The Best Games Never Played

[FalconHalo]

Hello everyone.

I'm sure that most of the people reading this have at least one game or game series that they consider to be one of the best they've had the pleasure of playing, and yet is for some reason not known of by much of the gaming world.

I'm talking about games that stay with you forever, and deserve far more attention than the miniscule amount they get.

Here is a place where you can help those games gain that attention, by posting them here for us to see.

This is not a thread for such titles as Bioshock, Fallout, and Doom.

This is a thread for the overlooked games that are just as good as them, if not better.

[FalconHalo]

I'm starting off with one of my all-time personal favorites: the Geneforge Saga.

This is a five-part series of old-school RPGs on the level of Fallout and Fallout 2, and actually feels similar to them.

The first game in the series has the player as a newly-accepted Shaper, a type of magic-user that can create and control new forms of life.

While crossing an ocean, their vessel sinks and they end up stranded on a small, seemingly abandoned island, one they must find a way off of.

Right from the start, however, there are clues that not everything is as it seems, and as you explore the island, intriguing secrets and discoveries lead you to realize three things.

One, this small, unassuming island hides a history far deeper, richer, and darker than anything you could have imagined, and a secret to match.

Two, this past and secret are catching up with it, and the resulting events could well determine the fate of the entire world.

Three, you are a deciding factor in whatever happens, whether you want to be or not.

I discovered this series a few months ago, and it has turned out to be the most enjoyable RPG series I have ever played, hands down.

I have played through the first three games in the series, and enjoyed them immensely. It's looking like the fourth one, which I've only just started playing, promises to be just as good, or even better, as it expands on and polishes what made the series great.

I hope you look into these games, and get as much pleasure from them as I have.

[poppaukko]

I'll go with Mass Effect trilogy, Bayonetta, and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Can't think of any games I've played (and liked) more than those three.

[asavarserkul]

I would say American Mcgees Alice 1 and Spicy horses Alice Madness returns, Final Fantasy VIII, Zelda on Gameboy colour,Sonic 1-3+Knuckles,Beyond Good and Evil,Legend of Dragoon(my alltime favourites)(and a few other I cant remember but are Awesome too).

[mattdemers]

Dragon Quest VIII. I know that DQ isn't exactly a small franchise, but 8 should rated so much higher on "best JRPG" lists. Fully orchestral soundtrack, fully voice-acted. Great content, great design, great story.

[robajett]

Starship Titanic, hands down. A tongue in cheek point-click-talk adventure (I'm sure there's an actual name for it's format) by Douglas Adams. As it often his with his work, the devils in the presentation - and the diamonds in the details.

This gets me right in the feels - [bBvideo 560,340:tunvagel]

[/bBvideo]

[robdoar]

Starship Titanic, hands down. A tongue in cheek point-click-talk adventure (I'm sure there's an actual name for it's format) by Douglas Adams. As it often his with his work, the devils in the presentation - and the diamonds in the details.

Thanks for the nostalgia! I loved that game, and have forgotten all about it.

[Kennedy]

It's difficult to say because I'm pretty quickly borred with games. But there is few games I've played a lot...

Max Payne 2 The story, the background, the character, everything is really great. But most of all BULLET TIME

Battlefield bad company 2 The online is fun, it's technical but not complicated.

Delta force 2 Online, killing a friend a mile away with just one bullet it's unspeakably awesome.

Counter strike and day of defeat Big classics... the source version are a little bit less fun.

[Kennedy]

Oh my god, I forgot total annihilation

I spend hundreds hours on that game. Okay I take back what I said, THIS is my favorite game of all time.

[Bill Tarling]

Okay, here are a few of the ones that always drew me into repeat playing [and I even have a couple of them still running in emulator mode now]

[tabs][tabs]

This was a brilliant chess like game. One thing I loved was that each side had their own pieces with different powers and vulnerabilities

[tabs]Pretty much every single game from Infocom was a must have for me... but my two most fave ones were "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", and "The Leather Goddess Of Phobus"

[tabs]M.U.L.E. was a game which I kept ignoring because the graphics were so bad (even by C64 standards back in the day) -- but once you played against a friend, it was the most hysterical game play I've ever found. No matter how much you agree to team up with each other to beat the computer opponents, you constantly watched the other player because you knew one of you would backstab the other at some point (and yes it was fair to push the other person off his/her chair when you decided to make a break for the win).

[tabs]This one was a major game play addiction for me (it wasn't unusual for me to play a couple of non-stop 72-hour marathon sessions a couple of times each month). It was one of the first games that felt more like an open world environment. Strangely enough, I didn't care for any of the sequels after Exodus

[tabs]Okay, this game basically ruined a lot of future gaming for me... it scared the living [censored] out of me, and I could only play it in short 15 minute bursts... And yes I screamed like a little girl a lot while playing. The game also result in many broken controllers as I threw them while diving off the couch from so many nerve bending jump cuts.

[/tabs]

[FalconHalo]

Thank you all very much for sharing your overlooked treasures with us. I am most definitely looking into some of these right now!

I have to point out, however, that some people have listed well-known games such as the Mass Effect series, Sonic, Max Payne, Counterstrike, and other famous titles.

I would like to politely remind everyone that this is a thread where you share games that are not well-known. Games that most people either haven't heard of or don't remember. The games you liked most that aren't major titles, not any games that you liked most.

That unpleasantness aside, thank you all again for sharing with us the little-known titles that you treasure the most.

[Kennedy]

Oh yeah sorry I didn't read correctly the title.

Do anyone knew/know soulblade ? It's in fact the first soulcalibur before soulcalibur, on PSone, and I find it way better than the next ones.

I noticed that almost no one played it or even knew it. That's a shame because he had really good ideas, like the fact the weapon could break if you block too many attacks.

[Amy]

The Kingdom Hearts series was like... my childhood. Of course, I'm still only 15.

[ErickRedfieldh]

Terranigma. Never released stateside (PAL and JP only), but any one of my cousins across the pond who have played it can attest to the amazingly well crafted plot it presented. And the music was awesome for being produced on the SNES.

[Incariuz]

Okay, here are a few of the ones that always drew me into repeat playing [and I even have a couple of them still running in emulator mode now]

[tabs][tabs]

This was a brilliant chess like game. One thing I loved was that each side had their own pieces with different powers and vulnerabilities

[tabs]Pretty much every single game from Infocom was a must have for me... but my two most fave ones were "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", and "The Leather Goddess Of Phobus"

[tabs]M.U.L.E. was a game which I kept ignoring because the graphics were so bad (even by C64 standards back in the day) -- but once you played against a friend, it was the most hysterical game play I've ever found. No matter how much you agree to team up with each other to beat the computer opponents, you constantly watched the other player because you knew one of you would backstab the other at some point (and yes it was fair to push the other person off his/her chair when you decided to make a break for the win).

[tabs]This one was a major game play addiction for me (it wasn't unusual for me to play a couple of non-stop 72-hour marathon sessions a couple of times each month). It was one of the first games that felt more like an open world environment. Strangely enough, I didn't care for any of the sequels after Exodus

[tabs]Okay, this game basically ruined a lot of future gaming for me... it scared the living [censored] out of me, and I could only play it in short 15 minute bursts... And yes I screamed like a little girl a lot while playing. The game also result in many broken controllers as I threw them while diving off the couch from so many nerve bending jump cuts.

[/tabs]

M.U.L.E has got to be one of the greatest games ever made, lol. Used to love playing it.

[Dobian]

Okay, here are a few of the ones that always drew me into repeat playing [and I even have a couple of them still running in emulator mode now]

[tabs][tabs]

This was a brilliant chess like game. One thing I loved was that each side had their own pieces with different powers and vulnerabilities

Awesome! I played the original for months on end on my Atari 800 back in the day. I now have the Steam version Archon Classic, and it is just as I remembered.

[Malak]

If you like avoiding wolves/dogs... I just played the Penumbra Trilogy that is 10 years old. If they catch you, you are dead.

The story and atmosphere are great. The 3rd one is QUITE different from the first two though. It's more of a puzzle game.

[brostoevsky]

Starship Titanic, hands down. A tongue in cheek point-click-talk adventure (I'm sure there's an actual name for it's format) by Douglas Adams. As it often his with his work, the devils in the presentation - and the diamonds in the details.

I still haven't gotten my hands on this. I read the novel version of Starship Titanic (which Douglas Adams gave Terry Jones of Monty Python his blessing to write so long as he did it completely in the nude) and it was pretty hilarious although Jones' writing has nothing on Douglas Adams.

Most people seem to just be listing old-but-popular games in this thread, not obscure ones, but I don't mind. I still play Close Combat 2 "A Bridge Too Far" which is a WWII tactical strategy game from 1997.

Also from 1997 was a severely underappreciated Wild West FPS called Outlaws! made by LucasArts.

I also really like Kings Bounty, which is the early 90s precursor to the Heroes of Might and Magic games.

[JurianChibo]

Monkey Island 2

It just is a great adventure game that was popular, yes, but is more and more unknown today. It is challenging, as some moments, but it is OH SO GREAT! I felt really sad when, trying to reinstall it on a new computer, I discovered it was not compatible with Windows7. At least, I will buy it one day on Steam.

[ChillPlayer]

Xpilot - anyone knows that? One of the first multiplayer network games, released in 1991:

http://www.xpilot.org/

To this day we still play it in our linux user group and there's still an active community. It's also crazy addictive, one guy in our lug had to be forceably held away from the game, he just couldn't stop lol.

A completely different and more recent game is the original Deus Ex. I also liked the DEx2 because of Kidney Thieves soundrack but the first one hit like a bomb. Having never played Shellshock, this was a completely new type of game for me. And it too hasn't lost it's appeal to this day, before the release of DEx3 in 2013(?) I played it through one more time

And of course there is Dark Souls. I think it's justified to mention it here, because thanks to it's image of being "the hardest game of the year, decade, century, ever blabla" it got some media coverage and most people did hear of it, but felt too intimidated by the over extravegated reviews to even try it.

Which is a shame, because DS1 and to some extend DS2 are masterpieces of art, there was never and probably will never be a better RPG than DS1, it's perfection to the core - this is coming from someone who has spent combined almost 800h in both games. Yes it's unforgiving but also very fair. As long as you don't make a mistake you won't be catched by some out-of-the-blue uberattack of the boss or similar, but it punishes you if you get greedy and impatient - which in the end makes you a better player in every game, you learn to analyze and fight with the head instead of rushing in, guns blazing.

But it's primarely the fantastic athmosphere From Software has created that draws you in once you've overcome the initial shock. Never have I felt so lost and alone, not even in TLD. The story is epic but gentle, the lore and world does not force itself upon you but gives you only tiny glimpses of what is going on. Step by step, soul by soul you complete the picture, only to find out... well, play it yourself

My youtube channel contains tons of bossfights and most look indeed very easy.

But this video from another youtuber sums it all pretty well up:

[pikkue]

Freelancer.

[bBvideo 560,340:7ehntidj]

[/bBvideo]

[Jeremy JPOW Powell]

Deathceleration!

http://jpowgames.com/doom-yard-deathceleration

not being Bias... at all...

Jeremy

[joki]

Cool concept, jeremy!

Kinda reminds me a lot of the original twisted metal for PSX1. (This is a good thing!)

[bBvideo 560,340:3lq48mvs]

[/bBvideo]

Edit: I was looking for a decent vehicle combat game for years... Turns out Post apocalyptic mayhem is NOT it... it kinda blows. :roll:

[Jeremy JPOW Powell]

We did draw inspiration from twisted metal, as well as mario kart 64 battle arena

Jeremy

[Aelaera]

The Last of Us, Dragon Age Inquisition, Star Ocean- Silver Story, Haunting Ground and Suikoden 2.

I love horror games that rely on atmosphere, not necessarily true danger to make you scared and ESPECIALLY without weapons. Haunting Ground, although there were some story cliches, brought a lot to the table in terms of terror. Although I'm a lover of Resident Evil, Capcom's HG left you without weapons and made you rely solely on teamwork with your dog and your own wits. Star Ocean and Suikoden 2 were EXCELLENT old fashioned RPG's and Suikoden's castle building and Iron Chef style mini games were just a few things that made me put over 500 hours into that game. Inquisition was a masterpiece that easily rectified Bioware's lackluster 2nd Dragon Age and disappointing Mass Effect ending and the Last of Us was just a beautiful, story driven creation that I genuinely wish I could play again for the first time.