Name some underrated games that everyone should play

[Cal Thomas]

Alan Wake. Great game but its dismal sales doomed its chance of a true sequel. What a shame.

They have actually said they're working on a sequel, I believe. Yay!

 

[ResonanceGames]

Grim Fandango.

Great game, but I'd be hard pressed to call it underrated, since it's pretty much unanimously considered the greatest adventure game of all time (with Monkey Island and The Longest Journey nipping at its heels).

 

[VladG]

Startopia: A very solid management sim set on a space station with a variety of amusing alien races, a fair bit of humor and a whole lot of options. Also some combat. Unfortunately it didn't do well and the company went under.

Dungeon Keeper: A game made by Peter Molyneux before he lost his groove. A wonderfully different RTS where you control a dungeon full of monsters all of who go about their daily business in addition to the whole killing adventurers thing because let's face it, sometimes a dragon just needs to sleep and lord knows you better make sure you pay it on time. There was a sequel so obviously it did decently, but the series ended there.

Freelancer: A modern take on a space sim that works with a mouse, has a massive open world and has a pretty solid plot. Yes please.

All great games and definite must-play for any PC gamer. Startopia is going to be a pain to run on modern rigs though, so be sure to check some online guides.

I'll throw in Zeus: Master of Olympus, a fun city builder in the style of Caesar III (think that was quite popular in it's day) but with some simplified gameplay elements. Do give Caesar III a go while you're at it. It's hard, but very satisfying to get a good city going.

Mount & Blade, it's not pretty, it's not user-friendly, and half the time you have no idea what you're supposed to do. But by gods the combat is worth it!

Jagged Alliance 2, it takes a while to warm up to the game, especially because it has a rather steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's great

Mirror's Edge. I'm not sure why this game got so much bad press, I think it might have to do with clunky console controls, because I found the PC version to be very good. Just pretend the story isn't there.

And you know what? I'm going to throw Terraria in here too. Don't know if it's underrated, but I really liked it. It's kinda like Minecraft, with the gathering resources, large random map, building stuff with the resources you've gathered, crafting, and so on. But it also has a progression of sorts. There's a lot of stuff to work towards, like killing a boss, getting an NPC to join your little village or just getting tough enough to explore further. Also the multiplayer is super-fun. Doing all of the above with friends just makes things a whole lot better.

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus. Puzzle platformers with some very unique gameplay and setting.

 

[Voodoomancer]

AI War.
Awesome Space 4-X Grand RTS with dozens of simultaneous battlefields, tens of thousands of units in play at once, and asymmetrical gameplay against a seriously devious AI, then check it out.

 

[glodud]

Supreme commander and forged alliance. They were incredible strategy games and the second was a letdown by comparison.

 

[MrLumber]

There are several games on here that I would have already mentioned, so here are some not previously noted on. (Namely Glover, Lugaru, and 3D Dot game heroes. Wups guess I did anyway).

Cubivore
Jet Force Gemini
El Shaddai
Culdcept
Diddy Kong Racing
Custom Robo
Buck Bumble
Earth Defense Force 2017

 

[lacktheknack]

Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge
Mirrors Edge

I concur. 'Tis my favorite game of all time.

Others include "Uplink", "Titan Quest" and "Myst Online".

 

[lacktheknack]

snip

I never knew a Rayman 3 existed

It was the last good one before the Rabbids arrived and murdered my adolescence.

It was much less serious, score-oriented and derptastic than Rayman 2 (if you played them back to back, you'd end up in the hospital from the mood whiplash), but it's still a ton of fun in its own right.

 

[White_Lama]

Nobody has mentioned Okami yet?

I'm disappointed in you all, I've taught you better than that.

I was going to mention it but looks like you beat me to it, easily one of the best games no one seems to have played im amazed how adverse people seem to be to this wonderful game no one wants to play it and I dont know why because its brilliant the only game I know to not only successfully copy the zelda formula but improve on it.

Other mention would be Little Kings Story the ai pathfinding can get annoying on occasion but otherwise its great fun and I suspect sold a total of 2 copies both bought by me. Although these are only underrated by the public they mostly reviewed well and rightly so.

I've always refered to it as 'Okami. It's like Zalda, but better.'

I too was shocked that no one had mentioned Okami before you did.

Great game, really pretty :3

 

[Slash Dementia]

Legend of Mana (PS1)
Enclave (PS2, Xbox)
Thief series (PC)
Legacy of Kain series (Xbox, PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Gamecube, PC)
Gladius (Xbox, GameCube, PS1)
Condemned series (Xbox 360, PS3)

 

[kogane]

I am shocked, how could Beyond Good and Evil not get mentioned!!!!

This! Playing the HD version right now, and I still love it as much as I did back when it was first released.

 

[kabooz18]

Mirror's Edge
Beyond Good & Evil
Psychonauts
Grandia
Oddworld Abe's Odyssey
999 9Persons 9Hours 9Doors
Ghost Trick (that a thousand times)
Ôkami
Trine

 

[TehCookie]

I find it funny when people ask for underrated games and people come back with the same games everyone already played. Things like Ico, SotC, Okami, Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil aren't underrated or unknown. At least name stuff like Mirrors Edge which was better than most reviewers gave it credit or To the Moon which is great but unknown.

Also just to be relevant to topic:
Radiant Historia (DS)
Ghost Trick (DS)
Elite Beat Agents (DS)
Okage (PS2)

 

[Terramax]

Like bullet hell?
Dislike animesque girls?
Try Jamestown.

If only it was on xbox...

Nobody has mentioned Okami yet?

I'm disappointed in you all, I've taught you better than that.

No offense, but I couldn't get into that one. My little sister loves it though (along with the DS sequel).

I'm going to say Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI. Mainly because, unlike most of the games listed in this topic, I'd say most aren't even aware of its exhistance.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Only the second-greatest RPG known to man [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_V].

The absolute greatest is a bit too well known, that being Final Fantasy IX.

Also, Freelancer. That game really needs more recognition.

 

[Enigma Syndrome]

Body Harvest, N64


Oh god the good times with that game.

 

[Syzygy23]

metal Arms: Glitch in the System

METAL ARMS
METAL ARMS
METAL ARMS
METAL ARMS
METAL ARMS
METAL ARMS

Did I mention METAL ARMS?

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

Mount & Blade, it's not pretty, it's not user-friendly, and half the time you have no idea what you're supposed to do. But by gods the combat is worth it!

/Thread.
I love Mount and Blade. I bought warband for myself and my little brother, can't stop raving about it to my friends, family, random passersby, etc.
I'm going to be king. Just ~30 hours more, that's all I need...
That's if I don't get distracted by the Europe 1200 mod (Holy Crap that mod is huge), or get into one of the Mount and Musket multiplayer matches in the meantime. Hell, even just some regular multiplayer matches in LAN with my little brother keep me coming back over and over again.

 

[ladof84]

There are no Final Fantasy games that would apply to this thread. You either like Final Fantasy games and have played all of them, or you're not interested and have not.

Secrets of Mana (SNES) was really good, and Illusions of Gaia was interesting at the time.

I might get flamed for this, but A Game of Thrones - Genesis is actually really fun multiplayer (if you can find a game and get past the bugs). It's a unique take on the RTS genre. Just don't go into it as a GRRM fan expecting great things.