Good games that fell through the cracks.

[Treasure Silvergun]

But Puppeteer isn't a good game. Such a waste of stellar production values. I guess if you have kids it may be the best game ever, but outside of that... eeeehhhh...

I guess Rayman Legends is kinda this. It's not exactly unknown, but it was basically sent to die and didn't really generate the buzz it deserved. Origins was ultimately better, but Legends is a very solid game.

 

[collige]

This game deserved to sell loads of copies more than those other GTAs on PSP.

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I wonder how much the South Park episode affected that.

 

[Necron]

To its credit, you can find Puppeteer on PS Now. The same can't be said for Folklore.

 

[Dabi3]

Vanquish is super underrated

 

[Rotobit]

most games released for the 3DS over the past few years have been very badly marketed, by both Nintendo and third parties.

On that note:

Sure this game probably did fine enough with its target demographic, but I think a lot of older video game fans write off this series as something it isn't. Frankly it has more in common with Shenmue than it does Pokémon, and the story and world is incredibly charming. If you just like to be immersed in a fun Japanese setting (that sure tries its hardest not to be Japanese in the dub which is honestly more hilarious than anything else) you should check it out.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Soul Hackers is indeed excellent.

I think The 25th Ward and 428 slipped through the cracks in terms of visual novel games.

The original NieR has a cult fan base but nowhere near what Automata got. I also think God Hand and Killer is Dead were great. I wanted a sequel to KiD more than NMH sequels personally but oh well.

Alpha Protocol is probably the last Spy RPG ever made and it's tragic since I'd love more games like that. So good.

Metal Gear AC!D 2 deserved more love than what it got. Tactics Ogre for PSP released too late in to the PSP's life to get the love that deserved.

Growlanser 4 on PSP just never got the fan base it deserved and I'll always feel ill will towards Trails in the Sky from stealing the limelight despite Growlanser being the better game and a really solid SRPG that nobody played.

Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection (PSP) is another really solid SRPG that I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who played it.

D4 is too painful to mention.

 

[GKSilKamina]

Thank you, OP! Puppeteer needs some more love!

The DS had a lot of terrible shovelware. This game is NOT a part of it, it's a damn good platformer with a killer soundtrack and great spritework.

It had a really unique gimmick revolving around the top screen of DS being a platformer while the bottom screen is a match-3 puzzle game that you have to manage as you progress through each level.

It was a really fun game that was fairly challenging to boot, it's a shame that the development studio has basically dropped off the face of the earth.

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Henry Hatsworth was way better (and harder) than it had any right to be. One of its leads went on to do Monster Tale, another criminally underrated and forgotten DS gem.

Also, Iconoclasts is a great game and no one seems to talk about it.

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The lack of attention Iconoclasts gets is a damn shame. I played it for the first time a few months ago and loved it, and am honestly surprised at how little discussion/attention it generated (even when it first released).

 

[giallo]

Nex Machina

The best twin stick shooter that no one bought.

 

[Bladelaw]

What a charming fucking game

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This is the game that got my wife into gaming and I will forever be in its debt for that. The Sixaxis stuff wasn't great but everything else about it was just so fresh.

Also yeah Nex Machina was incredible. Damn shame there isn't a market for Housemarque games cause they're all varying states of great.
I never beat the TFB but here it is:

Spoiler

 

[monmagman]

Prey.........they should have called it Spaceshock(which is shit,lol).....or something shock at least....or anything other than Prey.

 

[CannonFodder52]

I think The 25th Ward and 428 slipped through the cracks in terms of visual novel games.

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I don't really follow the visual novel genre, so I wasn't aware those two didn't do too well. Would have thought that at least 428 made waves. Pretty sad if they actually missed their deserved attention.

Prey.........they should have called it Spaceshock(which is shit,lol).....or something shock at least....or anything other than Prey.

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Yeah, personally this is my favorite shock game since System Shock 2.
Just an incredibly well realized location and a joy to explore.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Killzone Mercenary.

Best Killzone (after 2) but because it was on Vita, it was forgotten by all other than Vita faithful

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Fuckin great game. Sony didn't put AAA games on Vita for long, but when they did they delivered.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

I wonder how much the South Park episode affected that.

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I'm still waiting for Grand Theft Auto IV for Nintendo DS.

 

[Barely Able]

Obligatory Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective post. Or the myriad of games at the end of the DS life or post 3DS launch.

 

[Betelgeuse]

Jazzpunk was hilarious and brilliant. But I never see anyone talk about it. Itching to hear if the developers are making a new game, but their website hasn't been updated in ages.

Titanfall 2 didn't really slip through the cracks per se, but it didn't see the success it should have.

 

[Deleted member 13645]

Gigantic. When it released it was immediately in the shadow of Overwatch but it was a great game. Fun and tight gameplay, graphics that seemed like a Pixar movie come to life, a ton of personality and unique designs. But no one played it and it quickly died, even the thread on here barely got any views or replies.

 

[wossname]

Prey.........they should have called it Spaceshock(which is shit,lol).....or something shock at least....or anything other than Prey.

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Psychoshock. The Prey name did it no favours, it didn't suit the game and people just bitched about it not being the cancelled Prey 2

 

[Sephzilla]

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Fuck yeah, this game was rad

 

[Asbsand]

I love Metroid and I hate to say this but Samus Returns bored me into quitting half way through.

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MercuryDream's design and approach to audio sickened me. Well the game was enjoyable enough but the new reliance on a dodge mechanic was tedious, and the crushy audio compression just ruined any semblence of atmosphere the game would've had.

 

[Weiss]

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for Nintendo DS.

An epic dungeon crawler RPG and the best game under the Shin Megami Tensei umbrella. Strange Journey is a huge breath of fresh air in the JRPG genre with its punishing difficulty and gameplay revolved around survival. At the height of the Persona 4 craze this fell through the cracks (though its big brother Devi Survivor did end up accruing a cult fanbase of its own), and more's the pity.

Miss me with that 3DS remake shit.

 

[Lukar]

The DS had a lot of terrible shovelware. This game is NOT a part of it, it's a damn good platformer with a killer soundtrack and great spritework.

It had a really unique gimmick revolving around the top screen of DS being a platformer while the bottom screen is a match-3 puzzle game that you have to manage as you progress through each level.

It was a really fun game that was fairly challenging to boot, it's a shame that the development studio has basically dropped off the face of the earth.

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The "Puzzling" part of the title keeps reminding me of Puzzle League when I look at it from a distance, and it's really fucking with me.

 

[SapientWolf]

Wizard Wars was amazing. It used a modified version of the Magicka moveset that was tuned to perfection. It had all of the skill and excitement of a traditional fighting game in a 4v4 arena format, and was cosmetics only F2P. And then they pulled the plug because the server count consistently dropped under 100.

 

[Dphex]

Nex Machina

The best twin stick shooter that no one bought.

Click to shrink...

and we are done here.

this game is easily in my top 3 of the generation, it was near perfection

 

[7thFloor]

Rain World, it fell through so hard that it hasn't been mentioned.

Panzer Dragoon Saga was probably the ultimate example of this.

It released at the tail end of the Saturn's life and had a miserably low print run, especially outside Japan. And I don't say this lightly, because it's no small feat: PDS was one of the best games of 1998. In an ideal world, we'd all be as obsessed about this game now as we are with the other RPG titans of that era...but virtually no one got to play it, and chances of a remaster are slim (though never say never, what with the PD 1&2 remakes on the horizon...)

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I started playing through this a couple of weeks ago and have since stopped to replay EarthBound. I'll most likely get back to it, but as good as the combat and art are, I do feel like this game is missing something. I think it could have used more dialogue and character interaction, more time on the ground too, what's there is pretty good though.

 

[giallo]

and we are done here.

this game is easily in my top 3 of the generation, it was near perfection

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It really was. I'd put in my top five of this generation. It'll be one pf those underrated gems that people discover in 10 years.

 

[Sola1r3]

And also...

 

[RavFiveFour]

Nier, the fact that it got a sequel is remarkable.

 

[Shark]

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I still think about this game often. Weirdly compelling and addicting multiplayer too.

 

[7thFloor]

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Comic sans on the spine, why

 

[Pargon]

I love Metroid and I hate to say this but Samus Returns bored me into quitting half way through.

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You made it further than I did. It's ugly, it runs at 30 FPS, and the new melee/free-aiming mechanics are awful.

This would have been my vote, but let's go deeper.

The best SMT game that isn't Nocturne or Persona 2, and arguably has the best voice work Atlus USA ever did. All the demons and major NPCs have voices, and they're all fantastic. Take that, Devil Survivor.

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I need to get back to this. I'm not sure why I stopped -I think other, bigger games came along- but I really enjoyed what I've played of it so far.
I love the late '90s feel of the game, since it's a port/remake of a Saturn game that was never released in the West until the 3DS version.
And the soundtrack! Great work from Shoji Meguro as always, but again, very late '90s and dark/brooding.

 

[lightning16]

Looks like another thread to point out that Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a good game and has the best battle system of any SMT-related game I've played.

Every Wii U exclusive that hasn't been ported to the Switch yet is a solid answer, though. Nintendo released a lot of games on the Wii U and very late on the 3DS that were good and were just completely ignored.

 

[werezompire]

Looks like another thread to point out that Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a good game and has the best battle system of any SMT-related game I've played.

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Yeah, it's basically an excellent Persona spin-off that hardly any Persona fans have played.

 

[remanutd]

Resistance 3.

 

[Cyanity]

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Bought and beat this game the day it came out. Super solid third person shooter that you can get for dirt cheap nowadays. Might just go install it again for a fun time.

 

[skeezx]

Nex Machina

The best twin stick shooter that no one bought.

Click to shrink...

everybody caught on, unfortunately the 'everybody' sample size in this case is small

released like ten years ago during the retro revival with stuff like geometry wars, super stardust ect it would've gotten its due. but unfortunately that movement kind of puttered out

 

[BadWeddingSpeech]

Alpha Protocol is probably the last Spy RPG ever made and it's tragic since I'd love more games like that. So good.

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This game is so freakin good. Its about time a studio takes another shot at a true spy RPG.

Sleeping Dogs is another one. That game is great.

 

[Braaier]

Prey.........they should have called it Spaceshock(which is shit,lol).....or something shock at least....or anything other than Prey.

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Was waiting for this post.

Yeah, it's fantastic. I completed it a couple of weeks ago thanks to Gamepass. I don't know how I overlooked it when it released. It's a shame it did so poorly. Would have loved a sequel with how they set up the ending. Sigh.

 

[score01]

I found Puppeteer long and over stayed it's welcome. Started great and really charming but they should have trimmed the fat. Felt like it was never going to end.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Was waiting for this post.

Yeah, it's fantastic. I completed it a couple of weeks ago thanks to Gamepass. I don't know how I overlooked it when it released. It's a shame it did so poorly. Would have loved a sequel with how they set up the ending. Sigh.

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Pretty much like every Arkane game ever. Nobody buys anything they make but everyone thinks the games are good when they get it for 5 bucks

 

[Braaier]

Pretty much like every Arkane game ever. Nobody buys anything they make but everyone thinks the games are good when they get it for 5 bucks

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Haha, that's sad but funny. I'm guilty too. I played for "free" on Gamepass. But I would have paid full price at launch if I realized how great it was.

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

Prey 2017. One of the greats.

FUCK. Also Nex Machina. Hell yeah.

 

[Haze]

I've never even heard of the puppeteer so yeah wow.

I'm going to echo Alpha Protocol since because of its combat shortcomings it was not well received at launch. But that game has some of the best use of dialogue options in the genre and an excellent script.

 

[crazillo]

Could second some of the games mentioned, especially Puppeteer and Ever Oasis.

I'd argue Recore fits in this category. The game released too early leading to a lower metacritic, but the definitive edition runs pretty well and since then it has become a really solid game! It's the closest you will get to a AA non-Metroid Metroid game. The game is a nice mix of jump'n'run, puzzle solving and combat.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

By now, Okami speaks for itself; it's an utterly brilliant and, for me, nearly perfect game in every way. It has a few minor blemishes indicative of the console generation it came out in (some overly long cutscenes, especially at the beginning, some of which can't be skipped) but they are entirely overshadowed by the sheer beauty, artistry, and phenomenal gameplay that defines the rest of the experience. It also has a compelling story that takes you on a long (some would say overlong, but I disagree), winding journey through a fanciful representation of ancient Japan that ultimately feels genuinely epic in scope and, oh yeah, it boasts one of the best soundtracks of all time -- and I'm not just talking about games. Okami is my second-favorite game of all time and the fact that it sold terribly is something everyone who didn't buy it should feel awful about. :P

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was a brilliant game and definitely Ninja Theory's best as far as I'm concerned. A wonderfully realized post-apocalyptic world, a deeply intriguing story with a REALLY good ending (though it's left open for a sequel that will never come >_<), and truly likable, relatable characters. The overall gameplay and combat were a bit basic and played it kind of safe, but I still found it perfectly fun. I LOVED this game to death and basically no one played it; even fewer bought it. :(

 

[Bedameister]

I think Ashen should have gotten more attention than it did. It's a fantastic game.
It being an EGS exclusive on PC (as far as I'm aware) and not releasing on PS4 or Switch kind of made people over-look this gem.

 

[Professor Beef]

Saw some people mention Godhand. It didn't fall through any cracks, it was just bad.

 

[Wood Man]

Puppeteer is fantastic. I was lucky enough to pick it up on PS plus many years ago.

I'll add Captian America: Super Soldier for 360/PS3. A lot of people overlook these cheap movie tie-in games, but this one was actually pretty good. Combat is basically stolen from the Arkham games but it works well. It's got a little bit of Metroidvania map thing going on where you revisit areas to find previously unattainable power ups. And throwing Caps sheild feels good.

 

[FallenGrace]

Panzer Dragoon Saga was probably the ultimate example of this.

It released at the tail end of the Saturn's life and had a miserably low print run, especially outside Japan. And I don't say this lightly, because it's no small feat: PDS was one of the best games of 1998. In an ideal world, we'd all be as obsessed about this game now as we are with the other RPG titans of that era...but virtually no one got to play it, and chances of a remaster are slim (though never say never, what with the PD 1&2 remakes on the horizon...)

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Pre-ordered it after getting to play the whole first disc for free from the UK Sega Saturn Magazine. Still one of my favorite games and memories though it's been years since I played it last. Sega at their best.

I see Haunting Ground and Puppeteer mentioned to. Great choices. I raise:

Pretty cool Giant robot strategy RPG on the PS2. I doubt even a lot of people on here have heard of it.

 

[IsaOfTheWorlds]

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger has often been criticized by professional review outlets as "too conventional" for the collectathon/3D platformer genre, but has had a somewhat decent cult following since its release. While it isn't standout at all mechanically, it has a lot of personality and style, and the actual design philosophy makes the game feel fantastic and perhaps more fun to play than the games it's supposed to be a knock-off of.

Fun levels that are sprawling and explorative but focused enough to keep you from getting frustratingly lost, thousands of collectibles each with unique missions tied to them, the game is a tour de force of exploration-platformers.

 

[MP!]

Hey I worked on puppeteer ... This is the first time I've ever seen/heard anyone talk about it/ admit that they know it exists.
Personally it was a nifty idea that got kind of boring.