Underrated Games

[black orb]

Evil Zone:

This game you could think of as the predacessor to the DBZ: Budokai/tenkaichi series. It was an anime themed fighter that wasn't deep, but very fun. Also some of the characters were actually very cool. Each character and their quest played out like a thirteen episode anime series. Keia, the conceited pretty boy had a series that played out with having having a talk show that dispensed advice to all the other characters, and Gally was a bounty hunter who basically starred in his own action series while trying to sneak in a drink every now and then without his strict wife knowing. Man I just love the part where he buys a schoolgirl outfit and asks her to try it on. The fighting engine was fairly shallow, but still fun.

Best $5 I ever spent. I love this game. I especially like how every character spoofs popular anime cliche's (CLAMP fans will notice quite a few similarities between Keia and Seishiro Sakurazuka ) It's shallow but fun. I swear they were trying to make an anime and mid production they were told it was supposed to be a fighting game.

>>> I liked that game too, after Kamen Rider Danzaiver is the most awesome Sentai hero ever..

[Slothy]

Yes. All entirely true. The series started to take off more with Soul Reaver and all that, but the original was a hell of a good game. Sadly it's way rare and I don't have a copy at this time ;_;

You know, the funny thing is, even though it's definitely rare, I was in the local Zellers four or five years ago and even though it was years after the game was released they had at least two dozen copies on the shelf. Likely old stock they were trying to move, but surprising none the less. If I hadn't already had my copy for a few years at that point I would have grabbed one. I still couldn't believe my eyes at the time though.

[Fatal Impurity]

I'm goona put [strike]Beyond Good and Evil[/strike] Majora's Mask in here as well. I don't know what reviews are like for it, but it doesn't seem very well known to casual gamers even though it was bloody brilliant.

And in reply to roto's earlier statement its not always really the reviews that make it underrated but rather the lack of people that have played/know about it...as ive said earlier ive not seen very many people aware of Majora's Mask, eventhough you have.

I know you may think that a game is only strictly underrated if the said game gets a bad review or fan response, but low sales and/or rarity/awareness may also be considered the definition of underrated...

[Roto13]

But it sold incredibly well and it was well received by critics and fans. You say you don't know many people who have heard of it, but a lot of people obviously have considering its sales. If memory serves, it was a Players Choice game back when a game needed to sell a million copies to qualify for PC.

[Moon Rabbits]

Lufia and BoF are the most underrated Series I know of.

BoF isn't underrated, it just sucks. Anyways, I think Syberia is woefully underrated. It's not for everyone, being an adventure game 'n'all, but it's so deliciously great with it's story telling.

[Roto13]

Lufia and BoF are the most underrated Series I know of.

BoF isn't underrated, it just sucks.

:twak:

Go sit in the corner.

[Ishin Ookami]

Lufia and BoF are the most underrated Series I know of.

BoF isn't underrated, it just sucks.

:twak:

Go sit in the corner.

I wouldn't say Breath of Fire sucks, I played BoF III on the PSX and found it to be alright, pretty much on par with FFVII. Nothing spectacular overall, yet nothing I regret playing either.

Oh yah, another series I absolutely love but didn't see it get much fanfare during it's day, the Mega Man Zero games for GBA. I loved these games, they had everything that made MM awesome for it's time. Cool bosses, great platforming gameplay, secrets galore and an awesome storyline. I'd actually rank any of the MMZ games higher then the GBA metroid titles which I also love. Yet the only way you would know about them was if you were actually looking for a MM title, I really wish capcom and the industry would have given this series more fanfare then it actually got.

[Elite Lord Sigma]

Let's see...

Skies of Arcadia: Nearly everybody (including myself) who has played it will say that this game is a masterpiece. Sure, it has a really clichéd story, but it does it so well that it makes most other RPGs look bad in comparision. The soundtrack was wonderful, but how it got butchered in the GCN remake is an unspeakable crime.

Okami: Almost everybody has complemented on this amazing game. I have not played it yet, myself. Because of this game's low sales causing Clover to dissolve, that's a real failure of the consumers.

Psychonauts: I haven't played this either, but nearly everybody who has played this likes its quirky nature. There's something wrong when a crappy Jaws GTA clone doubles the sales of this game.

[Madame Adequate]

Skies of Arcadia: Nearly everybody (including myself) who has played it will say that this game is a masterpiece. Sure, it has a really clichéd story, but it does it so well that it makes most other RPGs look bad in comparision. The soundtrack was wonderful, but how it got butchered in the GCN remake is an unspeakable crime.

Thing is, they were fully aware of the clichés when they made the game, so they worked with rather than against them. And they did a damn fine job, because even with them I found it one of the most worthwhile, engrossing, and enjoyable games around in plot as well as gameplay terms.

I think it just proves that the plot itself can be secondary to the telling. But then the best stories do tend to be "How" rather than "What".