Most Underrated Game

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

So what game has stood out in the past to you guys that you really thought deserved more credit? For me this ones easy. In 2005 a Game called Area 51 came out for PS2 and PC. That is one of my favorite shooters of all time. It had a neat story to it, and the overall game play was great. It got a 6.9 Grade on Gamespot. One of the cons was bad voice acting, which is absurd. Voice overs were done by Marilyn Manson and David Duchovny. I thought this was easily a 8.5 game. Anyone else have a thought?

[img]http://hotimg16.fotki.com/a/84_157/177_183/area51.jpg[/img]

[J-man]

Bully I would say. I got this for X-mas a few years back, and that is literally all I did for winter break. Then I felt all depressed because I felt like I wasted it.
[IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/14lm4xk.jpg[/IMG]

[ravensfolife]

I like shemmue for dreamcast. Its about a kid in China that goes to Japan to avenge his fathers death. He starts out not knowing how to fight but learns things along the way. The best part is at the end you fight 50 guys at the same time....its pretty cool

[theFRANCHISE]

Suikoden II for the original PlayStation.

One of the best RPGs of all time, yet very few have heard of it because it was in limited release outside of Japan. Even people who don't like RPGs that I've let borrow it, have told me it's one of their favorite games of all-time. Very relateable story (two lifelong best friends separated, then continually finding each other again out of loyalty) set against a backdrop of a massive civil war. Lots of emotion (and humor) and just extremely well done for its time.

The 2D sprites were extremely charming, this being a 1999 release, and were a throwback to simpler times. The combat system was very user-friendly and the difficulty of the game was just right. The length was perfect, as you could essentially play forever, building your castle with over 100+ unique inhabitants (this is a game that literally has 108 playable characters, all fully developed story-wise), unlocking mini-games to play, and seeing your castle grow and change over time until you choose to advance to the final battle.

The ending was very well done, with three different ones depending on your progress and your actions at the end, and it's all very touching. I can honestly say I was more affected by this game than most people were by Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII. Love it to death, and still brings back nostalgia.

[AwakenTheDemon]

I knew you would pick a Suikoden, Franny haha. I agree with Suikoden II though (although it's now a cult hit and impossible to find cheap), and Shenmue. I really wish I hadn't left my Dreamcast at my old house (which is now sold, so I'll never get it back), I could really go for some Shenmue :\ Made me sad they ended the series early.

Personally, I loved Xenosaga. It may have been a little long winded in the cut scenes, but it was a fantastic story with some enjoyable characters. I was so pumped to see another multi-title RPG series. Sad they had to cut that series early too =\ Especially considering how fantastic Xenosaga III was.

[darklight1216]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' date='19 October 2009 - 06:10 PM' timestamp='1255990226' post='262758']
Suikoden II for the original PlayStation.[/quote]
I've heard of that one before, but I could never get my hands on a copy of it.
[quote]
The ending was very well done, with three different ones depending on your progress and your actions at the end, and it's all very touching. I can honestly say I was more affected by this game than most people were by [b]Final Fantasy VII[/b] or Final Fantasy VIII. Love it to death, and still brings back nostalgia.
[/quote]
*Gasp* Are you saying that you thought that game was [i]better[/i] than the holy grail of RPGs?

Ico is one of my all time favorite games and though it cannot truly be called underrated, it not popular.
[img]http://www.rebz.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ico-351.jpg[/img]
The sequel sold more copies (and also got excellent reviews) though, and I'm eagerly awaiting the third installation... and waiting and waiting.

[ravensfolife]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' date='19 October 2009 - 07:00 PM' timestamp='1255993203' post='262807']
I knew you would pick a Suikoden, Franny haha. I agree with Suikoden II though (although it's now a cult hit and impossible to find cheap), and Shenmue. I really wish I hadn't left my Dreamcast at my old house (which is now sold, so I'll never get it back), I could really go for some Shenmue :\ Made me sad they ended the series early.

Personally, I loved Xenosaga. It may have been a little long winded in the cut scenes, but it was a fantastic story with some enjoyable characters. I was so pumped to see another multi-title RPG series. Sad they had to cut that series early too =\ Especially considering how fantastic Xenosaga III was.
[/quote]
they made a shemmue 2 but i never got to play it

[AwakenTheDemon]

Yeah, I played both on the Dreamcast (imported the japanese version) and the Xbox version. It was great too, but man... the original just had some magic on it. I miss it haha :\

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='darklight1216' date='19 October 2009 - 07:08 PM' timestamp='1255993699' post='262821']
I've heard of that one before, but I could never get my hands on a copy of it.

*Gasp* Are you saying that you thought that game was [i]better[/i] than the holy grail of RPGs?
[/quote]
Damn straight. Forget Aerith/Aeris dying. In Suikoden II, [spoiler]your sister[/spoiler] sacrifices herself to save you. Not only that, [spoiler]your best friend[/spoiler] betrays you and becomes your main adversary, you're forced to run away from your childhood home, a kid turns mute because she's traumatized by the murder of her parents and her entire village, and various characters you grow to care about, die for their cause.

I was freaking [i]10[/i] when this game came out and even [i]I[/i] was affected by it then. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing and it really stays with you.

Check out this [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZzHwdFgWpY"]credits sequence[/url] to the game. It's flashbacks, showing how the main characters grew up, just after the two leads dove off a cliff together and promised to find each other again. The piano gets me [i]every[/i] time...

[darklight1216]

Franchise, that just sounds depressing. Now I've never so much as had watery eyes from a video game, but still... I don't know if I could take all that lol. Not that it matters, since the game isn't exactly easy to find.

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

Yeah J-Man, I have to agree. Bully was an awesome game, but it got good reviews. It was best for PS2. The xbox 360 and PC version had alot of bugs.

[beetus]

I mean it won Game of the Year in 2003, but I can't stress enough how good Knights of the Old Republic is. I'm not a big Star Wars fan, nor a big RPG fan, but I seriously lost like 9 months of my life playing this game.

That being said, my pick is Psy Ops for Xbox. Its a great 3rd person shooter where you are a dude that was an original member of a secret govt agency that trained psychic soldiers. He has amnesia so you unlock his powers as the game progresses. A great story too, the controls are easy, graphics are good for Xbox, over all 8.5.

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

Well, after some thought, THIS IS A NO BRAINER....

[img]http://www.gametab.com/images/ss/ps2/2856/box-l.jpg[/img]

BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER... PERIOD

[darklight1216]

[quote name='BohBalmerOsbohs' date='20 October 2009 - 02:39 PM' timestamp='1256063941' post='263400']
Yeah J-Man, I have to agree. Bully was an awesome game, but it got good reviews. It was best for PS2. The xbox 360 and PC version had alot of bugs.
[/quote]
The Wii version is good too.

[thewarden86]

[img]http://www.el33tonline.com/images/cache/6149.jpg[/img]

[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512W2830SFL._SL500_AA280_.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.testfreaks.com/images/products/600x400/248/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic-ii.436728.jpg[/img]

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

[quote name='thewarden86' date='20 October 2009 - 04:48 PM' timestamp='1256075293' post='263595']
[img]http://www.el33tonline.com/images/cache/6149.jpg[/img]

[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512W2830SFL._SL500_AA280_.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.testfreaks.com/images/products/600x400/248/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic-ii.436728.jpg[/img]
[/quote]


yeah, the KOTOR's were awesome! Resident evil is in my top 10, scared me when i was a child.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='BohBalmerOsbohs' date='20 October 2009 - 12:49 PM' timestamp='1256064543' post='263409']
Well, after some thought, THIS IS A NO BRAINER....

[img]http://www.gametab.com/images/ss/ps2/2856/box-l.jpg[/img]

BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER... PERIOD
[/quote]
Still play this game to this day baby!! EA cheatin mothers buyin out the player rights still pisses me off to this day. Hopefully when it runs out in 2012 2K can get back in the business, that game literally had almost no holes.

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

[quote name='Bltravens' date='20 October 2009 - 06:34 PM' timestamp='1256081682' post='263663']
Still play this game to this day baby!! EA cheatin mothers buyin out the player rights still pisses me off to this day. Hopefully when it runs out in 2012 2K can get back in the business, that game literally had almost no holes.
[/quote]


Yeah, i still play it. Its really the best.. ever.

[Perfekt]

kotor was and still is one of my favorites. Does anyone remeber the game BLACK it was great 1st person shooter. my favorite underrated game was perfect dark for the n64.

[FlaccoFlicker]

Fatal Frame series these games are awesome and scary as hell

[ZIBBY28]

Mario Kart. Hands down.

[Alexir]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' date='19 October 2009 - 06:10 PM' timestamp='1255990226' post='262758']
Suikoden II for the original PlayStation.

One of the best RPGs of all time, yet very few have heard of it because it was in limited release outside of Japan. Even people who don't like RPGs that I've let borrow it, have told me it's one of their favorite games of all-time. Very relateable story (two lifelong best friends separated, then continually finding each other again out of loyalty) set against a backdrop of a massive civil war. Lots of emotion (and humor) and just extremely well done for its time.

The 2D sprites were extremely charming, this being a 1999 release, and were a throwback to simpler times. The combat system was very user-friendly and the difficulty of the game was just right. The length was perfect, as you could essentially play forever, building your castle with over 100+ unique inhabitants (this is a game that literally has 108 playable characters, all fully developed story-wise), unlocking mini-games to play, and seeing your castle grow and change over time until you choose to advance to the final battle.

The ending was very well done, with three different ones depending on your progress and your actions at the end, and it's all very touching. I can honestly say I was more affected by this game than most people were by Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII. Love it to death, and still brings back nostalgia.
[/quote]

By far my favorite game. I actually picked up Suikoden first and then saw Suikoden 2 a year later for...$12.99 at Gamestop!

It makes final fantasy look like frogger

[AwakenTheDemon]

Damn, Suikoden 2 for $13? Man, you got lucky. I've resorted to [i]<other means>[/i] just to play it again. Since Sony apparently didn't want to release the Suikoden Bundle for the PSP stateside and doesn't seem like Suikoden 2 is going to the NA PSN Store anytime soon

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' date='23 October 2009 - 04:04 AM' timestamp='1256285051' post='265132']
Damn, Suikoden 2 for $13? Man, you got lucky. I've resorted to [i]<other means>[/i] just to play it again. Since Sony apparently didn't want to release the Suikoden Bundle for the PSP stateside and doesn't seem like Suikoden 2 is going to the NA PSN Store anytime soon
[/quote]
So have I. (Let's not discuss what those [i]<other means>[/i] are, lol)

I'm mad that Konami of America hasn't gotten behind this series despite the cult following. I feel as if it's not such an acquired taste if so many different kinds of people enjoy it. I mean, my friends that have played any of the Suikoden games are your typical jocks, rednecks, (wannabe) thugs, and nerds, and they've [i]all[/i] liked it. I have yet to meet a person who's played any of the games in the series that hasn't liked it. If they had released that Japanese-only Suikoden I & II PSP bundle stateside, I would've bought a PSP just to play those games again -- that's how much I love the series (and regret letting my copies get stolen...I managed to get the first game for cheap on eBay, but the second one, no dice.)

If Suikoden II ever comes to the PSN Store, I'll gladly drop $5 or $10 again just to support the game. I've never played Suikoden V (because I hated IV so much) but I'm thinking of buying a PS2 Slim for cheap (my fat PS2 is on its last legs) just to play it (if I get around to buying a copy...I don't trust eBay much anymore.)

[Perfekt]

does anyone who had dreamcast remeber nba2k1 and playing online. that was classic and if i still had my dreamcast i would still be trying to smash people. i agree mario kart was a classic though.

[AwakenTheDemon]

I'd highly recommend V. I can fully see and understand why you'd be suspicious after IV, but Konami really did a fantastic job turning it around after that abomination. It's probably my third favorite in the series. The story is typical Suikoden fare, but I found it still very appealing.

Ever play Radiata Stories, Franny? It's like Suikoden, in that there are over a hundred characters to recruit (175 to be exact) with their own unique requirements. I know that seems like a ridiculous number, but considering the story line branches, which cuts off some characters and opens up others. So, of course, you'd have to play twice to recruit everyone. The battle system is real time however, so you only control one character. Every character you can recruit has their own daily schedule, which sometimes weighs in on how you recruit them. It's not an amazing RPG, but it was enjoyable.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' date='23 October 2009 - 02:43 PM' timestamp='1256323387' post='265295']
I'd highly recommend V. I can fully see and understand why you'd be suspicious after IV, but Konami really did a fantastic job turning it around after that abomination. It's probably my third favorite in the series. The story is typical Suikoden fare, but I found it still very appealing.

Ever play Radiata Stories, Franny? It's like Suikoden, in that there are over a hundred characters to recruit (175 to be exact) with their own unique requirements. I know that seems like a ridiculous number, but considering the story line branches, which cuts off some characters and opens up others. So, of course, you'd have to play twice to recruit everyone. The battle system is real time however, so you only control one character. Every character you can recruit has their own daily schedule, which sometimes weighs in on how you recruit them. It's not an amazing RPG, but it was enjoyable.
[/quote]
Suikoden IV was ridiculously bad, IMO. I mean, the voice-acting was decent and I liked the size of the world, but the sailing was beyond tedious (made me NOT wanna explore the rest of the world), and the rate at which random battles occurred was SO ridiculous, I resorted to using a Code Breaker to turn them off (I don't like using cheat codes until after I've beaten a game, or if I rent one and have to return it soon and haven't gotten far.) I also didn't like how the game was set so far before the first game (I read it was set [i]150 years[/i] before the first one) whereas Suikoden V was set only a decade before the original Suikoden. There were almost NO familiar characters, so the nostalgia factor that even Suikoden III had, wasn't there. I wanted to love it, but just couldn't.

Never played Radiata Stories, but by the time it came out, I lost my interest in RPGs. I still have yet to play a new RPG that's charmed me the way the first two Suikoden games did. A lot of it has to do with nostalgia since I played those games as a kid (a freaking KID!) and loved them to death, but even looking back, I knew they were something special.

[BMOREHAWAII]

Pong was very underrated...As was tetris....

[AwakenTheDemon]

Can't believe I forgot, I would like to add the whole Shadow Hearts series for PS2 to my underrated list. Amazing, unique RPG series. Unlike most RPGs that take place in either the future or some fantastical setting, Shadow Hearts just took place in an alternate form of the year 1913 (The first took place in that year, I can't remember when 2 and 3 took place. But they all were in "modern" times) in England, North America, and China. The series featured alot of the occult, instead of the usual magic and dragons.

Shame it was released a week before Final Fantasy X, which played a part in it being horribly overlooked. It's just such an awesome change of pace from the usual RPG fare.

[BohBalmerOsbohs]

[quote name='FlaccoFlicker' date='22 October 2009 - 02:04 PM' timestamp='1256238255' post='264696']
Fatal Frame series these games are awesome and scary as hell
[/quote]


I second that