Underrated Games you like

[Gespenst]

Naval Ops/Warship Commander series; can be grindy and highly tedious (pre-Warship Gunner 2, i.e where you have to manually leave the map to complete a level, WG2 also made designing ships more convenient by giving you infinite amount of specific parts once you successfully resarched them) at some times but there's no other game (?) where you can make highly ridiculous WW2 warship designs and duke it out against even more ridiculous bosses.

[BIL]

I actually didn't mind the tomato too much. At least you aren't stuck with a pencil as the main weapon for the whole game like the GB version. I like the GB one despite that, though. Mainly due to the tricky level designs.

I'd much rather have a short-ranged stabbing weapon for the first stage. I just run past some of the more erratic, resilient stuff like spiders.

Ultimately it doesn't bother me that much either. It's more that the later weapons are frickin rad (edit: and so is the later shooting), and you'd have absolutely no idea judging by the first stage. Bad first impression.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Lost Kingdoms

I've always been curious about this game, would love to hear more about what you thought of it!

On topic, I always thought Final Fantasy XIII got a harsh rap. Its far from flawless, but I thought it did a lot of interesting things, and had one of the more intense turn-based systems I've seen. I don't think I've ever had to be so prompt in my actions in a turn-based game, even if the choices were obvious a lot of the time. Also enjoyed that the characters, while again far from perfect, all had a reason to be on the quest, and all had story ties with each other. Like XII, this game didn't save all of its difficulty for superbosses, which is always welcome. Sadly, its hard to say "Just get past the first several hours" to convince someone to give the game a chance, since it is very fair and sensible to have dropped the game by then.

I thought it was the weakest of the three. It's about 20-30 hours of linear tutorial, where it's constantly changing your party - it feels like it's forcing you to understand each of the paradigms for far longer than is necessary. It can also leave you underpowered if it switches you to characters you haven't used much! When it finally opens up for a bit and gives you free choice of party, it's all "kill this" or "grab x of that" side missions. The semi-turn-based nature of battles means you don't really need to apply any strategy beyond switching to the right paradigms - spamming auto-attack works through the whole game! The CPU works out strengths/weaknesses really quickly and optimises selections for you. By the time you've manually gone through all your abilities, you'll never stagger anything.

The second one gives you much more freedom through the world, with stronger sidequests and actual NPC interaction. But I thought the combat was less fun, especially limiting your party to 2 plus random monsters. It's obsessed with making you use sentinel to mitigate otherwise heavy-hitting attacks, meaning for a long time you never really use buffs and debuffs because you're busy levelling up attack and defence instead.

Lightning Returns pretty much nailed it for me. The only problem I had with it was that no health regen after battles meant you had to get really good at perfect guarding early on, which wasn't well balanced with all the other stuff you had to learn. And you still had to have mediguard as an ability for most of the game to fill your HP before battles ended. Initially I wasn't sure about replacing the party system with costume changes, but found the customisation element really fun. The time limit wasn't an issue, you can spam chronostasis 99% of the time and easily cover the main quests and all side quests in half the time you're given.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Lost Kingdoms uses the same font as Demon's Souls (Otogi?), which has to count for something. Never played multiplayer, but it's a good game.

[Bananamatic]

XIII is solid IMO, it's a fun linear ride and the bosses are well designed and challenging, kinda shitty postgame but already replayed once and would replay again

XIII-2 is just total shit, barely any content outside of fetchquests with no rewards but those stupid fragments you collect for no reason (unless you really want the platinum), barely any bosses (and they're all pushovers), super annoying dungeon design (Academia can go eat a dick and the tower afterwards was just as bad) and the "nonlinearity" are just the same maps rehashed over and over in different timelines (with no content other than said fetchquests)

not to mention you have to guess which gates advance the story and which don't - and you have to spend artifacts to unlock them regardless and some of those artifacts are hidden invisible items at the edge of the map

if you want good open world rpg, play XII

[Xyga]

I still see Tales of Eternia as one of the best 'Tales' and one of the best Japanese RPG's ever made.
Criticism bashed the poor field controls and bad dubs so hard it's ridiculous, like those little flaws are totally central, major points completely overshadowing everything the game is made of.
Or the usual 'the 3D map is ugly' criticism, when it's actually one of the best efforts of the era, huge with tons of places to visit and exploration to do.

People who really played it beyond a 'straight to end credits no side trips' run, know it's one of the richest and most details-packed games of the genre, and within the franchise as a whole.
The three CD's aren't for damn FMV's, it's loads of everything you can think of in a RPG, all in gorgeous pixel art and smooth animation.
At the time productions of such level were meant to compete with the Final Fantasy franchise, well playing ToE you realize the devs really threw the glove at Square, but from my understanding the Press just didn't take it seriously from the start because it's essentially a 2D game, and no matter how beautiful at the time it just wasn't a thing anymore, especially for western audiences.

Mediocre reviewers killing games because they were too lazy and under influence have always been around, but cases like the ToE are textbook examples.
I remember even Star Ocean: The Second Story as whole got better marks, I love that game for the same reasons people used to like Tri-Ace games back in the day, but it's so much less polished than ToE I just can't believe the injustice.
Especially when you think the guys writing reviews for magazines at the time were often given the same genres to test so readers would see them as 'specialists'. Sad.

[soprano1]

Criticism bashed the poor field controls and bad dubs so hard

Good thing the PSP version at least has an undub version. Pretty fine RPG, i agree. However, don't know if one can say it's underrated. It is still a Tales game.

[BulletMagnet]

Interesting that the FF13 trilogy is getting some mentions on here, I thought I was the only one on the forum who'd ever admit he played 'em, heh. Might as well throw my hat into the ring:

- The first game is definitely flawed, but gets something of an unfair rap IMO, because it was attempting to respond to years of requests to mix things up on the JRPG front but was then broadsided by a sudden rush of reformed traditionalists. "I hate all the aimless wandering around!" "Okay, have some to-the-point linear areas." "WHY NO EXPLORATION" - "I hate having to just mindlessly mash the A button constantly in battle!" "Okay, you have the option to automate selections if you want." "GAME PLAYS ITSELF"

- The second one improves a handful of things from the first game, but also feels a lot less focused - yeah, the ending from the first game? It basically never happened, and there's this whole other universe-devouring entity or two suddenly floating around, and a dual-wielding Tom Cruise from the future (though I actually ended up liking him more than I thought I would), and a moogle that transforms into a bow-and-arrow, and a chocobo showgirl who sells you stuff, and monsters you can capture, and TIME PARADOXES EVERYWHERE! It felt like the creators were just throwing stuff at a wall, but still expected you to take it (mostly) seriously. On the other hand...

- ...Lightning Returns is even more ridiculous when it comes to tossing seemingly random elements together, but I got the impression that the creators were significantly more on board with the concept (and having more fun with it) than the last time around. Juggling your time, health, money, special abilities and monster stocks in the name of efficiency and/or the best loot kept me going for three-plus runs in the end, though I found a couple of battles tough to handle without having bought a bunch of Turbo Ethers from other players. Definitely near the top of my personal "never thought I'd enjoy this" list.

[Xyga]

Criticism bashed the poor field controls and bad dubs so hard

Good thing the PSP version at least has an unub version. Pretty fine RPG, i agree. However, don't know if one can say it's underrated. It is still a Tales game.

Well I've never seen it, any version, rated over 8.5/10 (which translates by 'average' for the casual reader), when it's clearly 9/10 and beyond (which translates by 'must buy' for the majority).
Heck, 8~ish puts it in the same league as the considerably inferior Destiny, that doesn't make sense and I believe ToE is a case of underrating, without those stupid reviews it would have been more successful IMHO.

[mamboFoxtrot]

Yanno, I've always been a bit confused by "underrated". Does it refer to games that weren't well received at the time or unliked currently, or games that just aren't very well known? Likewise, does averaging an 8/10 really count as "not well received"?

Anyways, most of the games that I have that fit either of those descriptions I feel mostly deserve their status, or are games that I've barely played, but I'm honestly pretty out-of-touch as to what the majority opinion on most games are.

I guess I could mention the modern Rocket Knight game. I don't super-like it or anything, but I think it deserves better than its sub-70 Metascore ratings (last I checked, anyways). By the standards of regular 2.5D platformers, it's a solid 8 or slightly more. Even more so given that it's a 2.5D revival of a 15-year-old 2D Japanese game outsourced to an unknown Western dev.

I think The Red Star is underrated but idk. I mean, the few people I've seen mention the game seems to really love it. I'm a bit more impartial to it but would still recommend it to people.

Maybe also Cotton 2. The High-score thread for it isn't a total wasteland, but otherwise I don't see people mention this game too often. (I personally don't make it far enough into the game to get a score worth posting)

[evil_ash_xero]

I look at underrated as more of...not known or appreciated by a lot of people.

The scores can be good or bad, I guess.

[broken harbour]

Lego City Undercover looks like a kids game (and it is to a large extent), and it's pretty simple, but its really fun. It's kind of like a GTA game but you play the cop, and its safe for your children. It's funny, has pretty varied gameplay, makes good use of the Wii U's controller, they toss new mechanics at you almost constantly, and its got a pretty good length. It's really solid overall, and its a nice break from the usual gritty fare these days. Oh and I love the 70's Cop show theme music.

[Mischief Maker]

I look at underrated as more of...not known or appreciated by a lot of people.

The scores can be good or bad, I guess.

Spoiler

[soprano1]

LOL, IGN...

[broken harbour]

But... what if Party Babyz is actually that good?

[Kino]

.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Iron Storm on PC was a game I played more than most higher-rated FPS-ers of its time. I typically can't stand the theme park-like settings of CoD and such (music is the worst of it).
I think Republic Commando would be more popular if you couldn't quick save, quick load through it (checkpoints are placed pretty reasonably). Then again, I didn't like it when it was new, neither did I like Halo: Combat Evolved in the year 2003 or so.

Oh, apparently some non-Japanese media rated Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers low. I for one find it a more essential Wii game than, say Xenoblade Chronicles (in hindsight, thinking which would I choose if I could keep only one of the two). One of my favourite video game worlds (as I've already said, reminds me of early Witcher novellas, from before the author added fluff).

Ghost Squad is an odd kind of underrated. Shows why there was no future for Dreamcast (guess what: "fun but short, easy and shallow, should be a downloadable title").

[Blinge]

Lost Kingdoms

I've always been curious about this game, would love to hear more about what you thought of it!

As a kid I thought Yu-Gi-Oh was the coolest thing ever so I looked for any game that involved card battling
An ill-advised purchase then, considering it's an action RPG and not a card game but I grew to love it. So some cards are summon animations, others function as familliars, and some are "weapons" ie use a 3rd of a card's power to do a sword-slash or fire a projectile.

It was my first exposure to From Software actually, and it's definitely a From game. Bleak atmosphere, very thin narrative and lore that the player must discover rather than be spoon fed. Parts of it are quite pretty but you can tell it was made on a tight budget. It's not an open world game either, it has a mission structure that gives you a ranking each time based on damage taken and cards used. Resource management is quite important: you don't want to run out of cards (essentially ammunition) and have to start again.

Bought LKII at a convention recently but haven't got around to starting it.

[dunpeal2064]

Thanks Blinge! I was tired when I made that post, and for some reason was thinking of Last Remnant, I have played Lost Kingdom and thought it was pretty cool! I've heard the 2nd game is more action-based than the first, been meaning to check it out as well.

Since we are talking about From, I had an absolute blast with The Adventures of Cookies and Cream. Played it co-op with the lady friend, and it was hands down the best co-op experience we've had. I mean, it actually requires cooperation! Such great design and a wonderful difficulty curve that goes from "This is cute and fun" to "who the fuck expects the target audience to be able to do this???"

Would be in my top 10 ps2 games, purely based on this co-op experience. The game is even crazier when played solo, the shit you have to simultaneously do with both hands is absurd. Might actually be a bit too rough solo, haven't given it enough time to tell, but as a co-op game, it is unmatched imo.

[Blinge]

Was gonna make a From Soft love thread after I finally play some King's Field. But maybe there's too many threads devoted to each Souls game.

I hadn't heard of Cookie and Cream, damn son I can't believe From made this..

[Satan]

Wardner

[copy-paster]

some underrated brawler games :

PuLiRuLa
Ninja Baseball Batman
Undercover Cops

[dunpeal2064]

I hadn't heard of Cookie and Cream, damn son I can't believe From made this..

Yeah, visually is quite different from them, but it doesn't take long for the expert, odd, and somewhat sadistic gameplay to start shining through. Definitely feels very "From" to me. Let me know what you think of it, if you decide to give it a try!

[Formless God]

Dungeon Travelers series, especially 2. Extremely polished DRPG that people (including me in the past) like to overlook due to the presentation being too wapanese. Grave mistake.

[Acid King]

I agree about Binary Domain. The voice feature shit is stupid, but it's a solid game and the gunplay is really good. Picking apart waves of robots is a great time, but I think the boss fights are the worst part, atleast so far. I can't recall where exactly, but I stalled on the single player at a really inane and tedious boss fight after I watched a video of someone else playing it and I realized it was just a shitty fight.

I think Gears of War: Judgement is underrated, even if it is attached a huge franchise. It got a lot of flack from the Gears community when it was released and the multiplayer scene is on life support, but the single player campaign is my favorite of all the Gears games. No bullshit boss fights, not silly vehicle bits, just a lot of awesome close quarters gun play. The change to mission based level structure, the star rating system, and the addition of Declassified missions are all welcome additions.

Bulletstorm... The Club

Both of these are really solid, especially Bulletstorm. I've been meaning to replay that one on Very Hard.

Gain Ground

This is one of my all time favorite co-op games, but it's really tedious when played solo.

[Acid King]

Since we are talking about From, I had an absolute blast with The Adventures of Cookies and Cream. Played it co-op with the lady friend, and it was hands down the best co-op experience we've had. I mean, it actually requires cooperation! Such great design and a wonderful difficulty curve that goes from "This is cute and fun" to "who the fuck expects the target audience to be able to do this???"

This is how I feel about Super Magnetic Neo on the Dreamcast. It's all cute and saccharine but does that game break your balls with the long magnetic chains you need in spots.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I really like Mazin Saga. One of my favorite beat 'em ups on the genesis.

[Strider77]

I agree on Bullet Storm.... wish we got a follow up.

I picked up Sonic Racing Transformed over the weekend an wow was I surprised. There is a really good racer under all the (fantastic) Sega fanservice. I've really been surprised by this game.

[Obiwanshinobi]

An ill-advised purchase then, considering it's an action RPG and not a card game but I grew to love it.

It is a card game. You collect cards and build up a deck. Then you can take your deck of choice and confront it with another player's.
I'd say people wanting it to be THE GameCube jRPG were in for a disappointment; not those who wanted cards collecting and battling.

[BulletMagnet]

Dungeon Travelers series, especially 2. Extremely polished DRPG that people (including me in the past) like to overlook due to the presentation being too wapanese. Grave mistake.

Is that the one withe the To Heart characters in it? IIRC Atlus is localizing the second one, unless I've got it confused with another series.