I love finding Diamonds in the Rough

[Goldenboko]

I find, that playing a game that you had absolutely no expectations to be good and having it surprise you, is better than playing a big name game. Playing a game like MGS4, I expect the world handed to me on a silver platter and often I say, "Oh well this is good, but not really what I expected going into the game."

Case in point? On the same exact day my brother purchased Mass Effect 2, my friend loaned my Valkyria Chronicles. Now, on Valkyria Chronicles I saw the words "Sega" and instantly my expectations where grounded, as I had played so much as a decent Sega game since Sonic Adventure 2. Now, by the time I got to CH3, I was enthralled and Mass Effect 2 has collected dust ever since. My friend may just have to tear this game from my cold, dead, fingers.

Favorite/latest unexpected diamond you've uncovered?

[Slothy]

Congrats on finding the joy that is Valkyria Chronicles.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Way of the Samurai back when I first picked it up, but I hold it up as the best example of giving players the ability to choose how the story plays out that I know of. It had a pretty cool battle system with a lot of variety and depth to it too. I probably played through the game a dozen times at least trying to figure out every possible way story path, and loved that every time was a different experience.

I also remember not expecting much from the first Silent Hill other than for it to be an RE clone. I'm glad I took a chance and rented it though because it made calling RE a horror game laughable.

The only more recent example I can think of is Pixeljunk Monsters. I was just expecting a simple tower defense game to entertain me for a few minutes at a time whenever I wanted to play something quick. I wasn't really expecting something that required as much strategy as it did, or that was that much fun. $10 well spent if you ask me.

[Madame Adequate]

I didn't expect much of Jumping Flash way back in the day, but it remained unsurpassed as a first-person platformer until Mirror's Edge came along twelve years later.

I can vouch that Way of the Samurai was awesome and underrated, and I really wanna play VC. :hyper:

I also knew little about either Vandal Hearts or Suikoden before I first rented either; both turned out to be beautiful. Suikoden especially got a lot of credit later, and it's hard to find people who have played them and don't credit the series as excellent.

[JKTrix]

This is what I thrive on in video games today. I still keep up with the worthy new 'big things', but seeking out those smaller games that don't have AAA budget/advertising is what really keeps me an avid fan of the medium. I'm also much more forgiving of one of these 'little games' having big flaws than a 'big game' having similar flaws.

These games are actually pretty frequent on the Nintendo systems these days. I can't say I'm really surprised by any of them because I do follow them pretty closely. Like Sky Crawlers on the Wii, I knew it would be a little rough to start out with, but once you get to a certain point in the game it is a much better experience. Next up for me is Shiren the Wanderer 3.

Way of the Samurai 3 is on my list of games to get when I next have a chance.

[Bolivar]

Now, on Valkyria Chronicles I saw the words "Sega" and instantly my expectations where grounded, as I had played so much as a decent Sega game since Sonic Adventure 2.

One of the best examples to me over the last few years.

I knew it was a SRPG, I knew the music was by Hitoshi Sakimoto from Final Fantasy Tactics/XII, I knew vaguely about the story, and that was about it. I was totally expecting a generic JRPG experience, and was fine with it. But as time goes on I was continuously surprised at all the themes they touched on, how great the scenarios and ambience are, and at that point I realized just how attached to the characters I had become and how truly amazing the art style is.

It's one of the best games on the PS3 and arguably the best RPG of this generation.

The Godfather is another. I was expecting it to be average and preparing myself for the possbility that it sucked. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's above average and pretty great sometimes. So, not a diamond in the rough, but a pretty cool rock nonetheless. The voice acting was pretty good especially with some of the original actors. It had a cover system before it suddenly became innovative to have a cover system. The mechanics are all just very well done, it's game I love to play every year to see how fast I can get through it.

[Madame Adequate]

Oooh, good catch on The Godfather, Bolivar. I forgot about it but it really was a fun sandbox game.

Also I neglected to mention in my last post one of the greatest games on the 360: Earth Defense Force 2017. I'm sure I've raved about it before, but it's incredibly fun. It's basically a very old-school shooter translated into modern 3D gameplay. It's ropey, the voice acting is so bad it's superlative, and it is a game where a shoulder-mounted rapid-fire homing missile launcher can reasonably be considered a sidearm.

[Momiji]

Gunbird 2. <3

[Iceglow]

Dropship (http://uk.gamespot.com/ps2/action/dropshipunitedpeaceforce/index.html) This game was amazingly good and I'd heard very little of it at the time of it's release I had a whole ton of fun trying to get through the games challenging missions I especially liked how you would get so many varied roles in missions from flying escort to dropping units/supplies to bombing runs and aerial dogfighting all within the same level. Also the car levels were fun and challenging.

Also in a strange twist of fate Front Mission 3. FM3 was a brilliant piece of work but in the UK even though I worked at the time part-time for a game store I had never ever heard of it. It had received and I mean almost no attention from the mags of the time or the press. I brought it because at the time I thought Square could do no wrong (I hadn't played Erghiez or Driving Emotion Type S by that point, proof that Square ought to keep it to the RPG game genre by all means) I was right with this and it was amazing and I love playing the game even now (it's still a challenge and a half)

I also agree with Suidoken being wonderful but under advertised in the uk.

[Raistlin]

Best examples for me: Lunar SSSC and Suikoden II, two games which I just picked up randomly at the store just because they looked interesting. Ended up being two of my favorite RPGs ever made. Breath of Fire III was another one.

Outside of RPGs, though, I haven't been playing many games, so I tend to only get the ones I have reason to believe will be good.

[Mo-Nercy]

Okami. Sure, it was a game that everyone heard good things about, but in actuality, very few people bought it. Admittantly, I turned my back on it as well when it came out. It wasn't until many many months later when my girlfriend complained to me that she was sick of FFXII and needed something new that I recommended Okami to her. It took us ages to find it, but we've both played it now and love it.

[Slothy]

Just remembered Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the N64. I bought it on a whim without even hearing about it before and it's easily my favourite N64 game ever solely for being so damn wacky.

[Dreddz]

This doesn't really happen with me. When I buy a game I make damn sure that its a game I'm going to like. And in most cases, it is. Although I remember buying Blood Omen 2 expecting the worse as it was hammered by most critics. Turns out it ended up being my second favourite game in the Legacy of Kain series (only behind the first Soul Reaver).

They need to make another Blood Omen. Excuse me for going off topic.

[Slothy]

I wanted to like Blood Omen 2, but since it was filled with glitches including one that prevented me from loading my save file after I was more than half way through the game I had to ditch it. I just wasn't willing to put up with that crap and start the entire game over hoping that it didn't happen again. It's a shame since it had a pretty good story as I recall and some good ideas that were executed rather well.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Brave Fencer Musashi way back in the day. Also I remember thinking I was going to hate the first Kingdom Hearts when it came out but it was actually pretty sweet.

[~*~Celes~*~]

Morrowind. I first picked it up when I was 12 and was like "wow this is boring." Picked it up again later and it turned out to be better than I thought, but I didn't want to put a lot of work into it. Picked it up again about 2 years ago and I loved it. Still do :D In fact, I'm hoping to pick up Oblivion for 360 soon.

[Jessweeee♪]

FFIV. I was expecting it to be crap, but in actuality, it was a good game that I just really don't like.

[McLovin']

The first Syphon Filter and Dragon Warrior 7 were 2 games I got randomly and never heard about and became a fan of both shortly after!

Oh Dark Cloud as well. I thought it was gonna be crap and didn't play it for months, letting it sit with the other games, before finally trying it out.

[NeoCracker]

Xenosaga I grabbed at Shopko on the basis I needed a game to play, and I thought the robot looking chick on the front was hot. :p

[Wolf Kanno]

Some people have touched on games that do hold a special place in my heart, namely: Suikoden Series, BoFIII (though I will give a shout out to the whole series cause its mostly excellent), Front Mission 3 (glad I'm not the only person who loves that game), and Brave Fencer Musashi.

While I would normally use this as a shout out for my SMT titles like Nocturne and Persona series, I feel I have already praised this franchise enough in other places so I feel it would be better to get down to some more weird games...

Silhouette Mirage is a pretty damn fun and wacky Gunstar Heroes knockoff with some pretty interesting game mechanics, proof that Working Design really do have great taste in weird Japanese games.

Robotech: Battle Cry was a game I sorta dreaded but had high hopes for. I'm a huge Robotech/Macross fan and since Sega decided to give the rest of the world the shaft on their Macross title for the PS2 I had to settle for this title. Turns out it was pretty damn awesome in almost every way. Granted its far from perfect but it did give me the taste of what it would be like to be in my favorite anime series so it definetly did its job. I'm just so annoyed by how crappy the sequel was cause the development studio decided that FPS were "in" and chose to go that route.

Mega Man X: Command Mission - this game looked like a bit of a disaster. The X franchise was already losing a bit of their muster and I was almost positive it was going to die after the crappy X7 title which may win the award for being one of the worst Mega Man games ever. Yet here we were trying to build a MMX RPG. Yeah, its plot is a bit contrived and cliche but its still surprisingly good in comparison to other MM titles of the time (except the MMZ series) and the gameplay was simply amazing. I like to think of this title as a sorta spiritual brother to the BoF series cause it really felt like a BoF game. Its still a game that is difficult to recommend outside of MMX fans though...

Um Jammer Lammy - I am a total whore for Rhythm games and I sorta blame it on this game. It was just so weird and strange but the music was totally awesome that I sorta fell in love before I knew it. I still kick myself for not giving Parappa the Rapper a chance.

[NeoCracker]

WHile I agree that MMX: Command Mission was awesome, a BoF spiritual successor? Really? I don't even know how exactly to describe to you the wrongness of that statement. :p

[Wolf Kanno]

I didn't say successor, I said spiritual brother. The game really reminded me of BoFIV for some reason but it definetly had the later BoF style. Its difficult to describe.

[NeoCracker]

successor, brother, regardless, I think someone be rockin' with Mary Jane. ;P

[Madame Adequate]

Morrowind. I first picked it up when I was 12 and was like "wow this is boring." Picked it up again later and it turned out to be better than I thought, but I didn't want to put a lot of work into it. Picked it up again about 2 years ago and I loved it. Still do :D In fact, I'm hoping to pick up Oblivion for 360 soon.

Ooh yes, my friend Barry Manilow and I had seen Morrowind in stores a few times and were puzzled; it looked interesting and the case carried high praise, but we had never heard of this "Elder Scrolls" before. I picked it up one day taking a chance, and immediately fell in love; he bought it not long after on my advice, and yeah good times. Obv. TES is big money now but back then it felt like something we had just discovered out of nowhere.

[Polnareff]

WHile I agree that MMX: Command Mission was awesome, a BoF spiritual successor? Really? I don't even know how exactly to describe to you the wrongness of that statement. :p

Well, with me being the resident Capcom fan around here, I can tell you that there's some truth to his statement. There are a few references to BoF in there with regards to some of the special attacks the enemies do, at least. Also parts of the battle system (mainly pressing buttons to do attacks and use sub-weapons) was basically a revamped version of part of Dragon Quarter's battle system.

It may not be a gigantic reference to the series, but that really gives you no right to tell him he's smoking something. :eep:

As for me.

Rapid Reload/Gunners' Heaven: 10 times better than the overrated Gunstar Heroes. It was longer, more difficult, and most importantly, more fun. Only things that kept it down were that it only got a JP/EUR release, and you can only play one player.

Bomberman Hero: At the time I loved Bomberman but wasn't sure how good a pure platforming game with him would turn out. Bought it and was pleasantly surprised. I played it for months. I'm trying to hunt down another working copy as I type this.

Gunbird 2: Like Momiji said. Basically at the time I found the game on Dreamcast I didn't know what it was. Took it home and found out it was a really fun shooter from Psikyo (Capcom published the game for DC, and Psikyo thanked them by including Morrigan from Darkstalkers in the DC version. They also included Aine from Sengoku Blade in there too). It's incredibly hard too for such a weird game. I'd played other Psikyo games before but not like this one. This and Cannon Spike are easily my favorite Psikyo games.

[Jessweeee♪]

I would like to add Mobile Light Force 2! From the cover I was like "oh, I'm not going to like this at all..." but the game ended up not having anything to do with the cover at all.

[Polnareff]

Funny you mentioned Mobile Light Force 2, because Mobile Light Force 1 is a chopped and screwed version of Gunbird, which is the prequel of one of the games I mentioned earlier. Like Shikigami no Shiro's butchering, MLF1 has all the story sequences cut out and a lot of name changes. (most notable is Valnus becoming "MILF-2000." WTF?)

I will never figure out why Xseed Games did that to Gunbird and Shikigami no Shiro. Also of note is that the cover for MLF 1 and 2 are exactly the same pretty much.

At least Gunbird 2 was released here in its original form, and Castle Shikigami 2 and 3 were mostly left alone.