Completely underrated games

Not just "slightly" underrated games. Completely underrated games that could win GOTY awards, that could also be objectively argued to be better than most mainstream games. I shall start.

- Arcanum, Of Steamworks and Magicka Obscura: depth of gameplay, replayability, immersion in environment, and again, depth of gameplay.

- Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age: amazing graphics, beautiful soundtrack, long nonrepetitive gameplay, fun puzzles, pure epicness.

- Deus Ex: depth of gameplay alone wins over everything.

- Braid: for the first time ever, I'm actually going to recommend this game because, one, it's a difficult game with challenging puzzles and, two, its story is actually better than that of a mainstream novel. Yeah. That good.

- Dwarf Fortress: superior depth of gameplay over everything else combined, and a nice acoustic main theme that wins over a ton of midi soundtracks on its own; dynamic world offers incredible depth of gameplay.

- Civilization IV: yes, I know, it got critical acclaim, but so did most of the games above; no, this one is here because so few people actually play it (as far as I know); dynamic world, gameplay depth, and just sheer fun.

And for the hell of it, I'll add the most overrated games.

- Fallout 3. Great game, yes. GOTY, maybe, since all the other games in the same year were crap. But it's not better than Fallout 1&2 nor is it better than Arcanum.

- Oblivion. Fun. Nice graphics. GOTY, maybe. But not nearly as good as its obscure predecessors, which don't even merit my list.

- Mass Effect 1&2. Contrived storyline. Incredible predictability. For what it's worth, the gameplay is fun (if not repetitive). "Choices" are dull and superficial.

- Pokemon. Fun. But no. Not anywhere near where it should be today. (I have my flame resistant armor on in anticipation of attacks).

As for Baldur's Gate 2, I tried to get into the game. I really did. For some reason, the system just irked me 10x more than Dwarf Fortress did. Don't ask me why. However, I shan't rate it, simply because I haven't played it yet.

 

Your underrated games have all received critical acclaim.

 

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One of a kind soundtrack, one of a kind atmosphere, one of a kind experience.

 

Not underrated by game rating sites. That I concede. What I mean is, underrated by people. By other gamers. Edit: let me rephrase. Non-mainstream games.

 

Mainstream gamers are sheep, they are told what to like, you know games like Cock of Duty 4 and stuff. They need to play some underground games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, you know games that not many people have heard of.

 

Why do they need to? From what I've heard, playing games is done for recreation and for fun. If people find COD 4 fun then what's the problem?

 

Mainstream gamer are we?

 

Yes. I play the old treasures occasionally, but I find that I have played them to death. Like starting a new game on Arcanum feels more of a job than it does a bit of fun. The same goes for most of the old greats.
I'm quite happy these days with a bit of WoW, a smoke and a drink.

 

The beauty of Baldur's Gate lies in the characters and the interaction between them. Many people have at least one character they love to death, because of the variety, like the giant ranger whose companion is a miniature giant space hamster, or the evil megalomaniac mage who (in the second game) transforms himself into a woman by accident.

While the same has been said about Planescape: Torment, I find that PS:T just doesn't have the same appeal BG does.

 

Blasphemer.

Umbreon, hit him with Payback!

 

Not really sure where you expect Pokemon to be at this point.

 

Pokemon Black & White are shaping up to be an amazing game. Though it's obvious they're running out of ideas for new Pokemon given the looks of the sprites. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing given that they are coming out with unique typing combinations in Dragon/Electric, Psychic/Fire (one that I've been waiting for for a long time), and what appears to be a Grass/Fighting type have been revealed so far.

Triple Battles, Rotations Battles, new abilities and moves, locations unique to each game, seasonal affects on the various routes in the game opening new areas, as well as the C Gear, High Link, and Dream World are all coming together and may very well make this game the best in the series.

The new types, abilities, and moves will greatly change competitive battling completely overhauling the various competitive tiers (Uber, OU, UU, and NU) in a way that the physical/special split of Diamond and Pearl did 4 years ago.

The pokemon available ingame seems to be like how Ruby and Sapphire were set up as well. Most of the pokemon will come from the Isshu region and not have a huge amount of Kanto or Johto pokemon like D/P/Pt or even G/S/C had.

 

As long as I can still beat the game with my level 100 Rattata I don't mind what it has.

 

I beat it the 4th generation games with a level 100 Abra so I don't see why it shouldn't be the same in the 5th generation of games. I just hope that they finally make a Dark type gym. And an Electric type Elite 4.

 

I stopped playing pokemon after I got the first 150 monsters (mew was a special case). When I saw that there were 100 more in the next game, I was done. Not interested in a sequel.

 

They'll never be able to top the experience of the original 150. I played I think it was Silver when it came out and I was impressed with it but by the time they brought out the other ones I was a bit too old to be playing Pokemon.

 

I liked Pokemon when it was underground -- back then there were only five monsters, and four of 'em were just palette swaps. Then it went mainstream and fucking sold out, maaaaan. Fuckin' profit whores, all wantin' to stave off bankruptcy and pay their rent on time.

There aren't really any undiscovered video game gems out there anymore. Modern nerds and their endlessly cross-referenced lists are way too thorough for anything to slip through the cracks for long.

 

I think the reason they can't top the first 150 is because we're not in the 5-10 age bracket any more. I bet all the new children get really excited about the new pokemon.


Actually, so do I.

 

So do I. I have all 493, can't wait for it to go up to 600ish. I was very angry at the american red and blue on the original gameboy. If you caught all 150 you only received a certificate in celadon city. But in the japanese red and green if you caught all 150 the game designer in celadon gave you a level 5 mew.

 

I'm quite surprised at how little mention there seems to be of indie games. Anyone ever heard about Avernum?