The Obscure Game Appreciation Thread

[X]

I consider myself an avid gamer. A learnt gamer. I played an Atari 2600 at an extremely young age, before I could even walk. I was there for the launch of the SNES, the 64, the Genesis, Dreamcast, generations of systems. And in-between the franchises I've done everything from playing games on the elusive Neo Geo to sticking my head into a Virtual Boy. I've entertained the notion of buying a GP32, a Korean handheld emulation machine. I once owned the original Game Boy, and played it avidly. I then owned a Game Boy Color, and then a Game Boy Advance, and in each incarnation I played it just as much, my head staring down at it as I walked. Colecovision, Intellivision, the Commodore 64... And I've spent days on end of my youth inside arcades all over my home state.

Like most people who love something, I'm proud of the accumulated knowledge that I have of the thing I love. I love knowing that I've played through literary masterpieces like Planescape: Torement, games that would put video game detractors to shame. Another little bit of knowledge that I enjoy is playing through an obscure game. Something that hasn't been fanned over arm chair critics and asinine teengers everywhere. The little games you keep to yourself, knowing you've savored that experience, never really coming out and preaching what an excellent game it is, but smirking whenever, once in a blue moon, someone proclaims that they too played that game.

This threads for the underrated gems. A 20 year old game with wire frame graphics, or an unheralded X-Box title that came out a year ago. Tell us about them. How you discovered it, why you love the game, why others should play it. Really, isn't it about time some games had actual fanbases? There are so many amazing games out there, mind expanding games, games that'll kill entire weekends, games to lose sleep over. I don't think there's any medium with as many underappreciated greats than games.

So, I'll begin. A game that was completely, mind bendingly innovative, a little gem called Boktai for the Game Boy Advance. The cartridge itself has a solar panel of sorts on the top, making you go out into daylight to power some of your characters weapons, and to weaken some enemies. To boot, it was made by Metal Gear Solid creator Hidero Kojima, so the innovation isn't without amazing gameplay to back it up.

And another, this one being a game I just finished last night at 4:30 in the morning. One of the best games I've ever played (And I've played thousands, literally) I really can't do the game justice, but I think this review almost does.

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/arcanum/reviews/arcanumrdrev1.html

So, lets do this. Name a fairly obscure game. Doesn't matter how old, what console, doesn't matter if it's just a great game or it's extremely innovative, just make sure everyone else under the sun doesn't know about it. Thanks.

 

[Archangel]

Suikoden.

Namely the first two for the PSX, though the third and fourth for the PS2 are good as well, just not AS good as the originals.

They're RPG's, fantastic RPG's. They're not about stopping one madman from destroying the earth (except for III) like your Final Fantasy's and most others, they're about politics, medieval politics that is. Nations at war, betrayal, strategic RTS style large-scale army battles.

Then there's the traditional RPG battle system, simple, yet not boring, probably because of the ability to have six person party's.

The main goal of each game is to build an army from scratch to oppose the enemy's massive forces, and you do this by recruiting 108 characters to your cause. Now, only some of these characters are useable in the battles, while a lot of them run shops and different mini games around your home base.

Home base you ask? Yes, you get a castle (or a giant boat in IV) that you upgrade as you gain more recruits to your army.

Suikoden II is the best of the lot, by far. Nations betraying their own army's, and betrayal on a much more personal level; the plot never slows down as you constantly travel the continent in search for more recruits, all the while fighting off attacks from the opposing army as they try to take more cities in your region.

Unfortunately, the PSX game's are extremely rare, so it'd be hard for any people who are interested to play them. Three and Four are much more common, though playing them first may give you a bad taste in your mouth for the whole series.

My summary most likely didn't do much in the way of inticing people into playing it, but I hope it at least intrigued people enough to look for better descriptions of the game.

I know there are a couple of fans on the board, like Matt, but I figure it's rare enough to qualify.

 

[Phaser]

Clive Barker's Undying. It was a masterpiece of it's time that nobody even knew existed.

Why this game failed to break the sales and popularity charts I'll never understand.

It had everything one looks for in an amazing horror game - striking visuals, creepy atmosphere, edge-of-your-seat spook moments, great weapons and magic abilities, supernatural elements, surreal characters, excellent dialogue, professionally and expertly delivered voice-acting and a truly magnificient story driven by cinematic cutscenes with a hauntingly chilling and memorable soundtrack (simply put, the music in this game is KICKASS, undoubtedly one of the finest ever put in a videogame).

Heck, it even got great reviews.

And guess what's worse? Despite the fact that the game ends with a sting into the sequel, it'll never get one...and it was made by goddamned EA for crying out loud!

All you blokes just get off your butts and go get this game. If you're lucky, you'll be able to find it lying around in some bargain bin for around 5-10 bucks and most of todays onboard graphics chips will be able to run the game without breaking a sweat. Granted, occassionally the game drags for a bit, the level design can get repetitive at times and it's quite dated now considering it is nearly half a decade old now but every self-respecting gamer MUST give it a try, especially those half-witted hacks who still think that RE is as good as horror games can get.

 

[X]

Great ones, Archangel and Phaser. Thanks.

 

[X]

And I intend to get around to playing the mentioned games, as they all sound great. Thanks for that, it's appreciated.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Overblood - PS1, you were this bearded guy with a girl's vest on and had a little robot pal. It was trying to be a sci-fi resident evil but it was so bad that it was good. I loved the atmosphere and the voice acting and I wish I could find it again.

I,Robot - Arcade game in the 80's. It was amazing and the fact that it was a flop only serves to confirm my belief that most of the humans are idiots. It was the first game to use 3D Polygons. You were this robot balancing on a spindle instead of legs and you'd go flying forward on these thin paths floating in space.

Mappy Mouse - 80's arcade game. Just got it on one of those arcade museums for PS2 and it's seriously more fun than many of my PS2 games. Play it for hours. One of the ultimate proofs for the fact that gameplay is way more important than pretty graphics.

And a big one...

How did th^t not take off huge?
One of my favorite games ever. After all these years I still pull it out and play it every few months.
How could you not love a fight game where you get to be Cloud, Tifa or Sephiroth.
Coolest characters ever, funny cut scenes, exciting fights that can easily go either way creating a ton of suspense, AND the awesome quest mode where you have to balance out how many lipids, proteins, vitamins you're eating and you can try to make money in the high-risk wine trade and attach the blessings of your favorite Gods to your weapons and armor.
I LOVE that game and no one I talk to has heard of it.

A girl that can turn into a wolf and a Bruce Lee wannabe that shoots missiles out of his robotic leg and a Japanese wrestler than can eat infinite bowls of noodles and a monk that can blow out 100 candles with one punch?

It rocks.

 

[Matt]

Suikoden.

Namely the first two for the PSX, though the third and fourth for the PS2 are good as well, just not AS good as the originals.

They're RPG's, fantastic RPG's. They're not about stopping one madman from destroying the earth (except for III) like your Final Fantasy's and most others, they're about politics, medieval politics that is. Nations at war, betrayal, strategic RTS style large-scale army battles.

Then there's the traditional RPG battle system, simple, yet not boring, probably because of the ability to have six person party's.

The main goal of each game is to build an army from scratch to oppose the enemy's massive forces, and you do this by recruiting 108 characters to your cause. Now, only some of these characters are useable in the battles, while a lot of them run shops and different mini games around your home base.

Home base you ask? Yes, you get a castle (or a giant boat in IV) that you upgrade as you gain more recruits to your army.

Suikoden II is the best of the lot, by far. Nations betraying their own army's, and betrayal on a much more personal level; the plot never slows down as you constantly travel the continent in search for more recruits, all the while fighting off attacks from the opposing army as they try to take more cities in your region.

Unfortunately, the PSX game's are extremely rare, so it'd be hard for any people who are interested to play them. Three and Four are much more common, though playing them first may give you a bad taste in your mouth for the whole series.

My summary most likely didn't do much in the way of inticing people into playing it, but I hope it at least intrigued people enough to look for better descriptions of the game.

I know there are a couple of fans on the board, like Matt, but I figure it's rare enough to qualify.

Great summary. Suikoden I and II are great games. III is good, IV is meh, here's hoping V is the best yet. I am glad I bought them when they first came out, kept them in prime condition...and to be honest, I don't care that they nearly run 300 bucks a piece on Ebay...I am never letting these gems go.

Also, Skies of Arcadia is a great, underrated game.

 

[Guyverjay]

How did th^t not take off huge?
?

It rocks.

Because its damn right awful, Power stone beats the living **** out of it

 

[THWIP*]

After all these years I still pull it out and play it every few months.
.

YEAH, ME TOO.......BUT WITH MUCH MORE FREQUENCY.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Because its damn right awful, Power stone beats the living **** out of it

What's awful about it?

I guess I'm not hardcore enough.

 

[X]

Good stuff, Wilhelm-Scream. Thanks.

 

[lars573]

What's awful about it?

I guess I'm not hardcore enough.

Well it's a fighting game with FF characters in it. How could it not suck is a better question. Plus square blows at any game that isn't an RPG with an over-done over-wrought melodramtic story. Plus Cloud and Sepheroth are the worst characters in a game ever. Period.


The best obscure game that kicks ass is Cossacks: european wars and it's 2 x-packs art of war and back to war. Plus how many of you actually played Blood Omen 1?

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Well it's a fighting game with FF characters in it. How could it not suck is a better question. Plus square blows at any game that isn't an RPG with an over-done over-wrought melodramtic story. Plus Cloud and Sepheroth are the worst characters in a game ever. Period.

Yeah, NO.
whatever, it brings me great pleasure and has for years, so....*shrug*

 

[lars573]

You have bad taste then. Anything we could tell you about would be lost on you.

 

[Matt]

Wow Lars, just when I start to think you couldn't suck any more, you find a way.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Suck...finds a way.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Shining Force III was the best game of the 32-bit era, but it never got FULLY released here and everyone was too gay to handle the sega saturn anyways so it got screwed over.

 

[lars573]

Wow Lars, just when I start to think you couldn't suck any more, you find a way.

Lame insult. At friggin try you pansy. I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap a better line. Or watch a better TV show than the one you ripped that from and steal a better line than that tired cliche.

 

[WhatsHisFace]

Jeff Goldblum is the best actor ever.

 

[Johnny Blaze]

Jeff Goldblum is the best actor ever.

Please tell me you're joking.
Everyone knows that Ahnuld is the greatest actor ever. Why, his potrayal of Mister Freeze in the classic Batman & Robin was the greatest performance by anyone and set the standard of which all actors strive to live up to.










As for obscure games...I'll have to think on it and, hopefully, get back to you, X.

 

[THWIP*]

Jeff Goldblum is the best actor ever.

....NEXT TO TOM JANE, OF COURSE.

 

[lars573]

....NEXT TO TOM JANE, OF COURSE.

Who is the definition of fine thesbian skills if ever there was one.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Jeff Goldblum is the best actor ever.

NO no. He's not the "best actor" ever, he's one of the best "Movie Stars" ever.
He's the E.X.A.C.T. same character in everything he does.
Luckily he's so cool that....who cares.

Kind of like Robert DeNiro before he did "Rocky and Bullwinkle".

 

[LetsHangBendis]

METAL WARRIORS made by Konami and Lucasarts in a rare partnership, is one of the greatest games of all time.

An amazingly deep mech game for SNES, you could have one of 7 some odd mechs each with different characteristics and weapons, more importantly, you could bail out at any time and fly around as a little dude with a jetpack and a rifle, and hunt down a new mech.

Old school at it's finest.

 

[Orko Is King]