What is your hidden gem of last gen?

[MusicProposition]

This is a thread specifically for games we saw getting released, being very good or special in some way, but then disappearing from gaming discourse. 'Hidden gem' does not strictly mean that the titles are unpopular or smaller productions. Its more about titles that, in your opinion, didn't get enough acknowledgement for what they may contributed to modern gaming, or just unpopular last gen titles you love. But this was too long of an explanation to put it in the thread title.

My pick is Batman Arkham Knight. This is bit of a stretch because it is a big budget AAA title, but when this game got released, the poor and unstable PC port and some gameplay ideas with the bat mobile dragged public perception down by a fair amount. I value this game for many things though, take a look at the graphics for example. Arkham Knight released in 2015 and it still looks great with all its rain and lighting effects. When people mention their favorite games from 2010-2020 graphics-wise, this title rarely shows up. In addition to that, I think that it delivered on presentation and dramaturgy, but also the fluid interplay of gameplay elements, traversing the open world and the seamless transition between gameplay and in-game cutscenes were things I rarely experienced in other games of that time frame.

Do you know similar games that you played and witnessed getting forgotten?

 

[stoke1863]

Rayman legends! I don't know if ERA slept on it but it was the best 2d platformer of all time, so inventive and unique.

Sorry but Arkham Knight absolutely killed the franchise for me, those forced batmobile sections and extremely padded and predicable story really grated on me.

 

[Khanimus]

My pick is Batman Arkham Knight

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Wut

The term 'hidden gem' is now utterly meaningless

 

[KOfLegend]

Rayman legends! I don't know if ERA slept on it but it was the best 2d platformer of all time, so inventive and unique.

Sorry but Arkham Knight absolutely killed the franchise for me, those forced batmobile sections and extremely padded and predicable story really grated on me.

Click to shrink...

Rayman Legends is legitimately my favorite 2D platformer of all time and one of my favorite games in general. A 10/10 all the way through.

 

[Centzontotochtin]

It's 13 Sentinels

 

[G_O]

Is a hidden gem in terms of games, one that many hadn't heard about?

Batman??

 

[LinguisticGoblin]

Invisible, Inc is one of the most smartly designed stealth games I've ever played and I don't think I've seen it discussed in any context since Austin Walker went to bat for it at GiantBomb's game of the year awards in 2015. Doubly strange because Klei are a relatively popular indie studio/publisher and I'd expect to see more discussion around one of the best titles in their catalogue.

Edit: Actually, looking at the steam review count it probably still sold fairly well despite the low amount of discussion/recognition I've seen the last few years - so maybe the "hidden" part has less of a case than I thought. In that case I'd have to five the shout-out to Dustforce instead, which is in my opinion one of the best 2D platformers ever made (and still has <1k reviews on Steam after 8 years so I'm *fairly* sure it's relatively obscure still)

 

[Sorel]

Furi by The Game Bakers.

Incredible fine tuned combat accompanied by a head banging soundtrack made by the like of Danger, Carpenter Brut and other as much deserving of praise.

Buy it and play it. GOTY 2016 without a doubt.

 

[Soap]

Plague tale is a mid-tier game like Hellblade that never received the same acclaim despite arguably being as good. I just hope the game being on several subscription models will have more people try it.

 

[MGPanda]

Sayonara: Wild Hearts, or GreedFall if that can count as "hidden". Spectacular games.

 

[Bundy]

Until Dawn

By far the best choice-based game.

 

[NediarPT88]

Grand Theft Auto V

But seriously now, these 3 games are really good and I wish they got more attention overall:

Save 67% on Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom on Steam

A legendary series returns with a grand new adventure! Enjoy a colorful action-adventure game made alongside Ryuichi Nishizawa, creator of the original Wonder Boy in Monster World series.

store.steampowered.com

SteamWorld Dig 2 on Steam

SteamWorld Dig is back! Dig deep, gain riches and unearth the terrors of the underworld in this platform mining adventure influenced by classic Metroidvania style games.

store.steampowered.com

Hyper Light Drifter on Steam

Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies.

store.steampowered.com

I think HLD is probably the less "hidden" of the 3. The combat is really cool and I enjoyed the overall tone of the game, gave me a "mysterious" feeling all the way through.

Monster Boy has a awesome pacing and it's a great mix of platforming, exploration, puzzles and combat. It has a good lenght too (~20h).

SteamWorld Dig 2 is all about exploration and upgrading your character. The game loop is very addicting (mining->go back to surface to upgrade->mining again) and the traversal mechanics were the highlight of the game for me.

Edit:

Furi by The Game Bakers.

Incredible fine tuned combat accompanied by a head banging soundtrack made by the like of Danger, Carpenter Brut and other as much deserving of praise.

Buy it and play it. GOTY 2016 without a doubt.

Click to shrink...

This is also a great one.

Has one of my favorite soundtracks.

 

[Drigon87]

Jamestown. It's a good entry-level bullet hell shmup with Metal Slug's aesthetic.

 

[MusicProposition]

Wut

The term 'hidden gem' is now utterly meaningless

Click to shrink...

Is a hidden gem in terms of games, one that many hadn't heard about?

Batman??

Click to shrink...

I chose the term 'hidden gem' for the title, but as I elaborated, this also means games that were great in one or multiple aspects, but that may don't get attention nowadays for what they've contributed. However, this is only my perception from social media and forums, maybe you did find more substantial comments on Arkham Knight lately – I didn't. But this is why I wanted to start this conversation.

 

[Adrifi]

Sunset Overdrive because no one played it (until it hit Games with Gold and Game Pass, I guess).

 

[cowbanana]

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The masterful, hidden GOTY of 2020.

I'll also second Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Such an amazing game.

 

[DannyClash]

Prey 2017 is a goat

 

[NotLiquid]

My head hurts having to think of what's "last gen" since there's at least a 3 year head start Nintendo's had that constitute "current gen" despite the fact that Microsoft and Sony are only now going fresh into a new gen.

I feel it'd be kind of cheating to mention anything after 2017 so I'll say my hidden gem was Downwell.

 

[Biteren]

for me it was binding of isaac, that game super suprised me

 

[DJwest]

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is one of the best games of the generation. There's a problematic character who pissed off a lot of people but it really is a fantastic game.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The masterful, hidden GOTY of 2020.

Click to shrink...

There's nothing hidden about this game, you guys can't stop talking about it lol

 

[OddRonald]

That Mad Max game was fucking cool

 

[SilentEagle]

A Plague Tale, Sunset Overdrive, The Evil Within 2, Vampyr

 

[Khanimus]

I chose the term 'hidden gem' for the title, but as I elaborated, this also means games that were great in one or multiple aspects, but that may don't get attention nowadays for what they've contributed. However, this is only my perception from social media and forums, maybe you did find more substantial comments on Arkham Knight lately – I didn't. But this is why I wanted to start this conversation.

Click to shrink...

Lol you're describing a game that fell by the wayside because its controversial decisions left a sour note on a trilogy's closing chapter, and the studio went silent for 5 years. But Arkham Knight was one of the absolute biggest blockbuster games of the year when it came out.

That's not what a hidden gem is. Nobody is scrolling a store page going "Tell me more about this... Bat Man...." People know what that game is, just from hearing the name - a metric fuckton of people played it.

You're right that people don't bring it up, but that's because you're more than likely to garner responses about how the Batmobile sections killed a lot of the momentum, or how the facade of this empty city has finally crumbled under the ever-increasingly bonkers narrative logic attempting to justify it for the fourth game in a series.

Hell, the Batman Telltale games are a better candidate for describing a 'hidden gem'

 

[Jimnymebob]

I don't really know if i've played any that could be counted as hidden gems. Like it's at the point now where indies are just as popular as AAA stuff, so it's hard to find some overlooked title.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Affordable Space Adventures should have been bundled with the Wii U.

 

[strideredge]

Pocket Card Jockey is the best game made by gamefreak.

 

[Transistor]

The Outer Wilds

One of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

 

[Ravenwraith]

I think everyone has an idea of how good Titanfall 2 is so I feel weird bringing it up but it's probably my favorite FPS I've played and that's coming off some amazing releases this gen. It's simple, but the momentum mechanics and the satisfaction of the shooting feel so good. It reminds me how important it is to get the core shit right before anything else.

 

[Pablosamo]

Who is this Batman dude you're talking about?




Guess A Way Out

 

[Pablosamo]

Who is this Batman dude you're talking about?




Guess A Way Out

 

[StereoVSN]

OP, you have Batman as your hidden gem? 😅. If so there is this niche game about a fellow who dresses up in a Spider costume and likes to swing from tall buildings using self made spider web shooter! You can call him ... Spider-Man.

We even had a whole thread here before the game released on how niche this character is and how bad sales are going to be!

Ok, on a more serious note, Tokyo Xanadu Ex+ for PS4 (or just vanilla Tokyo Xanadu for Vita) is my pick. It's a very solid modern world RPG made by Falcom with "Trails of" x Persona x Ys vibe, yet nobody really played it and it's never talked about. Yet it's one of my favorite Falcon games and it's rare to see modern world RPGs.

Combat is solid and somewhat similar to latter Ys games, characters are pretty well done, plot is interesting and dungeon design while simple, still serves the purpose quite well. It's also usually like $10-12 on sale and it's on Steam as well. Game is about 30-40 hours long so it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

I highly recommend it.

 

[Exile In Mudville]

Heat Signature's always going to be my answer here, especially after Gunpoint got more attention in the PC indie press.

I also wish more people were into LET IT DIE, but I get the resistance to it, whatever.

Fight The Dragon did more than what Minecraft Dungeons did, but better and 6 years earlier.

House Flipper did what Euro Truck Simulator 2 and Car Mechanic Simulator did to overcome serious genre trappings but doesn't really get the same respect for it.

And Elsinore did time loops better than most other hyped time loop games.

 

[CannonFodder52]

Hmm, my some of my top games from the gen weren't AAA level hits, but I think they all oversold expectations as indie games and probably don't count as hidden gems: Outer Wilds, Obra Dinn, Disco Elysium, Kentucky Route Zero, Moon etc.

I feel like one game that I massively loved yet never reached much of an audience was The Silver Case's 2016 remake it's first localization in the west.

 

[nbnt]

Too many to list, but I'll limit myself to three this time:



Published by Sega and developed by ACE, this isometric dual stick shooter is one of a kind, and it's sad how no one ever talks about it.



A fun collectathon 3D platformer. Has unique controls that might not appeal to everyone, but I absolutely loved it.



Just a chill gotta go fast momentum based Journey.

 

[Pikagreg]

For me it was Outward and Kingdom Come Deliverance. I also wish CrossCode got as popular as some other big indie games.

 

[spineduke]

Wut

The term 'hidden gem' is now utterly meaningless

Click to shrink...

Yeah im looking at most of this thread and shaking my head.

 

[kombucha]

Let it die

great concept, one of the best soundtracks ever in a game

 

[Logistic]

SteamWorld Dig 2 on Steam

SteamWorld Dig is back! Dig deep, gain riches and unearth the terrors of the underworld in this platform mining adventure influenced by classic Metroidvania style games.

store.steampowered.com

SteamWorld Dig 2 is all about exploration and upgrading your character. The game loop is very addicting (mining->go back to surface to upgrade->mining again) and the traversal mechanics were the highlight of the game for me.

Click to shrink...

Steamworld Dig 2 was the first game I thought of when I read this thread title. It was a joy to play.

 

[Bold One]

Valiant Hearts.

 

[HiLife]

Visage. Also, wouldn't the word you're looking for be "underrated"?

 

[Hootie]

Witcher 3



Just kidding. My choice would be VA-11 Hall-A. I don't remember why I even decided to give it a try but I ended up absolutely loving everything about it

 

[texhnolyze]

ATOM RPG.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

Ghost of A Tale

Rudimentary gameplay, but the writing was surprisingly deep, witty, and well developed.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

These two deserved much much more sales and attention:

 

[ngower]

Part of me wants to say Celeste because it still feels like that game doesn't get the love it deserves but I know it's well received.

Off the top of my head I would say MUA3. It's by no means perfect but few games did couch co-op right and the game was just swimming in fan service. Plenty of flaws but still a game I had loads of fun with.

 

[Kurtikeya]

I still can't shut up about Wide Ocean Big Jacket, but I'm gonna go ahead and say Alien Squatter. It's a well-focused RPG with a neon grunge feel, atypical structures and secrets, and witty writing. The best compliment I can give is that it's Disco Elysium if it was made 25 years ago.

 

[Ouroboros]

Dragon Quest Heroes for me. It was $10 on Black Friday, and both introduced me to DQ games and musou games and I will be eternally grateful.

 

[Boss-]

Owlboy

 

[Metallia]

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince. Didn't get nearly the recognition it deserved for its presentation, music etc. Loved the entire experience from start to finish.

If Gravity Rush 2 counts as hidden, that too. Amazing game, probably the most "made for me" game there ever will be, love everything about it.

 

[LinguisticGoblin]

Just a chill gotta go fast momentum based Journey.

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Oh, I actually remember seeing this once in a video I randomly got recommended on YouTube about how it was a great example for how 3D Sonic games could be designed in the future. Was trying to remember the name of it a while ago and couldn't, cheers!

These two deserved much much more sales and attention:

Click to shrink...

Tearaway on the Vita is honest to God one of my favourite gaming experiences from the last decade, it's an absolute gem of a game and it bums me out it apparently under-performed (bombed?) twice. Same goes for Gravity Rush - wouldn't praise it as highly but it's a shame it's now probably dead for good.