Hidden gem thread. - Let's give some great unsung games their over due praise.

[xXx: State of the Union]

Cool cyberpunkish platformer/shooter based on a syndicated cartoon from the 90's that was done by the people who did Aeon Flux I think. Shit's great for a licensed game.

Not so hidden cause of the FFVIII demo, but I never see anyone talking about it. Cute PS1 action/adventure game with a town full of people that follow schedules and everything is named after food.

Anime/Translation faggots will bitch about the localization from Working Designs. It's a fun top down 2D action adventure game kind of like Zelda or...well, it's like another game that I think was on the Sega I can't remember the name of now. Good shit.

A cute baby's first RPG about a knight and a baby dragon/god creature going on an adventure to find it's origins and stuff. Simple but fun, but maybe requires nostalgia if you're over the age of 9 today.

 

[Uncle Sid]

State of Emergency.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

A couple of oldies that can be played in the browser. They were popular back when PC gaming was absolutely tiny compared to today but they are forgotten or unknown by many these days.

Jezzball! It's a Qix-like game made for the mouse.

https://archive.org/details/win3_JezzBall

Action SuperCross is just a delight. When you get a hang of it it won't feel squirrely and it becomes absurd motocross parkour.

https://archive.org/details/msdos_ACROSS_shareware

 

[I'm Retarded?]

(Steam)

FAITH is a bizarre, clunky, frustrating, compelling, unique, and extremely memorable horror adventure game about a Catholic priest doing battle with various demonic entities. it cops an 8-bit aesthetic (think Atari) complete with sometimes ear-rapey sound design, but with rotoscoped cutscenes to add some dimension to the otherwise very minimalist but well-utilized sprite graphics. I've seen some FAITH avatars around here so I know that some kiwis are aware of it, but being a more esoteric type of indie game (and with extremely heavy religious themes besides) it's generally pretty slept on. MORTIS

Spoiler

(Steam)

a spiritual successor to the original two Descent games made by the original directors themselves. the only actually good 6DOF shooter that's been released in the modern era.

(Steam)

a psychedelic visual novel with a bizarre art style and a strange, often hilarious story. I can't really explain this one, you just have to jump in and try it. the only surviving chronicle of the time-traveling adventures of Michael Jackson.

Spoiler: do not click this shit if you're epileptic

 

[BrodyDaMan]

The Darkness 2



An action horror FPS where you play as the boss of a crime family with demon tentacle powers, gunning down gangsters. I didn't like the first game very much, because I was promised a Prototype style power fantasy and instead got a regular shooter with powers you didn't really have much control of, but in this game they become a very important part of combat. The story is edgy, as you can guess from a cover like this, but the characters are likeable or at least interesting. The graphics are cel-shaded but very well stylized, so the graphics hold up even today. Getting it to work can be a bit of a struggle but it's well worth it. The first game isn't really bad, but is only really necessary if you want to experience the backstory.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood



This is my favorite cowboy FPS, though I wouldn't really call this a hidden gem, it was just forgotten after the initial technical issues that its developer, Techland, is infamous for. You play as two brothers, sergeants in the confederate army whose house is burned down by the yankees, and so they want to hunt down a cursed Aztec treasure to repair it. You fight Apaches, mexican bandits, and civil war soldiers. You switch between the brothers for the missions, and their playstyles and special moves are different. The story is really good, it looks great, and PCGamingWiki lists any fix you may need.

The only other Call of Juarez games worth playing imo are the first Call of Juarez, and Gunslinger. But the first one is ultrajank and yet has a bunch of stealth and first person platforming, and Gunslinger is mostly a rail shooter. Bound in Blood may be the best of the series and is worth playing on its own.

Valfaris



Contra, with Warhammer 40k aesthetics and power metal music. Great art, great guns, and the level design and bosses are perfectly on the thin line between frustrating and fun. You will never be bored, even if you're getting filtered by parts of some levels, and when you win you will always feel it's worth it. Sometimes this game will even reward you with a mech level where you can destroy everything in your path. Awesome game.

I was also going to talk about XIII, but I remember it being recommended by a ton of gaming sites when I was a kid, so even though I never hear people talking about it anymore, I'm just going to assume it doesn't qualify as a hidden gem.

 

[The Cringe Connoisseur]

I do remember then contemporary articles saying it was overlooked and more people should play it. I've never played it though. There was a TV commercial. It had magazine ads. But I guess it didn't take off the way it could have.

I'm a big fan of Shikinjou. A block pushing puzzle game for multiple systems that was never released in the west. It has multiple playable characters and tile skins. The Genesis version is really cool in that regard. The cute hopping jiangshi will always be my favorite.

I wish the series would come back. I don't know who owns the rights. Sunsoft made the last game, which was for Genesis/Mega Drive in 1991.

It's like under $4 right now on steam unless that sale ended, it's beyond worth it. It honestly failed because it came out in 2005 when everything was edgelord oriented so the "cool" kids thought it was a kids game even though it has some really dark and mature subject matter.

 

[Epic Fail Man]

One game I really enjoyed back in the day was Crush for the PSP. I'm usually not a puzzle game fan but this game was very creative and addictive.

 

[Ser Prize]

No long winded exposition, this is just a cool game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1297330/Olija/

 

[The Cringe Connoisseur]

I have played sven co-op in years, but I think I'll have to get back into it.

Thread Tax: Mon Bazou
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Mon Bazou is an early access game that is similar to My Summer Car, but doesn't have the CBT that My Summer Car has.

I really wanted to play my summer car because it looks like goofy fun and Robbaz's lets play series with it is genuinely funny but the fact that the dumbasses who made it made your entire god damn keyboard the controller with the controls being so absolutely shit that you legit have to have them printed off in front of you just so you know how to do basic things efficiently is such a massive turn off so Mon Bazou would be the one I would go with for sure. There's absolutely no reason why a game where you fix up and drive around cars, binge drink beer and piss on random people should require like 30 different inputs, I have no idea what they were smoking.

 

[ForgedBlades]

Tons of hidden gems on the PSP, but one of my favorites is Rock Band Unplugged. A lot of people probably dismissed it as a shitty cash grab, but it's a really well polished and incredibly fun (albeit simple) rhythm game.

 

[Islamic Jihad Rocket]

Feel like this would go here perfectly.

Timesplitters Future Perfect

I know technically the series isn’t forgotten but definitely goes under the radar, everyone who knows them only speaks highly of the first two games and not this one, Future Perfect is the best game of the trilogy and I’d argue one of the best FPS Games of its era (and if we’re talking my own bias, id consider it one of the best fps ever made but that’s subjective), it fixes the issues Timesplitters 2 had (mainly in the cheap ass difficulty and aiming issues) and expands upon it feeling somewhat more modern FPS while still being arcady feeling. The story doesn’t take itself too seriously and is actually pretty hilarious at times. It’s easily among one of my favorite games of all time and I really think it’s worth a look, but the whole trilogy is honestly one that’s worth checking out as a whole, thank fuck the franchise is basically dead. I’m glad it didn’t get bastardized for “modern gaming”.

 

[The Cringe Connoisseur]

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter was a DS exclusive and it is without a doubt the Earthbound of that console, it's a super charming game that blends 2 and 3D graphics with fully animated cutscenes and a full on orchestral soundtrack that's fucking beautiful and came on a CD with the game. It failed miserably in the US so it's now a $250+ game which fucking sucks because I gave my copy away years ago and I really want to play through it again. If you stumble across this game outside of a shop for a good price you're one insanely lucky mother fucker because even the japanese version is expensive.

 

[Nick Gars]

Here is some of mine.

Hard disagree on GORE. 100% that game, its actual garbage. Once you flip the switch to "hard" the game literally becomes "shoot 2 seconds" then "Spam several OD shots", over and over and over. Graves kit of being a slow lumbering dumbass isn't going to do anything for you when every enemy can now drain 90% of your health before you even blink, thus OD shots being your ONLY option. Most artifical "difficulty" fucking ever.

Bungees segment and playtrough isn't any different. His faster style doesn't mean anything when, again, everything is draining almost all your health the instant they see you. Don't even get me started on that shitty waifu-insert you play for all of 1 fucking level.

This same bullshit becomes normal on the last handful of levels in fucking Normal mode. I also technically beat Gore difficulty too since I didn't die a single fucking time in Hard, and thats the only difference between the two. I am of the belief at this point that anyone calling Gore a "gem" or "good" either didn't play the same fucking game I did, or genuinely enjoys having actual shit thrown in their face. It low budget unpolished, unfinished jank. Thats it. There does not exist a reasonable metric in which it is actually a "good game".

If this, GunGrave VR and VRUN are anything to go by, GunGrave seriously, and I mean fucking seriously needs to stick to anime. Its not the ps2 era anymore, this level of half-hearted effort aint getting a pass for mediocrity. Its a fucking walking simulator where you hold the "shoot" button the entire time because nothing else in your kit is even remotely fun to use or useful.

 

[Anon88]

My favorite hidden games are Kameo and Viva Pinata which are overlooked because they're post Nintendo Rare games shoved in between subpar releases by the company. Kameo is a action game that lets you turn into weird looking Pokémon things to kill enemies and solve puzzles with and Viva Pinata is a garden simulator in which you grow certain types of plants and buy certain items to attract "Pinatas" (they're just animals) to live in there. Then you have to keep them alive as they keep fighting with each other as well as dealing with people sneaking in and killing them. Sounds kind of weird but it's so much fun.

 

[hog cranking frog]

The Adventures of Captain Comic. It's from the 80s, very early DOS side scroller. Has a almost ethereal feel to it's world. Don't know if it's a gem persay but its a quiet but important piece of game dev history.

 

[Site of Origin]

Gundam SideStory 0079: Rise From the Ashes

Mech game for the Dreamcast that went for a more simulation approach, like MechWarrior. You could command and equip your team mates for each mission. There was also location based damage, damage arms, legs, heads, and you could cripple enemies. The same could happen to your mech too.

I never hear anyone talk about this game, but it's one of my favorites on the DC. Really, I think the DC has a ton of slept on games outside of the super popular Skies of Arcadia and PSO

 

[XMassAllYearRound]

Here is one that I've never had the opportunity to talk about.

LostMagic.

It's a very odd mixture of Okami, RTS and Pokemon. Basically you need to capture monsters and then use those monsters as units to attack enemies, then you have to draw spells in order to heal your monsters, cast AOE effects, place down walls or cast simple offensive spells like fireballs and ice spikes.

It was panned to hell and back but I believe it's because most people that reviewed it probably didn't make it past the first 10 stages, the game has a gatekeeping difficulty curve where the beginning of it is really hard but then it gets relatively easy while still throwing you near impossible stages every once in a while.

I also suggest playing it on real hardware, it's already hard on a DS but near impossible with mouse and keyboard (Not to mention time consuming).

 

[Glory To Arztotska]

Scurge Hive.

It's basically isometric Metroid. Or Isometroid, even.

 

[vryvn_mogg333r]

The Godfather The Game. It's a Grand Theft Auto clone except it's the 1920s in the Godfather setting. FYI it heavily spoils the movie in case you haven't seen it in the decades it's been out.

 

[Site of Origin]

The Godfather The Game. It's a Grand Theft Auto clone except it's the 1920s in the Godfather setting. FYI it heavily spoils the movie in case you haven't seen it in the decades it's been out.


View attachment 7075604

I played this, and did you know they made a 2nd game? The 2nd didn't really have anything to do with the movies, they had you go to Miami and Cuba to run a business there. More polished mechanics. From what I remember.