What are your favorite games that nobody's heard of?

[factotum]

Revenant (1999) - great game.

I remember that one--it's an RPG where you're playing a resurrected corpse, right? (And no, nothing like Dark Souls!).

[Kato]

[QUOTE=Morgaln;23841326]
Ascendancy: A Sci-Fi 4X game for the PC, released in 1995. You chose one of 21 unique alien races and set out to conquer the galaxy. Unfortunately, the AI was crap, so it was pretty much impossible to lose the game, but it was still loads of fun to play.
[QUOTE]
Man, I loved that game despite it's flaws. I think there was a new version at some point but from what I heard it's not nearly as good.

A lot of people don't know this, but there are actually 3 Secret of Mana games. The Secret of Mana everyone recognizes is actually the second game in the series.

The first one was released out of Japan as Final Fantasy Adventure. It was remade into a Gameboy Advance game called Sword of Mana, which I actually had a copy of. It's not very good, though.



The third Secret of Mana game was never released outside of Japan, called Seiken Densetsu 3. It's basically Secret of Mana, but better. You pick one main protagonist and two sidekicks out of 6 when you start the game, each with their own goals, plots and combat specialities. So if you play a character you don't like, you can just make a new save with a new party and a new plot!

There's an unofficial English translation patch you can get for it, so that you can enjoy the game in English.

I think SD 3 is actually pretty well known, at least among people who are interested in the series To the point where I'm surprised Nintendo / SE still hasn't bothered to release it in the west.

[T.G. Oskar]

The third Secret of Mana game was never released outside of Japan, called Seiken Densetsu 3. It's basically Secret of Mana, but better. You pick one main protagonist and two sidekicks out of 6 when you start the game, each with their own goals, plots and combat specialities. So if you play a character you don't like, you can just make a new save with a new party and a new plot!

There's an unofficial English translation patch you can get for it, so that you can enjoy the game in English.

Man that is such a good game. What I really like about it is there's three subplots with their own final bosses, each tied to one pair of the six possible party members. So you can pick one sidekick who shares your main's final boss for a tighter endgame, or pick one character from each subplot for more of a "ragtag group united by a greater threat" feel.

It's also one of the few games I consider to have perfect balance in terms of gameplay. While you had a degree of level limitation (you needed at least level 16 to make the first upgrade, and then somewhere between 32 and 36 to make the second), you could beat the game regardless of your team choice. It's very difficult to make a "worst possible" team; you really have to make the effort of analyzing what's the worst possible team, and even then, you can finish the game in the expected power level. That's what I consider perfect balance; while there's an obvious "best choice" and obvious "worst choice", the difference between the two in terms of difficulty is so minimal that the game keeps being challenging with the "best" and possible to win with the "worst".

[QUOTEMan_Over_Game]There was also a really good PS1 game of the series, called Legend of Mana, which has a TON of sidekicks, playstyles, magic, and miniature worlds and plots to explore. I will warn you, though, nothing will make sense as you play it, as the game is weirdly designed so that you build the world/plot as you play, changing with how you play/build it. As a result, nothing really makes that much sense, and you might need a guide to figure out what the hell you're doing.[/QUOTE]

Don't forget it also has an awesome soundtrack. Plus the techniques had pretty awesome animations and made some sense if you think about it. Magic, on the other hand...

[danzibr]

Man. Now I want to pick back up SD3. Started it yeeeeears ago but never finished.

[Aspheric]

I'm not terribly in touch with games people have and haven't heard of, but I thought of some titles that I haven't really heard people discuss much.

Va-11 Hall-A is a really cool visual novel with a drink mixing minigame about working a bar in a cyberpunk dystopia. It has a really good soundtrack, a colourful cast of characters, and it's a queer story that isn't a coming-out narrative, and there's not too many of those around. I've been meaning to play through it again, but haven't found the time yet!

ANATOMY is a super creepy horror game centered around a house. I don't want to say anymore because it's really good! Frankly, all of Kitty Horrorshow's games could qualify, and most of them are free, too. They're definitely not "friendly," by any means, but they're really cool experiences, as chilling and skin-crawling as they might be.

continue?9876543210 made a small splash when it came out, but since it's been relatively forgotten since, I'm including it here. Basically, you play as an RPG character slated to be deleted by a Java-script algorithm, and have to do what you can to survive garbage collection for as long as possible. It's a little clunky, but it's one of the most conceptually interesting games I've ever seen.

This thread is reminding me of the series Superbunnyhop made on games he had only ever seen in his inbox. There were a ton of real gems in those videos, too...

[LibraryOgre]

One that I keep going back to in my mind (which I may have mentioned on this thread before) was Dusk of the Gods. Pretty basic by today's standards, it was an open-world exploration game where you played as an Einherjar, out to not only start Ragnarok but, if you paid attention and played well, prevent the deaths of the Gods at Ragnarok. You could tackle things in pretty much any order, could haul the head of Mimir around to ask it questions, and could avert several of the prophesied deaths at Ragnarok (Blind Hodur could be given an amulet that would let him avoid being killed by Vidar for his role in the slaying of Baldur; Freyr's man Skirnir could be given a Rod of Beguiling, which would let Freyr keep his sword for Ragnarok, and thus survive)

HUGE world, and a bit achronological (since Beowulf-king can give you the task of killing the Dragon, and Hrothgir can give you the task of killing Grendel AND his mother). Asking around makes some things a lot easier and faster (you can borrow Skidbladnir from Frey, which means you don't have to SWIM to Iceland). Character creation is a minigame where you play out your character's life until your death, going on raids and getting into battles and visiting temples and towers of learning.

[Man_Over_Game]

One that I keep going back to in my mind (which I may have mentioned on this thread before) was Dusk of the Gods. Pretty basic by today's standards, it was an open-world exploration game where you played as an Einherjar, out to not only start Ragnarok but, if you paid attention and played well, prevent the deaths of the Gods at Ragnarok. You could tackle things in pretty much any order, could haul the head of Mimir around to ask it questions, and could avert several of the prophesied deaths at Ragnarok (Blind Hodur could be given an amulet that would let him avoid being killed by Vidar for his role in the slaying of Baldur; Freyr's man Skirnir could be given a Rod of Beguiling, which would let Freyr keep his sword for Ragnarok, and thus survive)

HUGE world, and a bit achronological (since Beowulf-king can give you the task of killing the Dragon, and Hrothgir can give you the task of killing Grendel AND his mother). Asking around makes some things a lot easier and faster (you can borrow Skidbladnir from Frey, which means you don't have to SWIM to Iceland). Character creation is a minigame where you play out your character's life until your death, going on raids and getting into battles and visiting temples and towers of learning.

Reminds me of the Valkyrie Profile games. You play as a Valkyrie, gathering souls that die in the mortal world to fight with you as ghosts. After leveling them up, you send them up to Valhalla for them to serve as Einherjar, where their training and talents will earn you praise and many benefits. Of course, now you're mostly consisted of a high level party with one less unit, and you have to take in a noobie to fill in the spot you just sold.

It becomes this weirdly rotating door of "Get a Hero, level up your party, sell the highest level hero for profit, unlock a better tier of heroes". The thing that stood out to me, hard, was how uncaring the Valkyrie was. You genuinely do not care, at all, about mortals, and sometimes you just watch and wait for them to die horrifically (to bandits, monsters, whatever) just so you can claim your new (temporary) addition to the army.

[Hunter Noventa]

Reminds me of the Valkyrie Profile games. You play as a Valkyrie, gathering souls that die in the mortal world to fight with you as ghosts. After leveling them up, you send them up to Valhalla for them to serve as Einherjar, where their training and talents will earn you praise and many benefits. Of course, now you're mostly consisted of a high level party with one less unit, and you have to take in a noobie to fill in the spot you just sold.

It becomes this weirdly rotating door of "Get a Hero, level up your party, sell the highest level hero for profit, unlock a better tier of heroes". The thing that stood out to me, hard, was how uncaring the Valkyrie was. You genuinely do not care, at all, about mortals, and sometimes you just watch and wait for them to die horrifically (to bandits, monsters, whatever) just so you can claim your new (temporary) addition to the army.

That kind of made Valkyrie Profile a really great game, honestly. That's exactly how a Valkyrie would likely act. And man that was a good game.

[Man_Over_Game]

That kind of made Valkyrie Profile a really great game, honestly. That's exactly how a Valkyrie would likely act. And man that was a good game.

If you want to play the evil, mortal version of a Valkyrie in the same universe, check out Covenant of the Plume. I mentioned it earlier in the thread. It's a brutally difficult tactics game that becomes drastically easier when you sell the souls of your friends, and takes place in the Valkyrie Profile universe.

[Hunter Noventa]

If you want to play the evil, mortal version of a Valkyrie in the same universe, check out Covenant of the Plume. I mentioned it earlier in the thread. It's a brutally difficult tactics game that becomes drastically easier when you sell the souls of your friends, and takes place in the Valkyrie Profile universe.

Yeah I tried that one out, couldn't get into it. Or Valkyrie Profile 2, for that matter.

[deuterio12]

If you want to play the evil, mortal version of a Valkyrie in the same universe, check out Covenant of the Plume. I mentioned it earlier in the thread. It's a brutally difficult tactics game that becomes drastically easier when you sell the souls of your friends, and takes place in the Valkyrie Profile universe.

A funny detail is that in the original Valkyrie profile, if you fail to deliver enough heroes in time (since there is a clock counting down most of the time, Ragnarock's not gonna wait forever), then a godess with cheater stats will descend to smite you down for not doing your job.

While in Covenant of the Plume if you go full evil and start sacrificing friends left, right and center for ultimate power, then that's what'll trigger a goddess with cheater stats to come down and smite your ass for doing your job too well.

And of course in Covenant of the Plume

Spoiler

Show

In the final battle you need to fight everybody who you sacrificed.

[The Glyphstone]

Ascendancy: A Sci-Fi 4X game for the PC, released in 1995. You chose one of 21 unique alien races and set out to conquer the galaxy. Unfortunately, the AI was crap, so it was pretty much impossible to lose the game, but it was still loads of fun to play.

Man, I loved that game despite it's flaws. I think there was a new version at some point but from what I heard it's not nearly as good.

I still play Ascendancy once in a while for the nostalgia hit. They re-released it for the iPhone as a mobile game with the code otherwise untouched (AI included), and it's basically crap because the game was never intended to be played by touchscreen.

[danzibr]

Oh man. I remembered a couple.

Ib and Schuld. Both RPG Maker horror games. Both fantastic (not RPGs btw).

[Man_Over_Game]

Oh man. I remembered a couple.

Ib and Schuld. Both RPG Maker horror games. Both fantastic (not RPGs btw).

That's the most disappointing part about RPG-maker. I like RPGs, but it's really hard to find decent ones made with RPG-maker. They usually have shoddy plots, poor balance, bad graphic/world design, etc. The best things to come out of RPG-Maker were, ironically, not RPGs. Which is a shame if you actually like the genre.

[danzibr]

That's the most disappointing part about RPG-maker. I like RPGs, but it's really hard to find decent ones made with RPG-maker. They usually have shoddy plots, poor balance, bad graphic/world design, etc. The best things to come out of RPG-Maker were, ironically, not RPGs. Which is a shame if you actually like the genre.

I agree with this like 95%. Most traditional RPGs (like with random battles) that I played from RPG Maker were trash, EXCEPT for A Blurred Line (and The Way was great... but I disabled random battles).

Anyway. Right, it’s interesting almost all the good games aren’t even RPGs.

[Man_Over_Game]

I agree with this like 95%. Most traditional RPGs (like with random battles) that I played from RPG Maker were trash, EXCEPT for A Blurred Line (and The Way was great... but I disabled random battles).

Anyway. Right, it’s interesting almost all the good games aren’t even RPGs.

I think it was made with Game Maker, but one of my favorite RPGs is Exit Fate. I posted about it earlier on the thread. Check it out. It is a LOT like Suikoden.

[Sian]

I agree with this like 95%. Most traditional RPGs (like with random battles) that I played from RPG Maker were trash, EXCEPT for A Blurred Line (and The Way was great... but I disabled random battles).

Anyway. Right, it’s interesting almost all the good games aren’t even RPGs.

Try Final Fantasy: Endless Nova... it’s just about as strong and complex as the old classical FF games that it obviously tries to emulate, and made in rpg maker 2000

[LibraryOgre]

An old favorite: Broderbund's Ancient Art of War. Flood of nostalgia for it just now.

[danzibr]

I think it was made with Game Maker, but one of my favorite RPGs is Exit Fate. I posted about it earlier on the thread. Check it out. It is a LOT like Suikoden.

Oh yeah! With the white haired doctor dude sporting the hyper masculine jaw line sharing my name. Yeah I started it, then got a new computer. Gotta try it again. It was RPGMaker btw.

Try Final Fantasy: Endless Nova... it’s just about as strong and complex as the old classical FF games that it obviously tries to emulate, and made in rpg maker 2000

Sounds nice! I’ll keep that in mind.

[NovenFromTheSun]

I don’t hear a lot of mentions of Grapple Force Rena around most sites, does anyone else here know of it? It’s a platformer where you can grab onto distant objects like enemies or walls.

[MinimanMidget]

Someone already said Triplane Turmoil, but how about Liero? Essentially a real-time version of Worms. Also, Skyroads! Fast-paced scrolling platformer.

Edit: Wow, I almost forgot Tyrian, my favourite vertical scrolling shooter of all time.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Here's one I played that I'd love to be able to find again, except I can't remember the name. Mid 90s, I think. Same era as Loom and maybe the Gold Box D&D games (at least the early ones).

It was an isometric, tile-based (like a rogue-like, everyone moves when you do) RPG. Things I remember:

No classes--at the start you pick some things you're good (weapons, magic, etc) at but can learn others. Picking any weapon but swords was a mistake due to plot reasons later, but...

Start out an orphan in a temple/monastery that is raided by the forces of evil. The only survivor, you take a tunnel through underground dungeons to go kill the big bad. Along the way you find an intelligent sword that gains power by killing things. There's an obvious in retrospect plot twist at the end if you got the good ending.

I remember the box was black and promised "over 100 hours of gameplay".

Anyone know a name for this?

[Otomodachi]

Here's one I played that I'd love to be able to find again, except I can't remember the name. Mid 90s, I think. Same era as Loom and maybe the Gold Box D&D games (at least the early ones).

It was an isometric, tile-based (like a rogue-like, everyone moves when you do) RPG. Things I remember:

No classes--at the start you pick some things you're good (weapons, magic, etc) at but can learn others. Picking any weapon but swords was a mistake due to plot reasons later, but...

Start out an orphan in a temple/monastery that is raided by the forces of evil. The only survivor, you take a tunnel through underground dungeons to go kill the big bad. Along the way you find an intelligent sword that gains power by killing things. There's an obvious in retrospect plot twist at the end if you got the good ending.

I remember the box was black and promised "over 100 hours of gameplay".

Anyone know a name for this?

Sounds vaguely like Avernum... did you have one character, or a party? Was it Diablo-esque? Do you see it anywhere on this list?

[PhoenixPhyre]

Sounds vaguely like Avernum... did you have one character, or a party? Was it Diablo-esque? Do you see it anywhere on this list?

Thanks! I found it. It was The Summoning .

[mrcarter11]

I'm not sure it was a "good" game per say, but I lost countless hours of my childhood to Unholy War. To my knowledge it was only released on the PS1. Pretty basic story line, tech advanced society needs special resource from magical type planet, and the campaign can be played out from either side. The maps are hexagonal, units have special abilities you can activate for a certain amount of the previously mentioned special resource that you harvest on map. When units fight it changes from a board game set up to something more akin to mortal combat. Each unit has special abilities and basic attacks. The fighting portion was pretty great, you can move in any direction, and several units had vertical moment abilities, there were map hazards to avoid.
It was just a lot of silly fun to me.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm not sure it was a "good" game per say, but I lost countless hours of my childhood to Unholy War. To my knowledge it was only released on the PS1. Pretty basic story line, tech advanced society needs special resource from magical type planet, and the campaign can be played out from either side. The maps are hexagonal, units have special abilities you can activate for a certain amount of the previously mentioned special resource that you harvest on map. When units fight it changes from a board game set up to something more akin to mortal combat. Each unit has special abilities and basic attacks. The fighting portion was pretty great, you can move in any direction, and several units had vertical moment abilities, there were map hazards to avoid.
It was just a lot of silly fun to me.

+1 for Unholy War. I posted it earlier in the thread, still one of my favorites. Like a better Archon. I wish there were more games of this genre, but the only other one I was able to find that was a little more updated was Wrath Unleashed, which wasn't quite as good. It wasn't quite as "good unbalanced" (where some units were designed to kill other units, creating a rock-paper-scissors balance system) as Unholy War, the battle arenas were really stale, and you could sometimes win just by learning a really strong combo with a particular unit with little strategy.

[BeerMug Paladin]

+1 for Unholy War. I posted it earlier in the thread, still one of my favorites. Like a better Archon. I wish there were more games of this genre, but the only other one I was able to find that was a little more updated was Wrath Unleashed, which wasn't quite as good. It wasn't quite as "good unbalanced" (where some units were designed to kill other units, creating a rock-paper-scissors balance system) as Unholy War, the battle arenas were really stale, and you could sometimes win just by learning a really strong combo with a particular unit with little strategy.

Star Control (original only) was also a game of this type.

Also, I believe Archon, Star Control and Unholy War were all made by the same people, so maybe they'll eventually make a new one.

[KineticDiplomat]

Has Age of Decadence got a mention?

Extraordinary game. The type of game you finally stagger through a play through and go “wow, that was challenging and new and a pretty good story and goddam if it ever stopped to holding your hand”. Then you play again.

And realize the story isn’t just good. It’s an intricate multi layer, multi perspective, multi world state story that is thorough and well thought through, and that holy $&@! did you even realize that this entire other story was running in parallel, and that there were entire areas with vastly different lore you never saw? And that almost every situation has multiple solutions, and not just “kill, sneak, talk” but actually entire different paths?

And then you play a third time. And would you know it, there was actually a way to talk to demons of the abyss? How the hell did you miss that?

Round four. Wait. I can summon a god?

Round five. Oh. That makes so much more sense.

Round six. You can actually do that? You can sell that guy up the river to the other guy? And the only way to know is consider being a treacherous SOB to begin with, because it makes sense that there isn’t a quest prompt saying “and if, just because, you want to sell out your current boss, well of course you can?”

Round Seven. There’s a way to BE a god? It’s not just a different ending, but a different end path that you have to discover on your own?

And on. And on.

[deuterio12]

Has Age of Decadence got a mention?

I had noticed that game on steam but never got around to trying it out since I thought they were overpromising. However from your experience seems like it does deliver so I'll see if I can make some time to play it, thanks!

[jdizzlean]

Total Annihilation - pc from the late 90s i think, early RTS war game, great fun

Tribes 1: pioneering FPS game from late 90's

Leisure Suit Larry - 80s/90s game maybe, but adults only for mostly crude antics



...damn i'm getting old.