Suggest an underapreciated game no one should miss.

Everyone has a few great games that fly below the radar... Maybe they were niche, indie or AA, but one thing is for sure.... You know how incredible the game is and yet the larger community of gamers is missing out on something special.

How do these games achieve this catagorization of beautifully forgotten? Is it just that certain games appeal to us as individuals but not containing mass appeal? Is it that the game was never promoted or exposed properly and thus never caught on? Or is it that the game is perfectly well loved and just isn't a game that snags hype and headlines?

My choice is Helldivers.... I honestly feel like it's one of the best games of this past generation and its still some of the best white knuckle, teamwork focused action I've played anywhere. It still has a great community on steam (not sure on ps4 anymore) and it has steadily added content since 2015... Arrowhead studios are master of the top down coop action game. Like Magicka and less so, Gauntlet after it, they are able to create a gameplay loop dependent on strategy and execution of skills rather than simply arcade style action as seen on games like Housemarques Alienation (which is also a brilliant game). The tactical planning around the use of stratagems that compliment your squad and the constant enemy onslaught are perfectly balanced and cater to anyone looking to take it easy and learn or push the edge of madness with a battle hardened crew. There's great moments for every kind of gamer.

I could go on and on about my love for Helldivers... It won't ever be as recognized as so many lesser games, but that's just fine by me... Super Earth will only be defended by Helldivers on the level!

What are your underapreciated strataGEMS system wars?

I’d have to say Team Buddies for PS1, I only every got to play the demo but it was very innovative for its time, and had unique and interesting gameplay. I’m looking forward to hearing other suggestions on games I may have overlooked or missed in the past.

Kirby Super Star - released towards the end of the SNES lifecycle. Fun little Kirby co-op game collection, never hear anyone mention this game but it did find its way on the SNES classic.

God Hand and Vanquish immediately spring to mind.

Halo Infinite. I can't say enough about this game. I reccomend you buy this game on the steam deck.

Have been playing Helldivers since 2015. The last couple of month not so much. Waiting for Arrowhead to announce the studios next game.

Jet Set Radio + Future

It's still an absolute crime that Jet Set Radio only got a single re-release a few generations back and we've never seen Jet Set Radio Future get a re-release. On top of being an all around unique experience with level design, characters, story, and gameplay mechanics which has you tagging all sorts of stuff while out skating the police who steadily escalate their show of force to bring all the gang activity under control but these two games also have some of the best soundtracks around that still slap to this day.

The crazy thing is the albums of these games are more easily obtained than the games themselves. You can go buy digital copies of both soundtracks right now. Can't say the same thing about the games. Yet people will claim the soundtrack is what holds up a re-release... but ignore SEGA selling the music separate like they don't already have the rights.

Sunset Overdrive

Microsoft and the Xbox One did a great job ensuring this game had the most limited possible audience this side of Bayonetta 2 on Wii-U and it's an absolute shame this was presented as more of an open world zombie shooter than it was embracing the absolute bat shit crazy aspects of the gameplay which leave it feeling more like a spiritual successor to something like Jet Set Radio with movement options, grinding, and world design than a zombie survival game.

Grab a gun, turn up the music, and start fucking around to see what nonsense you can pull off that has no business working but somehow you make it look cool as hell. In many ways this also feels like the proto Marvel's Spider-Man with how fluidly you move around the environment and the general sense of speed and momentum you get as you gain speed, change direction, and all that.

Picked it up for $5 during a Steam sale and likely the best $5 I've spent totally blind. And unlike Jet Set Radio this one is actually accessible to modern audiences, just always overlooked cause Insomniac has done some pretty incredible stuff with Sony and a much more recognizable brand with Spider-Man.

I don't know if it's underappreciated, but everyone with a PC needs to be playing Vampire Survivors now. It's cheap, big fun and it's got a surprising amount of content. It's coming to Xbox soon too. I had no idea I'd be playing the game this much after downloading it. Just imagine if Castlevania became a top down action shooter (with no button pressing) complete with upgradable elements. It's one of my GotY.

@BenjaminBanklin: Na, Vampire Survivors has been a huge hit.

Remember Me 2013 horrible name for a game I know. But it has amazing atomphere if you like a Cyberpunk type world good combat takes awhile to learn but not hard. One of the coolest things about the game was the memory remixes was getting into NPCs heads and changing their memories with multiple outcomes.

@palasta: me too! Day one purchase. I bought it for ps4 and had it for my vita as well. So happy to be playing it on steam deck now.

Arrowhead games are wonderful. They never make me feel like I'm playing some tired. It's new and familiar at the same time.

Kane and Lynch: Such a great story and characters.

Alpha Protocol: Good story with lots of choices

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Modding community has done wonders with this game)

Deus Ex (Most people haven't played it, only heard of it. Use GMDX mod)

Outer Wilds

Astral Chain, Returnal.

Guacamelee. I rarely hear anyone talk about these games, but they are great.

Lost Odyssey.

One of the best local co-op games is 'Chariot' and I almost never see anyone talking about it

Dreams.

Sad to see Sony sleeping on one of their best and most unique exclusives. A PC release is still on the table, but it's already so cheap and good that every playstation owner should give it a go.

Probably too late to play them, and i am not too sure if they're in the underapreciated category, but Golden Sun 1 and 2 were awesome.

Ok. If you play the PC version, you might have seen someone nicked Bael.

Alan wake.

its by far most underrated masterpiece. its something every game has to experience.

It has an 83 Metacritic score. That is not underrated. It is a good game.

Its better than many of 96 meta games getting 10/10. also game is more criticize in these boards than movie games who getting 10s.

Already mentioned above, but yeah Vampire Survivors is a good time. Way too addictive for what it is.

As Cup said, it's already a hit. Far from underappreciated. But every time it's mentioned on this forum...

Huntdown

https://youtu.be/QepvIm_-NHQ

This game is an absolute gem!

Slice, Dice, and Rice. Name is stupid, but the game is great. Probably the best one-hit-kill indie fighting game out there. Frequently on sale for $1 too.

A game can score very well and still be underapreciated... Gaming history is littered with games like that. Psychonauts anyone?

Underrated is not the same as underappreciated.

Wait, wut? Psychonauts was received well critically. It scored 9's all over the place. It wasn't purchased by gamers though, thus underapreciated. Not sure what you mean in your comparison of underrated=/=underapreciated.

The Ascent

@TheEroica: . Which would make Psychonauts underappreciated, but not underrated.

@BassMan: so we're saying the same thing?

@kuu2: I have the ascent in my cart dude... I can't seem to pull the trigger. It seems right up my alley but I'm working through a few games atm.

Bayonetta 3

The Medium

Jasper Byrne’s Lone Survivor

Steamworld Dig 2

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth

Alien Hominid. It's a 2D platformer/shooter, kind of like Contra.

TemTem. It's the best Pokemon game ever made and it's not Pokemon.

Almost pulled the trigger on this one multiple times. Looks like a shameless ripoff of Symphony of the Night, which is great! Love SotN and the other Metroid CV's never hit that same feel.

Remember reading something that put me off though. I'll probably check it out regardless, think it goes on sale a lot.

Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier. Both a rare game but one that is never discussed that came out on the DS. Really was one that slid under the radar like a lot of JRPG DS games. I'll even throw in Project X Zone from the 3DS as it has a similar concept.

Tyranny from obsidian.

A wonderful crpg that most people have not even heard about.

Great replayability, great story and real consequences for your actions.

If folks bought the game, it wouldn’t be in the state it’s currently in… So yes. Please buy Halo Infinite. Spend money on it. Free the game from this content hell it’s currently in…

hell yea, loved this one and no one talks about it

I'll go with Darksiders Genesis.

Darksiders 3 wasn't great and I feel that turned a lot of people off the series. but this isometric spin-off was awesome. If you liked the first two games, this one is well worth playing, don't let the change in camera perspective turn you off.

The one that came to mind first was Astral Chain.