Hidden Gems

[DARKNESSxEAGLE]

I don't know about you lot but I've always had a sweet tooth for playing games that flew under most peoples' radars despite being good. I almost always find something new that I'd never seen before in a video game and that's not really something I can say about the majority of games aiming to be the next passing trend by copying the current king.

This thread is for discussion of said games, from all generations (most of the ones I know are on DS and Wii) to give them a little more time in the spotlight that they deserve.

One of 2 of my favourite games that I never hear anyone talk about is Knights in the Nightmare (which, fair enough, has like 60 tutorials that take up at least an hour and are pretty much necessary if you want to have a clue as to what you're doing in a battle), an RPG game that has a pretty unique combat system and the story is quite impressive too. The art is also excellent:

Spoiler

Title Screen BG:

The other is called Bangai-o Spirits, another DS title that was made to pay homage to (and possibly attempt to reboot) the older games. It was developed by Cave Treasure so bullets should be expected, but this takes the number and size to the next level. They even have the character move really fast as, most of the time, the frame rate will be really low due to the sheer number of bullets on-screen at once. It's a bit challenging at first, but after an hour or so it just clicks and you'll be blasting your way through everything. It's one of few games that I actually find hi-scores a reason to come back and play it again it's just so much fun!

Spoiler

 

[GirlyStyle]

both of those games are super sick.

bangai-o spirits was developed by treasure though ;)


speaking of treasure, they happened to make the best n64 game ever, which is readily available on wii:

Sin and Punishment is the first game in the sereis (they made a sequel for the wii) but this is version is far more superior. Somewhere between bullet hell and Starfox, this is probably my favorite Treasure game and holds up extremely well today. They make great use of perspective and pacing to keep you on your toes, and it has a really fun co-op mode

 

[Zeriam]

Nobody ever brings this up or has no clue what I'm talking about.

The music and gameplay of Boktai is passable, but what really shines is the voice acting. Somehow, Konami managed to get the GBA’s piddling little speaker to produce fairly good quality voices. Of course, due to the limitations of data storage, only one voice track is available; the English one. But it appears, looking at the credits, that this was the only one produced.

I’ve said it before, I’ll probably say it again, the best localization is the one you don’t notice. Despite a small amount of mixed Japanese and English in the voiced lines, the translation is nearly flawless. Lines flow naturally, with no obvious mistranslations or other errors.​

 

[DARKNESSxEAGLE]

Nobody ever brings this up or has no clue what I'm talking about.​

I've actually played that once for a very limited amount of time, the solar power thing was interesting. A DS game called Lunar Knights is very similar to it in many ways, although they made the (in my opinion, wise) choice of having the solar/lunar power linked to the time in-game, and not to reality. Haven't played Lunar Knights in so long I can't even remember if there is voice acting, but I think if there was it was neither good nor bad, simply mediocre.

EDIT: Just looked at Lunar Knights, it is actually part of the Boktai series which would explain the similarities

 

[GirlyStyle]

Boktai is super fucking dope, but was soooo hard to play when it first came out because you had to play it in the sun, but the GBA had no backlight at the time, so you could hardly see the screen.

The secod Boktai is even better (as far as gameplay goes) and Lunar Knights was decent too. Would love a return to the series

 

[Jutsei]

Hey Guys you wanna talk about Cave Story or Odin Sphere?
Two great games with fucking adorable small humanoid bunny creatures?

 

[GirlyStyle]

king of hidden gems:

this game is somewhere between Batman NES, Hotline Miami, and the original Ninja Gaiden games,
but better then all three of those.


Such a great GBA game, it was the perfect portable experience. Great use of action puzzle, had lots of room for creativity, and required very fine execution and motor skills.

Hey Guys you wanna talk about Cave Story or Odin Sphere?
Two great games with fucking adorable small humanoid bunny creatures?

not a big fan of odin sphere, sorry to say, but cave story is probably one of the 5 best games in the last 10 years

 

[Zeriam]

Hey Guys you wanna talk about Cave Story or Odin Sphere?
Two great games with fucking adorable small humanoid bunny creatures?

Sure let's talk about the Pookas from Odin Sphere.

 

[Jutsei]

Sure let's talk about the Pookas from Odin Sphere.

THOSE THINGS
ARE LIKE
God damn it the cutest critters that perfectly balance humanoid and animal without it being weird

 

[Crayolan]

Best hidden gem I've played:

Spoiler

 

[Zeriam]

THOSE THINGS
ARE LIKE
God damn it the cutest critters that perfectly balance humanoid and animal without it being weird

Set the voice track to Japanese and they really sound like motherly figures.

 

[Jutsei]

Set the voice track to Japanese and they really sound like motherly figures.

Oh my God it gets better

 

[Horseman]

Hey Guys you wanna talk about Cave Story or Odin Sphere?
Two great games with fucking adorable small humanoid bunny creatures?

Cave Story and Odin Sphere are hidden gems? I mean I guess odin sphere kind of sort of, but how many cave story remakes have there been in the last 1-2 years?

Anyone ever played Noitu Love 2: Devolution? It's on steam. It's fucking amazing.
Sequence is a RPG/rhythm game, and it's great. Not much else to say here.
Dungeons of Dredmor is quite possibly the best roguelike I have ever played. That's coming from someone who played nethack.
Analogue: A Hate Story is a really great VN. You read through the logs of a spaceship to find out what happened to its dead crew.
The Stanley Parable is the best source mod of all time. I encourage everyone to play it 20 times.

 

[shoryusatsu999]

Probably more buried than hidden, but here's a little-known car combat game that I've really liked:

Spoiler

This game was one of the last few games made by Infogrames before things started going pear-shaped for them. In addition to the standard wide array of power-up weapons (including 2 generally hidden superweapons) and an upgradable unlimited-ammo universal machinegun, each vehicle (which comes with its own character and backstory) has 3 unique special attacks, a temporary hover mode, and the ability to boost, which is all managed by a single energy meter. It also has a decent amount of stages of varying sizes, ranging from aircraft carriers to Mayincatec temples to space stations, all of which have secrets that can be found by the daring.

Sound familiar? This was actually meant to be a competitor to Twisted Metal, the shiny Quake to Twisted Metal's gritty Doom. Unlike the FPS example, though, Motor Mayhem got buried in the dirt thanks to Twisted Metal Black. Motor Mayhem was one of my first PS2 games, and even though I now have TWB as well, I like Motor Mayhem better because of its simpler controls (use both analog sticks just to move? Really?), more colorful and varied graphics and characters, and the quick pacing of matches.

 

[Jutsei]

Another old one just hit me.
How many of you played Bonesaw?
It was an Indie game by a bunch of guys that was super fun.
When you had your super meter filled up, Macho Man Randy Savage loudly announced BOOOOOOOOONESAW IS READY!
Then you got a gigantic bonesaw with which to decimate your foes

 

[Broseidon Rex]

Let's see.
Quackshot. Not the greatest game, but it does exactly what you want it to: Simulate Donald Duck as Indiana Jones with a gun that shoots plungers.

Maximo series. Was one of the first games I saw on the PS2 that made me go "Holy shit this is aweso... Oh I died again. Better try again." The second one is the game I always know I can play and enjoy, especially the Cyclocks boss battle. I'll post a video later, youtube hates me right now.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Hagane, an absolutely amazing action platformer on the Super Nes that never got the sequel or recognition that it deserved.

As for Odin Sphere, I LOVE Odin Sphere.

But it's bad.

Well kinda. It's definitely flawed, with a big part of that being its repetitive nature. But it was a different playthrough for me than most because I accidentally skipped the part of the tutorial that explains how to level up your damage, and ended up doing the whole game low level.

It's a completely different experience. Almost every moment is intense and meaningful.

Factor in the awesome story and charming art, and you definitely have one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[ashxu]

Hotel Dusk and Ghost Trick for DS. The former got ported to iOS.

 

[Jutsei]

Ghost Trick is amazing and everyone should play it or I pity them

 

[YoshimitsusEspeon]

A nice PS2 hidden gem for me was Haunting Ground, I loved the stalking and hide system and the idea that by training Hewie (the dog) and treating him with care aids you in defeating the stalkers. Besides that, the music for the game was pretty good and can go from creeping you out to making you sob like a baby.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Eschatos might very well be the greatest (or at LEAST top 5) shmup ever made, but good luck finding out about it considering it's an import only xbox360 game that doesn't have a big name like Cave behind it.

Does El Shaddai: Acension of The Metatron count? I have no idea how that game did, and most of my friends didn't play it. It's no Bayonetta, but it was pretty fun.

Probably doesn't count if you're big into fighting games, but Fighters History Dynamite: Karnov's Revenge is brilliant.

Alundra? Pretty good alternative to Legend of Zelda.

 

[TheGoggledGamer]

A TRUE definition of Medriodvaina, with stilted controls to feel really classic (with level/bosses designed around them) clever use of mechanics (there's a parry system that's tricky to use, but if mastered you can parry almost anything) different ways of reaching the end (minimum idem run, speedrun, ect.) and good localization, redone music and graphics, and wide screen options
[there is a free fan translated version floating out there on the internet that existed way before the official ver but what ever]

 

[Jutsei]

IN GOOD NEWS
Chelsea and the Seven Devils made it on Steam Greenlight.
So you can expect to see it in the store very soon.

 

[TheGoggledGamer]

IN GOOD NEWS
Chelsea and the Seven Devils made it on Steam Greenlight.
So you can expect to see it in the store very soon.

Hopefully they'll supply steam keys for those who payed during the last years back to school bundle on indie royal.

 

[Jutsei]

Maybe!
No one knows.
All I know is that it's on Greenlight and has been Greenlit.
Just needs a release edition

 

[Squire Grooktook]

I personally was a bit cold on BMD.

Spoiler

The clunky controls (I particularly didn't like the really intuitive jump physics difference between neutral jumps and forward jumps), map design that can trick you into back tracking furiously, and the "let's cram bullet hell into an old school metroid-like", all had me yearning to go back and play the Ds Metroidvania's instead.

It definitely has a fun aesthetic though. I'll definitely have to give it another shot when I get a chance.

Also Plantine Dispositif's other games on Steam are awesome (Gundemonium Trilogy).

 

[TheGoggledGamer]

Also Plantine Dispositif's other games on Steam are awesome (Gundemonium Trilogy).

Damn Straight they are Plantine Dispositif is rather good with interesting and fun aesthetics, good music, and interesting mechanics in their games. Hell even "their" localizer, Rockin' Andriod, tends to deal with pretty cool games in general like flying red barrel and Suguri and even Diadra Empty seems interesting.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah, I also really enjoy Nyu Media too, who localized Fairy Bloom Freesia, The Exceed Trilogy (amazing games btw), and are currently working on Yatagarasu.

 

[SanoBaron]

Um, excuse me guys, but I think you're all forgetting someone in this thread.

 

[KaboomKid]

Here's a very recent Hidden Gem.

Apparently LA MULANA 2 was on the TGS show floor?! WTFFF!!!

For people that played the first game, and/or the remake, this news is both fascinating, and frightening!

 

[TheGoggledGamer]

snip

No idea what this game was looked it up, and my god this shit is more terrifying than than slender and Amnesia combined

just gah ;_;
but for the game itself it looks fun if your idea of a good time is self lobotomy

 

[Fizzxwizz]

Here's a very recent Hidden Gem.

Apparently LA MULANA 2 was on the TGS show floor?! WTFFF!!!

For people that played the first game, and/or the remake, this news is both fascinating, and frightening!

How is this a thing?

 

[KaboomKid]

...but for the game itself it looks fun if your idea of a good time is self lobotomy

La Mulana got VERY frustrating at times, but it's still one of my favorite games in recent years. I loved the classic sense of adventure in it, and how it kept you on your toes mentally. It was hard, but not in the IWBTG sorta way.

I also liked its similarities to older games like Zelda 1, where there weren't many artificial barriers to your progression. If you could figure out the relevant puzzles, you could access almost any items/areas you wanted from the beginning. I haven't played through all of the remake, but I definitely recommend the original to anyone interested in a challenge!

Spoiler

F%@K Hell Mode tho.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah, La-Mulana is a damn good game from what I've heard of it.

 

[Jutsei]

La Mulana will bust your balls.
That's not a description.
That's a fact.

 

[Mr. X]

Malicious

 

[Smilax]

I'd like to thank everybody here for finding me some cool games to play so that I don't have to put effort into searching myself.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah, Malicious is pretty cool. Was gonna say that myself but was unsure of how well known it was.

 

[DDB]

I just saw "hidden gems" and thought

 

[Jutsei]

Shadow was pretty Decent.
But I wouldn't recommend it