Games that are ARE and ARE NOT underrated

[Igor-Rowan]

Long story short, I was watching one of my favorite movie reviewers on YouTube, then he decided to talk about Shadow of the Colossus all of sudden, then he called it underrated. My first thought was "WHAT?", followed by "NO", then a bit of research show that people do consider SotC underrated. Don't get me wrong, Shadow of the Colossus is a great game, a masterpiece in fact, but calling it underrated seems like a stretch.

Underrated to me is something people usually do not give proper credit or a work that tends to be looked down upon and Shadow of the Colossus certainly does not fit this criteria. The reviews at the time showed it was critically acclaimed, there is enough of a fanbase of it and the sales numbers do point to it not be considered a failue.

Maybe he was talking about underrated gem, games that have huge cult followings due to the game not having reached the mainstream during their inital run. But I still think that is a stretch, games like Ico or Earthbound, who fit the criteria; did manage to inspire games like MGS 3: Snake Eater and Twilight Princess; Undertale and Lisa respectively, and both of the original games are already highly regarded as such for the inspirations to have happened. So again, not exactly underrated nor under-appreciated.

I did open the topic of handheld gaming being underrated a few weeks back because of this very reason, it's usually lookes down upon: GTA Chinatown Wars, Uncharted Golden Abyss, God of War - Ghost of Sparta, Super Mario 3D Land, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Metroid Fusion, Minish Cap; all of these are great games, but are looked down upon when compared to their main series counterparts (that are on consoles no less).

So, what happened? Did "underrated" lost its meaning? How do you define underrated and what games do you believe are truly underrated [console and handheld alike]? I usually think in the lines of Extra Credits' 'Games you Might not Have Tried' Series, games they don't guarantee it's good, but do offer something interesting and will appeal to certain people. I picked games like Quadrilateral Cowboy, Stealth Inc 2, VVVVVV, etc. because they caught my interest in what they presented and I did find myself enjoying them, and I can kind of see why other don't share the same enthusiasm for these.

 

[Fox12]

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

 

[Saelune]

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

Well, to be fair, all games are likely to be one or the other. How many games do you consider rated "just right"?

And people are critical in general, not just gamers.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Calling a game over or underated is always asking for trouble especially if you are trying to do more than express personal opinion. I feel the problem is that it is just an extremely lazy way of expressing praise or criticism of the game in an non-constructive and unhelpful manner.

You are also putting yourself in opposition to a point of view which you believe is the norm (rightly or wrongly) and setting out to prove a point (usually in an extremely off hand and lazy way) rather than approach from the other side of do I think this game is good or bad.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

Snip

This is the reason there should be debates and why review scores are something people are considering to drop, because the one-size-fits-all simplification of a game being just good or bad is something on its way out, especially with the extremes of that: either it's a masterpiece or it shouldn't exist. There are many games I like that I wouldn't recommend, but there are games that aren't exactly great, but I do recommend for some reasons alone.

Snip

I think that "underrated" is slightly more forgivable than "overrated" because titles that aren't perfect do have their value, even in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. It's not like we're calling them better than the other we say are overrated (althought it's hard to call the game you find underrated, bad), we use the term for the game offering more than meets the eye, especially games like Earthbound, who was too much ahead of its time when it first came out.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Uhhh...a'kay.

Bioshock is NOT underrated. Its a damn great game.

Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate IS underrated. That game is great, and yet you never played it.

 

[sXeth]

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

Well, to be fair, all games are likely to be one or the other. How many games do you consider rated "just right"?

And people are critical in general, not just gamers.

Most of the Call of Dutys I'd generally say are reasonably rated. They tend to land in the 7-8 range. They're entirely serviceable, generally free of bugs, usually have good netcode. Self-derivative to an extreme, but docking 2 points/20% for being unoriginal is arguably even extreme.

I don't find them compelling enough to shell out the dollars myself, but I've borrowed one, PSplussed the free version, or even bought one at slash price under 5 dollars to run through the campaign.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Underrated, to me, means that a game was amazing, but didn't get the credit it deserved at the time of launch. ICO and Shadow of the Colossus flew under a LOT of people's radars. It wasn't until much later, when people who did play those games and started talking about them, that they picked up steam.
Same with Pyschonauts. When it first game out, despite rave reviews and love from fans, it just...didn't sell. Years later, when everyone started to realize what they missed, then it got attention, but by then it was mostly gone.

That's underrated in my book. A game can be all the rage right now because it is fondly remembered, but if it was just collecting dust when it first appeared, despite everything the few people who played it said about it, then it's underrated. Games that sold well, that people constantly talked about when they were launched? Those are just games, usually good games.

As for myself, any time I see someone use the terms "overrated" or "underrated", I usually turn my brain off and stop caring, because ninety-six percent of the time, what they're really saying is, "I don't like this game/thing, and therefore you shouldn't like it either!"

 

[Saelune]

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

Well, to be fair, all games are likely to be one or the other. How many games do you consider rated "just right"?

And people are critical in general, not just gamers.

Most of the Call of Dutys I'd generally say are reasonably rated. They tend to land in the 7-8 range. They're entirely serviceable, generally free of bugs, usually have good netcode. Self-derivative to an extreme, but docking 2 points/20% for being unoriginal is arguably even extreme.

I don't find them compelling enough to shell out the dollars myself, but I've borrowed one, PSplussed the free version, or even bought one at slash price under 5 dollars to run through the campaign.

I guess this also makes me realize its a matter of what ratings people refer to. I personally pay little attention to the literal ratings of games, but likely many people probably refer to either the literal ratings, or to the general "rating" we give a game as a whole.

 

[CaitSeith]

Overrated and underrated aren't game criticism. They are community criticism. The community changes with time. Some join, others leave. Some change their preferences, others don't change them at all. But those words are never about the games, but about people who say positive or negative things about them.

 

[Glongpre]

Minish Cap is underrated. A great Zelda game for the GBA, that was maybe too easy. I never see people talk about it. The worst part about it is the miniatures minigame. God that was a bad collectibles side quest. Never was able to finish it, too much farming required, and to get the miniatures required luck (you could get duplicates!). Argh.

A lot of the time people will say underrated for a game that has been out for 10 years, and they remember it being underrated, but since then, it has garnered a lot of attention. Such as, SoTC or Ico. I certainly wouldn't call them underrated now.

 

[Tanis]

I think many games get an 'underrated' and 'overrated' score based on sales and how good/bad/mediocre someone things the game is.

To me, yes, SotC WAS underrated, but given that it's sold pretty damn well since its launch (when you count HD and PSN), I'd say it's right at were it should be.
A game universally recognized as a great, but flawed, 'Zelda without the bullshit' game that should be tackled by any gamer worth their salt.

Now, some games, DO go from 'under to over' or 'over to under'.

I think that games like Bioshock whent the 'under to over', while games like TES4 went from 'over to under'.

It really just depends on your personal views, and the people you hang around.

 

[sXeth]

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

Well, to be fair, all games are likely to be one or the other. How many games do you consider rated "just right"?

And people are critical in general, not just gamers.

Most of the Call of Dutys I'd generally say are reasonably rated. They tend to land in the 7-8 range. They're entirely serviceable, generally free of bugs, usually have good netcode. Self-derivative to an extreme, but docking 2 points/20% for being unoriginal is arguably even extreme.

I don't find them compelling enough to shell out the dollars myself, but I've borrowed one, PSplussed the free version, or even bought one at slash price under 5 dollars to run through the campaign.

I guess this also makes me realize its a matter of what ratings people refer to. I personally pay little attention to the literal ratings of games, but likely many people probably refer to either the literal ratings, or to the general "rating" we give a game as a whole.

Well, going by the gamer forum court of public opinion, which is in itself a different beast of a ratings system. I'd say almost all the "perfect" games are probably overrated. I don't think I've ever come across a game, no matter how much I enjoyed it, that didn't have a decent list of flaws amidst the good. The few examples there are would probably be very small concept games that don't endeavour to do a great deal and have less work to do so. Which in itself would be a flaw in some peoples eyes. Tetris is probably a "perfect" game, but most people don't consider it even an enough of an experience worth paying for in modern times.

The inverse is that the majority of the major games/AAA scene is probably underrated. Sure, its anyone's valid opinion to consider them uninspired, recycled, derivative, hand-holding, and style over substance. Along with any other popular adjectives. But its a generally rare case that AAA delivers actual unplayable or broken games on the overall. They've spent years, and potentially millions of dollars honing out these formulas and systems to produce a solid, if not groundbreaking product. They have reputations and brand credibility to uphold to keep their profits going. They're much more likely to hug the "Average" rating, whatever you want to consider that being, but very unlikely to make the mistakes that wold actually warrant the bad end of the scale.

 

[Nazulu]

Oh no, you've mentioned one of the -rated words, now prepare for all this crap about what is should mean and why it can't be used and blah blah blah blah. To me it means you either found it isn't worthy of as much praise, or it deserves more, and then you explain your opinion just like when anyone says if something is good or bad. It's nothing controversial people.

Now underrated I haven't mentioned in awhile. An old favourite of mine was the Mac game Spectre (there is a couple of them), and it was a good fun but challenging mini tank game about getting all the flags while surviving all the different obstacles.

One of the later versions actually brought in a lot more new stuff (weapons and mobs), and even had random level designs for every new game you started, including the ability to go underground or fly. I also reckon it had a unique style, music and sounds that stand out to me.

Spoiler: This isn't the exact version I'm talking about, but it's the closest I could find.

All those terms seem to mean is that you disagree with popular opinion. I will say that I'm sick of the criticism culture we've developed, and I was part of it. We can't seem to just enjoy things anymore. The Last of Us? Overrated. Undertale? Pretentious and overated. Papers Please? Pretentious and overated. Dark Souls? Hard, pretentious, and overrated. These games aren't nearly as clever as they think they are. Why can't games just be fun? Well, because Halo, Cod, and Battlefield are stupid and overated. Sports games are stupid and overrated. Final Fantasy is stupid and overated. Nintendo makes the same game every year, and it's always overated.

There's just no winning.

Your post makes no sense. Are you talking about the extreme people that seem crazy? Or are you just talking about what humans have always been doing?
All of those games you've mentioned have both received plenty of praise and criticism using the same buzz words like everything else has been. You just enjoy what you enjoy, and if that's all you want to do, then you ignore the ones who don't, because the ones who don't obviously feel the need to voice there opinion on it. You are never going to change that, unless you want to join the aggressive mob that can't tolerate any criticism and just defend it like they've been paid.

Just do what I do and look out for the positive and negative comments that count, the ones that make a point. Otherwise, I suggest taking a break.

 

[Kyrian007]

The thing is underrated can mean different things, not just to different people... but about different kinds of games as well. As an example, a game can be underrated in the sense that a ok or decent game can get "rated" as terrible for non-gameplay reasons. Like Watch Dogs. It suffered from very deserved "underrating" because of pre launch jackassery like graphical downgrades on pc and a severely confusing pre-order exclusives mess. And then on launch it had generic and boring characters living in a world that has a potentially exciting story happening in it, but that story isn't the one being told. And yet there are some genuinely good things in Watch Dogs. It has a very easy to use cover/stealth system and the driving was... well a little too easy to be that good. But I loved the idea of augmented reality games... inside a game, and it was hilarious to see NPC'S playing augmented reality games. And the sandbox Chicago... the liveliest and best sandbox I've ever seen so far.

But a game can also be underrated in the sense that its a great game... that isn't generating any real buzz. Its "underrated" because it isn't generating "enough" ratings to get the praise that its worth. Shadows of the Colossus is a good example of that. That has since been corrected... but it was underrated.