Your personal biggest underrated game of all time

[BloatedGuppy]

On these forums? Dragon Age 2. It was a problematic title in many ways but it didn't deserve a fraction of the frothing hate it got. It got Ultima IX level hate around here, which is just silly.

In general? Alpha Protocol. Once the bugs were sorted out it was actually pretty darn entertaining.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Okay, most of these have already been mentioned, but I'm going to be a badass rebel and mention them anyway.

Just Cause 2: Just awesome.

Alpha Protocol: Choices that actually have consequences.

Knights of The Old Republic 2 with a restored content mod: Better than the first one.

Neverwinter Nights 2, more specifically it's Mask of the Betrayer expansion: Planescape: Torment level story.

just going to steal your opinion all together, agree with all of these.

 

[Zeles]

Star Control 2 / Ur-Quan Masters. I'd be surprised if many people on here have even heard of it. But the Mass Effect series ripped off so much from this series it's almost criminal. The combat is extremely well balanced, the story is rich and full of humor, the alien races are unique and memorable. Nothing has come close to it to date. Best game I've ever played, hands down, period, /end.

I know that game! I haven't actually played it, but my brother has. It isn't really my thing, but from what my brother has said about it, he really likes it. I like the Scottish/Irish space Pterodactyls.

 

[Timedraven 117]

From what I've seen of the Escapist, this might not be considered all that 'underrated', but from how I personally feel about a game? Gotta be:

Sure, it actually received decent ratings when it came out, and both non-fans and fans of Star Wars alike have positive things about it to this day, but I felt at the time it came out like nowhere near enough people played it, and even less appreciated its significance.

Here was a game that proved you didn't need lightsabers, Force powers and Jedi to make a console game feel like Star Wars and stay fun to play. To this day, I can only think of one other that managed it, and that's the first Battlefront (hipster opinion: the better of the two). It had tons of atmosphere, managed to render down that most generic of all Star Wars cannon fodder - the freaking clone army - into four surprisingly different, surprisingly likeable characters, and not only were you able to splatter Geonosian goo all over your screen with a knife (that came out of your goddamn wrist way before Assassin's Creed), it even had a little energy thing to wipe it all off again. Immersion!

Having a gun that was actually three guns was badass, and dat squad AI... Man, at the time it seemed like perfection. Honestly, I feel RC taught lessons that a lot of games today could still stand to learn from. The simplicity of giving orders, the squad being useful... but mostly, the idea that if you can revive squadmates, they should be able to revive you.

Long overdue for a sequel, IMO. Just imagine that game with current gen graphics and Imperial rather than Republic gear...

*Sigh*

It did have a squeal i think. It was a book. I loved this game younger, i wish i still had it. It made super battle droids FEEL like super battle droids. unlike in Battlefront. And the variety of grenades and weapons, and the trandosians, the damn trandosians. If they needed to make a scary game they knew how to make it.

EDIT: My bad.

OT: Darkest of Days. Its was fun, the game worked, and it showed two under appreciated times in history gaming has to touched. The first world war, and a GOOD civil war part of the game. Also not to mention the story was interesting too. Wish they made a sequel.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

Basically there's a game that I genuinely quite like (perfect presentation, good gameplay, very user-unfriendly) called Unlimited SaGa on Ps2, metacritic of 45%


7 Main stories, all great, innovative battle system that needs some explaining but is great fun, absolutely incredible aesthetics and audio, one of the best soundtracks in gaming.

The only reason I would not recommend it is because you NEED some walkthough or guide to even play the game, seriously.

It's a unique gem of a game with no user friendliness as its major downfall.

Also this battle theme is by far my favourite battle theme in any game, same guy who made the music for FFXIII too which I also bloody love

 

[kyogen]

ICO
It's generally overshadowed by SotC, but it's very innovative, interesting, and gorgeous. The controls function well, the environmental puzzles are well designed and nicely varied, and that little jerk in the Dualshock when Ico tugs too hard on Yorda's hand is perfect.

 

[aguspal]

Rayman Origins man. I mean I haven't played that any other game that plays as smooth since DMC3 (which is also underrated).


The art is fanstastic and the key word is here art.A consistent tream of high art that somehow takes level design and fun along for the ride. Sound design, visual design, level design all compliment each other instead of getting in the way. Aside from all the artsy fartsy stuff, It is FUN. It knows what it wants to be and doesn't cover its good parts with things nobody cares (like story).

Yet it still doesn't recognition the sell-out Mario gets. It is sad to think about, depressive even.

LOL.


Okey, its one thing to really love a game, but expect it to get the same recognition as freaking MARIO has from nowhere like nothing? Thats a little... too much to ask. Especially since its just one game.

 

[TheAmazingMediocrity]

Spoiler: This bad boy

An intriguing, engrossing world, compelling storyline, gorgeous environments, even more gorgeous music, an addictive monster synthesis element, and character design by Katsuya freaking Kondo [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuya_Kondo].

Not to mention a sweet-ass intro [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNpRWHXzNiM].

As a series, it had so much potential. Then the second game, whilst enjoyable enough, turned it into a bloody cartoon.

I'd give my left nut for a current-gen remake, or even an anime adaptation. Hardly anyone played it though, so I think I'll be waiting a looooooong time...

 

[VeryOddGamer]

Mount&Blade: Warband, one of the best games. Has a good modding community, great mods, good concept and I still heard people say it's not good. I can't believe them...

God damn it, I can't believe I forgot Mount and Blade.
So yeah, add Mount and Blade to my list earlier.

 

[veloper]

Agreed. Amalur wasn't all bad, but the only way to some challenge out of the game is to play a straight up warrior, with a slow, oversized sword or hammer and without crafting skills or magic.
In the end it's just an action-RPG though.

Dark Messiah and Star control 2 are 2 great titles, but those games are not so much underrated, as simply less well known.

 

[Lazy-Man]

Okay, most of these have already been mentioned, but I'm going to be a badass rebel and mention them anyway.

Just Cause 2: Just awesome.

Alpha Protocol: Choices that actually have consequences.

Knights of The Old Republic 2 with a restored content mod: Better than the first one.

Neverwinter Nights 2, more specifically it's Mask of the Betrayer expansion: Planescape: Torment level story.

...
I was actually gonna say Kotor 2 (with RCM installed) but then you stole it from me! Well ya, I heartily agree. Easily my favourite game ever, love my entire crew, villains are awesome (espicially Nihilus and the lore surrounding him), and the fact that the "villains" on each planet are actually the good guys. Urmf! I just love this game so much.

Also Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm (the first one), while I detest the actual series, I can honestly claim that this game is and was the most innovative game to hit the entire fighting genre. It's a shame that the series is now trying so hard to be the games that it was once so different from.

 

[Vrach]

Gonna say Ico. A lot of people have at least heard of Shadow of the Colossus but hardly anyone seems to have played or knows about Ico.

I've got it lined up to play, but it's behind a lot of other games in my queue and I don't have too much time on my hands atm.

Also SotC didn't impress me as much as I thought it would... don't get me wrong, the general idea behind fighting huge creatures is cool, but it's formulaic as all fucking hell - "next foe is" followed by riding my retarded horse in the direction my GPS sword is showing, followed by climbing up on the monsters and pressing square at the shiny parts. Yes, the fights can be clever, but there's nothing to back them up. The story is nonexistent, the world is empty, and despite being somewhat open, it's essentially entirely linear as there's only one path that has something to show for it at a time.

Mind you, I'm only half way into the game (I think, from what I can tell, ~8 Colossi left), so maybe something changes at some point, but I'm not seeing it yet. So far, Journey knocks SotC right out of the ballpark at pretty much every corner.

OT: Alpha Protocol. Fun game all around, but the dialogue system (and almost everything built around it, like choices) is nothing short of amazing.

 

[WoW Killer]

Dunno about "of all time" or anything like that, but here's a personal little gem that I hardly ever hear mention of: Front Mission: Gun Hazard. It's not exactly best-game-ever material, but it's a tight little number with some unique features for its age. There's a certain 'weightiness' to the controls and movement that's all the rage these days (e.g. MWO or Hawken), but which is rare in a 2D 16-bit game. I'm a big fan of non-trivial movement in all sorts of games (Tribes: Ascend, Firefall), and that's the only example I know of in a side scrolling shooter. Apparently the story sucked, but I don't speak Japanese so it's all good

Ummm, another one, only thought of this because I remember someone on this site mentioning it once (and that's the only time I've heard anybody talk about it for ages): Legend of Mana. It's underrated because the response to it was mostly negative from what I remember, but it wasn't all that bad at all. I remember I was quite disappointed with it myself at the time (the lack of a proper multiplayer was a big deal for me), but looking back it was still a good game. And wow did it have some wacky ideas. What the hell was that crafting system about? That's from back when Square had more money than sense. I think they treated the game as one big experiment and threw as many new ideas as they could all into one basket. Some of them were good ideas too.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I'm going with Alan Wake. It got high praise from critics and even TIME acknowledged it, but I sure couldn't find a single other person who played it besides the friends that I loaned the game to. I wish it had done better among the gaming community, because I'd really like a full sequel. American Nightmare was nice, but I still have so many questions.

I'll put another one up for Alan Wake. One of the most atmospheric games I've ever played and there was a very uneasy vibe throughout it.

 

[thatguy85]

The original Mafia game I thought was fantastic. I never saw the reviews for it, so I'm not sure if it was underrated or not. Either way, it was fun as hell!

 

[Squidbulb]

Simon the Sorcerer. It's a damn fine adventure game but it seems like barely anybody knows about it.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Rogue Galaxy, on the PS2. You got to be a pirate in space, some of the most interesting companions and worlds I had seen in a while when I played that game. Bosses were fun too and the visual style was unique for an RPG at the time. It didn't go with turn based battles either, enemies would pop up and you would battle them similar to a Kingdom Hearts kind of battle system in the sense that you run around, dodge and whack the enemies yourself, but in my opinion, with more to it. The plot was alright with a few, albeit forseeable twists and such, but it was a nice story, at least to me. No one else I know really played this game.

 

[Saviordd1]

From what I've seen of the Escapist, this might not be considered all that 'underrated', but from how I personally feel about a game? Gotta be:

Sure, it actually received decent ratings when it came out, and both non-fans and fans of Star Wars alike have positive things about it to this day, but I felt at the time it came out like nowhere near enough people played it, and even less appreciated its significance.

Here was a game that proved you didn't need lightsabers, Force powers and Jedi to make a console game feel like Star Wars and stay fun to play. To this day, I can only think of one other that managed it, and that's the first Battlefront (hipster opinion: the better of the two). It had tons of atmosphere, managed to render down that most generic of all Star Wars cannon fodder - the freaking clone army - into four surprisingly different, surprisingly likeable characters, and not only were you able to splatter Geonosian goo all over your screen with a knife (that came out of your goddamn wrist way before Assassin's Creed), it even had a little energy thing to wipe it all off again. Immersion!

Having a gun that was actually three guns was badass, and dat squad AI... Man, at the time it seemed like perfection. Honestly, I feel RC taught lessons that a lot of games today could still stand to learn from. The simplicity of giving orders, the squad being useful... but mostly, the idea that if you can revive squadmates, they should be able to revive you.

Long overdue for a sequel, IMO. Just imagine that game with current gen graphics and Imperial rather than Republic gear...

*Sigh*

Oh god the nostalgia

Sadly Lucas Arts is currently run by this guy

So we might be waiting a while :/

 

[Gearhart]

Final Fantasy X-2, lots of rage directed toward this for some reason. It was fun and light hearted with an excellent combat system, with the exception for the overlevelling issue, but that is not a unique flaw in any case. The story was engaging and was enough incentive to come back to it for a 2nd or 3rd playthrough to try to get 100% completion and unlocking all the dress spheres kept the combat fresh while you were doing it. There were some cringeworthy voice acting moments, but again, not unique for a JRPG.

Perhaps it is blasphemy to have it even associated with the sacred FFVII but meh, there is no sense in flaming something that is otherwise solid on its own terms.

Kinda like Charlie's Angels really; a fun romp with a trio of girls that never gets too serious. My kind of evening... unless you're not into that of course.