Most underrated/overlooked/Underappreciated of the generation

[Stoney Mason]

Might as well have some ying to the yang.

Mine:

Mark of the Ninja. More overlooked rather than underrated as it reviewed very well but I don't think a lot of people played it. Really fun stealth game that really surprised me coming out of the people who made Shank which I didn't like.
Mafia 2. Has a metacritic of 74 which is complete bullshit. Good story driven open world game that the media completely whiffed on.
Transformers: War for Cybertron. Really surprising fun throwback to the spirit of the cartoon series. MP was really fun also. Still have yet to play the sequel.
Red Faction: Guerrilla: The fact that this franchise is currently dead and didn't follow the lead of this game is very sad to me.
Viva Piņata series: The only one of those gotta catch em all franchises that I actually liked.

[Eel O'Brian]

The Saboteur

[archnemesis]

Europa Universalis IV - This series should be as popular as Sid Meier's Civilization.
Atelier Totori - In a world where everyone is complaining about the lack of good console RPGs, you shouldn't miss out on this great game just because you are embarrased by anime characters.
Inazuma Eleven/Infinite Space/FF: 4 Heroes of Light - There are plenty of good RPGs for the DS beyond the obvious examples that people usually mention.
Ys Origin/The Oath in Felghana/Chronicles - Great series and overlooked by far too many.
MAG - One of the best multiplayer games ever. Ever.
Metal Gear Online - I guesss people were too busy complaining about Kojima messing up the story.

[cool breeze]

Banjo Nuts and Bolts - you build vehicles from scratch to complete various objectives.  one of Rare's best (and last) games, and probably my favorite 360 game.  I don't know why it failed; it came out at $40, included Banjo 1 XBLA, and kids love legos and knex and stuff like that.

Sin and Punishment 2 - incredible rail shooter.  like a faster, tougher, better starfox.  no one played it.  yet people clamor for more starfox

Afrika/Hakuna Matata - admittedly the game isn't great, but it's unique and oddly compelling as a photography sim/stealth game of sorts that.  plus you can tilt the controller to take vertical portrait shots.

The Club - like RE mercenaries mode turned into a full game.  would've been perfect as a $15 downloadable game.

[Tasty]

One of the best railgun shooters ever. Ultra satisfying gunplay, great style, raucous humor. Only downside was a broken cash shop/high score system, which was fixed in the PS3 version (which also added two extra levels.) The best House of the Dead revival I could have ever hoped for.

[Himu]

I can't think of anything in particular. Pretty much all the games I played this gen were hardly under looked, especially on the net. The only one I could truly say was under looked was Sin and Pu.ishment for wii and even that had it'd audience on game forums. This is funny because I usually strive my gaming on hidden gems. Does this Gen really have hidden gems? Given the way games are advertised these days, I can't say so.

[CajoleJuice]

Europa Universalis IV - This series should be as popular as Sid Meier's Civilization.

It's definitely just too overwhelming. I keep wanting to get into it, though.

[brob]

Much like Sin and Punishment, Little King's Story is another wii game (although it has since been released on the vita, after some uguu~ification) that didn't get too much shine.


Soul Bubbles for the DS is another game that I've not seen much hype for. I'm sure there are quite a few games on the DS that are underappreciated or overlooked.

[Raban]

Metroid: Other M

[Great Rumbler]

Metroid: Other M

No.

[Tasty]

Metroid: Other M

No.

[magus]

Metroid: Other M

goddamit no!

[Mr. Gundam]

Fo realz.

[Raban]

Metroid: Other M

goddamit no!

No one will ever stop me from loving that game. It's the best Wii game, and my favorite Metroid game.

Really smart encounter design, great controls, awesome music/sound, and some of the best visuals on the system. The narrative focus is a little strange and can get in the way, granted, but not nearly enough to discount the entire game.

The bosses

[Tasty]

No one will ever stop me from loving that game. It's the best Wii game, and my favorite Metroid game.

Boreans, over/under on this being more pathetic than me liking Hunters the best.

Edit- The best Wii game?

The best Wii game? Oh you be tripping.

[Raban]

No one will ever stop me from loving that game. It's the best Wii game, and my favorite Metroid game.

Boreans, over/under on this being more pathetic than me liking Hunters the best.

Edit- The best Wii game?

The best Wii game? Oh you be tripping.

Not like the system has a whole lot of winners to begin with. The Galaxy games are neat but feel so padded with boring, easy shit. At least Other M has the decency to end after about 10 hours.

[magus]

anyway little king story is easily the answer here





as far as i'm concerned this was the last great whimsy game i played and it will be one of the game of the generation i will remember fondly

you know the wii get tons of shit for being well... the wii,but early on it really was the last bastion of the medium budget japanese game that made for a weeaboo diet :'(

[Trent Dole]

No one will ever stop me from loving that game. It's the best Wii game, and my favorite Metroid game.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

[Raban]

Ah yes, Blendo Games. Quadrilateral Cowboy will be the real answer to this thread.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Ah yes, Blendo Games. Quadrilateral Cowboy will be the real answer to this thread.

Assuming a jump from 30 Flights to Quadrilateral Cowboy like we saw from Gravity Bone to 30 Flights, YES.

[iconoclast]

Hard Corps Uprising - The best Contra game since the original Hard Corps, and overall one of the best run and guns ever created. It's also the best game on XBLA/PSN.
Strania - Great non-danmaku shooter (which is rare in the modern market) with a unique weapon system and excellent presentation. The second best game on XBLA.
Eschatos - A simple shooter, but very well executed. Excellent soundtrack too.
Mamorukun - Pocky & Rocky-esque shooter with a fun scoring system.
Bangai-O HD - Probably not as good as the DC game, but a huge step up from Spirits. The Extreme stages have particularly awesome level design.
Catherine - Best puzzle game this gen, although there wasn't much competition.
Culdcept Saga - Everyone says this is Monopoly x Magic the Gathering, which seems like a good description to me. Great game.
Earth Defense Force 3 & 4 - Not sure if they're underrated because everyone who plays them knows they're awesome, but EDF4 in particular is probably the second best TPS this gen.
Child of Eden - Rail shooter with a great scoring system. Mechanically, it's much, much better than its predecessor Rez.
Ninja Gaiden II - The best action game ever created, 2D or 3D. It's underappreciated because 'muh open world' and 'muh inability to dodge incendiary shurikens'

[bork]

Resident Evil 6: The Leon campaign was gold, Jerry! The Chris campaign wasn't bad either. The third guy sucked but overall I loved what I got from this and even enjoyed the online. I still don't understand all that western media hate. I don't like the shooting in CoD, Gears Of War or any of that but I like the gameplay in this, so fuck off.

This one deserved the hate.  The Leon and Ada campaigns were great.  Chris's was...OK, and that's being generous.  Jake's was bad.  They tried to do too much with this game and failed with the majority of it.  It's hard to give praise to a game where 1/3rd of its (main) content is good.

It would have been better if they just focused on one storyline and left the rest alone.  Hell, they could have just had one big main storyline with multiple playable characters.

[Mr. Gundam]

Leon was great, Chris was weird, and I gave up on that other guy.

[Tasty]

Super Paper Mario: One of the best Wii launch games that was unfairly hated on cause it wasn't a JRPG. Great writing, gameplay, a good use of the feature gimmick. It was very fun and deserved better than the backlash. Not as good as The Thousand Year Door, but much better than the obscenely overrated N64 game and the SNES JRPG Mario.

Wasn't a launch game, though I guess it could be considered launch window...

MadWorld: My second favorite Platinum Games product after Bayonetta. Released on a system where fans claim they want teh matoorz 3rd party title but went totally ignored. Fun gameplay, fun stupid japanime story, and fun environments, bosses, enemies and what have you. I need to get Anarchy Reigns soon.

Lulz. Platinum games bomb on any platform. Oscar, how much did MadWorld sell relative to Platinum's other games?

[bork]

To be fair, I haven't tried the game since Capcom updated and patched some things, but I doubt that will change my opinion on it.  I loved RE4 and RE5 and was pretty let down by RE6.  Fortunately Revelations was fun.

[bork]

MadWorld: My second favorite Platinum Games product after Bayonetta. Released on a system where fans claim they want teh matoorz 3rd party title but went totally ignored. Fun gameplay, fun stupid japanime story, and fun environments, bosses, enemies and what have you. I need to get Anarchy Reigns soon.

Cool concept that was ruined by stupid-ass waggle/Wii controls.  Anarchy Reigns is much better.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Bulletstorm - Great game, great looking, great environments, lots of shooting.

Red Faction: Guerrilla - I loved this game, loved exploring every bit of it.  It's the only real open world game that I like.  I wound up buying this game three times (360, PS3, PC).

DiRT 2 - Awesome game.  One of my favorite racing games last generation was Rallisport Challenge 2 and I was afraid that there'd never be as good of a racing game as that.  Then this game came along.

Samurai Warriors 3 - This game made a ton of improvements and was the GOAT Musou game until Orochi 3 came out.  It was lost on Wii owners but that is because they are fucking stupid.

[Mr. Gundam]

Lulz. Platinum games bomb on any platform. Oscar, how much did MadWorld sell relative to Platinum's other games?

Considerably worse from numbers I saw a while ago.

[etiolate]

Haven't played enough games of this gen to give a good list, BUT I WILL ANSWER ANYWAYS.

ExciteTruck - Fun, depth, replayable, looks good for a Wii game. Mix of Excitebike and SF Rush.

Bunch of Indies pls understand:

Thomas Was Alone - It's got WHIMSY with geometry people and puzzle platforming
To The Moon - Uses JRPG tropes to give so much feels
The Swapper - Another puzzle adventure game, but I love their take on zero gravity
Trine series - Yes, I like puzzle adventure/platformers. NO SHAME

[brob]

Does Trine 2 iterate upon the first in such a way that it is made perfunctory?

[Himu]

"Mamorukun - Pocky & Rocky-esque shooter with a fun scoring system."

You now have my attention.

[Shaka Khan]

Mirror's Edge is a game that gets a lot of love online, but it was largely ignored everyone else. I don't remember any game evoking the same exhilarating feel like it did.

Resonance of Fate was a weird game that I initially loathed, mostly for its cringe-worthy non-sequitur cinematics and story, but ended up really enjoying it when I focused on the core experience. Kinda grindy though.

[etiolate]

Does Trine 2 iterate upon the first in such a way that it is made perfunctory?

There's some added water physics and it does seem to lean more heavily towards the physics puzzles. I haven't beat Trine 2 yet, so I am not sure if they venture further from the formula later on or not. It is pretty much an iteration.

[iconoclast]

"Mamorukun - Pocky & Rocky-esque shooter with a fun scoring system."

You now have my attention.

Check this out if you want to know more (the opening paragraph is a pretty good summary): http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=44837

It's also on sale for $10 on the NA PSN until the 15th.

[Himu]

haha shmups still exists?

Anyways, looks good. For some reason I always prefer 2d shooters that are like Pocky and Rocky/Kikikaikai.

[Joe Molotov]

Metro 2033 got a lot of love, but Metro: Last Light pretty much got dumped in a ditch without so much as a how do you do.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Valkyria Chronicles
Mafia 2
Dirt 2/3

[Rufus]

Darks Messiah of Might and Magic
Really fun first person fantasy action-rpg with tons of great physics based environmental interactions. Most people probably lean too much on the Death Kick of Doom, but it's fun even then.

[tiesto]

Sin and Punishment 2 - sublime control, probably the best use of the Wii controller ever, awesome boss battles... such a fantastic game that was utterly ignored because it was on the Wii.

Strania - a solid shmup that kinda reminds me of the Saturn days of the genre.

Avalon Code - a platforming/puzzle/action RPG with a strange gimmick (re-arranging DNA from different creatures to change around their weaknesses). Not the best game around but I've never heard anyone talk about it.

[Damian79]

I loved Last Story and so did my brother.  Favourite RPG this gen.  Shame the graphics are so bad.  I really hope he makes a sequel on the Wii U or PS4.

[drew]

dismemberment ruined Ninja Gaiden, half the fun in black was getting good enough to play with the enemies ~ bouncing back and forth and juggling them...

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Blue Dragon needs more love.  It was a brilliant old school JRPG in glorious HD.  A shame it didn't go anywhere and was marched off into DS hell where the series died thereafter.  By far my favorite JRPG of the generation.

[iconoclast]

Oh, how could I forget THE most underrated game: Shadowrun. The best multiplayer fps ever released on console, and better than practically every PC fps of the last 10~ years.

[Rahxephon91]

I feel like Devil May Cry 4 is underrated. People speak of it being a bad game and when DMC came out reviews talked as if the series was dead. DMC4 is a good game, it's huge problem is of course the repeat of levels and bossess. The thing is Dante is really fun to play so it kind of negates that. It never really felt like a slog to play. Plus Nero is really cool and his arm mechanic was awesome. The game also still looks really good even years later. I'm just talking about the console version at that, the pc version looks even better. I get that it sold pretty well, but it just seems like 4 got a bad rap when it's even a bad game.

Bionic Commando is another underrated Capcom game. The story, art design, and whatever else may be bad, but man the game was really fun. The swinging was really good and at times the game is kind of challenging really forcing you to do shit beyond "shoot enemies".

Hell there's also Asura's Wrath which I think people see as some silly anime game. It is and yet it's so good. I really enjoyed the story. Sure it's dumb shonen anime, but it's really well done. It's got a really interesting and unqie world with actual well executed characters. I wont say fleshed about, because the story is'nt deep or anything, it's just a real good action story.

Ace Combat Assault Horizon also gets shit on by everyone and I don't really get it. I understand it losses the "Japanese" personality and instead has them trying to be CoD. Yet the actual game is pretty decent. Dogfight mode is not a bad idea, it kind of does add some flash and excitement. Also it seemed as the game went on the over reliance on it disapaered. It also makes bombing ground targets something thats not annoying. This is also a game that looks great.

Resonance of Fate was probably my favorite jrpg this gen. I could care less about the story honestly, but no other game itched that character weapon and stat building itch like this game. Add in a cool battle system that is kind of like a strategy rpg and a regular turn based rpg.

There's also:
Quake 4, Alice Madness Returns, Ninja Blade, Folklore, Mirror's Edge, The Last Story, and of course the greatest game this gen...Quantum Theory.

[Positive Touch]

mark of the ninja is a great choice. game was one of the most solid stealth games ive ever played.

deadly premonition got a lot of love here, but i feel like it can always use more. janky as hell but so fun and consistently hilarious. ramps up the crazy as it goes on, too, to make up for the shit combat. also i love how much detail is in it despite the obviously nonexistant budget.

mass effect 3 ive defended plenty of times on here, but ill do it again now. yeah the ending sucks but i think youre crazy if that ruins the whole game or even if you expected much of a payoff in the first place. the rest of the game is fun with memorable big-budget scenes, solid tps action, and great character moments like 2 had. was never a bioware fan but 3 has me hyped up for whatever theyve got next (that isnt DA related).

la-mulana took me by surprise. i know cave story is an underground hit in a similar vein, but la-mulana hits that sweet spot of old-school gaming that has you coming back over and over to figure out that out that obscure clue or trying that pita boss one more time. 5-star homage to 8-bit gaming.

[demi]

Easy choice - The Last Remnant

[cool breeze]

mass effect 3 ive defended plenty of times on here, but ill do it again now. yeah the ending sucks but i think youre crazy if that ruins the whole game or even if you expected much of a payoff in the first place. the rest of the game is fun with memorable big-budget scenes, solid tps action, and great character moments like 2 had. was never a bioware fan but 3 has me hyped up for whatever theyve got next (that isnt DA related)

people said they loved the game until the ending.  I don't think you're alone there.  that's why it was weird when people said the ending 'ruined' the entire experience.

Only part of ME3 I feel is underrated is the multiplayer.  People always get antsy about multiplayer, but it was surprisingly fun in ME3.  One of the better horde mordes out there.  Syndicate's co-op mode was similarly excellent (that no one played). 

[Positive Touch]

yep forgot to mention that. i love me3 multiplayer.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Oh, how could I forget THE most underrated game: Shadowrun. The best multiplayer fps ever released on console, and better than practically every PC fps of the last 10~ years.

Shadowrun was really full of cool powers, shame I never really got to play it.

I think if they had released it in 2012 or 2013 for a budget price it could have been a hit.

It was really too early for its original take on fps

[Cerveza mas fina]

Kameo was a fun game that time has forgotten apparently outside of people using it as an example of good early next gen graphics.

Condemned. I had mad fun with this game.

Shit my pants playing this, game is intense.

Heard the sequel was straight poo so i never tried it.

[fistfulofmetal]

The Swapper is the most under-appreciated game this year. Anyone that hasn't played it is a stupid idiot.

[Yulwei]

White Knight Chronicles 1 and 2 for the PS3. It's an online RPG series with a tacked on single player campaign. Many people gave up on the games without ever touching the real meat of the game, the online portion, and that's a damn shame. WKC2 was a huge improvement over 1 and it was genuinely a great online RPG. The game was packed with content and things for you and your friends to grind. The servers have been taken offline now and it sucks because I doubt we'll ever get another awesome online RPG from Level 5.

If they hadn't wasted so much money on the crappy campaign and had simply released it as a co-op/online RPG, I think it would have seen some success.

[demi]

[Human Snorenado]

I can't think of much that gets underrated or overlooked anymore with the amount of saturation of video game coverage and shit. 

I will say that relative to other, obviously shittier "open world" crime type games, the last three SR games are fucking entirely underappreciated.

[Yulwei]

[Human Snorenado]

Lost Odyssey WAS a decent jrpg, especially in comparison to FF13 (supposedly, haven't ever played it and won't ever played it) but man the story was mostly dumb and bland as fuck, at least up until the end.  The score was fucking superb, tho.

[radioheadrule83]

Metal Gear Online - I guesss people were too busy complaining about Kojima messing up the story.

Agreed. The Konami ID sign up teething problems didn't help matters, but once you were in it was really really fun.

I'm not back home where I could easily check my library and remember all the games I liked that no one else did. I'll try:

Darksiders 1&2: I put both among my top 10 of this gen. It's so sad that a series full of all sorts of niches and non-sexual fetishes I have rolled into one in a great package is now dead for good.

MadWorld: My second favorite Platinum Games product after Bayonetta. Released on a system where fans claim they want teh matoorz 3rd party title but went totally ignored. Fun gameplay, fun stupid japanime story, and fun environments, bosses, enemies and what have you. I need to get Anarchy Reigns soon.

Also agreed on these. Darksiders 2 went a bit too 'large' in terms of repeating certain things, and the loot system etc, but it was still fun as hell. I loved the four horsemen mythos, and I feel like we've only had half of the story with these games. Like BG&E before it, it seems publishers have trouble keeping Zelda-likes alive for very long... especially if said publisher is actually dying.

Mad World was crazy fun, but I knew from the outset the style wouldn't suit everyone. They should have made more of the humour in Western marketing, more of John DiMaggio etc. It was chock full of great quips and personality.

Bionic Commando Rearmed was really good IMO. People seem to hate Grin something hardcore, but I enjoyed it anyway.

As Shaka said, Mirrors Edge won loads of acclaim online but didn't really set the world alight. EA seems resolved to have DICE have another crack at it, but I'm concerned about how it'll end up if I'm honest.

Both Bit.Trip Runner games are well loved, but they deserve to be even bigger IMO. I'd keep buying them forever.

Toki Tori 1/2+ really surprised me. I gave 2+ a go on Wii U eShop because it was cheap and I literally dropped everything else I was playing until I'd beaten it. Intelligent puzzle design, lovely reduced control system.


In terms of stuff coming down the pipe, I'm really liking the look of Hyper Light Drifter, Knytt Underground and Scram Kitty. Hell Divers was more fun than anything else I played on PS4 at the Eurogamer Expo, I only tried it cos Mikeside from GAF recommended it. Hopefully Super Hot can turn into something awesome. I really want to know what next gen's Geo Wars is going to be. And no, its not resogun.

[Tasty]

Pokemon Y

[pancakesandsex]

I'm gonna go with Nier.

While it's usually highly praised by the few that have played it, even among them, there are a large number of folks who overlooked the more interesting narrative bits the game had to offer because they involved the rather fetchy quest system.  I haven't seen a game that has so skillfully built a world as subtley bleak as Nier.  The final ending will probably stick with me forever.