Underrated Games

[RiseToFall]

-Beyond Good & Evil - I thought I would be the first one to mention this, but license and Roto beat me to it. Wonderful game, everyone who doesn't have a copy, go out and buy it. The game is only about $9.99 now, and is on every last gen system, there's really no excuse not to have it.

-Oddworld: Strangers Wraith - Has more innovation in it's gun's than most games have in their entirety.

-Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne - I just don't understand why barely any people bought this game. I absolutely <3 the series, and it's Finnish developers Remedy.

- Ico - I've heard it been called the overrated underrated game, and I kind of agree.

- Grandia - I'm a huge fan of the games, and this series needs more people to support it.

-Psychonauts - Such a great platformer, and it really disappointed me that barely anyone has bought the game.

-Anything developed by Clover. I honestly think even the Viewtiful Joe games are underrated.

Keep a look out for: Alan Wake - It's coming to PC and 360, and is being developed by Remedy. (Makers of Max Payne Series) So far it's looking absolutely wonderful and I just want this game to get the recognition that it will definitely deserve.

[Ishin Ookami]

Tenchu

Despite my aforementioned grudge against MGS fanboys, I do respect the series. However Tenchu I have always held in higher regards. On every technical aspect, MGS is the better franchise, and always has the better games, but I just love Tenchu's aspect of being the stealthy hunter, instead of the hunted. Oh yah, and Ayame rocks. She is one of the coolest female characters in all of gaming history.

Tenchu 1 and 2 are definately underrated, after 2, when the creators made changes in production teams etc, the series went downhill. The atmosphere (especially in Tenchu 2 imo) was near perfect.

Wrath of Heaven was pretty good, I hated the combat engine, but liked how the developers kept the stealth aspect true to the series, and the gameplay was much more streamlined. But the storyline was utter crap. "The magic eye compels you Rikimaru." When I first heard about that plot device I thought it was a joke, or a bad translation as I was reading the games script on GameFAQs. Oh yah, and Ayame seemed neutered and nowhere near as cool as she was in the first two games.

Fatal Shadows I felt was a step up, it was more challenging, the story was infinitely better, the new moves were cool and the stealth aspect was stressed out even more making the game even cooler. Oh yah, and Ayame had her edge back. Just the way she pissed off Rin just for fun made me applaud. But the combat engine was even worse, I groaned inwardly whenever a boss battle started.

As for the PSP tenchu, I can't comment since I haven't wasted my money on that crap system, and don't intend to until they get a few more must play games, and lower the price.

One thing I have always loved about tenchu is the music. It's always just so awesome and touching, even at it's worse (intro theme for WofH) it's still pretty damn good.

[MJN SEIFER]

Bushio Blade is pretty underated. Amazing when you discover who made it...

[Evastio]

The only underrated series I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet is the Twinbee series.

[Lionx]

Klonoa 2 ~ another Namco game, and it's incredible. I don't know why I even bought it in the first place, as I'm not much of a platformer, but I'm glad I did. It reminds me of a game on sega saturn that was an incredibly inventive platformer. Can't remember the name of it though.

I agree...and if you liked the second one, you should find the ever ellusive first one..its even better ^^

[Ramza Beoulve]

Klonoa 2 ~ another Namco game, and it's incredible. I don't know why I even bought it in the first place, as I'm not much of a platformer, but I'm glad I did. It reminds me of a game on sega saturn that was an incredibly inventive platformer. Can't remember the name of it though.

I agree...and if you liked the second one, you should find the ever ellusive first one..its even better ^^

QFT!

[ThundagAuron]

Primal. One of my top games ever, I was in absolute awe of it, and still am. Brilliant graphics (Best on PS2 IMO, next to MGS3 & GoW), wonderful story, perfect voice acting, great soundtrack, solid 25-30 hour length and unlockable interviews and stuff.

+4 on Beyond Good & Evil

ICO & SoTC. Perfect Games.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2. Woot Woot.

[Slothy]

I actually had a post done up two days ago while my computer was acting up with me. Suffice it to say it was lost and it took me until now to be bothered retyping it all (it's long ok).

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - I'm talking about the PSX original here. Despite the rediculous amount of slowdown in this game, it was a very fun 2D adventure game. It had one of the coolest, most in-depth worlds of any game going, even today, along with the best anti-hero in gaming. Not too mention sucking someones blood from ten feet away for the first time was awesome beyond words.

Star Wars: Starfighter - I think this one got kind of overlooked coming out not long after the PS2's launch. It was a really cool flight combat game, and I liked it more than the Rogue Squadron series myself. That's some pretty high praise right there.

Ring of Red - Another title that got lost in the early days of the PS2, and suffered the misfortune of coming out around when Onimusha came out. It's a very cool strategy game involving a variety of mechs, and is probably one of my favourite strategy games of all time. I put more hours into this than I can count, even neglecting food and drink for hours on end because I was so caught up in the game. Well worth checking out if you can find a copy.

Edit: Just noticed ThundagAuron mentioned Jazz Jackrabbit 2, and I've got to agree with that choice. Awesome game.

[radyk05]

Eternal Darkness for the 'Cube.

[Madame Adequate]

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - I'm talking about the PSX original here. Despite the rediculous amount of slowdown in this game, it was a very fun 2D adventure game. It had one of the coolest, most in-depth worlds of any game going, even today, along with the best anti-hero in gaming. Not too mention sucking someones blood from ten feet away for the first time was awesome beyond words.

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 ;_;

Also; Jumping Flash. The original 3D platformer, a PS1 release game (Or near enough), and frakking brilliant.

[escobert]

Bushio Blade is pretty underated. Amazing when you discover who made it...

Yes, it's a awesome game.

[Doc Sark]

I think the Shadow Hearts series is underrated, particularly in Europe where the third title in the series isn't even being released since Midway decided not to publish it. Shadow Hearts was the game that saw me through to FFX, and in many ways I enjoyed Shadow Hearts more, with it's subtle humour and lecherous lead character. The justice ring (while not everyone's cup of tea), I found engaging and it made me concentrate on fights more than in a more traditional turn-based battle system, which made it more engaging for me.

[Ishin Ookami]

I've thought of more games to add to my list...

For the PSX

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.

Fear Effect 2:

Retro Helix. I hate RE's tank like controls, yet this game that employs them I love. Blame it on the witty and mature story and ingenious puzzles.

Silent Bomber:

some of the worst voice acting on the planet, and the cheapest final boss ever, yet the game itself is a helluva lot of fun thanks to it's simple yet intense contra meets bomberman concept and cool designs.

Omega Boost:

An on rails space shooter with gorgeous graphics. It's pretty much what Afterburner would have been if instead of a F-14 tomcat you were piloting a kickass mech. Awesome bosses just made the game that much cooler, like an R-type style game done in 3D, and done right. Oh yah, and the soundtrack was awesome. Espescially the intro sequence.

PS2

Atelier Iris: Azoth of Destiny/Eternal Mana

Both these games are equally awesome, yet many critics shun them because they look like something that crawled out of the 16-bit generation. Meanwhile in Japan these games have long made Final Fantasy its whipping boy. Mostly due to the fact these games pack tight story lines with awesome characters and witty dialogue that mocks RPG conventions. Like where you toss money into a pond to summon the lake spirit, and the lake spirt chews you out for disturbing her nap and going on and on about how annoying that is. And the item synthesis system for both games just rocks, as do the boss battles.

Star Wars: Episode 1 Starfighter.

props to the guy that mentioned it before me, I wouldn't say this game is superior to Rogue Leader, but it is still a helluva lot of fun with some slick graphics and intense battles. I'd still say rogue leader is more polished and epic feeling, but this one is no slouch either.

Game Boy Advance

Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 1 & 2

So popular it has it's own anime series in japan, these games are RPG/Strategy games that by far surpass FFT in terms of gameplay and story telling. Awesome titles that deserve far more hype than they get.

[Wolf Kanno]

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.

[Raistlin]

Glancing over this thread, I agree whole-heartedly with the suggestions of Breath of Fire III and Kessen. While probably not a top-5 on the PS1, it was definitely close, but was unfortunately overshadowed by the FFs (like a lot of other series such as Lunar and Suikoden were). BoF III is a great game.

Kessen is just a fun RTS. I personally liked the first more than the second.