The Fancy Bastard Forum

I would have to say that for this day and age, the entire MYST franchise in underrated, because hardly anyone in the industry views MYST as more than a joke

XIII...

Xenosaga was an excellent sci-fi RPG series with major philosophical overtones. It was supposed to be a six-part series but they had to compress parts 3-6 into one game because the sales just weren't there. It was really ambitious, perhaps to a fault but I found it endearing.

Mystic Defender on the Sega Genesis. 'Twas a sidescroller where you played the generic hero-goes-after-captured-princess bit,but the environments you traveled and enemies you faced were so surreal and different that I couldn't help but love it. To a degree, it was like Mega-Man, but with magic and LSD.

Toejam & Earl. It had a pretty good cult following, but was never really what could be called a hit.

I don't know if its considered underrated, but Heavenly Sword is one of my favorites.

Toejam and Earl was alot of fun, I liked the hidden hot tub level, though the sequel "Panic on Funkatron" was an absolute travesty. And now that I think about it one of my favourite games of all times was comix zone on the mega drive, i'll have to look into mystic defender sounds kind of cool.

Posted By: Not MandatoryI don't know if its considered underrated, but Heavenly Sword is one of my favorites.Book: If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of Hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

Yeah, Heavenly Sword was one of those that went from overhyped to underrated. I really enjoyed it too, even though I haven't beat the final boss yet.

Twing twang!

Posted By: Mike Brady

Posted By: Not MandatoryI don't know if its considered underrated, but Heavenly Sword is one of my favorites.Book: If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of Hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

Yeah, Heavenly Sword was one of those that went from overhyped to underrated. I really enjoyed it too, even though I haven't beat the final boss yet.

Twing twang!In Soviet Russia, Hoop-Dee-Doo reviews you!

It took me FOR-EV-ER to beat that game! I didn't mind though because its still one of the most beautiful things I've ever had in my eyes!

Posted By: his holinessToejam and Earl was alot of fun, I liked the hidden hot tub level, though the sequel "Panic on Funkatron" was an absolute travesty. And now that I think about it one of my favourite games of all times was comix zone on the mega drive, i'll have to look into mystic defender sounds kind of cool.

Toejam and Earl was pretty awesome but the music got a little annoying after a while.

Surprisingly the Ren & Stimpy game for Genesis was AMAZING. If my memory serves me right I believe it had a two player co-op mode that rivals that of Halo.

I'll say that everything I played on my Sega Saturn was underrated.

Vagrant Story on Playstation was brilliant, it got rave reviews but absolute noone else played it as far as i can tell apart from me and one other friend. I've spoken to people about their favourite playstation games and mentioning Vagrant Story always gets a blank stare.

Posted By: his holinessAnd now that I think about it one of my favourite games of all times was comix zone on the mega drive

Wasn't Comix Zone the one where you play as the guy sucked into his own comic? And he had a rat? I loved that game!

Genesis: Star Trek: TNG, Super Monoco Grand Prix (I was the only one I knew who had ever heard of it)
Playstation: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Beyond Good & Evil definitely
Comix Zone was pretty awesome too
Would be remiss not to mention Shenmue too

I'll second XIII. It makes a great LAN party game.

How about Gun? A little glitchy here and there, but I had a surprising amount of fun with it, and enjoyed the storyline for whatever reason.

I know that you've mentioned the TNG game before in the castcast, it does sound pretty cool as an idea I just can't see the execution living up to it.

Posted By: TedReed
How about Gun? A little glitchy here and there, but I had a surprising amount of fun with it, and enjoyed the storyline for whatever reason.Wait, what?

YES. I would kill for more Open World Western Games, there's so much potential there. imagine a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-like game set in the wild west, that would be pretty cool

Beyond Good and Evil was amazing and I can't wait for the sequel.

Anything Tim Schaffer does is underrated and amazing.

For all the folks talking about Gun i highly highly recommend Red Dead Revolver on the original Xbox. Probably the best Western game ever made, decent story, excellent mechanics. Not big open world but there's a hub town and from there you can go on missions or get involved in quick draw contests. It really was excellent, made by Rockstar if i remember correctly.

Red Dead Revolver

I also highly recommend Giantbomb for all your video game wiki type needs it really is fantastic.

Posted By: FerrosFor all the folks talking about Gun i highly highly recommend Red Dead Revolver on the original Xbox. Probably the best Western game ever made, decent story, excellent mechanics. Not big open world but there's a hub town and from there you can go on missions or get involved in quick draw contests. It really was excellent, made by Rockstar if i remember correctly.

Red Dead Revolver

I also highly recommend Giantbomb for all your video game wiki type needs it really is fantastic.Never go with a hippie to a second location.

The cover of that game always reminds me of Roland of Gilead...and I'm a giant weirdo.

Posted By: his holinessI know that you've mentioned the TNG game before in the castcast, it does sound pretty cool as an idea I just can't see the execution living up to it.

It was only my diehard TNG fandom that kept me playing it. I also had a Star Trek Intereactive Encyclopedia CD Rom that never actually worked but I kept it for almost 10 years hoping some computer would be able to play it.

Posted By: FerrosFor all the folks talking about Gun i highly highly recommend Red Dead Revolver on the original Xbox. Probably the best Western game ever made, decent story, excellent mechanics. Not big open world but there's a hub town and from there you can go on missions or get involved in quick draw contests. It really was excellent, made by Rockstar if i remember correctly.

Red Dead Revolver

I also highly recommend Giantbomb for all your video game wiki type needs it really is fantastic.Never go with a hippie to a second location.

I played Red Dead to death back in the PS2 days, incredible game. There's a second Red Dead in development for the PS3...

There's also a Star Trek MMO in development if anyone's interested...

Star Trek MMO equals klingons or bust!

"Crazy Taxi" - big convertible cabs tear ass around fake San Francisco-like city as the Offspring blare from your stereo. Just too much fun to be legal (or popular).

Posted By: FerrosStar Trek MMO equals klingons or bust!Never go with a hippie to a second location.

I'm excited for this, but since the switch to Cryptic as the developer... let's just say that I liked Perceptual look a lot better. Cryptic's character models just looks too cartoony.

Posted By: Fluffrick"Crazy Taxi" - big convertible cabs tear ass around fake San Francisco-like city as the Offspring blare from your stereo. Just too much fun to be legal (or popular).Oy, with the poodles already...

I played this on my brother's Dreamcast until I broke his driving wheel. LOVED IT.

hook the move video game and power rangers for the snes. Aladdin for the snes. that one xbox release title i cant remember but its a gameshow deathmatch thingy...WHACKED! thats what it was called. ADVENT RISING DEUS EX

I loved Deus Ex too although I'm not sure that it was underrated, per se. I do think more people should have played it though.

Posted By: Diggithook the move video game and power rangers for the snes. Aladdin for the snes. that one xbox release title i cant remember but its a gameshow deathmatch thingy...WHACKED! thats what it was called. ADVENT RISING DEUS EX

I had the power rangers one on the genesis it was actually pretty fucking sweet if i'm honest.

<Bill>Fixed. Make sure you "Format comments as" "Html" next time.</Bill>

Posted By: Diggithook the move video game and power rangers for the snes. Aladdin for the snes. that one xbox release title i cant remember but its a gameshow deathmatch thingy...WHACKED! thats what it was called. ADVENT RISING DEUS EX

I played Power Rangers on the SNES for the longest time, as a kid, but I could never really beat it.

Crackdown. It sold a ton of copies based on the Halo 3 Beta Key and then everyone turned their copies in at GameStop and quickly forgot about it. It's one of the most addictive and fun open world games outside of GTA. The jump orb is one of the most addictive items to collect ever made even worse by the fact it improves your character.

Odd World Stranger's Wrath. Only xbox exclusive game I ever liked.

Posted By: AaronCrackdown. It sold a ton of copies based on the Halo 3 Beta Key and then everyone turned their copies in at GameStop and quickly forgot about it. It's one of the most addictive and fun open world games outside of GTA. The jump orb is one of the most addictive items to collect ever made even worse by the fact it improves your character.You try the best you can. The best you can is good enough.

I rented Crackdown about 4 months ago, and I could never really get into it. Controls felt to loose for me.

Armored core series. People don't like it because the controls are hard to learn on the older titles, and the story is minimal, and the graphics were only updated once on the ps2, and there aren't actual people in the game until about the eighth title, and it can be insanely difficult, but it's absolutely my favorite series, particularly AC3. The gameplay is phenomenal and the customization breathtaking. Unfortunately I don't own a next gen system (still spending all my game money on genesis cartridges) but if anyone out there has a PS3 and no idea what to do with it, AC4 is your man.

Posted By: Arcys
I rented Crackdown about 4 months ago, and I could never really get into it. Controls felt to loose for me.

I tried to play it a few times, seemed like they built poorly done adult gameplay around a kid-level story.

Tribes 2. Great game, no servers these days. Also, the game was released corrupted, so you had to add a specific command to open the online multiplayer. At least, I did.

I'll throw Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway out there because it's not selling nearly as well as it should. It was the biggest surprise of the year for me. I liked the previous Brothers in Arms games but I was burned out on WWII games and was not really looking forward to it. It's the only game I've played through multiple times this year.

Posted By: turtlesorpenguinsOdd World Stranger's Wrath. Only xbox exclusive game I ever liked.

Oddworld and Munch's Odyssey were pretty good, too.

Posted By: Mike BradyXenosaga was an excellent sci-fi RPG series with major philosophical overtones. It was supposed to be a six-part series but they had to compress parts 3-6 into one game because the sales just weren't there. It was really ambitious, perhaps to a fault but I found it endearing.Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

I'll drink to that. I also really enjoyed The Longest Journey and the sequel, Dreamfall.

Many of you are naming games that were critical darlings, but simply didn't perform sales-wise, which I wouldn't necessarily consider "underrated". But if guess if I were to pick a game under that description, the quintessential one would be Grim Fandango.

I always hearken back to that game, because it influenced me as a gamer so much, if just because I was so young and still developing. I remember the first time I actually tried it, it was from a PC Gamer demo disc. I actually hadn't played any adventure games before that time, being more of a console gamer than anything else. It was just a fluke, or maybe even boredom that made me play the demo, and even though it didn't blow me away, it stuck with me for some reason. And while shopping with my dad, on an impulse, I bought the game, and have been thankful for that decision ever since. I'd like to say it was some sort of adolescent "gamer sense", but... no wait, let's go with that. Seriously though, it's just that good.


As for a game which was only good/mediocre score-wise, but I still liked... one would be Star War Republic Commando, which I thought was fantastic from a visual stand-point, and had some solid, albeit fairly by the numbers, gameplay. I think it's a game that's in sore need of a sequel, as crazy as that may sound (more shooters?!).

And not to break my Lucas Arts plug, I actually liked the KotORII more than the first one. And not just because I'm a dirty munchkin, and liked the 'epic' levels and prestige classes, but also because of the more interesting (imo) characters. Kreia alone made that game.

Posted By: TarmanydynMany of you are naming games that were critical darlings, but simply didn't perform sales-wise, which I wouldn't necessarily consider "underrated".

If the critics unanimously hate a game it most likely is a bad game and is underrated to no one. To me something is underrated because it was critically well liked but that didn't translate into actual sales. These are games that deserve a second chance by the gamers because they were overlooked the first time by consumers.

Posted By: Aaron

Posted By: TarmanydynMany of you are naming games that were critical darlings, but simply didn't perform sales-wise, which I wouldn't necessarily consider "underrated".

If the critics unanimously hate a game it most likely is a bad game and is underrated to no one. To me something is underrated because it was critically well liked but that didn't translate into actual sales. These are games that deserve a second chance by the gamers because they were overlooked the first time by consumers.You try the best you can. The best you can is good enough.

OK, I hate to be pedantic but... to take the definition of underrated:

"To rate too low; underestimate." - TheFreeDictionary

A game that's "rated" highly, or in my words, "critical darlings", wouldn't be underrated if only a small number of people enjoyed it. It would more likely be appropriately rated, but simply under appreciated.

Further more, your opening statement is a false premise. Something that's liked by few, but rated lowly by critics is the very definition of something being underrated. You can't assume no one will like it simply because critics don't.

OK, I'm done...

I bet you're real fun at parties Tarmanydyn...

I also second BIA:HH. Very very good game, it got okish reviews and didn't sell as well as expected but it's definitely a fun worthwhile experience.

Posted By: FerrosI bet you're real fun at parties Tarmanydyn...

Being the oft sober one, I usually play ref during drinking games.

I screw the people I don't like :), so I guess the amount of fun you have with me just depends on how fond I am of you.

Ok, well the general public tends to use underrated like they use under appreciated. I really don't care about actual definition.

Posted By: sQUEAKYfOAMpEANUtTribes 2. Great game, no servers these days. Also, the game was released corrupted, so you had to add a specific command to open the online multiplayer. At least, I did.

Just saw this yesterday, http://www.tribesnext.com/, haven't tried it out yet - but looks like they got it so you can play tribes 2 online again.

The wild arms games are pretty good, and have gone completely under the radar. AlterCodeF for ps2 (remake of Wild Arms 1 from psx) being my favorite. The later games aren't as story intensive, but the mechanics are pretty fun.

Posted By: FrackTruckThe wild arms games are pretty good, and have gone completely under the radar. AlterCodeF for ps2 (remake of Wild Arms 1 from psx) being my favorite. The later games aren't as story intensive, but the mechanics are pretty fun.

I'll have to second this choice. The Wild Arms games were always solid choices in a sea of JRPG sadness.

Posted By: AaronThe Wild Arms games were always solid choices in a sea of JRPG sadness.

See, that's exactly why I never played them. I was too scared because they were Japanese. What a shame. I'll have to check them out sometime.

speaking of JRPGs, all the nippon Ichi games (disgaea series, la pucelle, makai kingdom, etc) are always good if not complete time sucks, though good luck finding the earlier games that fit the following criteria, A: in a store, B: Relatively Cheap, C: in good condition

Posted By: FrackTruckspeaking of JRPGs, all the nippon Ichi games (disgaea series, la pucelle, makai kingdom, etc) are always good if not complete time sucks, though good luck finding the earlier games that fit the following criteria, A: in a store, B: Relatively Cheap, C: in good condition

I got Disgaea for the DS and it hasn't left the cartridge slot since.