build up to this. Very fun but menacing tune to kick ass to.

    Definitely lost in the shuffle between Mario and Sonic.


    Ecco the Dolphin
    [​IMG]

    To explain this game... Basically, you are a dolphin, chosen to save the world, from parasitic alien invaders, while looking for your family which disappeared in a violent storm, of which you were the only one not taken. You navigate the various reaches of the ocean, traveling from safe little coves to the deadly and open ocean, and even get to visit prehistoric times (yeah, a time-traveling dolphin, let that sink in) as well as Atlantis. Along the way, you'll encounter various sea creatures, most of whom will either try and kill you or are unhelpful dicks.

    The soundtrack is top notch and trying to select a few is difficult. But it is a mixture of hopeful inspiration and impending loneliness. It's a game I remember very well, especially since it is a lot deeper than it appears. But I'll address that more later on... *spoiler*

    It won't be for everyone, but those who enjoy stories centering around treating the Earth better, marine life, or puzzles, this may be worth your time.

    I recommend the sequel, too; Ecco: The Tides of Time.
     
  8. Linthras

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    Just to demonstrate the awesomeness of Vampire the Masquerade, here are some clips.
    Ignore the glitches, almost all of these have been fixed through fan made patches which have also unlocked unfinished, but now completed content.
    The intro:
    [YOUTUBE]BV96A-swkgM[/YOUTUBE]

    One of the most epic levels in the game, the Ocean View hotel:
    [YOUTUBE]3v7QSN5iwRY[/YOUTUBE]

    Soundtrack sample:
    [YOUTUBE]fiYXNaQ4Fbg[/YOUTUBE]

    Malkavians, the crazy, clairvoyant vampire clan:
    [YOUTUBE]3ybIfB9_EVo[/YOUTUBE]


    ---------- Post added 6th Jul 2015 at 11:51 PM ----------

    Pirates of the Carribean (Very loosely, if at all, related to the films, the only similarity is the Black Pearl and the cursed treasure. Characters from the film are non-existent though).

    [YOUTUBE]i1UujNqm58c[/YOUTUBE]
    The great thing about this game is that it has both an epic main story, and the possibility to completely ignore it and play the game as open sandbox game.
     
    #8 Linthras, Jul 6, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  9. Kira

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    [​IMG]
    This thing allowed you to build tracks from scratch, which could rotate in any planned direction (It's not a pre-made part, it's fully bendable) and place jumps and props etc.
    Though, underwater building would have made it even better.

    As a little kid I made things that exploited AI, I'd make the track go into the sky and bend under itself, I'd know to slow down but the others would go flying into the sky. :lol:

    [​IMG]

    To this day one of my all-time favorite games.
    It literally has 101 ships with customizable options, paint, alternate endings and insane difficulty options. It's also visually a work of art.
    I've recreated it's TP-2 "Pow Armor" craft in both Spore and Starmade, because I love the craft so much. Heck, I even tried to make a fan game. Too bad it ended with ps2/psp, I'd love to see it in modern engines; especially PC.
     
    #9 Kira, Jul 6, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  10. Linthras

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    Knights and Merchants.
    A game about liberating your fallen kingdom of your traitorous son, by rebuilding one province at a time and defeating the local underlings of your nemesis with the armies you recruit.

    Full of ye old butherde English and great flavor, as well as the occasional satire of the Medieval genre.

    Intro and first mission:
    [YOUTUBE]BXSkPRC4HbA[/YOUTUBE]

    Great theme music:
    [YOUTUBE]1chDLmvrqbg[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]LiaC141TaQ4[/YOUTUBE]

    Shouldst thou not have playeth this game, thou should indeed use thyne internet to find a free download of this game. For verily it be hard to find among the merchants these dark and foul days! :icon_wink

    ---------- Post added 7th Jul 2015 at 12:10 AM ----------

    Ah, I forgot Knight and Merchants has recently been made available through steam, so acquiring a legal copy is once again possible.

    ---------- Post added 7th Jul 2015 at 12:26 AM ----------

    A really old strategy game:
    Vlad Tepes: Dracula or Dracula: Reign of Terror

    [YOUTUBE]rOldw2n0Dvc[/YOUTUBE]
    Contrary to what the title might imply, you actually play as Vlad the freedom fighter, fighting to free Wallachia from Ottoman occupation.

    Gameplay:
    [YOUTUBE]hVuCiSpbK9o[/YOUTUBE]

    The reason I could never get into Myst:
    Reah, a beatiful puzzle game in an alien (as in strange), alternate reality.
    [YOUTUBE]22-i7k5DHWI[/YOUTUBE]
    Words cannot describe the chills running down your spine playing this and how immersive it is. The music is great and the ambient sounds are not just nice but often part of solving puzzles.
     
  11. mangotree

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    Goof Troop
    [YOUTUBE]AnYvDAPszIw[/YOUTUBE]

    And it was playable in multiplayer.
    I remember playing it on PC, but it was on SNES as well.
     
  12. Kaeya

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    Ohh yeah Knights and Merchants. I got it a long time ago by buying some kind of polish gaming magazine. It had this game and it was in polish xD. I loved how much detail it had. Down to seeing food being made for your armies.
     
  13. Florestan

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    That whole series of games was a huge part of my childhood.

    My choice is Alice Mare. It's a Japanese game about a boy who moves into an orphanage, where he enters a dreamworld. The only way out is to find keys hidden in the dreamworlds of the other orphans. It has very basic graphics, but a lot of interesting characters and concepts.
     
  14. Lazuri

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    Personally, I'd call Okami a hidden gem. Yes, it received overwhelming critical acclaim, but very few people played it. If people had played it, Capcom wouldn't have shut the studio down, which they did. It wasn't until the PS3 rerelease that it got somewhat of an audience.

    Another game that I feel is a hidden gem is Zone of the Enders: the 2nd Runner. Despite being one of the most awesome games ever, not a whole lot of people seem to have played it.

    Vanquish and Anarchy Reigns are also up there. Two of Platinum's best games, but went almost completely unnoticed unlike their other games such as Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising.

    P.S: Kaiser, I've actually played both Quackshot and Ecco. They're nice.
     
  15. RunicSquirrel05

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    The Indigo Prophecy on the original Xbox and PS2. It was about a guy who was possessed and murdered someone under this possession and his journey to prove he was possessed. You play as him and the two detectives trying to solve the original murder. The better at hiding your tracks as a killer, the harder it makes the game for you as a detective. There was some freaky alien, psychokinesis crap at the end, but it was still awesome.

    Deadly Premonition. Xbox 360, big city detective sent to solve small town murder. It was pretty scary even though the graphics were almost exactly the same as a PS2 game. That game still gives me chills just thinking about it.

    Killer is Dead Xbox 360 and PS3. Bounty hunter with a machine gun for an arm with anime style graphics. Very stylish and cool.

    Finally, Catherine Xbox 360 and PS3. Guy cheats on girlfriend and then weird stuff starts happening to him. Fresh story line, interesting game play, in depth decision making and a ton of different endings.
     
  16. guitar

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    DOS: Boloball, Major Stryker, Raptor, Blakestone, Hocus Pocus
    SNES: Skuljagger
    N64: Battle Tanks, Wave Race
    PC: Gone Home, Kiss Psycho Circus, Blood 2, Dust: A Tale of the Wired West (related game to Titanic Adventure out of Time)
     
  17. SimonK

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    My personal hidden gem is a game called Sphinx and the cursed mummy:

    [​IMG]

    Its an action-adventure game set in an Egyptian mythology inspired world. The game is split between a pretty classic world/dungeon exploring main character, and some unique puzzle solving with the secondary character who is an immortal Mummy.

    Writing it down it sounds a bit generic, but the inventive design of the world, characters and enemies coupled with some really interesting puzzle mechanics made it my favourite game on the gamecube.
     
  18. Nikky DoUrden

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    Its very funny game would recommend to anything who likes funny games of any genre!

    [​IMG]

    Spoilish yet funny scene :

    [YOUTUBE]1zu7u9AcvHc[/YOUTUBE]
     
    #18 Nikky DoUrden, Jul 20, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2015
  19. GeneralAlly

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    Summon Night: Swordcraft Story for the GBA. Such an amazing fucking game. I barely even found this game, I only heard of it by browsing the comments section of a "Most underrated GBC games" video. It had an incredibly fun weapon-crafting system, funny and likable characters, a fantastic soundtrack, an interesting story, and a TON of personality. I was absolutely amazed, I went into this game with low expectations, and I came out with one of my all-time favorite games. It's also worth noting that I usually don't like RPGs, because I'm so impatient, and RPGs are tedious. SN:SS, along with the Pokemon games, are the only RPGs I've ever completed.

    The sequel is good too, but it basically did the exact opposite of everything that the first game did, instead of refining what few quirks the first game had. Most notably with the crafting system. In the first game, any materials that you had, you could pour into the proverbial smelting pot, and they could be used to make any weapon, if you had the technique to make it. You also got every weapon (excluding bonus weapons) in order, so you don't have to worry about wasting your materials on something inferior to the weapon you already have. In the second game, the techniques aren't customized for each weapon, you just get a plain, boring base, and you need to craft specific items together to get weapons, which means TONS of trial-and-error to get the few you actually want. Also, the game is a LOT more back-and-forth. In the first game, you would usually spend a little time in the Labyrinth, spend a little time doing something in town or place you've never been to before, and then have a match in the arena. The game is constantly having you switch locations, and even when you do revisit areas, you're hardly ever doing anything samey. The second game basically forces you to go outside town, come back to make something or talk to someone, then head outside town a little further than you did before, and then go back to town to make something or talk to somebody. It just repeats over and over and over again. You're constantly backtracking through the same areas over and over again, and it real tiring to be jerked back-and-forth constantly.

    But yeah, I would totally recommend playing the first game. Second game isn't bad, but somehow it fails to live up to so many things that the first game excelled at.
     
  20. The Wallflower

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    Omg, Henry Hatsworth for the DS. It's the best thing ever, like seriously. ;-;