NOT FOR RECOMMENDING WELL-KNOWN OR POPULAR GAMES/FRANCHISES We already have a general recommendation topic for that. (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=5217.0)
As the title suggests, use this topic to recommend games that have generally gone unnoticed, or under the radar. (pls no Prof. Layton or Ace Attorney, (etc.) we all know those games exist! c: )
For example, Kero Blaster, (http://playism-games.com/game/141/kero-blaster) by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya has gone seemingly unnoticed by the gaming community. Made by the same mastermind behind Cave Story, (http://www.cavestory.org/) this gem was simultaneously released for iOS and PC back in 2014. Gamers who have played it often make the comparison that, if Cave Story was Pixel's take on Metroid-style gameplay, then Kero Blaster was his take on Contra, and this is a wonderful thing. The game sports the same 2D, pixelated charm of Cave Story, and offers plenty in the department of replayability. The music is also phenomenal, but that should come to little surprise, given Pixel's reputation for creating superb chirp-tune, NES-style sound tracks. Unfortunately, time and time again, I find myself in the same conversation when this topic comes up:
Me: "So, have you ever played Cave Story?"
Person: Either "Yeah! Loved it!" or "No, but everyone says it's soooo good!/I want to!"
Me: "Have you heard of Kero Blaster?"
Person: "No, what's that?"
Then again, Cave Story was finished in 2004 and didn't really become a phenomenon until about 2010, so perhaps Kero Blaster will see it's time in the spot-light soon enough.
Discuss/recommend away~
undertale
VVVVVV is a really fun game.
I really like VVVVVV - the music is good but oh god, it is unforgiving lest you fuck up.
Hamtaro
Licensed games about hamsters. Gonna suck, right? Well except for the part where Miyamoto and Iwata are in the credits as producers. And they're actually REALLY GOOD adventure games, likely in part because of that staff. Kids games to be sure, but GOOD ONES
Axiom Verge is a game I haven't heard too many people talk about. I haven't played it, but it sounds like it might be pretty interesting.
VVVVVV is great. The soundtrack is even greater.
I did play the Ham-Ham Games when I was little. Pretty fun, actually...
Adventure of Lolo is the bomb as well as one of the less popular NES games
Call of Duty is pretty undiscovered
Quote from: Altissimo on February 02, 2016, 05:06:25 PMHamtaro
Licensed games about hamsters. Gonna suck, right? Well except for the part where Miyamoto and Iwata are in the credits as producers.
Since Iwata became the president of Nintendo in 2002, his name is usually listed in the credits as "Executive Producer" simply by being the CEO. But out of curiosity I looked the games up, and was to find Shiggy's name as a producer. Huh.
Also: Picross 3D for NDS. It's essentially picross, but you have to chip away blocks on a cube instead of filling in dots on a grid. I've been replaying it recently and would totally reccomend it.
Quote from: Yug_Guy on February 02, 2016, 05:29:00 PMSince Iwata became the president of Nintendo in 2002, his name is usually listed in the credits as "Executive Producer" simply by being the CEO. But out of curiosity I looked the games up, and was to find Shiggy's name as a producer. Huh.
Ham Hams Unite was made in 2001 though! And yeah lol i took screenshots of miyamoto and iwata's names once
Hm, has anyone here heard of Scribblenauts?
Quote from: Yug_Guy on February 02, 2016, 05:29:00 PMAlso: Picross 3D for NDS. It's essentially picross, but you have to chip away blocks on a cube instead of filling in dots on a grid. I've been replaying it recently and would totally reccomend it.
I have this, I don't even remember where I got it from : o
Yeah it's pretty good! I play it from time to time.
Quote from: Nebbles on February 02, 2016, 05:58:35 PMHm, has anyone here heard of Scribblenauts?
yes HAHAAHA
Quote from: Nebbles on February 02, 2016, 05:58:35 PMHm, has anyone here heard of Scribblenauts?
http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2009/09/14/189-scribbling/
I lost my copy of scribblenauts (never finished) but it was gr8
everyone's heard of scribblenauts
Hey, in all fairness, I wasn't sure if anyone else was still aware of the game's existence. It's been a while.
I'm not sure how under-the-radar I'm going with these, but Air Brawl is an early development dogfighting game. Despite not being fully complete, it's a ton of fun, and it feels really nice to play.
Getting a little more into the light, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning got a lot of hype when they first announced it, but it kinda died with "okay" reviews and a dead studio. Despite this, it's actually a great RPG with a lot of names on it (writer RA Salvatore and TES IV lead designer Ken Rolston for two), and though it has some limitations and vaguely MMO feel to the quests, I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys high fantasy.
And I know it's certainly not undiscovered, but Assassin's Creed Rogue is by far my favorite in the series. It took Black Flag's great naval combat and overall experience, improved on some minor hiccups in the UI and such, and gave it a fantastic story. Especially if you've played a few of the other ones, Rogue is worth picking up if you enjoy the type of game.
How about Digital: A Love Story?
Amalur is an excellent game. A shame the studio went under before they could finish up all of the followup DLC/sequel plans they had in the wraps.
Danganronpa is incredible. It's not terribly obscure (and I've made posts about them here before) but I don't know if anyone here has played them. Either way, it's coming to Steam this month and it comes with a super high recommendation.
Also, on the Nintendo eShop, Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale and Crimson Shroud for 3DS, and Year Walk for Wii U (definitely one of the most interesting games I played last year, and definitely the coolest use of the Wii U hardware I've ever seen).
So being the Wild Arms arranger, sort of, I'm gonna recommend Wild Arms 1 and 3.
Wild Arms
Wild Arms is western-style rpg with great story, battle system, music (OMG!), design, characters. It kind of feels similar to final fantasy games, the overworld, the towns, dungeons etc. But it's still very different and unique, more puzzely at times, kind of like Legend of Zelda. Few things are about the game is actually bad, I guess you could say it has aged badly being a ps1 game, kind of polygon-like. Also the bosses are very easy early on, but thankfully they get harder later on. I think it's available for PSstore or what ever the Playstation store is called, so it's just to go ahead and download. Finally I want to inform you of that they have also released a remake of the game for Ps2 called Alter Code F, with improved graphics and soundtrack, which looks really great!
Wild Arms 3
Now this game is even better. Having played the first, and being a solid game of it's own, this one just amazed me of the first impressions. Better graphics, being on Ps2, lot's of good unique stuff like the ability to move the camera around, looks really cool, ability to escape random encounters, obviously has the same soundtrack quality (Michiko Naruke is amazing), great dungeons. Fantastic game, all I have to say!
2 great RPGs I highly recommend to anyone who wants a new RPG. I haven't played the other games from the series but I've heard that Wild Arms 2 is kind of mediocre, and XF has some issues with the battle system.
2 other games that I don't think is that well-known, at least on this site:
Burnout Revenge
Really satisfying racing game. You not only race against your opponents but you can also destroy them by making a Takedown. It's super fun, just mercilessly ramming your opponents and other cars around as you race to the finish. There are also other modes you'll play like Road Rage, where the goal is to do as many takedowns as possible, or Crash where the objective is to create a big car crash! I've played another Burnout game, Burnout Dominator, which way worse and due to only one thing: you couldn't ram neutral cars from behind, only your opponents obviously. This made it so you had to drive way more carefully and it really felt odd when the game seemed to be a game where you should drive recklessly. I don't know how most burnout games are, if you usually can shut cars from behind or not, but the fact that you can do so in Burnout Revenge makes it really fun to play!
Red Alert 3
Just a really fun strategy game. You play as Soviet, Allied or Japan, each having an own story mode. What makes the game so good is it's simplicity. You don't need lots of advanced strats in order to complete the missions, build a great army, destroy your opponent. Each country have their own cool weaponry, Allied got prism tanks, Soviet got Zeppelins, Japan got Onis (titan-like robots). It's a really fun and amusing strategy game all in all.
The Red Alert series is great, it's a very tongue-in-cheek take on the classic RTS format. RA3 actually boasts some great acting talent like George Takei, J.K Simmons, and Tim Curry for the cut-scenes.
Oooh how about Crazy Taxi for the GCN
Oh god, I played Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast forever ago.
Years ago when GameStop sold GC games (rip), I ended up getting some game called Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, which I had never heard of. The ONLY reason I got it was because it was like 7 bucks, but I ended up really liking it (at least as far as blind game purchases go). If it's actually really bad it's not my fault blame my little kid self for having fond memories of it
DS Games
Fossil Fighters
Fossil Fighters Champions
Okamiden
Avalon Code
Disgaea
Ragnarok
Spectral Force Genesis
Radiant Historia
Lost in Blue
Luminous Arc
Luminous Arc 2
Nostalgia
The Dark Spire
Time Hollow
b waf wins
I've heard of like 2 of those
I've heard of most of those (I played a lot of Fossil Fighters back in the day), though I don't recall them all being DS games.
Fossil Fighters was that game back in middle school
I've also heard of radiant historia but other than that the names aren't familiar at all
Quote from: mastersuperfan on February 09, 2016, 12:39:33 PMI don't recall them all being DS games.
While they may not all be exclusively DS games, I do own all of these games for the DS so i wrote DS games.
Quote from: NocturneOfShadow on February 09, 2016, 10:55:31 AMb waf wins
please just use Fairyless as my nickname. b waf looks ridiculous
Whatever you say, Bwaf.
Quote from: BoywithoutaFairy on February 09, 2016, 01:55:55 PMWhile they may not all be exclusively DS games, I do own all of these games for the DS so i wrote DS games.
please just use Fairyless as my nickname. b waf looks ridiculous
nopenopenope
I'M the nicknamer around here, I decide what your nickname is
oh really and who put you in charge pf that
EDIT: never mind i don't want to derail this topic
[snip]
Quote from: BoywithoutaFairy on February 09, 2016, 02:46:21 PMoh really and who put you in charge pf that
after nicknaming 4 other people I decided that my nickname was the nicknamer
and so I shall be until Nick comes back
Anyone ever heard of Rocky Rodent? It's for the SNES; basically, it's a Mario game with an urban kick. The main character, a rodent, presumably named Rocky, uses jumps & power-ups to reach the end of a level (but the power-ups are hairstyles that Rocky can use to off baddies). It's a decent game.
I feel like I should recommend Hotel Dusk and Last Window here, in case that wasn't clear from my posts in that other thread. Last Window is definitely worth importing if you live outside of Europe.
Quote from: E. Gadd Industries on March 20, 2016, 06:31:58 AMAnyone ever heard of Rocky Rodent? It's for the SNES; basically, it's a Mario game with an urban kick. The main character, a rodent, presumably named Rocky, uses jumps & power-ups to reach the end of a level (but the power-ups are hairstyles that Rocky can use to off baddies). It's a decent game.
is it rocky and bullwinkle
Nope. It's some random rodent named Rocky (although that would be cool to see in a game like that)
Quote from: Nebbles on February 02, 2016, 05:58:35 PMHm, has anyone here heard of Scribblenauts?
I've played Super and Unlimited, but not the first one. Haven't played them in a long time, though.
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is a DS game by CyberConnect 2, the same company as .hack. Unfortunately for Solatorobo, it was released in the same month as Ocarina of Time 3D in Europe, but still sold well enough worldwide to not be considered a commercial failure. The characters in the game are anthropomorphic cats and dogs, which may turn people off the game, but my enjoyment of it has nothing to do with the character designs. I love the game because of its story, which starts out slow, but I like it more than Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers' (mainly because there's no wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey complications). This game has the novel concept of both the protagonist and his sidekick being equally important - takes notes, Chunsoft. I still managed to be surprised by a certain plot twist despite it being spoiled in a trailer that I still remembered after three years (I got the game in 2014, and it came out 2011). Also, the gameplay's pretty decent for a story-driven game. /ramble
This game isn't out yet, but I'm excited for Hyper Light Drifter because it looks gorgeous.
I know this isn't exactly an "undiscovered game," but about six months ago I got around to playing Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and I'm not sure if I posted much about it. It's my favorite game I've ever played on the Wii U, and the level design is consistently incredible and clever. It's a cute, lovely, thrilling little game and if you give it a chance I'm sure you'll absolutely adore it. It can be tricky, but I honestly liked it even more than Super Mario 3D World.
Also for Wii U eShop, if you're looking for a really really cool experience that uses the Wii U's features in absolutely crazy ways, consider downloading Year Walk. It's a pretty short experience, only a few hours, which may seem like not much bang for your buck at like $7 or whatever it costs, but I'd say it's worth as much as $10 or $15. It's really great. I played that one when it came out back in October, so I've had some time to distance myself from that too, in case anyone wants to check bias haha. It's definitely a little on the creepy side, but it's not "jump out of your seat" scary--think maybe like a stop-motion Tim Burton film. Give it a try. Its use of the Gamepad is absolutely brilliant.
The number 1 underrated game is... *drumroll* Hot Wheels World Race for the gameboy! This game was legit. It was the best racing game I've ever played, it was a huge part in my childhood, and it was really hard! Brings back memories...
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.tvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpub%2Fimages%2FNostalgiaGoggles.png&hash=bcc3d0364b1fb457f206d087f76a1b40372f509c)
Power Stone for the Dreamcast from what I remember was pretty fun to play, but that could just be nostalgia talking. Little Fighter (PC) is also pretty fun to play with friends and stuff. Power Stone is a 3D arena fighting game, whereas Little Fighter resembles beat 'em up games (it's not totally melee based)
I have no idea if power stone was popular back then. There's a second one but I never played it
I just remembered THE DOG Island, a game with an art style based on those photobooks you see of dogs with big noses. Despite being both a licensed game and a Ubisoft kid's game, it's actually pretty decent. The story is... okay, I guess, but it does have an interesting Paper Mario reject character called Petasi, who's the deuteragonist of sorts. The music is great, and I don't know many games with a soundtrack focusing on acoustic guitars. It's also not afraid to say "die" despite its target audience, but at the same time, it's a really cute game. I just want to see more of this world, even without the license.
The controls, though... someone apparently thought that moving the playable character in the Wii version by pointing a cursor and pressing B was a good idea, not to mention that the dog's running is very slippery. There's also a PlayStation 2 version, but I have no idea how it plays.
^ OMG LOL I never thought I'd find someone who had played that on this forum xD
I own the PS2 version. It looked dumb and I never wanted to play it, but somehow it ended up in my possession so I felt obligated to give it a try. As childish and cheesy as it seemed, the story had some pretty serious themes and it was actually a pretty fun game. I actually had no idea that there was a Wii version until you mentioned it, but yeah those controls sound like a nightmare. I don't remember having any problems with the PS2 controls but it's been a while so who knows ::)
I don't actually remember any of the soundtrack, though, so I'll probably go check that out.
It's not as bad as it sounds, but that comes from someone who finds it hard to hate things. Apparently the Game Grumps played it?
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
It's an amazing game that I've been addicted to this weekend. I just got it Friday and I've been playing it nonstop so much, I'm almost done...
It's quite similar to Ace Attorney and Zero Escape. If you're an AA fan, though, you'll find the difficulty very underwhelming (but I hear that the difficulty is brutal in the second game). Other than that, though, I think it even beats out AA.
Quote from: Olimar12345 on February 02, 2016, 04:44:57 PMNOT FOR RECOMMENDING WELL-KNOWN OR POPULAR GAMES/FRANCHISES We already have a general recommendation topic for that. (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=5217.0)
who
hasn't heard of danganronpa?
Lol you don't need to be a jerk. I've never met anyone irl who's heard of it besides the person who recommended it to me.
Quote from: Olimar12345 on May 01, 2016, 03:27:16 PMwho hasn't heard of danganronpa?
Me, before I found it while browsing on Steam...?
Quote from: SlowPokemon on May 01, 2016, 03:56:19 PMLol you don't need to be a jerk. I've never met anyone irl who's heard of it besides the person who recommended it to me.
I only first heard of it a couple of years ago, and it was mentioned in the context of the anime. I didn't even know it was a game until a year after that. And I still know little about it. The Zero Escape series would probably have fallen into the same category if Blue wasn't a huge fan.
Still doesn't make it an underrated/undiscovered game. : /
(@ both)
Edit: Ninja'd
Quote from: Dudeman on May 01, 2016, 05:19:11 PMAnd I still know little about it.
(Psssst, you should get it.)
I just started watching a video about these.
I hope Solatorobo's on there! It's not...
EDIT: Why has TheJWittz been disabling the comments on his videos recently?
Long list here:
Radiant Historia (DS) -- I think someone already mentioned this, but it has everything you want in a JRPG. (Relatively) deep combat, a great soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura which, imo, is better than any of the Mario & Luigi soundtracks. Great story, great script, great character art. Why was it ignored? It came out really late in the DS lifecycle, and was an Atlus game before Atlus was recognized as being that good.
Etrian Odyssey IV (3DS) -- I can't recommend this game to everyone. It's mostly focused around the combat and a rather barebones story up until the end. It could best be described as a mashup between classic dungeon crawlers and old-school JRPGs. Not for everyone, but, if this sounds interesting, definitely pick it up.
Beginner's Guide (PC) -- By the same creator as The Stanley Parable. Less interactive, and less humorous, but a much higher-impact story that can't be discussed without spoiling it.
Antichamber (PC) -- Mindbending puzzles so weird they kind of cease to be puzzles and more messing with your mind to see if you can think abstractly. Highly recommended.
And a few games that aren't mentioned enough:
Braid (PC) -- An indie puzzle/platformer game that rivals the likes of Portal in excellent puzzle design. Lots of time manipulation.
Mother 3 -- 'nuff said.
I'm going to recommend Organ Trail; it's like the Oregon Trail, except with, well, zombies! It takes a while to get used to the controls, but it's decently fun and has a lot of replayability.
Seconding Braid, it's really fun.
A big one for me is the original Drawn to Life on DS. Great game if you've never played it! I'm not artistic and here I am, recommending a game centered around art... That makes it incredibly good, then! XD
Duuuuude I love Drawn to Life
Drawn to Life is my #1 personal favorite game and I wish they'd make another another one.
I think they made a sequel.
We don't talk about that.
Quote from: Olimar12345 on May 25, 2016, 03:35:42 PMI think they made a sequel.
They did, one on the DS and one on the Wii. I said another another sequel, as in a fourthquel.
Quote from: BlackDragonSlayer on February 02, 2016, 05:07:58 PMAxiom Verge is a game I haven't heard too many people talk about. I haven't played it, but it sounds like it might be pretty interesting.
Update: It is.
Isn't Axiom the spaceship from WALL-E?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=axiom+verge
I already searched it. It was a joke...
Quote from: Olimar12345 on May 25, 2016, 03:35:42 PMI think they made a sequel.
Quote from: Nebbles on May 25, 2016, 03:36:03 PMWe don't talk about that.
They made "The Next Chapter" (which I haven't played much of) and a chintzy-looking SpongeBob-themed one.
Just here to mention how Lego Indiana Jones was my childhood and I still play it with my brother. Everybody I've talked to about it always looks at me weird and starts talking about their Portals and Witchers, but I think it's a great game.
(Also, Portal and the Witcher are amazing games and I love them, Portal was also my childhood, but they're really well known and don't belong here)
I think I played Lego Indiana Jones once, I enjoyed it! (Not as much as lego star wars two, though)
This game looks highly interesting (and it's free, I believe!); this is the only video I've seen of it being played. It would be interesting to see this game get more popular... then I can say I liked it before it was cool!!!!! :P
You should all play Please Don't Touch Anything.
Anyone here heard of Klonoa (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmu3hhmRiEwFTRJ5VKy-RofFmTwzS_7tY)?
The name rings a bell. Kinda like I've heard it a few times just browsing the Internet and it just popped up out of the blue.
I totally thought Zun's post was going to turn into a sarcastic roast of how Nitro is always talking about it.
As for me, all I can really say is TWOOO POINT FIIVE DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and BUMFACE and that's it.
(also congrats on reaching 2000 posts Zun)
Maybe I have been over-talking about Klonoa recently, but at least it's not as bad as when I was over-talking about a certain other game... I'd rather not talk about it.
Quote from: Dudeman on July 28, 2016, 01:30:09 AM(also congrats on reaching 2000 posts Zun)
Oh hey, I did that.
For underrated puzzle games, Diamond Digger Saga has been great fun. Dandy execution of the "clear groups of 3 or more items of the same colour" game type--good level design, art direction that's right up my alley, and popping so many gems at once looks and feels spectacular (and happens pretty often--not as much painful popping of exactly-3-item groups than in other games). Getting a free, useful power-up every day helps. I don't like the latest direction the creators are taking this game--they added and then took away an entire series of harder versions of levels, and I updated the game just now and they just made the life recharge time the typical 30 minutes instead of the original 10. But I'm a sucker for good puzzle game mechanics, and keeping level unlock rates at 1 day instead of the more typical 3 made me feel like this game actually addresses the concerns of puzzle gamers.
I like it a lot more than Pet Rescue Saga (from the same creators, probably more famous)--although that game has the same game type, it was less intuitive and a much bigger pain to play, so I uninstalled it about 10 levels in.
Contra
Crystallis
Final Fantasy Legend Chronicles. (I realize everyone has heard of Final Fantasy however the 3 GBC games Final Fantasy Legend I, II, and III are so undiscovered it's crazy.)
I'm not sure how many people know about this next one but....Hey You Pikachu
Inuyasha Secret of the Divine Jewel
Ingress
Legend of Zelda: Voyager of Time (not an official game)
ScytheRider, author of Silver Resistance, wrote a really good review of Pokémon Go where he talks about Ingress. (http://scytherider.deviantart.com/journal/Thoughts-on-Pokemon-GO-vs-Ingress-620932513)
how original and insightful considering it's also made by Niantic and has the same basic gameplay
Also has anyone heard of Breath of Fire?
I have, but have never played it.
I think I've seen it mentioned on TV Tropes.
Lisa! Fantastic game, came out a little while before Undertale I think but didn't get anywhere near as much exposure, definitely worth picking it up on steam. Small, 2d indie game a great soundtrack.
Night in the Woods is looking preeetty good too, haven't gotten far into it but the fanbase is already riling up for it, it seems.
Hey, Lisa! I know Nebbles is a fan, and I was gifted the game on Steam and know the basic premise etc., but haven't touched it yet.
Honestly I'm such a lightweight when it comes to disturbing/horrific stuff (even if there's plenty of comedic overtones) that I'm not sure if I'll get very far but eh
Definitely worth it. The real pain didn't hit me till the dlc, and then it was so so painful. The general layout and atmosphere of things is so unique that's it's worth a few hours of depression, at least to me. And the humor lightens up at least a bit of it. I tend to liken some of it to Undertale, in the way that when you got to a certain part in that game (i.e. Asgore) your mouth just dropped at the rush of everything at once, the complexity of the idea behind the fight, the music, the characters, and that's what I get from this game also. The first couple minutes should show you what you're up against. Anyway, I really hope you try it. :)
a few hours of depression?
Sounds like mother 3
Quote from: Dudeman on March 16, 2017, 04:55:45 PMHey, Lisa! I know Nebbles is a fan, and I was gifted the game on Steam and know the basic premise etc., but haven't touched it yet.
Honestly I'm such a lightweight when it comes to disturbing/horrific stuff (even if there's plenty of comedic overtones) that I'm not sure if I'll get very far but eh
Lisa's a heavy game, but a great one nonetheless.
The Rhythm Heaven games, anyone? Simple but challenging gameplay, with a minimalistic art style and a great soundtrack. (It's probably not that undiscovered ngl)