The Monsters vs Aliens PS2 game. I don't know why i like it, it just really stuck to me over the years. It's kinda fun LOL
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
The SINGLE Most Obscure Game YOU Genuinely Love
- Thread starter Video Games Are Dumb
- Start date
Boloball. Had it on a floppy disk back in the day and not even sure where I got it from (might've been my brother in law who was big into bulletin boards and stuff). Played the crap out of it back then, and will queue it up every now and again and play for hours now that you can run it in Dosbox via browser:
www.playdosgames.com
Play Bolo Ball online - Play DOS Games .com
Play Bolo Ball online - PlayDOSGames.com. Download or play DOS games online, choose from more than hundreds of DOS games. Relive great memories and play original games in your browser now!
www.playdosgames.com
Two for one on the Japanese only Ape Escape titles for me lol.
Piposaru 2001 makes you collect Monkey underpants because they need washed, so you suck them off the Monkeys with a vacuum.
Million Monkeys was an adventure game where you can collect TONNES of monkeys per level. Even whilst playing as a Monkey lol.
Hey! That's mine. Also the fan made translation of Dragon force 2 which took over 10 years to make is amazingNobody but me (and a few saturn diehard) remember the best strategy rpg of all time that is Dragon Force.
The only Atlus game I've enjoyed widget>persona
If that's the only Atlus game you've enjoyed, then you've clearly never played My Disney Kitchen
No shit, My Disney Kitchen taught me not to leave knives in the sink. It changed my life.
Yes! Adventures of Batman & Robin was amazing, I remember renting it and being very impressed.
Another TV-to-game adaption that I remember fondly in the SNES was Swat Kats. Gameplay was really varied with climbing, water sliding, good platforming, biking, motorcycling, flying jets against bosses and so on. I thought it was a superb game back then, but I really don't know how it holds up now.
Super underrated game. I loved it when I was a kid.
The only Atlus game I've enjoyed widget>persona
I could write a thread about this dumpster-fire of a game, and it's interesting development history. I love it so much! The writing, voice acting, story, controls and gameplay are truly awful and yet playing it with a friend (Ironically, I might add) was one of the single best game experiences I've ever had.
.png)
Definition of OBSCURE
dark, dim; shrouded in or hidden by darkness; not clearly seen or easily distinguished : faint… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
"relatively unknown"
"not prominent or famous"
It's not that the forum has a strange idea of what "obscure" means. It's that it is a gaming enthusiast forum, which means truly obscure games are rare to the community.
*shake shake shake*
The fact that this hasn't been re-released makes me very sad.
This would have been my answer as well. I spend a weird amount of time thinking about Chulip.I don't think this game is that obscure by reputation, my understanding is back in the day when it came out people HEARD about it a lot because it is super weird. But I think it is obscure in terms of "people who actually played through the game". I absolutely adore the PS2 game Chulip. You'd have heard of it, that one where you play as a young japanese boy trying to kiss as many people as possible to work up the courage to kiss this girl he likes.
The thing that cemented that game for me forever is that I played it during a time when I had no internet access for a while, and it is a game that is SUPER obtuse in how to solve many of the puzzles, people often just use guides. But I just stuck with it and trial and error'd and beat that game, and its honestly one of my favourite experiences I've had. The music and art style and everything is honestly just so charming. The game is so quirky and wierd, and it felt SO good when you finally figured out the series of events needed to kiss one of the main towns people, who were all pretty hard to figure out. But just spending this time stalking the townsfolk essentially, learning their schedules and figuring out when there was chances to do things.
The game is available as a ps2 classic on the playstation 3 store, I highly recommend it.
Just go on youtube and listen to some of the soundtrack too. It is so different and cool:
Chulip - OST - Happy Shabby Life ~Daytime Stroll in Tsurukame Town~
Happy Shabby Life ~Daytime Stroll in Tsurukame Town~www.youtube.com
No Second Prize popped in to my head literally the second before I saw you post.
Looking at it now, I can't believe I used to think it felt really smooth in comparison to other 3D racers of the period.
The mouse controls felt really accurate and satisfying, so maybe that helped.
Still love listening to the intro music though.
I could list hundreds of games, some of which y'all have already listed, but I'll just go with one from late last year that I discovered this year.
It's a Tower of the Sorcerer/Desktop Dungeons/DROD: Tendry's Tale-derived roguelike math puzzle game made by two people (and one of them only does the music).
It has bad graphics and terrible music and a poor translation and a static resolution that you can't work around and a whacked out pricing scheme for DLC and I'VE PUT 87 HOURS INTO IT IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS.
It's a Tower of the Sorcerer/Desktop Dungeons/DROD: Tendry's Tale-derived roguelike math puzzle game made by two people (and one of them only does the music).
It has bad graphics and terrible music and a poor translation and a static resolution that you can't work around and a whacked out pricing scheme for DLC and I'VE PUT 87 HOURS INTO IT IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS.
Azure Dreams on PS1. I've never met another person IRL who's played it, but I loved it to death. I'm sure a few of you here played it.
Shit, I completely forgot about one of my all-time favorites, namely Vandal Hearts:
I didn't consider most of my favorite JRPGs to be obscure, like BoF, Suikoden, Shadow Hearts, Grandia, Wild Arms, Xenogears, SMT, etc. But I feel like Vandal Hearts definitely isn't well-known, esp. outside of places like Era and JRPG communities.
I dunno what Konami were thinking with Flames of Judgment. The first two have some really beautiful spritework and art, but FoJ is one of the ugliest games I've ever seen.
Would be nice to get a re-release on modern platforms. I think both could garner some newfound appreciation from modern audiences.
I haven't really thought about Elfmania coming back again. It's just one of those things that will be lost to history. But sure, I'll join you in that. I'd love a sequel if simply just to enjoy the inevitably bangin' soundtrack.
I didn't consider most of my favorite JRPGs to be obscure, like BoF, Suikoden, Shadow Hearts, Grandia, Wild Arms, Xenogears, SMT, etc. But I feel like Vandal Hearts definitely isn't well-known, esp. outside of places like Era and JRPG communities.
I dunno what Konami were thinking with Flames of Judgment. The first two have some really beautiful spritework and art, but FoJ is one of the ugliest games I've ever seen.
Would be nice to get a re-release on modern platforms. I think both could garner some newfound appreciation from modern audiences.
I haven't really thought about Elfmania coming back again. It's just one of those things that will be lost to history. But sure, I'll join you in that. I'd love a sequel if simply just to enjoy the inevitably bangin' soundtrack.
Last edited:
OP
OP
At first I was gonna say Custom Robo on the GameCube but... then I remembered this exists
Basically a Vampire Western Halo clone which had some... extremely questionable story content. But you could play the whole game co-op, which I did by staying up all night with my best friend playing the entire campaign in one night. And then we did it fairly regularly after that lol. Kinda want to find it again and play with him again haha.
And since then they've worked on Call of Duty (multiple entries) and Destiny 1 and 2 ports!
Pretty funny how their first FPS game is largely forgotten while today the chaperon the single most successful first person shooter series in the world.
Love this game. I remember trying it on a PS1 demo disk and it beating me up pretty bad. Couldn't beat it until I got older.
OP
OP
Way of the Samurai for the PS2. Multiple weapons have their own durabilities, and playstyles. The game has multiple scenarios and your choices in these scenarios affects the outcome and ending. The playthroughs are short, but the point of the game is to find every path to the end. Funny jokes, interesting characters, and a cool vibe to it all! Getting endings also unlocks stuff like alternative costumes and (I think) characters.
I played this game so much that I eventually leveled up a single sword style to instantly break other people's weapons with a single short swing gesture. Then someone decided to try my game and not save and...sigh. That was pretty much my who summer and I have no regrets lol. I wish every AAA developer would give this a peak. While the game might be short, I experimented over and over again to change the story. Straight up classic in my book.
K'Kai Adventure, which apparently was a school project made in HyperCard by students at Kaunakakai Elementary School that somehow made its way into a commercial MacCube release (volume 2, iirc)
It's basically a silly little adventure game, somewhat akin to Myst or The Manhole but even simpler.
And to think people say Mac doesn't have games...
OP
OP
Azure Dreams was my gateway drug to the entire Mystery Dungeon series. Don't know if it holds up but if had me wanting to play everything like it from then on.
People like to talk about Skies of Arcadia, but this series not being around anymore is the real tragedy. Come on Sega. A port? Anything!?
Mine is Robotic Alchemic Drive.
The control scheme for the robot was really cool in that each button was a different limb. Also since you weren't inside of it you had to make sure to position your character close enough to see the action while not being too close so you got injured in the fighting. The game even had multiple plot lines and endings. For example if you let your best friends house get destroyed too many times during the fights she would eventually kill herself (wtf!?).
Came here to post this, I'm glad someone else remembered it.
Also not sure how obscure this is but I've always loved Tech Romancer/Kikaioh, a capcom fighting game that made it from arcades to Dreamcast made up almost entirely of anime tropes: there was Ultraman, Macross, Gundam, Mazinger Z, and Getter Robo equivalents.
Two games that first came to mind were Custom Robo for the Gamecube, and Escape Velocity on shareware PC, but those have thier fanbases and even spirtual successors.
A game I remember really loving as a kid, but couldn't even remember the name of until like a year ago though, that has to be what I chose as the single most obscure game I love.
Ex-Mutants
This was an action side scroller game where you got to chose between being Axe-man or NunChaku-woman, had a scifi slant, good music, and fun combat. I wouldn't mind giving it another play in the modern day, but it's pretty hard to track down now.
The only reason I remember this is because this was a Malibu comic (which was actually a revitilization of an older comic from Eternity that was like a parody of X-men). MOstly for the Paul Pelletier art which is featured on this cover. They also made a game out of the Dinosaurs For Hire property.
Also, a ton of people probably bought Tobal No. 1 for the FFVII demo and promptly forgot about the game, but I always loved the Japan-only Tobal No. 2. Akira Toriyama designs, a much deeper customization system, lots of "catching monsters" etc.
I know its not really obscure around these parts, but there is no way to overstate how much I love the Ouendan games.
Cryostatis: Sleep of Reason
An absolute mess of a game but I love it. Takes it story from Maxim Gorky's The Flaming Heart of Danko.
An absolute mess of a game but I love it. Takes it story from Maxim Gorky's The Flaming Heart of Danko.
Nobody but me (and a few saturn diehard) remember the best strategy rpg of all time that is Dragon Force.
It's listed with Panzer Dragoon Saga as one of the best Saturn games, now Dragon Force 2 is obscure.
My pick would ve Radia Senki for the famicom, one of the best 8-bit jrpgs ever released.
OP
OP
Amazing fighting game stuck on the PS2 with no localization
Wow! Looks like a karate version of Bushido Blade!
That was gonna be my answer! Lol. I so wish it'd get re-released, it's one of Monolith's earliest (and finest) games.Dont know if obscure but it took me years to find another person that played Claw
Speaking of Monolith: probably not particularly obscure, but one game that doesn't get nearly enough recognition is Tron 2.0. It's a sci-fi shooter with RPG elements sequel to the original movie that has an absolutely unique art style and some great gameplay elements.
I could list hundreds of games, some of which y'all have already listed, but I'll just go with one from late last year that I discovered this year.
It's a Tower of the Sorcerer/Desktop Dungeons/DROD: Tendry's Tale-derived roguelike math puzzle game made by two people (and one of them only does the music).
It has bad graphics and terrible music and a poor translation and a static resolution that you can't work around and a whacked out pricing scheme for DLC and I'VE PUT 87 HOURS INTO IT IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS.
This was what i was gonna post!! Jonathan Blow also played it a bit on his Twitch the other day! The Discord is super active.
I forgot to mention that even with all the drawbacks the demo for it is incredibly beefy.
20hrs from demo then I bought it. 100 hrs now.
Edit: nice avatar ChowderMan
DeathDrome - A really easy Twisted Metal clone but while not the most diverse enviroments had a lot of fun weapons and was a blast to try to get the most kills before the time ran out.
Trog - Really fun co op NES game
Trog - Really fun co op NES game
I wish they would release an mobile port of this and keep the real-time nature of it. Sega Ages, come on!!