Barely known/obscure games you wish more people knew

[blizzaradragon]

So lately my girlfriend got us a PS3 game known as Cross Edge, and I've been loving the hell out of it. For those who don't know, it's a giant cross over RPG game using characters from Darkstalkers, Disgaea, Ar Tonelico, and other games, and seems to take different elements from each of the games as well. It's got some awesome music, the graphics are simple but look really good, the combat is a blast, and it's really cool watching characters interact that would never even know that each other exist otherwise. Playing through this game, one of my first thoughts was: why did no one tell me about this awesome game before now?

So I ask all of you, what are some barely known and/or obscure games that you love that you wish more people played? Also tell me why you like the game, cause I'm always looking for under-appreciated gems to play.

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

As I say on all these threads. Ghost Trick and Radiant Historia, both for DS. Ghost Trick for the story and characters (It was written by the same guy that did Phoenix Wright) and Radiant Historia because the interactive timeline is fun, and the story is pretty good too.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Is Persona 4 classed as obscure? It's probably somewhere between sort of known and obscure so i'll throw it out there.

Quick overview, mystery based (imagine the word mystery in big bright yellow letters) JRPG with turn based combat and Visual Novel elements.

Also Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, everyone with a DS should get this game

Is it coincidence that all my favourite things are mystery based? Probably not

 

[sextus the crazy]

You know for a game series that's been around as long as final fantasy and is one of nintendo's exclusive franchises, there are an awfully large number of people who haven't heard of Fire Emblem.

Also 999: 9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors is an excellent but relatively unknown DS visual novel.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

First on my list is Nelda Nockbladder's Anatomy Lesson [http://www.waxmoth.com/neldaweb/neldnock.htm]. Go look at that website, I'll wait. Now download it (if you're not using a 64 bit processor). It's the weirdest game I've ever played, and I love it so much.

Here's an entry from the in-game glossary. No, it has nothing to do with anything.

Beelawhacker - Fundossity of popcorn breath. Where the red thing goes down and around and down and around and down and around, and makes a very pleasing noise as it does so. It sticks to your head. Sometimes it gets stuck. Then you need to grease it. Grease may be purchased from any vendor, but be sure to watch the openings, as a real treat is to notice the spinning lines that seem to appear but are actually an optical illusion.

Okay, moving on. Neither of my next two games are exactly obscure, but they are underappreciated.

So the next one is Final Fantasy XI. Its time is pretty much over, though. It's a relic of an earlier age of MMOs where everything required a group and took a week to complete. Actually it's gotten a lot more casual friendly, and apparently you can level to max in two or three days now, but it's clear that the increased casual-friendliness was the result of the devs not knowing what else to do with the game. Now that it's out of the way, they really don't have anywhere left to go.

I hope someday it becomes an offline game, because it had the best story, music, and world of any Final Fantasy game. What? What?! Yes, I really just said that. The focus is different, which is probably why it's in my top 5 favorite games of all time. No other Final Fantasy game comes close for me. It also steers clear of the over-the-top cyberpunk/science-fantasy style the series has been spending so much time in, and (most importantly) Tetsuya Nomura never had anything to do with it.

My final offering is Machinarium, because it is a completely flawless and wonderfully charming example of a point-and-click puzzle-adventure game. It's among the crown jewels of the genre and everyone should play it. Really.

 

[Roselina]

One of my favorite Tim Schafer games, Psychonauts. If more people bought it they might have made a second one, but not a third cause games in threes' tend to run out of ideas.

 

[Blade1130]

It's not really "unknown" since the third game is finally coming out, but I'd say Max Payne is one of the more under-recognized games that is much better than most people would think, if damned difficult.

Another I guess would be Gotcha Force for the Nintendo Gamecube, literally, the ONLY Gamecube that didn't suck. It's basically about a kid who finds these toys that come to life and fight evil toys trying to take over the universe. Dumb yes, but some of the best and most memorable characters ever. None of them even say a word, the ninja, cowboy, and vampire bots are probably the coolest toys I have ever seen. If they pulled the whole Hasbro thing of making a cartoon to sell the toys, but instead of a cartoon it was this video game, I'd have the whole set.

Last one, Spelunky. Simply about a guy who goes spelunking (real word, look it up) and finds a ton of treasure, but the game is simply relentless in it's difficulty. My friend and I have a total of over 1000 deaths to this game, yet he has won only twice, me none. Yet every time you die, you just want to keep going again. It has the whole "is it worth it?" as a main game-play mechanic. You need to pick up gold to pay for guns and jetpacks and cool awesome stuff, but when an enemy is right next to it, it's possible you could get hurt/killed due to this game's difficulty, so is that money really worth risking your life in hopes of getting cool stuff?

By the way, Spelunky's a free download for PC, it's coming to XBLA too, but isn't out yet. GIVE THIS GAME A TRY. I'm serious, best free game I've ever played.
http://www.spelunkyworld.com/

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

TES V: Skyrim...
Its this really underground RPG that barely anyone has heard of.. its pretty good aswell.. im not sure why more people arent into it.

 

[BOOM headshot65]

I bring you 3 games:

1: Shattered Union (OXBOX)
A TBS story were you are fighting the second american civil war, Which, lets face it, seems more and more real as the days go by, and since this came out in the late era of the OXBOX, You KNOW russians will be involved. I am just hoping they go though with the rumors to turn it into a movie...And not screw up.

2: Infinite Space (Nintendo DS)
As it is on the DS, the graphics are anything to shake a stick at, but when have graphics mattered to the quality of the game. No, this game is awsome from the sheer amount of customization and battles that take place, the story is actually better than some AAA titles, and the boss fights (namely the last one) are REALLY, REALLY hard.

3: Darkest of Days (Xbox 360)
Again, the graphics dont recieve any praise, but again, it doesnt matter. I mean, really, to any history nut like me, this game is your wildest dream come true. You are time traveling soldier maintaining the balance, but you can bring any weapons to any fight you go to. Like that time you use an assualt rifle during the Civil War. Ill say that again...YOU USE A MOTHER@#%#^% ASSUALT RIFLE IN THE CIVIL WAR!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!

 

[GamerKT]

Nier. I initially ignored this game because meh. Goddammit, what a mistake. LOVE IT!

 

[John Pepperell]

So lately my girlfriend got us a PS3 game known as Cross Edge, and I've been loving the hell out of it. For those who don't know, it's a giant cross over RPG game using characters from Darkstalkers, Disgaea, Ar Tonelico, and other games, and seems to take different elements from each of the games as well. It's got some awesome music, the graphics are simple but look really good, the combat is a blast, and it's really cool watching characters interact that would never even know that each other exist otherwise. Playing through this game, one of my first thoughts was: why did no one tell me about this awesome game before now?

So I ask all of you, what are some barely known and/or obscure games that you love that you wish more people played? Also tell me why you like the game, cause I'm always looking for under-appreciated gems to play.

NIS America is a rather small game company who doesn't put many advertisements out that aren't in their newsletter. Though with one of their games in the PSN for the PS2 title things might be better for them soon. I am a huge fan and am only missing 10 or so of their entire US gaming library. Really I just want more people to TRY(I know most don't like them but you can at least try them) JRPG games both now and the earlier games

 

[Death God]

I've said it once and I will say it again: The World Ends With You. I loved that game despite it being a bit of a button smasher on the DS.

 

[Luke5515]

Old game for the game cube called Lost Kingdom. You got a deck of cards, and each card had an effect. For example, play lizard man and he pops out of the card and swings his sword and hits whatever's right in front of you. Depending on how well you did, you got a certain number of new cards at the end of the level with a chance to get the boss of the levels card. Loved that game.

There was also this car game for the computer where you had your car in one place and you could rotate it and set a power level. You had to try to destroy as much shit in the level as possible. Me and my neighbor played that all the time. Can't remember what it's called. If someone here knows, quote me and tell me so that I may use the internet to legally acquire said game =D

 

[Xanadu84]

There's a few fantastic, mind-blowing indie games that take 8 bit graphics and do crazy interesting things with it. The Marriage and Passage come to mind immediately. Then, there's The Path, a game with more modern visuals that, what it fails in execution, it makes up for in ambition. Healthy dose of pretentiousness maybe, but it is truly an attempt at something different.

For less out of left field areas, anyone every play Battle Realms? Fantastic little RTS game with a very unique approach to population caps.

Then there is Urban Assault, an early RTS/FPS hybrid with a nifty story and opening cinematic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq0D4-4S5qA

And lastly, it's crazy that Project Nomads never really got a following. In Project Nomads, you pilot giant flying lighthouses. Its like that Gorrilaz video meets Greed Corp. Because of it, I can say that I got a friend of mine killed in PVP because I ran a lighthouse into him by accident.

 

[Drakmeire]

Anything by treasure is amazing.
Gunstar Heroes
Mischief Makers
Sin and Punishment
all obscure, all by treasure, all great.
The bosses in Mischief Makers are amazing. This is just the first one
<youtube=E1K0SD5cM_M>

 

[Porecomesis]

Iji is a 2D platformer that can be downloaded for free on Daniel Remar's website. Decent story, decent writing, very fun to play, memorable characters and tonnes of secrets to keep you interested. Also has some of the best pixel animation I've ever seen; when the characters walk, they actually look like they're walking in three dimensions.

Skies of Arcadia: Legends is, along with Iji and Deus Ex, one of my top 3 favourite games of all time. It's full to the brim of terrible design decisions and you could probably make a door stopper novel about what it does wrong. The thing is, it's presented so well and you truly feel like you're on an adventure; the atmosphere just feels so right that it truly makes up for its flaws. I highly recommend this game to any JRPG fan.

 

[Mike Richards]

Pathologic, from the people who did the ever so slightly more known The Void, is one of the strangest games I've ever played. The closest analogy would be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. meets Morrowind but with much, much less combat. It's a semi-mystical, almost fairytale story of three people who arrive in a small European town to deal with a dangerous outbreak of unknown origins.

I haven't gotten very far yet, but it's absolutely fascinating.

Oh, and another thing that moves at a snail's pace but is well worth the time, Cryostasis. More action oriented and a bit repetitive, but again it's like nothing else I've ever played.

 

[Gmans uncle]

This right here...

One of the most unique and creative games of this console generation, a PS3 exclusive no less, and no one but me seems to know about it.

 

[ConstantErasing]

The ones that first come to mind for me are The World Ends With You and the Fire Emblem games. Shadow Dragon on the DS is one I especially wish more people played because then I could test out the awesome WiFi team I made against something other than my own team controlled by AI.

 

[Matt King]

The lost kingdoms games for the gamecube, by god they were awsome