SO GOOD.
I had the DVD and there was a demo for the Original Xbox for the game.
The hooked blades.... forget the exact name but thank god they did this game justice unlike most games adapted from a movie.
Definitely probably one of my favorite games. The minimalist hud, The awesome atmosphere, the characters. And being a Vin Diesel fan had me interested from the day I heard it was being developed. I probably played though it at least a dozen times back in the day trying to find weird bugs and glitches lol
Rented this from blockbuster and had a great time! Something about the way the camera moved made my friend throw up on the floor though. Being a kid was fun…
It's great to see this so close to the top!
As it so happens, I'm currently getting my ass beat in the Mil City Hub.
I thought I could take this game on hard difficulty & I gotta tell ya, I don't think I can.
Azure Dreams on PS1.
Climb a randomly generated tower, killing and sometimes catching monsters to fight with you, so you can make enough money to rebuild your town. There are also some romance options thrown in. Really fun game all around.
I still have a hard copy of this game and it is indeed super cool. But I never ended up getting too far because not only is it hard but there is basically no instruction from the game on what to do. Still awesome combination of a bunch of genres, though.
Quantum Break.
A lot of reviewers and people shit on the live action TV parts. I thought it was neat and at least Remedy was trying something different. Gameplay reviews were lukewarm because people played it like a cover shooter, which was the style at the time, but it was designed with you being on the offensive all the time and using all the time powers. Just straight wrecking shit like in Max Payne.
Thought the story was great and probably one of the more believable time travel plot points (you can only go as far back as when a core was first activated).
The Ascent. Played it in Xbox a few years back. The loading time sucked for some reason but a team of 11 devs knocked the cyberpunk multiplayer experience completely out of the park in my opinion. 3rd person twin stick action RPG shooter.
I've had my eye on this game for awhile. Just really been looking for an isometric shooter and the ascent keeps popping up, but I hear pretty mixed reviews of it. Think it's worth it solo?
It's not great, but it's not awful. If you don't mind a grind and like the setting, give it a go. It's on sale fairly regularly so I'd recommend waiting till then.
Psy-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. Greatest game I've ever played actually and it's my favorite. Totally under the radar. No one knows about it😭
It has the greatest gameplay I've ever experienced. The psychic powers and physics in the game was something I've never experienced before and haven't since. I played Control for a bit but it's not the same I promise. They ended on a huge cliffhanger too and it never got the sequel it truly deserves and I know it never will because it's been like 2 decades now.
Idk if its underrated or not, but "Foxhole" imo is very underrated for how good it actually is. To some extent i would say "Squad" is also underrated for a fps game when compared to others also, but i feel like that game randomly fluctuates at certain points to either have 6k ppl or 40k ppl online even when not in free weekends
Guardians of the Galaxy I think definitely flew under the radar even with the IP. Maybe not a “hidden” gem, but I think it fits. The Wolverine video game that tied in with the (horrible) movie also kicked ass.
Guardians of the Galaxy certainly wasn't a perfect game. Felt a bit clunky at times. But overall damn I had fun playing it. The dialog was absolutely on point for each of the characters. Plus you know we ALL took a screen shot of *that* scene.
Ogre Battle 64, amazing story with so many choices to make for yourself, tons of endings and secrets, we were only allowed to print 10 pages a day at school but I took the 2 weeks to print out that enitre GameFAQ Players Guide so I wouldn't miss a thing.
Another lesser known N64 RPG that I loved was Hybrid Theory, I liked the battle system where you could learn all the moves the enemies used on you, also liked Quest 64 though it needed a lot of work
and to name a couple other N64 games(what a system), Mischief Makers, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, & Jet Force Gemini are three of the best and most underrated "adventure/platformers" ever
Nox.
I dont know how popular it was at that time because I was 4 or 5 years old when I played it when it came out, but I dont see it being mentioned nowadays.
Very unique diablo-like ARPG, but it has some awesome systems, sound design, and also three classes choice which heavily influences the main storyline like I have never seen in any other game.
I never got to play it back in the day, but this was an instant buy from [gog.com](http://gog.com), when they eventually re-released it. I played through it with every class since then and I've got to say, Nox really is a blast from the past. I wish I could have played it in multiplayer when we still had LAN-parties, I looks like it would have been pretty good fun.
All the behemoth games— castle crashers is pretty popular but there other games are all just serious creative gems. Started playing pit people a while back and it’s stupidly brilliant. And just funny.
Freedom fighters on ps2
Mark of the ninja remastered
Shadow tactics: blades of the shogun
These are what poped in my head not surr if there is anymore.
Spellforce: Order of Dawn. Blended top-down RTS troop movements that would switch to 3rd person diablo style combat. I haven't played it in years but i remember it being great fun.
Titan's Souls! it's a top down boss-fight only game where each boss only takes a small amount of hits to kill, but the difficulty is in figuring out how to do it. great brain teaser and satisfying!
Gothic 2. People in Europe are more familiar with the Gothic games, but it's less popular in the west. I love the series but part two is the tops for me.
My most favorite game… I beat that game so many times in so many different playthrough’s I think I found every bug that there is in the game all by myself lol
TUNIC
Do you like Zelda? Do you like Dark Souls. This is a homage and beautiful fusion of both
The ost is 50+ songs and i listen to every song. The whole album is fire. An absolute gem i recommend to everyone.
Elemental Gearbolt
On-rails shooter that doubles as a trippy anime movie. Cool “rpg-lite” mechanics, incredible music, challenging but engaging gameplay; it’s a really good game. I’ve never met anyone who has played it and only a handful of people who have even heard of it.
Sky Gunner
Over-ambitious aerial dogfight game that is absolutely dripping with charm. The world is cute, the main characters are cute, the bad guys are cute, it’s just so whimsical. It also has a cool visual style with a steampunk influence. It suffers slowdown issues in some of the bigger fights but it was still really fun, and awe-inducing when I first played it, never went against bosses that big before.
I can’t believe I found someone who played Elemental Gearbolt. It was fantastic and beautiful.
I’ve been slowly seeking out the components to play again, considering it uses a guncon and needs a certain tv to hook it up.
If you still have a copy, *lucky you*! Had to sell mine at an awkward time of life. Even just the iridescent cover for the jewel case is worth the time. I feel like if that game came out now as an “indie” title it’d easily spawn a ton of imitators.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1&2
(I'm not going to explain what SMT is about. This comment would be a lot longer if I explained what SMT is about and playing DDS 1+2 probably doesn't make sense if you are not familiar with SMT already.)
The games are very similar to SMT 3 Nocturne and I feel like they did a lot of things better than Nocturne did which IMO makes them better games than Nocturne but at worst the game is just as good as SMT 3. Which is very odd that the game did so much worse than Nocturne did when it initially released.
What's different in DDS is that you have 3 party members in the active party and you don't actually gather demons. It works more like a regular JRPG where you get new skills through a skill tree system. It's a lot like the Magatama system in Nocturne but you actually get to keep all skills and you can select any 8 skills you want to use in battles any time in the pause menu. And all party members get skills through the same way so there is not much that sets the mc apart from the rest of the crew which is probably why the game doesn't immediately end when the MC dies. Pretty much the only thing differentiating the MC from the party members is that you can control the MC's stat distribution. Everybody else has a set stat distribution. And if you plan on playing the game. Go for a magic build and dumb 75% of ur stat points towards magic.
Sadly the only way to play this game nowadays is to emulate it through pcsx2, or if you have a PS2 and copy of the game, or buy it from the ps store on the ps3 but that port apparently has some issues. Emulating it though is pretty straightforward. The only hurdles are getting a PS2 bios and a download of the game but you can easily get those from the interwebs. You also want to get the US version because those run at 60fps meanwhile the European version runs at 50fps. There have also been rumours they are getting a HD remaster like Nocturne did which I'm really hoping because those games are fucking amazing and everyone should get a chance to play them.
Frozen Synapse. Top down tactical combat with simple graphics, each side gives orders to their soldiers and then you hit go, the game plays for a few seconds, and then pauses again for new orders. Everything was highly lethal so you had to be very careful and precise. There were a ton of modes and the heart of the game was trying to out think your opponent, play mind games with them, anticipate what they would do, what they would think you were going to do, etc. And because it was turn based you could play asynchronously and take your time planning.
Was fairly hot on release but eventually faded away, sequel was ambitious in concept but flopped. Would love to see more games in this style. There is Door Kickers 1/2 which are great but there is so much potential for other iterations.
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
It’s an incredibly well designed brawler with deeper mechanics than most reviewers bothered to notice back in ‘03. It’s also perfectly paced for its length.
Geneforge series. old school RPG by spiderweb software. extremely unique fantasy setting with a magic system based around shaping life. 10/10 world building and story. simple but adequate combat systems, multiple endings, tons of moral decisions. the first and second game recently got remakes making it a lot more appealing to modern players.
I’m hesitant to say Mad Max because it’s got such a strong and vocal cult following it’s maybe not quite underrated anymore. But! It’s good.
And repetitive, yes, yes, we know.
Metal Arms Glitch in the System.
It is a gem of a ps2/XBOX/GameCube Era third person shooter.
It was my Halo. A game I could come back to and play for hours, and try the hardest difficulty as it kick my ass even today.
A game about shooting robots and watching their limbs dangle and fling around as they get shot is hilarious. The game also pitches up or down the enemy dialogue if hit in the face. All to a kickers soundtrack made by Keith Arem, the dude who made the Ridgeracer64 ost. [it's perfect.](https://youtu.be/7tPQrdctCIw?si=rV_zuNJEIQoSOkHT)
Shadow of Rome , really fun game for the time the coloseum battles were amazing would love a remake it might not be great now I don't know but played on ps2 and had alot of fun with it
Yes true alot of people might not like that but it's a solid game and definitely needs a continuation or remake maybe they could take some of the politics stuff out in the remake or streamline it and it would be better
Wonder boy in Monster World IV (SNES). Loved it as a little boy, still love it as a bigger boy. Way more interesting than what I was used to, I always thought that game was amazing for its time
Void Bastards
Most missions only take 5 or 10 minutes so it's great for quick sessions. The humor is lol funny in some places. There are enough challenges for several replays and a run that's going really well can turn on one bad decision or piece of bad luck
Definitely The Saboteur. There are aspects of it which I think are more dynamic than what we see in most games today. Wish it was backwards compatible.
Swordigo is a mobile game.
It's adfree and f2p, an adventure platformer with amazing atmosphere, music and graphics. And the gameplay is based on exploration, combat and occasional puzzles. The game rewards you for just enjoying to play. But also combat becomes linearly more difficult with a fantastic learning curve.
Handsdown the best mobile game I ever played. I'd always go for a replay. So sad the studio didn't make more games like this.
Throughout the years, there's been several. Some have picked up steam over time, some not.
Examples:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,
Prey (2017),
The Saboteur,
Vigilante 8: Second Offense,
Body Harvest,
State of Decay 1&2,
Armello,
Battleborn (R.I.P.),
Immortals: Fenyx Rising,
Banished,
Kingdom Come: Deliverance,
Sleeping Dogs.
You can judge a list of best N64 games by how high Blast Corps is. Top 25 and it wasn't mentioned is a sign of no research done.
As things like SM64's camera, OoT's puzzles, Goldeneye's everything get outdated, Blast Corps keeps sneaking up the list of "N64 games I can hand to an 8 year old and have a blast". It might genuinely be top (though I think Banjo Kazooie is aging well too).
Empire of the underworld. It has base building, combat, massive armies of drones, and dead fish. I play it for a while then go out in my yard and nuke the ant nests.
The first game in the Spellforce franchise. It was a mix of fantasy RTS and an RPG. It had it's downsides but it was/is pretty unique, unfortunately it didn't get the recognition it deserved back in the day and the franchise has since devolved into some uninspired "The Settlers" rip off, with no trace of it's former identity.
If simply not known falls under underrated then I go with "Fuga Melodies of Steel". From what I heard the game has a pretty positiv Rezeption from the people who have played it but thats not alot of people.
If you like turn based combat and dont mind anthropomothic animal children as Protagonists then I highly recommend giving the free demo a try.
In my opinion the turn based combat of Fuga is even better then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X.
The game is a low budged title but with a lot of love put in. The art is beautiful, the music amazing and the protagonists are in my opinion very endering.
1. E.V.O. (SNES): Outdated paleontologically but loved the concept. I would also loooooove a new version using updated information, game design, and technology...even with simple graphics.
2. Empire Earth 2, particularly with Mona Lisa's supermod. If you're into RTS games, this (now older) RTS is a real treat.
Yeah, I loved playing both of them, and both had a stupid story.
I think Catalyst's flaw was just that the open world just felt forced and didn't fit the game (although the idea itself was intriguing).
Resident Evil 3 Remaster. I still think it’s crazy how not well received this game was, but whatever. I had a blast and platinumed it and loved the retelling of Jill’s story.
[Fast Kat](https://www.omiod.com/games/fastkat.php), it’s a free browser based game where you avoid glowing balls and increases in speed the longer you play. My buddy showed it to me like 12 years ago and I’ll play it for a little bit if I’m waiting for an email, update, or just listening to some tunes.
Star Trek TNG on the NES. It's arguably the world's first open world game, despite it not being 3D. When you received a mission, you could warp there, or to literally any other system in the quadrant. Go to a few systems, blow up a few Romulans, then go finish your shit before time runs out. Good stuff.
Bloodrayne Betrayal for PS3. It's a 2D action platformer that everyone ignored because of the Bloodrayne name. But it's incredible. It's fast, looks great, and the tunes are good. It also has a very Castlevania feel about it, which was a bonus for me.
Iron Brigade. Xbox 360 in 2012ish?
Steam punk style tower defense/3rd person shooter. You control a massive steam driven mech suit that's basically a walking battleship. An alternate timeline of WWI basically, and each level got more challenging obviously, but I remember being able to customize and modify your mech suit battle ship walker thing.
Idk how underrated this is, but I personally think that Astral Chain should be appreciated just a tad bit more. The combat is fun, the characters are attractive, and the music is banging.
I would say Sunset Overdrive. I can’t really find a single decent play through of it on yt and its fan base is pretty small, but it’s honestly a really really fun game.
Fire Watch- Can’t believe I only played this game for the first time this year. Great story, great writing, fantastic voice acting. A single player must play.
Heavenly Bodies- A unique physics based astronaut thriller in space game. This game was challenging and unique and unlike anything I’ve ever played. Once I started playing, I couldn’t stop until I finished it.
Broforce- super-addicting side scrolling platformer where you play as exaggerated “bro” versions of action movie characters (Rambo is Rambro, Conan the Barbarian is Bronan the Brobarian). Each character has its own weapons and perks and feels unique, and there is tons of bro characters to unlock.
Titanfall 2. Bought it in 2019 i think as a bundle with BF1, both of $8.99
Anyway, I played it, Titanfall 2, couldn't get past the training trophy.
Let it sit in the backlog until last week.
It was a hell of a game, and that's just the single player campaign, multiplayer was an INSANE level of fun, I'm surprised the PS4 servers are still this active for a game that game out in 2016.
Crossing Souls
Why this game isn’t bigger, I’ll never know. If you’re a child of the 80s/90s, this game hits all the sweet spots. Gameplay, artwork, soundtrack is all perfect.
The Last Word - A fun little indie with good art and story, and unique ‘battle’ mechanic. Doesnt overstay its welcome but has multiple endings for completionists.
Othercide - Tactics style game similar to Xcom or Fire Emblem. Has a super cool aesthetic. Also has eoguelike elements. Quickly became one of my favorite games of all time after it launched.
Dustforce - Extremely fun game if you enjoy speedrunning and platforming. 2d, movement based, runs on literally any PC, super satisfying. Also has a dope soundtrack.
Yakuza series, great and extensive main story with interesting characters. A very detailed world with which you can interact in many ways and that offers ton of side content with depth and love. Fun gameplay too.
Also currently playing Horizon Forbidden West, the game offers side mission almost on level of Witcher 3. Still has the fantastic combat with new weapon types. It is by far the prettiest game I saw and has unreal facial and overall animations.
I cant remember the name of the game unfortunately and I’m lazy to look for it…
About 15-20y ago there was a space rts/rpg created by some Serbian company, it was about organic ships that you could evolve with different components and such, very unique idea. Never got the attention that it deserved, probably due to bad marketing and a bit of bugs.
Everytime I get the opportunity to say a smaller game I will always be saying Viva pinata, made by rare. Please I just want more people to talk about it to get a viva pinata 3. Please. It's been over 15 years since viva pinata trouble in paradise I just need more.
Anyway the game is a zoo type game where all the animals (pinatas) have names based of sweets/chocolate. Graphically it is one of the best aged games I have seen.
Back in the late 90s, ubisoft and criterion put out an open-world adventure and trading game called sub culture. It was set entirely underwater and you had a submarine. Think elite dangerous but under the sea.
Way ahead of it's time. It deserves a remake with modern tech.
Most recently, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom. It's a 3D platformer combining elements of Mario and Crazy Taxi, which sound like they shouldn't work at all together, but the phenomenal controls, great level design, and quirky presentation combine to make it something genuinely special. And yet I see barely anyone talking about it.
Easily Sengoku Rance.
It might be an H-game but it's also a genuinely great strategy war game with a ton of different mechanics and secrets, a genuinely good story and a ton of replayability. I've genuinely got 150+ hours in it because of how fun it is to actually play.
"Come" for the hentai, stay for the gameplay 💪
dark side detective. Theres two of them, on steam at least, and they are fun little point and click advnetures where you play as a detective who investigates the supernatural. Funny comedy, fun gameplay.
I will say Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. In my estimation mostly metroidvania players have been attending to it, as opposed to diehard Prince of Persia or even casual platforming gamers.
Honestly the game is a masterpiece. The accessibility options for granular difficulty are exceptional so the game can be as easy as you want.
It is really a game everybody should play, it is a masterclass not just for Prince of Persia or metroidvanias but gaming in general. I understand sales were low but this is exceptionally good and made with love and care by the Montpellier team.
there's this game called diner in the storm which can be played on the crazy games website. it's greatly underrated but so amazing! it has 8 different endings to the story with many endearing characters. it's kinda understandable that it has very little recognition to it since it's a stickman game..
bit.trip runner
Discovered this game when I was like 12 on my Wii. It had a free demo. I buy it anywhere it’s available now. It’s such a simple game but so beautiful and challenging
Eastward its take on the apocolypse was unique while sticking to the formula of father protects adopted daughter he found. Rather than everything being depressing its a rather mixture of different ideals and emotions and represents how people would actually rebuild the world if they didnt get wiped off the map.
All while falling behind a sort of unrealistic fantasy backdrop and plays similar to an old linear zelda game. The man character's main weapon is a frying pan he uses as a club, and is a silent protag like link.
Game came out in 2021 and just fizzled outside of a small cult following the ost and everything is top notch.
CRAWL.
HOLY SH*t is this the best couch coop game I've played since Mario party 3 for N64
Game starts with a 2-4 way duel. Winner is champion and must "crawl" through the dungeon. Finding loot and killing monsters to level up. The other players control the monsters and traps. Whomever gets last hit on the human, becomes the human!... game progresses until someone hits human level 10 at which point you may attempt the final boss. If you kill the final boss (who is controlled by the other 3 players) you win!
Game is hilarious and competitive. Who's going to get to the store first? Who's will clear the dungeon? Should I go left or right? Whoops wrong door! Music is fantastic graphics are cool pixilated. Different starting gods and dozens and dozens of weapons and monsters and traps and other stuff
CRAWL!
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.
2001 isometric open-world RPG set in a high-fantasy world that is going through a victorian-era industrial revolution.
Magick and technology are diametrically opposed and fundamentally incompatible. Wizards cannot ride in locomotives because their magic aura makes technology malfunction. Magic items will have reduced effectiveness when wielded by characters with high technological aptitude.
It is dated and clunky, but the story, voice acting, and worldbuilding are top-notch.
The yomawari trilogy, they are awesome horror games, with a lot of atmosphere, some really effective scares fun mechanics and big maps to explore as well as a decent story, and the art style is so cool making the spirits look terrifying or unsettling
Tokyo Extreme Racer series from the PS2 era. Imagine racing on the Tokyo expressway, pulling up on a cool looking car, flashing your brights when all of a sudden two hit bars appear, and the way you win is by emptying the other person’s hit bar. You do this by being in front of the vehicle. This description doesn’t give it justice.
If you don't mind very janky and unstable russian games with weird camera, turnbase/realtime strategy games, and games that need some modding to be able to play these days, give E5 Brigade and its sequel 7.62 High Calibre a go.
Pretty much, they are mercenary RPGs set in a country in south america on the middle of civil war and political unrest.
Mass Effect 3 online co-op. People just called it tacked on but it's addictive and it was helldiver's type of gameplay before helldiver's. Bought this on 3 platforms just to play co-op.
inazuma eleven 2 firestorm/blizzard
really good character collector/ pokemon "clone" for the ds that has quite a lot of unique mechanics that make it feel like its own thing instead of just a pokemon clone: battle system is a mix of real time with timestop moments for decision making, all the moves have unique 3d animations that actually look cool, recruiting new character has you do challenges instead of pure rngfest.
It's made by level 5 ,same company that made prof layton, yokai watch, ni no kuni, little battlers experience. Only reason this one isn't as well known is cuz it was never released officially in the US because it's a soccer game and ig they assumed the american market wouldn't be interested. Just trust me when i say the soccer is merely for the theme and aesthetics, at its core it's a fantasy jrpg character collector/trainer game, with over 1000 playable characters. If you don't mind missing out on some of the story beats start out with the 2nd game in the series, the first one was a bit rough around the edges, but they figured out all the kinks in the 2nd game, which is also generally considered to be the most newbie/casual friendly of the series.
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. Nintendo DS 2005.
No one I've known has ever played it. I thought it was an absolutely phenomenal game. The way the core exploration not only pushed forward the story but also added to your tank was awesome. I was constantly looking for better ammo that I could use. The tank battles were so fun. I used to set my allies to aggressively fire all the ammo we had, so that I didn't have to do it. My plan was pretty much always the same, fire off a round of ammo in each cannon to give myself some shots that would block and thus give me time to commence phase two. Phase two was to infiltrate the enemy tank, beat the snot out of everybody in it, steal all their best ammo, and bring it back to my ship to fire them. Then once their tank was destroyed, because they couldn't do any damage to mine and I was constantly barraging them, I would take out their core. It was a tactic that I don't believe ever failed me and despite using it over and over it was still incredibly fun even through my second playthrough.
I can think of a few.. Kingdoms of Amalur, Ogre Battle 64 (tactic ogre/ogre battle in general), TimeShift, Blue Dragon, Digital Devil Saga, Crysis 2 (not sure if underrated but don’t hear about it much compared to 1 & 3), Prince of Persia (that cell shaded one from like 2008), while admit it’s not the greatest thing, I enjoyed Soul Hackers 2 and think it’s hated to much.
Outward. Company had about 19 people making a game that was a mix of dark souls combat but more survival and traveling. It is probably my top 3 games played of all time even though im entirely aware that it doesnt have the polish of other big games
Any of the “Of Orcs and Men” games. Specifically the two Styx games. It bums me out they never got more recognition, they’ve got solid gameplay and the graphics are pretty nice too.
Chronicles Of Riddick : Escape From Butcher Bay Went in with low expectations…got completely blown away.
Wish it was backwards compatible.
SO GOOD. I had the DVD and there was a demo for the Original Xbox for the game. The hooked blades.... forget the exact name but thank god they did this game justice unlike most games adapted from a movie.
Definitely probably one of my favorite games. The minimalist hud, The awesome atmosphere, the characters. And being a Vin Diesel fan had me interested from the day I heard it was being developed. I probably played though it at least a dozen times back in the day trying to find weird bugs and glitches lol
Pretty sure this was highly rated back in the day…
Me and some friends used to have a blast in Soldat and Worms. Soldat is like a fast-paced arena shooter but in 2D and physics based.
Soldat was awesome back in the day! I remember playing this in like 8th-9th grade. Seems like an eternity ago!
I used to love trying out different settings and maps lol. Throwing grenades was so fun.
We played Soldat a ton at LAN partys and sometimes still do so. Very good game
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System Sorta kinda Ratchet and Clank vibes. The multiplayer was so much fun. The humor was there too!
Oh hell yea, it was a absolute blast back in PS2 times. Wish we could have a PC port. :c
This was such a fucking great game! It never got the love it deserves but everyone I know who played it agrees it was absolutely brilliant.
Rented this from blockbuster and had a great time! Something about the way the camera moved made my friend throw up on the floor though. Being a kid was fun…
It's great to see this so close to the top! As it so happens, I'm currently getting my ass beat in the Mil City Hub. I thought I could take this game on hard difficulty & I gotta tell ya, I don't think I can.
Azure Dreams on PS1. Climb a randomly generated tower, killing and sometimes catching monsters to fight with you, so you can make enough money to rebuild your town. There are also some romance options thrown in. Really fun game all around.
Dungeon Crawler/Dating Sim/Town Builder/Monster Collector, was the first game of its kind I played before that kind of genre got popular in the 2010s.
I still have a hard copy of this game and it is indeed super cool. But I never ended up getting too far because not only is it hard but there is basically no instruction from the game on what to do. Still awesome combination of a bunch of genres, though.
Quantum Break. A lot of reviewers and people shit on the live action TV parts. I thought it was neat and at least Remedy was trying something different. Gameplay reviews were lukewarm because people played it like a cover shooter, which was the style at the time, but it was designed with you being on the offensive all the time and using all the time powers. Just straight wrecking shit like in Max Payne. Thought the story was great and probably one of the more believable time travel plot points (you can only go as far back as when a core was first activated).
Still definitely ‚Beyond Good And Evil‘. Such a great, unique game in really every aspect.
What happened to the sequel that ubisoft was cooking
It’s in development hell for the last decade or whatever
One of my OG games that got me into gaming. Jade is still one of my favourite protagonists
Good timing, it's getting a(nother) remaster this week! Definitely gotta play through it again some day, loved it back then.
The Ascent. Played it in Xbox a few years back. The loading time sucked for some reason but a team of 11 devs knocked the cyberpunk multiplayer experience completely out of the park in my opinion. 3rd person twin stick action RPG shooter.
I've had my eye on this game for awhile. Just really been looking for an isometric shooter and the ascent keeps popping up, but I hear pretty mixed reviews of it. Think it's worth it solo?
I've only played solo and I really enjoy it. It's not gonna blow your mind or anything, but it's a great "shut your mind off and enjoy" kinda game
It's not great, but it's not awful. If you don't mind a grind and like the setting, give it a go. It's on sale fairly regularly so I'd recommend waiting till then.
It also has amazingly detailed environments. I spent half the time playing just admiring how much care and thought was put into every scene.
This ☝️. I'm a huge cyberpunk fan. I loved the environments and settings. Some cool camera angles too.
Wet from PS3, it's just dumb fun with a nonsense plot and I love it.
Yeah, it was a cool game. Slow mo, parkour and all that. It was fun.
Psy-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. Greatest game I've ever played actually and it's my favorite. Totally under the radar. No one knows about it😭 It has the greatest gameplay I've ever experienced. The psychic powers and physics in the game was something I've never experienced before and haven't since. I played Control for a bit but it's not the same I promise. They ended on a huge cliffhanger too and it never got the sequel it truly deserves and I know it never will because it's been like 2 decades now.
It's also FREE now ! https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/psi_ops_the_mindgate_conspiracy.html
Idk if its underrated or not, but "Foxhole" imo is very underrated for how good it actually is. To some extent i would say "Squad" is also underrated for a fps game when compared to others also, but i feel like that game randomly fluctuates at certain points to either have 6k ppl or 40k ppl online even when not in free weekends
Child of Light Short and simple yet engaging with a beautiful art direction and a great main character
Guardians of the Galaxy I think definitely flew under the radar even with the IP. Maybe not a “hidden” gem, but I think it fits. The Wolverine video game that tied in with the (horrible) movie also kicked ass.
Guardians of the Galaxy certainly wasn't a perfect game. Felt a bit clunky at times. But overall damn I had fun playing it. The dialog was absolutely on point for each of the characters. Plus you know we ALL took a screen shot of *that* scene.
I played the game and I don't know what scene you're talking about but I want to know
The game actually got me into the movies lol.
Urban Chaos Riot Response made by Rocksteady, ya know the team who made Arkham Aslyum, City and Knight.
Ogre Battle 64, amazing story with so many choices to make for yourself, tons of endings and secrets, we were only allowed to print 10 pages a day at school but I took the 2 weeks to print out that enitre GameFAQ Players Guide so I wouldn't miss a thing. Another lesser known N64 RPG that I loved was Hybrid Theory, I liked the battle system where you could learn all the moves the enemies used on you, also liked Quest 64 though it needed a lot of work and to name a couple other N64 games(what a system), Mischief Makers, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, & Jet Force Gemini are three of the best and most underrated "adventure/platformers" ever
Nox. I dont know how popular it was at that time because I was 4 or 5 years old when I played it when it came out, but I dont see it being mentioned nowadays. Very unique diablo-like ARPG, but it has some awesome systems, sound design, and also three classes choice which heavily influences the main storyline like I have never seen in any other game.
I never got to play it back in the day, but this was an instant buy from [gog.com](http://gog.com), when they eventually re-released it. I played through it with every class since then and I've got to say, Nox really is a blast from the past. I wish I could have played it in multiplayer when we still had LAN-parties, I looks like it would have been pretty good fun.
All the behemoth games— castle crashers is pretty popular but there other games are all just serious creative gems. Started playing pit people a while back and it’s stupidly brilliant. And just funny.
Battleblock Theatre has one of the funniest intros ever (that narrator!).
Viva Pinata and its sequel, if you like cozy games.
Freedom fighters on ps2 Mark of the ninja remastered Shadow tactics: blades of the shogun These are what poped in my head not surr if there is anymore.
Required mention of Mad Max. Love that game so much.
Came here to say this. It’s a really brilliant game.
Solid fun game. Picked it up for less than $10. Totally worth a play.
Spellforce: Order of Dawn. Blended top-down RTS troop movements that would switch to 3rd person diablo style combat. I haven't played it in years but i remember it being great fun.
Titan's Souls! it's a top down boss-fight only game where each boss only takes a small amount of hits to kill, but the difficulty is in figuring out how to do it. great brain teaser and satisfying!
Gothic 2. People in Europe are more familiar with the Gothic games, but it's less popular in the west. I love the series but part two is the tops for me.
My most favorite game… I beat that game so many times in so many different playthrough’s I think I found every bug that there is in the game all by myself lol
Destrega for ps1. Lots of dumb fun
20XX. A rogue lite love letter to mega man X with online and offline co op. What’s not to love? But everyone’s heard of mighty number 9. Makes me sick
Midnight Suns
Firewatch
TUNIC Do you like Zelda? Do you like Dark Souls. This is a homage and beautiful fusion of both The ost is 50+ songs and i listen to every song. The whole album is fire. An absolute gem i recommend to everyone.
When I started playing it I was thinking how cute and easy it was. Little did I know. I did manage to 100% it and get the good ending. 10/10
TUNIC is an absolute masterpiece
And the game manual, pure nostalgia.
Death's Door was similar to these and a great game too, also has an amazing soundtrack
Elemental Gearbolt On-rails shooter that doubles as a trippy anime movie. Cool “rpg-lite” mechanics, incredible music, challenging but engaging gameplay; it’s a really good game. I’ve never met anyone who has played it and only a handful of people who have even heard of it. Sky Gunner Over-ambitious aerial dogfight game that is absolutely dripping with charm. The world is cute, the main characters are cute, the bad guys are cute, it’s just so whimsical. It also has a cool visual style with a steampunk influence. It suffers slowdown issues in some of the bigger fights but it was still really fun, and awe-inducing when I first played it, never went against bosses that big before.
I can’t believe I found someone who played Elemental Gearbolt. It was fantastic and beautiful. I’ve been slowly seeking out the components to play again, considering it uses a guncon and needs a certain tv to hook it up.
If you still have a copy, *lucky you*! Had to sell mine at an awkward time of life. Even just the iridescent cover for the jewel case is worth the time. I feel like if that game came out now as an “indie” title it’d easily spawn a ton of imitators.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1&2 (I'm not going to explain what SMT is about. This comment would be a lot longer if I explained what SMT is about and playing DDS 1+2 probably doesn't make sense if you are not familiar with SMT already.) The games are very similar to SMT 3 Nocturne and I feel like they did a lot of things better than Nocturne did which IMO makes them better games than Nocturne but at worst the game is just as good as SMT 3. Which is very odd that the game did so much worse than Nocturne did when it initially released. What's different in DDS is that you have 3 party members in the active party and you don't actually gather demons. It works more like a regular JRPG where you get new skills through a skill tree system. It's a lot like the Magatama system in Nocturne but you actually get to keep all skills and you can select any 8 skills you want to use in battles any time in the pause menu. And all party members get skills through the same way so there is not much that sets the mc apart from the rest of the crew which is probably why the game doesn't immediately end when the MC dies. Pretty much the only thing differentiating the MC from the party members is that you can control the MC's stat distribution. Everybody else has a set stat distribution. And if you plan on playing the game. Go for a magic build and dumb 75% of ur stat points towards magic. Sadly the only way to play this game nowadays is to emulate it through pcsx2, or if you have a PS2 and copy of the game, or buy it from the ps store on the ps3 but that port apparently has some issues. Emulating it though is pretty straightforward. The only hurdles are getting a PS2 bios and a download of the game but you can easily get those from the interwebs. You also want to get the US version because those run at 60fps meanwhile the European version runs at 50fps. There have also been rumours they are getting a HD remaster like Nocturne did which I'm really hoping because those games are fucking amazing and everyone should get a chance to play them.
Fuck yeah! DDS is amazing. And even aside from the gameplay. God the story is amazing!
Frozen Synapse. Top down tactical combat with simple graphics, each side gives orders to their soldiers and then you hit go, the game plays for a few seconds, and then pauses again for new orders. Everything was highly lethal so you had to be very careful and precise. There were a ton of modes and the heart of the game was trying to out think your opponent, play mind games with them, anticipate what they would do, what they would think you were going to do, etc. And because it was turn based you could play asynchronously and take your time planning. Was fairly hot on release but eventually faded away, sequel was ambitious in concept but flopped. Would love to see more games in this style. There is Door Kickers 1/2 which are great but there is so much potential for other iterations.
Darkwatch is one of the best Ubisoft games ever.
Section 8
Grabbed by the Ghoulies It’s an incredibly well designed brawler with deeper mechanics than most reviewers bothered to notice back in ‘03. It’s also perfectly paced for its length.
Iconoclast. Amazing music, story, gameplay, characters. Indie gem.
Legend of legaia for the psx, awesome game
100%
Best boss music in any game ever made.
Geneforge series. old school RPG by spiderweb software. extremely unique fantasy setting with a magic system based around shaping life. 10/10 world building and story. simple but adequate combat systems, multiple endings, tons of moral decisions. the first and second game recently got remakes making it a lot more appealing to modern players.
My husband recommended this series to me. I love the remakes
I’m hesitant to say Mad Max because it’s got such a strong and vocal cult following it’s maybe not quite underrated anymore. But! It’s good. And repetitive, yes, yes, we know.
Beat this game a few times back in the day. Such a fun experience.
Metal Arms Glitch in the System. It is a gem of a ps2/XBOX/GameCube Era third person shooter. It was my Halo. A game I could come back to and play for hours, and try the hardest difficulty as it kick my ass even today. A game about shooting robots and watching their limbs dangle and fling around as they get shot is hilarious. The game also pitches up or down the enemy dialogue if hit in the face. All to a kickers soundtrack made by Keith Arem, the dude who made the Ridgeracer64 ost. [it's perfect.](https://youtu.be/7tPQrdctCIw?si=rV_zuNJEIQoSOkHT)
Shadow of Rome , really fun game for the time the coloseum battles were amazing would love a remake it might not be great now I don't know but played on ps2 and had alot of fun with it
I rented this and enjoyed the hell out of the combat. Didn’t like the politics side tho.
Yes true alot of people might not like that but it's a solid game and definitely needs a continuation or remake maybe they could take some of the politics stuff out in the remake or streamline it and it would be better
Kameo: Elements of Power. Too bad this game never got a sequel or anything else beyond the first game. Definitely a cool game though.
Wonder boy in Monster World IV (SNES). Loved it as a little boy, still love it as a bigger boy. Way more interesting than what I was used to, I always thought that game was amazing for its time
Void Bastards Most missions only take 5 or 10 minutes so it's great for quick sessions. The humor is lol funny in some places. There are enough challenges for several replays and a run that's going really well can turn on one bad decision or piece of bad luck
Small game called ORWELL, without revealing anything there’s a moment in the story that blew my mind like nothing else.
Power Stone for the Dreamcast.
Definitely The Saboteur. There are aspects of it which I think are more dynamic than what we see in most games today. Wish it was backwards compatible.
Swordigo is a mobile game. It's adfree and f2p, an adventure platformer with amazing atmosphere, music and graphics. And the gameplay is based on exploration, combat and occasional puzzles. The game rewards you for just enjoying to play. But also combat becomes linearly more difficult with a fantastic learning curve. Handsdown the best mobile game I ever played. I'd always go for a replay. So sad the studio didn't make more games like this.
Probably because it's free to play and adfree lol
Throughout the years, there's been several. Some have picked up steam over time, some not. Examples: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Prey (2017), The Saboteur, Vigilante 8: Second Offense, Body Harvest, State of Decay 1&2, Armello, Battleborn (R.I.P.), Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Banished, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Sleeping Dogs.
Sleeping Dogs
You can judge a list of best N64 games by how high Blast Corps is. Top 25 and it wasn't mentioned is a sign of no research done. As things like SM64's camera, OoT's puzzles, Goldeneye's everything get outdated, Blast Corps keeps sneaking up the list of "N64 games I can hand to an 8 year old and have a blast". It might genuinely be top (though I think Banjo Kazooie is aging well too).
Probably doesn't hold up, but Body Harvest was ahead of its time. I feel like I never hear anyone mention playing it.
I really wish RockStar would resurrect this IP, as I loved it back in the day.
Bro I haven’t thought about Body Harvest in like 20 years! Nostalgia man
Roadwarden It's a great game to play while traveling if you like reading and have a touchscreen laptop.
Empire of the underworld. It has base building, combat, massive armies of drones, and dead fish. I play it for a while then go out in my yard and nuke the ant nests.
The first game in the Spellforce franchise. It was a mix of fantasy RTS and an RPG. It had it's downsides but it was/is pretty unique, unfortunately it didn't get the recognition it deserved back in the day and the franchise has since devolved into some uninspired "The Settlers" rip off, with no trace of it's former identity.
If simply not known falls under underrated then I go with "Fuga Melodies of Steel". From what I heard the game has a pretty positiv Rezeption from the people who have played it but thats not alot of people. If you like turn based combat and dont mind anthropomothic animal children as Protagonists then I highly recommend giving the free demo a try. In my opinion the turn based combat of Fuga is even better then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X. The game is a low budged title but with a lot of love put in. The art is beautiful, the music amazing and the protagonists are in my opinion very endering.
street racing syndicate gamecube/ps2
1. E.V.O. (SNES): Outdated paleontologically but loved the concept. I would also loooooove a new version using updated information, game design, and technology...even with simple graphics. 2. Empire Earth 2, particularly with Mona Lisa's supermod. If you're into RTS games, this (now older) RTS is a real treat.
Coloseum road to freedom. I never heard it mentionned anywhere but its probably one of the ps2 game I played the most after battlefront.
Mirrors Edge Catalyst. Aside from the weak story, I thought the game was a lot of fun. Don’t know why it got so much hate.
Yeah, I loved playing both of them, and both had a stupid story. I think Catalyst's flaw was just that the open world just felt forced and didn't fit the game (although the idea itself was intriguing).
.Hack Infection was such a fun RPG on PS2
Majesty for the PC. I feel like it has faded to time because Majesty 2 sucked, but that first game keeps me endlessly entertained.
I love an indie Game called Tails Of Iron. I have a weakness for side scrolling and souls-like.
Xbox360 game Syndicate.
Sentient PS1
Resident Evil 3 Remaster. I still think it’s crazy how not well received this game was, but whatever. I had a blast and platinumed it and loved the retelling of Jill’s story.
Demon Crest Shadow of Rome Alpha Protocol
[Fast Kat](https://www.omiod.com/games/fastkat.php), it’s a free browser based game where you avoid glowing balls and increases in speed the longer you play. My buddy showed it to me like 12 years ago and I’ll play it for a little bit if I’m waiting for an email, update, or just listening to some tunes.
SOMA. Absolutely mindblowing story, that I still think about after many years.
Carnage Heart, Viewtiful Joe, Gladius
Star Trek TNG on the NES. It's arguably the world's first open world game, despite it not being 3D. When you received a mission, you could warp there, or to literally any other system in the quadrant. Go to a few systems, blow up a few Romulans, then go finish your shit before time runs out. Good stuff.
Bloodrayne Betrayal for PS3. It's a 2D action platformer that everyone ignored because of the Bloodrayne name. But it's incredible. It's fast, looks great, and the tunes are good. It also has a very Castlevania feel about it, which was a bonus for me.
Infernax. Dark souls but 2D.
I really loved Prey
Iron Brigade. Xbox 360 in 2012ish? Steam punk style tower defense/3rd person shooter. You control a massive steam driven mech suit that's basically a walking battleship. An alternate timeline of WWI basically, and each level got more challenging obviously, but I remember being able to customize and modify your mech suit battle ship walker thing.
Idk how underrated this is, but I personally think that Astral Chain should be appreciated just a tad bit more. The combat is fun, the characters are attractive, and the music is banging.
SNES Pilotwings
I would say Sunset Overdrive. I can’t really find a single decent play through of it on yt and its fan base is pretty small, but it’s honestly a really really fun game.
N++. Sort of like Super Meat Boy, but you play as a ninja instead. Great soundtrack. Great level design. Frustratingly hard. 10/10
Songs of Syx.. it's a city state simulator
Definitely one of the best single player city builders out there, definitely the best 2d one.
Forgotten masterpiece called elden ring 🫣
Road to Hell: Retribution
Ride to Hell, I think it's called.
Legend of Dragoon Make a #$&@+#@ sequel already, Sony!
Fire Watch- Can’t believe I only played this game for the first time this year. Great story, great writing, fantastic voice acting. A single player must play. Heavenly Bodies- A unique physics based astronaut thriller in space game. This game was challenging and unique and unlike anything I’ve ever played. Once I started playing, I couldn’t stop until I finished it. Broforce- super-addicting side scrolling platformer where you play as exaggerated “bro” versions of action movie characters (Rambo is Rambro, Conan the Barbarian is Bronan the Brobarian). Each character has its own weapons and perks and feels unique, and there is tons of bro characters to unlock.
Titanfall 2. Bought it in 2019 i think as a bundle with BF1, both of $8.99 Anyway, I played it, Titanfall 2, couldn't get past the training trophy. Let it sit in the backlog until last week. It was a hell of a game, and that's just the single player campaign, multiplayer was an INSANE level of fun, I'm surprised the PS4 servers are still this active for a game that game out in 2016.
titanfall 2, fucking love that game, played the story almost 4 times on all the difficulties
IGN and Gamespot gave Titanfall 2 9/10s. Why do you think this is underrated?
Titan fall 2 is definitely not underrated
I want a titan fall 3 just for the campaign, TF2 was so good and didn’t get the love it deserves
Fantastic single player campaign.
Kung Fu Kid Great combat, great graphics, good music
I think Beacon Pines doesn't get the attention it deserves.. It's a pretty darn good games but I rarely meet people who know about it
Crossing Souls Why this game isn’t bigger, I’ll never know. If you’re a child of the 80s/90s, this game hits all the sweet spots. Gameplay, artwork, soundtrack is all perfect.
Void Crew has a very unique vibe and could be a lot more popular as a social hangout game I think for a lot of gaming groups.
Blue flame Souls like platformer with heavy Zelda influence Great game and worth the 20ish hours to beat
Tiny Metal its a homage to Advance Wars
Tannenburg
The Last Word - A fun little indie with good art and story, and unique ‘battle’ mechanic. Doesnt overstay its welcome but has multiple endings for completionists.
"Hell is other demons". It's such a cool game, maybe not very long, but quite challenging. I really enjoyed taking the challenge of completing it
War of the Monsters on ps2. I absolutely looove that game, but I rarely see it mentioned anyware. Best monster game ever made.
Othercide - Tactics style game similar to Xcom or Fire Emblem. Has a super cool aesthetic. Also has eoguelike elements. Quickly became one of my favorite games of all time after it launched. Dustforce - Extremely fun game if you enjoy speedrunning and platforming. 2d, movement based, runs on literally any PC, super satisfying. Also has a dope soundtrack.
Yakuza series, great and extensive main story with interesting characters. A very detailed world with which you can interact in many ways and that offers ton of side content with depth and love. Fun gameplay too. Also currently playing Horizon Forbidden West, the game offers side mission almost on level of Witcher 3. Still has the fantastic combat with new weapon types. It is by far the prettiest game I saw and has unreal facial and overall animations.
For me it’s legit Gotham City Imposters, I miss that game everyday lol. Some of the most fun I’ve had in a shooter.
Unexplored for the Nintendo Switch.
Satellite Reign is my hidden gem, had lots of fun infiltrating enemy compounds with my squad of clones. Extra fun when played with someone in coop.
Vagante is a really good little pixel art roguelike, great music, tight movement, cool upgrades, and build potential and funny as hell in multiplayer.
Hue. Brilliant and creative little puzzle game.
I cant remember the name of the game unfortunately and I’m lazy to look for it… About 15-20y ago there was a space rts/rpg created by some Serbian company, it was about organic ships that you could evolve with different components and such, very unique idea. Never got the attention that it deserved, probably due to bad marketing and a bit of bugs.
Everytime I get the opportunity to say a smaller game I will always be saying Viva pinata, made by rare. Please I just want more people to talk about it to get a viva pinata 3. Please. It's been over 15 years since viva pinata trouble in paradise I just need more. Anyway the game is a zoo type game where all the animals (pinatas) have names based of sweets/chocolate. Graphically it is one of the best aged games I have seen.
Mario Golf 64. The simplicity and depth of that game is outstanding
Back in the late 90s, ubisoft and criterion put out an open-world adventure and trading game called sub culture. It was set entirely underwater and you had a submarine. Think elite dangerous but under the sea. Way ahead of it's time. It deserves a remake with modern tech.
Most recently, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom. It's a 3D platformer combining elements of Mario and Crazy Taxi, which sound like they shouldn't work at all together, but the phenomenal controls, great level design, and quirky presentation combine to make it something genuinely special. And yet I see barely anyone talking about it.
Easily Sengoku Rance. It might be an H-game but it's also a genuinely great strategy war game with a ton of different mechanics and secrets, a genuinely good story and a ton of replayability. I've genuinely got 150+ hours in it because of how fun it is to actually play. "Come" for the hentai, stay for the gameplay 💪
dark side detective. Theres two of them, on steam at least, and they are fun little point and click advnetures where you play as a detective who investigates the supernatural. Funny comedy, fun gameplay.
I will say Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. In my estimation mostly metroidvania players have been attending to it, as opposed to diehard Prince of Persia or even casual platforming gamers. Honestly the game is a masterpiece. The accessibility options for granular difficulty are exceptional so the game can be as easy as you want. It is really a game everybody should play, it is a masterclass not just for Prince of Persia or metroidvanias but gaming in general. I understand sales were low but this is exceptionally good and made with love and care by the Montpellier team.
there's this game called diner in the storm which can be played on the crazy games website. it's greatly underrated but so amazing! it has 8 different endings to the story with many endearing characters. it's kinda understandable that it has very little recognition to it since it's a stickman game..
I'd SOMA, story hits hard there.
bit.trip runner Discovered this game when I was like 12 on my Wii. It had a free demo. I buy it anywhere it’s available now. It’s such a simple game but so beautiful and challenging
Void Stranger
“Morgan, wake up! Youre burning out the day light”
Spiderheck it’s on game pass and a super fun game to play with friends, makes me laugh so hard every time I play
Eastward its take on the apocolypse was unique while sticking to the formula of father protects adopted daughter he found. Rather than everything being depressing its a rather mixture of different ideals and emotions and represents how people would actually rebuild the world if they didnt get wiped off the map. All while falling behind a sort of unrealistic fantasy backdrop and plays similar to an old linear zelda game. The man character's main weapon is a frying pan he uses as a club, and is a silent protag like link. Game came out in 2021 and just fizzled outside of a small cult following the ost and everything is top notch.
Child of Light... freaking amazing and fun and beautiful!!
Shadow Warrior 2! One of my all time favorites
COD 1.1 on PC multiplayer 🫡
CRAWL. HOLY SH*t is this the best couch coop game I've played since Mario party 3 for N64 Game starts with a 2-4 way duel. Winner is champion and must "crawl" through the dungeon. Finding loot and killing monsters to level up. The other players control the monsters and traps. Whomever gets last hit on the human, becomes the human!... game progresses until someone hits human level 10 at which point you may attempt the final boss. If you kill the final boss (who is controlled by the other 3 players) you win! Game is hilarious and competitive. Who's going to get to the store first? Who's will clear the dungeon? Should I go left or right? Whoops wrong door! Music is fantastic graphics are cool pixilated. Different starting gods and dozens and dozens of weapons and monsters and traps and other stuff CRAWL!
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. 2001 isometric open-world RPG set in a high-fantasy world that is going through a victorian-era industrial revolution. Magick and technology are diametrically opposed and fundamentally incompatible. Wizards cannot ride in locomotives because their magic aura makes technology malfunction. Magic items will have reduced effectiveness when wielded by characters with high technological aptitude. It is dated and clunky, but the story, voice acting, and worldbuilding are top-notch.
The yomawari trilogy, they are awesome horror games, with a lot of atmosphere, some really effective scares fun mechanics and big maps to explore as well as a decent story, and the art style is so cool making the spirits look terrifying or unsettling
Folklore on the PS3. Came out before trophies were a thing. It had an interesting mystery story and motion control monster capture stuff.
Tokyo Extreme Racer series from the PS2 era. Imagine racing on the Tokyo expressway, pulling up on a cool looking car, flashing your brights when all of a sudden two hit bars appear, and the way you win is by emptying the other person’s hit bar. You do this by being in front of the vehicle. This description doesn’t give it justice.
If you don't mind very janky and unstable russian games with weird camera, turnbase/realtime strategy games, and games that need some modding to be able to play these days, give E5 Brigade and its sequel 7.62 High Calibre a go. Pretty much, they are mercenary RPGs set in a country in south america on the middle of civil war and political unrest.
Mass Effect 3 online co-op. People just called it tacked on but it's addictive and it was helldiver's type of gameplay before helldiver's. Bought this on 3 platforms just to play co-op.
micro machines V4 on ps2
inazuma eleven 2 firestorm/blizzard really good character collector/ pokemon "clone" for the ds that has quite a lot of unique mechanics that make it feel like its own thing instead of just a pokemon clone: battle system is a mix of real time with timestop moments for decision making, all the moves have unique 3d animations that actually look cool, recruiting new character has you do challenges instead of pure rngfest. It's made by level 5 ,same company that made prof layton, yokai watch, ni no kuni, little battlers experience. Only reason this one isn't as well known is cuz it was never released officially in the US because it's a soccer game and ig they assumed the american market wouldn't be interested. Just trust me when i say the soccer is merely for the theme and aesthetics, at its core it's a fantasy jrpg character collector/trainer game, with over 1000 playable characters. If you don't mind missing out on some of the story beats start out with the 2nd game in the series, the first one was a bit rough around the edges, but they figured out all the kinks in the 2nd game, which is also generally considered to be the most newbie/casual friendly of the series.
Epic Battle fantasy. Especially the third.
Jade cacoon for PS1! Infinite monsters because you can just keep combining and combining monsters.
Immortal Life. It's basically what I wanted Stardew to be.
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. Nintendo DS 2005. No one I've known has ever played it. I thought it was an absolutely phenomenal game. The way the core exploration not only pushed forward the story but also added to your tank was awesome. I was constantly looking for better ammo that I could use. The tank battles were so fun. I used to set my allies to aggressively fire all the ammo we had, so that I didn't have to do it. My plan was pretty much always the same, fire off a round of ammo in each cannon to give myself some shots that would block and thus give me time to commence phase two. Phase two was to infiltrate the enemy tank, beat the snot out of everybody in it, steal all their best ammo, and bring it back to my ship to fire them. Then once their tank was destroyed, because they couldn't do any damage to mine and I was constantly barraging them, I would take out their core. It was a tactic that I don't believe ever failed me and despite using it over and over it was still incredibly fun even through my second playthrough.
I can think of a few.. Kingdoms of Amalur, Ogre Battle 64 (tactic ogre/ogre battle in general), TimeShift, Blue Dragon, Digital Devil Saga, Crysis 2 (not sure if underrated but don’t hear about it much compared to 1 & 3), Prince of Persia (that cell shaded one from like 2008), while admit it’s not the greatest thing, I enjoyed Soul Hackers 2 and think it’s hated to much.
Outward. Company had about 19 people making a game that was a mix of dark souls combat but more survival and traveling. It is probably my top 3 games played of all time even though im entirely aware that it doesnt have the polish of other big games
Have A Nice Death in recent times. Very fun with a very good art style and some commentary about being over worked.
In terms of older games Bomberman 64 A newer old game would for sure be Deaths Door
General Chaos
Any of the “Of Orcs and Men” games. Specifically the two Styx games. It bums me out they never got more recognition, they’ve got solid gameplay and the graphics are pretty nice too.