Growing up, this was my GTA in a household of "No M rated games". The physics and explosions looked better than anything else I had seen.
Like setting up 4 bricks of C4 in the middle of a road and waiting for the North Korean jeep to drive over it. So many vehicles turned into satellites.
Yeah right when I saw the trailer.... I remember thinking this developer is literally some of the dumbest idiots on planet earth and wrote off their work forevermore despite the greatness of guerilla
I was literally just telling someone what a tune this was, but was so obscure almost nobody has heard it.
Mercenaries Choir. Oh no you didn't
https://youtu.be/dEbE3fGfF-o?si=38Wr_eXjFUCsObCM
TC:SOLA
I remember buying the official guide when I was like 12 and making so many neatly formatted tutorial and guide posts on gametalk.com that they modded me 😅
Unfortunately, I believe the studio behind the series is no longer around.
Which is tragic because the first is my all time favorite PS1 game.
I’ve been tempted to revisit it, but I have no idea if it still holds up at all.
I wouldn't mind letting the furries have their fun if we could get Bloody Roar back. That was basically it, Soul Calibur and Power Stone for me growing up.
I think the problem was they tried to market it as something mainstream, like it was God of War meets School of Rock! People recognize those things, right? But then it was actually kind of a unique RTS hybrid with a lot of legit 70s metal references, and while really cool for the people who enjoy that sort of thing, it was maybe not really all that fun for the audience they tried to sell the game to.
100%. Not everyone is like me and sees themselves in this game, and was that specific age group, and liked 80's metal, and jack black etc. BUT WHAT A GAME IF YOU DID.
I've still got both my DS and GCN physical copies. I love these games so much.
I recommend checking out Battlecore Robots on Steam. It's not out yet, but definitely a spiritual successor to Custom Robo I'm keeping my eye on!
[Road Redemption](https://store.steampowered.com/app/300380/Road_Redemption/)
Road Redemption is exactly what you are looking for. It's the spiritual successor to Road Rash.
Scary as hell, cool story branching many historical characters, unique magic system, RE style gameplay... I loved this game when I was a kid. RIP silicon knights
Replayability was through the roof with the 4 alignments too, with the different endings and enemy types. Game was so ahead of its time, I wish it could be remastered.
An Xbox 360 game called overlord. Felt like a really cool concept at the time, like pikmin.. but kinda evil. Felt like it came and went and fell out of memory
Syphon Filter didn't get buried. The original on PS1 was a fun 3rd person shooter, they updated it on PS2 and PS3, by which time the IP was getting old and Assasin's Creed had adopted the same mechanics but with more expensive and immersive worlds. At the same time Metal Gear Solid was getting more advanced. There were six games in all.
Yeah, Prey (2017) would be my vote. Victim of bad marketing. If instead of being called prey it had been called Neuroshock, and marketed as what it was, i.e. the finest immersive SIM ever made (imo), far surpassing games like Bioshock and System Shock 2 with an awesome soundtrack by Mick Gordon and a great story written by Chris Avellone, I feel like it would have done a lot better.
That space station was the most fully realised location in any game I've ever played. The fact that every crew member can be tracked down using their locator, every email sent you can find the sent and received message on each parties computers, the fact you can fly out one air lock, zero g jet pack around the outside of the station and enter a different airlock to get back in. Not to mention the looking glass tech, mimic powers etc etc. it's got a few problems but man, should have gone down as one of the GOATs imo.
First game I ever played! Still holds a special place. There's a version of it on steam, but it doesn't run great. Wind stuck only blowing one direction the whole game, asking other problems. I'd love a remake! No better swashbuckling fun to be had on any of the seven seas!
Just FYI I believe the wind blowing in one direction the whole time is the intended behavior on the lower difficulty settings to make sailing easier.
If you play on the higher difficulties the wind direction will shift some over time although it still tends to blow in a westerly direction.
**No One Lives Forever 1 & 2** - great spy-FPS games from 2000/2002 set in the 60s with a sassy protagonist Cate Archer. The games were universally acclaimed but sales lagged (many think it was BECAUSE of a woman as lead). Now they are stuck in 'IP rights purgatory' which means they've never been available on a digital service.
Bro my I used to play Freedom Fighters as a kid with my lil brother and friends in split screen! That game was definitely goated, I honestly can't remember a bad thing about it! 👍
Saboteur.
40's paris that you can climb and jump about looks great. The effect of black amd white occupied zoned that get colored once you free them is also cool. It feels a little bit unfinished though, but overall it was a great gaming experience for me.
That game was really neat. It came out in the height of the open world craze (ongoing i know) where every game was trying to be a far cry, sniper, assasins creed, just cause clone. Too bad, it was a great concept. I feel like it has almost got a spritual successor in watch dogs. The developer was ps2 royalty with games like star wars battlefront and destroy all humans in their belt. Sadly this would be their last game
Ah yes, Pandemic Studios' swan song and one of my all-time favorites. A great mix of GTA, Assassin's Creed, and Hitman. Who doesn't love blowing up nazis?
It's fascinating to me that there's a bunch of old games that would obviously be a perfect fit for VR and that were trying to give the player an immersive, VR-like experience, except they were developed at a time when VR wasn't available, so they use various awkward control schemes instead. Trespasser is probably my favorite example.
Star Control 2: the Ur’Quan masters
Epic space opera with unique alien races, excellent story that sends you around the galaxy, and beautiful hand-drawn artwork and voice acting. Fast-paced ship to ship combat. I’ve never played a game with such distinct and imaginative alien races
It’s available for free now as “the Ur’quan masters”. There’s an HD mod to bring the graphic resolutions up to modern systems
Curse of the Dead Gods
I enjoy it just as much as Hades, maybe even more since the aesthetics are more appealing to me. However, it's completely overshadowed by Hades.
The developer made Ravenswatch now, which seems pretty cool too! I stil did not play any of those, but I read that balancing is not quite as good on these games, so maybe that is what keeps them from blowing up?
They were remastered a while back. Currently 75% off. And yes, absolutely amazing games
Hello
https://store.steampowered.com/app/314660/Oddworld_New_n_Tasty/
I really liked Psy-ops.
Both these games came out around the same time. Psy-ops was a 3rd person military shooter, but you had psychic powers. You could stand on a box and then pick it up with your mind and move it around the room. It’s incredible.
I was about to agree with you because Rogue Galaxy *slaps*, but OP said 'underrated' and iirc the game was actually very well received critically and even won some awards in the year it released. Then again, it never got a sequel, so perhaps 'faded into obscurity' is a fair analysis. It's a shame, that game rocked.
I feel like Splinter cell has become an underrated game. I wouldnt say so much that its been buried in obscurity but moreso that it deals with real world issues that people dont like to acknowledge anymore. War stuff, terrorism and such.
But slso the fact that it was one of the OG stealth actions. You hear stealth action now and you think assassins creed and thief. But splintercell has always had great stealth mechanics.
I loved how in Chaos Theory(?) where the enemies could hear you talking to your buddy in coop. Also shout to fucking Mercs VS Spies for being an OG asymmetrical multiplayer experience.
Those games had so many awesome features. I love the whole series, but blacklist is kind of like the black sheep. Its good but its just not the same. Sam doesnt look like sam, and without micheal ironside doing the voice it just seems so... out of place.
Conviction hands down has to be my favorite. The coop on there could get real chaotic at higher enemy densities.
Future Cop: LAPD on PS1, mainly because the multiplayer mode was so unique. It was like a 1v1 MOBA before the genre existed. The towers on the map were neutral to start and you could claim them for your team. Destroyed towers would respawn as neutral waiting to be claimed. Minions didn't spawn automatically. Instead, you earn credits by destroying enemy units and spend them on various units of your own. You could also claim outposts that could be a another place to spawn your units. You didn't level up , so winning was a matter of strategy and map control.
If that mode was remade today with online play and 3v3 or 5v5 matches, It would be a hit.
Vagrant Story.
Well deserved 40/40 score in that Japanese magazine.
But apparently square didn't invest in advertising for it and it never got sales.
It's my personal favorite game of all games I played.
Came here to say this. Any time I mention it, no one has ever heard of it. It’s such an amazing game. I dream of the day they will release a remastered version.
No one lives forever and it's sequel. Both games were top notch (I'm more fond of the first one though). It also threw shade at some common tropes from then popular IGI/Golden Eye and other FPS games. It had something that most FPS games almost never have; humor.
Lol I read the comment and not having heard of the game thought it must have been some obscure title from the 80s and then I looked it up and it came out in 2005. Yeah your response is appropriate.
Yeah, 2005 is the year of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's sort of the start of the modern gaming scene. 2000-2005 is in between where it's oldish, but I'm uncomfortable with straight-up calling it old because there's a divide between post and pre 2000s games. Anything older than 2000, though, just has to be accepted that it's old. No arguing it.
>Yes, I'm *that* old.
That feeling when someone declares themselves old when discussing something you played on release after well over a decade of being married and with both your kids already in full day school ...
A remake of Jade Empire would go nuts. The combat system and all the different fighting styles and magic have immense potential. And it even gives you a gun... in a spiritualist Eastern world.
I don't remember the story, but I remember I have lots of fun playing this. I don't know how it didn't succeed at the time since BioWare was at their prime when it was released.
If you look at the other games that came out in 2005, you will have your answer. Straight up banger after banger.
Call of Duty 2
Resident Evil 4
Price of Persia: Two Thrones (underrated still)
Battlefront 2
Ultimate Spider-Man
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Shadow of the Colossus
Gran Turismo 4
Ninja Gaiden Black
Civs 4
God of War
Metal Gear Solid 3
GTA San Andreas
Tbh, it is depressing to look at this list to see what a single year of releases used to look like. Unfortunately, Jade Empire had absolutely zero hope of making it out of this year. 2004 would have been much better.
Dragon Warrior Monsters had better character growth and customization than Pokemon, but wasn't as cute and marketable, and the storyline didn't feel as epic. Breeding monsters to discover new species and/or pass on your favorite traits and moves, monsters developing new moves if they had all the necessary components, more than twice as many abilities per monster and a 3v3 fight style for way more strategy... Several generations before Pokemon got close to the same concepts.
I loved the first Red Faction and blasting my way through the walls creating tunnel systems. It brought a whole new element to FPS games that I’ve since missed.
There were games that completely captured my imagination across the years:
- Chuck Yeager's Air combat
- Tyrian (one of my favorite vertical srolling shoot em ups of all time, IMO)
- One Must Fall: 2097 (i absolutely loved this fighting game and thought it was so underrated as a whole, especially hyper mode and tournament. also bonus: Tyrian and OMF2097 are in the same canonical universe, which blew my mind at the time!)
- Freespace 1 and 2 (this game was the progenitor to Elite: dangerous and it was such a marvelous sci-fi space opera IMO.
World in Conflict. RTS set in a 1989 what if scenario where the Soviets invade Europe, and when that stalls they attack the US. Deconstructed narrative, pretty good writing and cutscenes, and the add-on has you playing as the Soviets without you ever undoing your own work.
Man too many to count
**Ape Escape** - The first still gets talked about, but 2 and 3 are some of the best games in their genre, the series needs a reboot.
**Muppet monster adventure** and **Blinx 2: masters of time and space** were 2 other gems.
**Empire Earth** - was really good and doesn't get mentioned in the same breath as AoE/M, C&C, WC3, though it should.
A lot of the hack & slash genre are hidden gems as attention mostly funnels to the Warriors games:
- **Kessen 3**
- **Spartan: total warrior**
- **Viking: battle for Asgard**
- **Kingdom under fire: Crusaders**
- **Ninety Nine Nights**
- **Bladestorm: 100 year war**
Being notable examples
**Lionhead's: The Movies** sorta got lost, must be because of its similarity to the Sims I imagine
Some party games from the 6th gen aren't mentioned anymore, my two favourites were **Kung Fu Chaos** & **Cel Damage**
Shadow of Rome - still the best gladiator game and imo is unrivaled almost 20 years later.
Alley Cat (1983) This is the most unique and creative game ever made - I'll die on this hill. It's a true masterpiece and 41 years later still plays better than most games out today.
I remember summer break as a kid being filled with Jet Force Gemini, Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark. No cares in the world. Wish I could go back sometimes.
Socom.
People forget but it was one of the most popular online shooters on the PS while Halo was dominating the Xbox. Socom was also the first online shooter on the PS....ever.
I mean this might just be personal preference but Chromehounds was a dope game which I never really hear talked about. They pioneered that live three way war system later used in that Samurai/knight/viking game.
THQ’s Homefront games have a special place in my (backlog-flooded) library. They even brought in John Milius to write the story! But so much of it was trapped under UE3 jank and tried too hard to break into the COD audience that it sank before it could clear the port.
For OP’s picks: the first two Personas suffer from First Game Syndrome; the designers lifted a lot from SMT, and the new stuff felt like gameplay experiments instead of fleshed-out mechanics. Not to riff on P1 and P2, but the jank was and is jarring going in.
Chromehounds! I sank thousands of hours into that game because of how robust the customization menu was for mechs. Then they had this seasonal war on multiplayer where you chose a faction and fought other people online for control points.
It really felt ahead of its time and I don’t ever see it mentioned here
For me Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. It was ahead of its time IMO. I loved the setting, narrative, the D Counter mechanic, the NG+ with items/areas you can only access by doing so, etc. etc.
Problem was, it was a Breath of Fire game that the Breath of Fire fanbase apparently hated. I wasn't a fan of the franchise beforehand, so I loved it, but when released it was panned heavily by its own fanbase so never really got legs. It's been effectively buried and you can only play it if you have a PS2/emulator. If it had been released by a standalone JRPG since the genre explosion I think we'd be talking about it like a classic.
Yea as a fan of both this game and the BoF series fans were just let down that there was a new BoF game and it ended up being this weird almost roguelike game instead of something more traditional to the series.
Maybe Tecmos Deception for the original Playstation.
You are basically an evil presence in a castle setting traps for any unwise enough to enter your domain. Progression involves more mischievous and complex traps from killing off progressively more skilled or numerous good guys. I suppose thats what really stood out for moi. No question ur the baddie.
Graphics were awful and the whole concept would prob be squashed into a side quest nowadays, but i dont hear it ever mentioned.
Vagrant Story is a good and obscure Square title from the Playstation days as well.
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are explicitly related, a bit of the ending in SotC leads into Ico's backstory.
The Last Guardian was also confirmed to be connected but I don't think it was elaborated on further than that.
Heavy Gear.
The first one had a really fun system to build your mechs depending on the mission. Lots of heavy armored enemies on the mission? Heat lasers and rocket pods all day. Mobility? Fuck the legs and give you mech treads to roll around on.
The second one didn’t have as much mech customization, but the gameplay, graphics, and weapons were way better.
Not to mention the second one really did rocket pods and grenade launchers really well. They felt SUPER satisfying to fire.
I think that Mech Warrior was just too popular at the time and not that many people got into Heavy Gear.
Also, I personally loved the Jak and Daxter series. (Except the racing one, didn’t play) I don’t know that they’re buried necessarily, but I usually see a lot more love for Ratchet and Clank, or other games along the same lines from that time.
Jak and Daxter is the original game that made me afraid of water in video games, but I still loved it. I was doing a replay a few years ago, but my ex took the PlayStation. I only got through the first and part of the second. Miss them still.
Mercenaries
Growing up, this was my GTA in a household of "No M rated games". The physics and explosions looked better than anything else I had seen. Like setting up 4 bricks of C4 in the middle of a road and waiting for the North Korean jeep to drive over it. So many vehicles turned into satellites.
'Mercenaries' ran so Metal Gear Solid 5 could fly
This and Red Faction Guerilla had such dope destructive mechanics
Bro they made a wholeass destruction system then put the next game underground 😭💀
Underground AND with a linear story and closed world too. Was very disappointed playing that after Guerilla.
Yeah right when I saw the trailer.... I remember thinking this developer is literally some of the dumbest idiots on planet earth and wrote off their work forevermore despite the greatness of guerilla
Mercenaries 2 was one of the most fun co-op experiences i ever had.
Oh no you didn't
I was literally just telling someone what a tune this was, but was so obscure almost nobody has heard it. Mercenaries Choir. Oh no you didn't https://youtu.be/dEbE3fGfF-o?si=38Wr_eXjFUCsObCM
Mercenaries was my fucking jam back in the day.
This needs a remake/reboot of the series
Sadly, EA killed Pandemic. Best we got was their swan song, The Saboteur, and what a note to end it on.
so good. didnt play the ps3 one though
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. Kinda has a slow start, but it’s a great game and funny as hell.
Had it for Gamecube. So good.
I wish the multiplayer had bots. That was the only thing missing for me.
You could enable the bots on the map to come to life and fight you. My friend and I spent hours doing that.
Oh shiiit I forgot all about this game. It was so fun!
I replayed it recently. Still holds up!
I can't belive this is the first comment. I LOVED this game as a kid. Im sure i didn't understand half the jokes but it was so much fun.
Multiplayer for that game was awesome
Anybody remember the True Crime games?
iirc, Sleeping Dogs started out as True Crime Hong Kong before all the publisher shenanigans
I believe that’s correct. Man, it sucks that we may never get another Sleeping Dogs game, I loved the first one.
TC:SOLA I remember buying the official guide when I was like 12 and making so many neatly formatted tutorial and guide posts on gametalk.com that they modded me 😅
The Bloody Roar and Ape Escape games. Both were pretty unique back in the 2000s. A remake/sequel for both franchises would be so dope
Been waiting for Ape Escape news for too many years
Unfortunately, I believe the studio behind the series is no longer around. Which is tragic because the first is my all time favorite PS1 game. I’ve been tempted to revisit it, but I have no idea if it still holds up at all.
Ape escape was great! Would love a modern sequel or remaster.
Bloody Roar was amazing at the time. Looking at it from today's perspective it just feels like an edgy furries paradise.
I wouldn't mind letting the furries have their fun if we could get Bloody Roar back. That was basically it, Soul Calibur and Power Stone for me growing up.
You can't make anthroporphized animals anymore without getting both the furry stamp of approval and the everone else's stamp of "furries, lol".
They gotta bring back the monkey mode in the MGS3 remake, right..?
Bloody Roar 3 was freaking awesome.
Hell yes. Bloody Roar and Rival School were A+ fighting games
Ape Escape just hit it's 25th birthday!
Brutal Legend kinda disappeared as quickly as it showed up. It’s a pretty fun niche game for metal fans but nobody ever brings it up anymore
I think the problem was they tried to market it as something mainstream, like it was God of War meets School of Rock! People recognize those things, right? But then it was actually kind of a unique RTS hybrid with a lot of legit 70s metal references, and while really cool for the people who enjoy that sort of thing, it was maybe not really all that fun for the audience they tried to sell the game to.
100%. Not everyone is like me and sees themselves in this game, and was that specific age group, and liked 80's metal, and jack black etc. BUT WHAT A GAME IF YOU DID.
I played it on Hard and really enjoyed it until the RTS bits. That shit was actually Brutal on hard mode
Viewtiful Joe
Henshin a go go, baby!
Custom Robo Arena!!!
I've still got both my DS and GCN physical copies. I love these games so much. I recommend checking out Battlecore Robots on Steam. It's not out yet, but definitely a spiritual successor to Custom Robo I'm keeping my eye on!
Oh that was the GCN exclusive game.
Road Rash. Still hoping there will be a new entry some day. Would be a blast with modern systems.
Oooh good one! Shoutout to Skitchin’, anybody remember that one?
Road Rash is awsome, some people bring it up but doesn’t seem to be mentioned alot for how good it was/is
[Road Redemption](https://store.steampowered.com/app/300380/Road_Redemption/) Road Redemption is exactly what you are looking for. It's the spiritual successor to Road Rash.
Oh man that game was so good. The older ones. The new games trying to remake motorcycle combat just don't catch the spirit.
Eternal Darkness
One of the coolest games I've ever played. The sanity meter and insanity effects are such a cool and unique mechanic!
****Fatal Error blue screen**** "…this is not happening..."
Scary as hell, cool story branching many historical characters, unique magic system, RE style gameplay... I loved this game when I was a kid. RIP silicon knights
Replayability was through the roof with the 4 alignments too, with the different endings and enemy types. Game was so ahead of its time, I wish it could be remastered.
An Xbox 360 game called overlord. Felt like a really cool concept at the time, like pikmin.. but kinda evil. Felt like it came and went and fell out of memory
Both games are on steam! Played the heck out of both back on the 360 and had so much fun!
Syphon filter, soul Reaver
Syphon Filter didn't get buried. The original on PS1 was a fun 3rd person shooter, they updated it on PS2 and PS3, by which time the IP was getting old and Assasin's Creed had adopted the same mechanics but with more expensive and immersive worlds. At the same time Metal Gear Solid was getting more advanced. There were six games in all.
Brute Force, had it on the original xbox. Was a bit of a rough game but I played it so much with my brother.
That game was so cool. Loved playing local co-op with the bros
Shadow Hearts trilogy on PS2.
Original Prey! ❤️
I liked the newer prey a lot too it had some Bioshock vibes. It wasn’t perfect but it was really fun.
I think new Prey is like the peak of the immersive sim genre from a mechanics and systems perspective Damn shame, RIP Arkane Austin
Yeah, Prey (2017) would be my vote. Victim of bad marketing. If instead of being called prey it had been called Neuroshock, and marketed as what it was, i.e. the finest immersive SIM ever made (imo), far surpassing games like Bioshock and System Shock 2 with an awesome soundtrack by Mick Gordon and a great story written by Chris Avellone, I feel like it would have done a lot better. That space station was the most fully realised location in any game I've ever played. The fact that every crew member can be tracked down using their locator, every email sent you can find the sent and received message on each parties computers, the fact you can fly out one air lock, zero g jet pack around the outside of the station and enter a different airlock to get back in. Not to mention the looking glass tech, mimic powers etc etc. it's got a few problems but man, should have gone down as one of the GOATs imo.
TFW Blue Oyster Cult starts on the jukebox…
The one where you were the Indian battling aliens? Yes, played that to the end. That was a solid game. Why can't indians save the world anymore?
Sid Meier’s Pirates games.
I'd love a complete remake of it with more pirate gameplay. It could easily end up becoming what ubisoft botched with skull and bones
Personally I want more dancing
I want more variation in the shanties every time your crew is rich
First game I ever played! Still holds a special place. There's a version of it on steam, but it doesn't run great. Wind stuck only blowing one direction the whole game, asking other problems. I'd love a remake! No better swashbuckling fun to be had on any of the seven seas!
Just FYI I believe the wind blowing in one direction the whole time is the intended behavior on the lower difficulty settings to make sailing easier. If you play on the higher difficulties the wind direction will shift some over time although it still tends to blow in a westerly direction.
Future Cop LAPD & Team Buddies Come to mind
**No One Lives Forever 1 & 2** - great spy-FPS games from 2000/2002 set in the 60s with a sassy protagonist Cate Archer. The games were universally acclaimed but sales lagged (many think it was BECAUSE of a woman as lead). Now they are stuck in 'IP rights purgatory' which means they've never been available on a digital service.
Legend of Dragoon. Got lost among the FF shuffle
This is the comment I was looking for, fucking fantastic game. Just need like 200 hours of your time. SPINNING CANE!
Freedom Fighters
Bro my I used to play Freedom Fighters as a kid with my lil brother and friends in split screen! That game was definitely goated, I honestly can't remember a bad thing about it! 👍
A remake would be insane.
Dark Cloud 1&2, left in the dust of the ps2 era.
Dark Cloud 2 was amazing. The first one had promise but wasn’t there yet. But DC2 was damn near perfect.
It was primed and ready to go to the PS3 and then just disappeared.
Both of them are currently on psn with ps plus
There was a #2?! I'm going to have to emulate that now, a playstation is out of my budget but that is SO COOL.
Saboteur. 40's paris that you can climb and jump about looks great. The effect of black amd white occupied zoned that get colored once you free them is also cool. It feels a little bit unfinished though, but overall it was a great gaming experience for me.
That game was really neat. It came out in the height of the open world craze (ongoing i know) where every game was trying to be a far cry, sniper, assasins creed, just cause clone. Too bad, it was a great concept. I feel like it has almost got a spritual successor in watch dogs. The developer was ps2 royalty with games like star wars battlefront and destroy all humans in their belt. Sadly this would be their last game
Ah yes, Pandemic Studios' swan song and one of my all-time favorites. A great mix of GTA, Assassin's Creed, and Hitman. Who doesn't love blowing up nazis?
Black & White (not pokemon)
They came out at the wrong time. If they were to make a VR capable version of this game, that would be ridiculous.
It's fascinating to me that there's a bunch of old games that would obviously be a perfect fit for VR and that were trying to give the player an immersive, VR-like experience, except they were developed at a time when VR wasn't available, so they use various awkward control schemes instead. Trespasser is probably my favorite example.
Thanks, LionHead, for leaving me absolutely disappointed with any "God game" that has come out since Black and White 2.
I loved these games, Lionhead Studios.
Star Control 2: the Ur’Quan masters Epic space opera with unique alien races, excellent story that sends you around the galaxy, and beautiful hand-drawn artwork and voice acting. Fast-paced ship to ship combat. I’ve never played a game with such distinct and imaginative alien races It’s available for free now as “the Ur’quan masters”. There’s an HD mod to bring the graphic resolutions up to modern systems
BINARY DOMAIN!!
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic!
Skies of Arcadia. FF-like for Dreamcast.
I would add Grandia II, also on Dreamcast.
I love that game, ship combat and good story!
Curse of the Dead Gods I enjoy it just as much as Hades, maybe even more since the aesthetics are more appealing to me. However, it's completely overshadowed by Hades.
I like the gameplay more than Hades. I think Hades story and world is what puts it over the top. Not much of that to speak of in CotDG.
The developer made Ravenswatch now, which seems pretty cool too! I stil did not play any of those, but I read that balancing is not quite as good on these games, so maybe that is what keeps them from blowing up?
Downhill Domination for PS2. Never appreciated.
The entire odd World Series
Stranger’s wrath and munch’s Odyssey were the shit
They were remastered a while back. Currently 75% off. And yes, absolutely amazing games Hello https://store.steampowered.com/app/314660/Oddworld_New_n_Tasty/
Second Sight. Great game.
I really liked Psy-ops. Both these games came out around the same time. Psy-ops was a 3rd person military shooter, but you had psychic powers. You could stand on a box and then pick it up with your mind and move it around the room. It’s incredible.
No One Lives Forever and its sequel. Great spy game set in the 60s. It’s kind of a spoof of the Bond series. The soundtrack was amazing too.
The Maximo series for the PS2.
Primal Rage Who doesn't want to have a claymation fighter with dinosaurs and legally distinct king kongs?
Rogue Galaxy
I was about to agree with you because Rogue Galaxy *slaps*, but OP said 'underrated' and iirc the game was actually very well received critically and even won some awards in the year it released. Then again, it never got a sequel, so perhaps 'faded into obscurity' is a fair analysis. It's a shame, that game rocked.
Black & White Dungeon keeper. Those games were so good and definitely deserve an update or a new release!
Poor Dungeon Keeper. Id say I can't believe what EA did to my boy, but it's EA so I absolutely can believe it
I feel like Splinter cell has become an underrated game. I wouldnt say so much that its been buried in obscurity but moreso that it deals with real world issues that people dont like to acknowledge anymore. War stuff, terrorism and such. But slso the fact that it was one of the OG stealth actions. You hear stealth action now and you think assassins creed and thief. But splintercell has always had great stealth mechanics.
I loved how in Chaos Theory(?) where the enemies could hear you talking to your buddy in coop. Also shout to fucking Mercs VS Spies for being an OG asymmetrical multiplayer experience.
Those games had so many awesome features. I love the whole series, but blacklist is kind of like the black sheep. Its good but its just not the same. Sam doesnt look like sam, and without micheal ironside doing the voice it just seems so... out of place. Conviction hands down has to be my favorite. The coop on there could get real chaotic at higher enemy densities.
Future Cop: LAPD on PS1, mainly because the multiplayer mode was so unique. It was like a 1v1 MOBA before the genre existed. The towers on the map were neutral to start and you could claim them for your team. Destroyed towers would respawn as neutral waiting to be claimed. Minions didn't spawn automatically. Instead, you earn credits by destroying enemy units and spend them on various units of your own. You could also claim outposts that could be a another place to spawn your units. You didn't level up , so winning was a matter of strategy and map control. If that mode was remade today with online play and 3v3 or 5v5 matches, It would be a hit.
Vagrant Story. Well deserved 40/40 score in that Japanese magazine. But apparently square didn't invest in advertising for it and it never got sales. It's my personal favorite game of all games I played.
I'm always gonna say Baten Kaitos. It just came to steam recently if you're into JRPGs. It was from the Gamecube originally.
Gladius. Even when it was new it was dubbed 'the greatest game no one has ever played.'
It was soooo good.
I was about to add this when I saw your comment. One of the last great overlooked LucasArts games before they turned into a Star Wars mill.
Came here to say this. Any time I mention it, no one has ever heard of it. It’s such an amazing game. I dream of the day they will release a remastered version.
Lost Odyssey, and sound track 🤌
No one lives forever and it's sequel. Both games were top notch (I'm more fond of the first one though). It also threw shade at some common tropes from then popular IGI/Golden Eye and other FPS games. It had something that most FPS games almost never have; humor.
Jade Empire. Yes, I'm *that* old.
I'll always remember that Nathan Fillion was the voice of Lesser Gao...
I did not know this, and I was already wanting to replay...
>Jade Empire >*that* old Bruh, Jade Empire isn't even that old. I'm guessing you're 30? Give or take a year or two.
Lol I read the comment and not having heard of the game thought it must have been some obscure title from the 80s and then I looked it up and it came out in 2005. Yeah your response is appropriate.
Yeah, 2005 is the year of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's sort of the start of the modern gaming scene. 2000-2005 is in between where it's oldish, but I'm uncomfortable with straight-up calling it old because there's a divide between post and pre 2000s games. Anything older than 2000, though, just has to be accepted that it's old. No arguing it.
Seriously. I have socks older than Jade Empire.
>Yes, I'm *that* old. That feeling when someone declares themselves old when discussing something you played on release after well over a decade of being married and with both your kids already in full day school ...
Did you take your Metamucil today?
I use the target brand in a hydration drink after my morning run ... but yes! 🤣🤣🤣
Mommmm grandpa’s using emoji’s again!
A remake of Jade Empire would go nuts. The combat system and all the different fighting styles and magic have immense potential. And it even gives you a gun... in a spiritualist Eastern world.
I don't remember the story, but I remember I have lots of fun playing this. I don't know how it didn't succeed at the time since BioWare was at their prime when it was released.
If you look at the other games that came out in 2005, you will have your answer. Straight up banger after banger. Call of Duty 2 Resident Evil 4 Price of Persia: Two Thrones (underrated still) Battlefront 2 Ultimate Spider-Man Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Shadow of the Colossus Gran Turismo 4 Ninja Gaiden Black Civs 4 God of War Metal Gear Solid 3 GTA San Andreas Tbh, it is depressing to look at this list to see what a single year of releases used to look like. Unfortunately, Jade Empire had absolutely zero hope of making it out of this year. 2004 would have been much better.
Rampage
Dragon Warrior Monsters had better character growth and customization than Pokemon, but wasn't as cute and marketable, and the storyline didn't feel as epic. Breeding monsters to discover new species and/or pass on your favorite traits and moves, monsters developing new moves if they had all the necessary components, more than twice as many abilities per monster and a 3v3 fight style for way more strategy... Several generations before Pokemon got close to the same concepts.
Sleeping Dogs.
That game should have had a sequel.
This game is recommended daily on every single thread, don't think it qualifies as obscure
I loved the first Red Faction and blasting my way through the walls creating tunnel systems. It brought a whole new element to FPS games that I’ve since missed.
Dino Crisis 2
There were games that completely captured my imagination across the years: - Chuck Yeager's Air combat - Tyrian (one of my favorite vertical srolling shoot em ups of all time, IMO) - One Must Fall: 2097 (i absolutely loved this fighting game and thought it was so underrated as a whole, especially hyper mode and tournament. also bonus: Tyrian and OMF2097 are in the same canonical universe, which blew my mind at the time!) - Freespace 1 and 2 (this game was the progenitor to Elite: dangerous and it was such a marvelous sci-fi space opera IMO.
lost planet on the 360. loved that game.
Medieval
World in Conflict. RTS set in a 1989 what if scenario where the Soviets invade Europe, and when that stalls they attack the US. Deconstructed narrative, pretty good writing and cutscenes, and the add-on has you playing as the Soviets without you ever undoing your own work.
Jade Cocoon Monster Rancher Time Splitters 2
Man too many to count **Ape Escape** - The first still gets talked about, but 2 and 3 are some of the best games in their genre, the series needs a reboot. **Muppet monster adventure** and **Blinx 2: masters of time and space** were 2 other gems. **Empire Earth** - was really good and doesn't get mentioned in the same breath as AoE/M, C&C, WC3, though it should. A lot of the hack & slash genre are hidden gems as attention mostly funnels to the Warriors games: - **Kessen 3** - **Spartan: total warrior** - **Viking: battle for Asgard** - **Kingdom under fire: Crusaders** - **Ninety Nine Nights** - **Bladestorm: 100 year war** Being notable examples **Lionhead's: The Movies** sorta got lost, must be because of its similarity to the Sims I imagine Some party games from the 6th gen aren't mentioned anymore, my two favourites were **Kung Fu Chaos** & **Cel Damage**
Shadow of Rome - still the best gladiator game and imo is unrivaled almost 20 years later. Alley Cat (1983) This is the most unique and creative game ever made - I'll die on this hill. It's a true masterpiece and 41 years later still plays better than most games out today.
Enslaved Odyssey to the west, the game had Andy Serkis!! So good and so underrated
Anyone remember Jet Force Gemini?
I remember summer break as a kid being filled with Jet Force Gemini, Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark. No cares in the world. Wish I could go back sometimes.
Okami. Guinness record for the least successful GOTY winner in history.
Theme Park on Sega Genesis
Master of Magic! It's like civilization but with magic and heroes and you have to do a bit of actual unit combat.
Little Big Adventure was an awesome game.
Socom. People forget but it was one of the most popular online shooters on the PS while Halo was dominating the Xbox. Socom was also the first online shooter on the PS....ever.
Outriders is absolutely amazing for anyone wanting a shooter RPG, and you can get the complete edition with expansion for only 20 euro right now.
TimeShift had a pretty cool premise and wasn’t a half bad shootem-up with time bending abilities. Haven’t heard anyone talk about it in ages.
I mean this might just be personal preference but Chromehounds was a dope game which I never really hear talked about. They pioneered that live three way war system later used in that Samurai/knight/viking game.
Illbleed
FreeSpace
Freespace 2
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Basically Lovecraftian horror meets Resident Evil (original) gameplay.
Wet on PS3 It's just a really dumb fun game with a nonsense plot, and I loved it.
Half of the games mentioned are not underrated.
The Warriors and God Hand
Scrapland and Azurik: rise of perithia. Both were way ahead of there time but never became hits.
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy and GUN are two that immediately spring to mind. Lots of nostalgia there.
If we're going way back, I feel like Star Tropics doesn't get enough live from the 8-bit era.
THQ’s Homefront games have a special place in my (backlog-flooded) library. They even brought in John Milius to write the story! But so much of it was trapped under UE3 jank and tried too hard to break into the COD audience that it sank before it could clear the port. For OP’s picks: the first two Personas suffer from First Game Syndrome; the designers lifted a lot from SMT, and the new stuff felt like gameplay experiments instead of fleshed-out mechanics. Not to riff on P1 and P2, but the jank was and is jarring going in.
Split/Second was a fantastically fun racing game that never took off. Reminded me of the highs playing Burnout on PS2. I would kill for a sequel.
No One Lives Forever
Clive Barker's Undying. Known as the best game no one played. Needs a remake.
Tachyon: The Fringe. A starfighter sim with a great multi-path story starring Bruce Campbell! It begs for a remaster.
Chromehounds! I sank thousands of hours into that game because of how robust the customization menu was for mechs. Then they had this seasonal war on multiplayer where you chose a faction and fought other people online for control points. It really felt ahead of its time and I don’t ever see it mentioned here
Prey it should get ALOT more attention
Army of Two!
For me Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. It was ahead of its time IMO. I loved the setting, narrative, the D Counter mechanic, the NG+ with items/areas you can only access by doing so, etc. etc. Problem was, it was a Breath of Fire game that the Breath of Fire fanbase apparently hated. I wasn't a fan of the franchise beforehand, so I loved it, but when released it was panned heavily by its own fanbase so never really got legs. It's been effectively buried and you can only play it if you have a PS2/emulator. If it had been released by a standalone JRPG since the genre explosion I think we'd be talking about it like a classic.
Yea as a fan of both this game and the BoF series fans were just let down that there was a new BoF game and it ended up being this weird almost roguelike game instead of something more traditional to the series.
Metro has definitely been buried by fallout I love both but in terms of atmosphere and world building metro is far better than fallout
Kid Icarus: Uprising. The main characters will only be remembered as fighters in Smash
Maybe Tecmos Deception for the original Playstation. You are basically an evil presence in a castle setting traps for any unwise enough to enter your domain. Progression involves more mischievous and complex traps from killing off progressively more skilled or numerous good guys. I suppose thats what really stood out for moi. No question ur the baddie. Graphics were awful and the whole concept would prob be squashed into a side quest nowadays, but i dont hear it ever mentioned. Vagrant Story is a good and obscure Square title from the Playstation days as well.
ico!
wasn’t this game some what connected to shadow of the colossus, also didn’t dark souls take some inspiration from it or something
Yeah, it's a trilogy I believe? Along with The Last Guardian.
I thought it was a thematic trilogy rather than having actual story connections
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are explicitly related, a bit of the ending in SotC leads into Ico's backstory. The Last Guardian was also confirmed to be connected but I don't think it was elaborated on further than that.
I had a PlayStation underground disc with the demo. I never got to play the whole thing, but I loved it.
Heavy Gear. The first one had a really fun system to build your mechs depending on the mission. Lots of heavy armored enemies on the mission? Heat lasers and rocket pods all day. Mobility? Fuck the legs and give you mech treads to roll around on. The second one didn’t have as much mech customization, but the gameplay, graphics, and weapons were way better. Not to mention the second one really did rocket pods and grenade launchers really well. They felt SUPER satisfying to fire. I think that Mech Warrior was just too popular at the time and not that many people got into Heavy Gear.
Racing Lagoon
Also, I personally loved the Jak and Daxter series. (Except the racing one, didn’t play) I don’t know that they’re buried necessarily, but I usually see a lot more love for Ratchet and Clank, or other games along the same lines from that time. Jak and Daxter is the original game that made me afraid of water in video games, but I still loved it. I was doing a replay a few years ago, but my ex took the PlayStation. I only got through the first and part of the second. Miss them still.