Games that need more love!
A self-indulgent list to highlight games I adore that the general public seems to either be largely unaware of or actively dislike. Based more on personal experience than the Backloggd community. If you enjoy any of these you're a Certified Cool Cat™
73 Games
One of the best Ace Attorney games but very few people have played it because it never came out in English officially. This is a crime against humanity
Incredible comedy game. I can understand why people hate it but my god it's so good. Feels like an Uncharted clone made by Ed Wood. I'M THE FUCKING UNIVERSE
Amazing indie character action game with lovely art and a great sense of humor. The boss fights are so good and Amelia is my wife
Everywhere I go I see people saying this game sucks and kid me who put 500000 hours into it is tired of being oppressed by them
Best FPS of all time but it doesn't play nice with modern hardware. Thankfully nBlood and Fresh Supply are here to save the day
This game is in black and white until you get your character's eyes back. Yeah, it rules
I haven't gotten more than a few hours into this game because it's impossible but it might be the craziest brawler ever made. First-person burger munching and vomiting action
The Re-translation + Map romhack definitely does a lot of heavy lifting toward making this an enjoyable experience but it's just such a cool, adventurous, experimental game at its core
Exquisite pixel art and great puzzle design make this one of my absolute favorite horror/adventure games. 100%'d it in two sittings so you know it's good
The only thing I miss from middle school is staying up late to play this with my friend when he was staying over, using only PictoChat to communicate between battles
I had so much fun exploring the world in this game. Definitely a huge step down from the original but I think it's unfairly maligned by people who haven't actually tried it. Never play it without Visible Upgrade
It may be unfinished and somewhat embarrassing but it's also the best open world game of all time don't @ me
2D character action game with slick artwork and incredible music. Plays like an absolute dream, I couldn't get enough
Best original Game Boy title bar none and still one of the greatest puzzle platformers ever. Shocking that I never see anyone talk about it
Bought this for $2 because I liked the art style and got one of the most fun, charming games I'd played in years. Such a shame it seems to have barely sold any copies at all
Transgressive art masterpiece or low effort shitpost? I dunno man but it's funny as hell and holds a special place in my heart due to originally seeming like it would be the end of the drakenverse
I could put all three compilations on here but this one is by far the best and most consistent. Includes a little ditty called Submission, my personal pick for GOTY 2020
Beautiful, disgusting, poignant, insane. Has the second greatest ending in the history of video games. Kenji Eno I miss you so much
Pretty sure I'm the only person under 30 who has ever touched this game but it fills a very specific niche that nothing else I've played has even tried
WHY did the studio that made this masterpiece go out of business because it flopped??? It's scary and the story is cool as hell. Life is so unfair, man
It was worth downloading the 2020 Haunted PS1 Demo Disc just for this unhinged cybertronic nightmare. One of the few games in recent memory I've found genuinely scary
Suda51's incredible Fatal Frame sequel was never released outside of Japan because both Nintendo and Tecmo are apparently incapable of QA
It may be a frustrating mess of long load times, trial and error game design, crusty controls, and uncomfortable horniness, but goddamn it, it's MY frustrating mess. The visuals and VA do slap tho
The part where Sumio convinces the bicycle delivery man that his life has value means so much to me personally. No, I will not elaborate on this
A stone cold classic featuring an OST up there with the best works of Okabe, Shimomura, and Uematsu no cap
Ghost Trick fans have made "play Ghost Trick" a meme because they know only around 100 people ever actually have. They're desperate okay
The best Doom clone. Why does no one remember it
I must have put 100's of hours into this game back in my early high school Higurashi phase
Check out this complete edition of the best visual novel ever! It's only on consoles and you can't buy it in Europe and the art for the new chapter sucks and wait come back
I feel like this was overshadowed by Celeste because they came out at the same time and everyone on my Twitter TL who was really into Celeste kept shitting on this game and basically I'm bitter as hell
I always assumed everyone loved this game as much as I did until I went online as an adult and discovered its incredibly vocal hatedom. Anyway, it's Naughty Dog's best work
GoldenEye 007 was slightly before my time so me and my friends had Nightfire instead. This was the pinnacle of split-screen multiplayer FPS with bots and nothing else comes close to this day
Super charming action platformer with lovely pixel art that's free on Steam. I promise it's not a fetish game
A survival horror JRPG filled with nonsensical gameplay mechanics and the most extra enemy designs imaginable (until Shadow Hearts one-upped it). You've never heard a better battle theme than Waterfall
Megami Tensei 2 (no Shin here, baby) is surprisingly fantastic and the remake of it in this compilation is seriously worth your time
Hilarious and shockingly complex rube goldberg machine puzzle game about trying to stop slasher movie killers from ruining your vacation. You can make the camp counselors have an orgy in the first level
Watch the color drain from everyone's face when I tell them this mobile puzzle game is my favorite Tomb Raider
Super funny and creative with surprisingly competent combat and a great soundtrack. Probably the best not-Suda Suda game
The best God of War game
I swear to god I'm not trying to be a contrarian here but I think this is Kojima's magnum opus. Best 8-bit game I've ever played and just endlessly charming from start to finish
Watch the color drain from everyone's face when I tell them I think the Game Boy Color version of Metal Gear Solid is better than the PS1 version
While my NES experience is admittedly limited, this is my go-to title from the system for when I'm bored and just want to have a fun time
My friend who's obsessed with this game recommended it to me and all I can say is SHAKE SHAKE
Swery's only game I can recommend without caveats. Really well-executed on all fronts and the ending made me cry. I love those little donut guy emojis so much
I know Nier is basically mainstream now but I had to suffer through years of supposed "fans" pretending it was some sort of unplayable jankfest, so. Also Papa Nier is the bestest ever
The unending misery I subjected myself to so I could get this in a playable state on Windows 10 was worth it to experience one of the funniest and most creative games of its era
I wish this didn't lag and stutter so much on modern hardware because I must have played through the whole thing like 5 times on my old Windows XP. Still one of my favorite indie games in all aspects
The closest we'll ever come to getting a Portal 3 from Valve. Seriously high quality fan-made game that I can't praise enough
I have repeatedly begged everyone I know to play this game and only one of them actually has. Pretty much no one seems to know what it really is until I explain it to them. Bethesda will pay for this in blood
Apparently people don't seem to think too highly of this game but I had a lot of fun with it and the soundtrack is exceptional
The Remedy game people forgot existed the day it came out. Not as great as Max Payne or Control but still very engaging. Worth playing just for Time Knife tbh
For the longest time I thought this was just a low budget attempt to ape The Evil Within (and the first level kind of is) but after finally giving it a try I ended up loving it. The ending made me scream with joy
Yes I'm putting a DLC on here. I love RE7 all around but it's spiritually upsetting to me that no one seems to have played the add-on about the pudgy swamp man who eats bugs and punches zombies
Maybe the most widely hated game that I love the most. Can't get enough of that gameplay, best feeling traditional open world title ever. So much fun stuff to do and I unironically love the characters to death
Classic Japanese flip phone games were truly built different. Yes, I DID get all the endings
Who needs a greatsword when you have a fucking grenade launcher? Old FromSoft games simply hit different
Watch the color drain from everyone's face when I tell them this game is BioShock done right
I love RPG Maker games a lot and, as far as classic-styled ones go, this hit all the right notes for me. Sequel when
There has never been a better kart racing game than this and all my friends refuse to play it with me because it's the only one I ever got good enough at to win consistently
Cute episodic space adventure made in RPG Maker. I love little no-budget games like this one, they really inspire me to try making something of my own someday
The first roguelite I ever played and probably still my favorite to this day
Definitive edition of the original Tenchu. Has some improvements and extra content compared to the US version. Released only in Japan but completely playable in English out of the box
While it suffers from some inconsistency issues any fan-made project with major community input would, Thief 2X is one of the most impressive mods/unofficial expansions I've ever played and is genuinely better than Thief 3 in several ways
I'm not even going to pretend this is some kind of unsung masterpiece but I had a wonderful time playing it over and over in high school. Hilarious, simple fun
Billing this as a parody game is doing it a real disservice because it's very much a wonderful homage to 2D Metal Gear and describing it as a spoof will only make people question its quality without trying it
People seem to consider this the black sheep of the franchise (not when Revolution exists, c'mon) but it was the first one I played and I had endless fun with it. I actually liked the story too sue me
Smooth and cool space shooter action puzzle platformer. Love the visual style and all the different gameplay types incorporated into it. Apparently you can't buy it anymore and that's fucked up
Another clunky jankfest from the developers of Dead By Daylight, only this one introduced me to the glory of psychobilly music so it holds a very special place in my heart. Give us the sequel, Bethesda
Genuinely shocked that people seem to hate this game so much. I found it incredibly fun and engaging with a very interesting integration of gameplay and story. Cathartic exploitation at its finest
I really have to question if anyone who thinks Kiwami is a good remake of or, god forbid, an improvement over the original version has actually played both of them
Sega choosing not to release this one in the west is among the most cowardly moves they've ever made. Be cool like me and play it alongside the subtitled YouTube walkthrough by KHHsubs (thank you kings)
Dad mode Kiryu is pure kino. I loved spending hours doing menial bullshit at the orphanage. I haven't played this one since high school but it made me cry at least 3 times. Loser is the best theme song ever
The second game from the Count Lucanor devs is better in a lot of ways, though it can be a little tedious at times so I still have yet to 100% it. Absolutely worth playing for all horror fans
17 Comments
My thoughts exactly!! It was honestly my favorite for several years just because I loved how sweet it could be; actually, a HEAT move compilation video featuring Loser as the background music (sadly scrubbed from the internet) was my introduction to the series back when it had just come out in Japan.
There are teams working on fan patches for both Kenzan and Ishin, obviously not preferable to official localizations and probably won't be out within the next 5 years but there is hope at least!
There are teams working on fan patches for both Kenzan and Ishin, obviously not preferable to official localizations and probably won't be out within the next 5 years but there is hope at least!
Does Tropical Freeze really fit on here? It's considered one of the best platformers by a large number of people, it was a best seller on the Wii U, it's a best seller on the Switch, it reviewed very well...
Did it sell well? I always assumed it didn't since I only know one person who's played it. Mostly I just remember Nintendo fanboys crying that Retro made something other than Metroid Prime 4. "It's FUCKING Donkey Kong >:(" was a pretty typical reaction to it back in the day
I suppose it did do better than I expected. Removed from the list. Maybe I just need new friends :p
Major props for Quantum Break, amazing game. Sure it might not be quite as good as Control or Alan Wake, but Remedy can't do any wrong and man QB had such an enthralling story, super fun gameplay and one of the best antagonists in video games as far as I'm concerned. Quantum Break def deserves more love. Oh also Prey is one of the best shooters ever made.
Heck yeah! Agree with all of that. It feels weird calling a Microsoft-published AAA game a hidden gem but QB totally is. I love love love the story and characters in it, gameplay is a lot of fun too. I even enjoyed the live action parts! Remedy really can do no wrong. Always happy to meet another Prey fan as well... it's definitely vying for the title of my favorite game ever and I will never stop singing its praises!
have d2, fatal frame 4 and 25th ward on my backlog and am waiting to get to them someday! i've been on and off with getting fata morgana and jj macfield but i'll probably wait until i clear a good amount of my backlog and for them to go on sale to do so
I hope you enjoy them!!
Thank you! I enjoyed Kiwami enough (mostly for the non-dubbed cutscenes) but man it just cannot touch the original at all.
Are you open to suggestions? Cause I feel that the first Little Big Planet game would fit on this list. I mean it was overshadowed by Mario Maker and you can't even play or share levels online anymore now that the servers are dead.
I'll certainly check it out at some point! I very much want to at least play that recent Sackboy Adventure game, which looks like 100% my thing. I know it got good reviews but I'm unsure of how well it sold since I've never heard/seen anyone talk about it.
Banjo tooie and NieR so true
Fatal Frame is getting a remaster soon so hopefully that'll get it some more love
Also personally more of a Brother Nier guy (wish he'd get more love) but Papa is cool too
Also personally more of a Brother Nier guy (wish he'd get more love) but Papa is cool too
I hope so re: FF4! It's not the best in the series but I've always really liked it, maybe more than most.
My Nier opinion also applies to the original Replicant tbh. The upgraded remaster is really cool but something about the less dynamic music and chunkier visuals speaks to my soul
My Nier opinion also applies to the original Replicant tbh. The upgraded remaster is really cool but something about the less dynamic music and chunkier visuals speaks to my soul
That's totally fair. Personally, I love how the character models more closely resemble the original official/concept art. As with music my preference for each usually goes from track to track, some I like more from the og and some more from the remaster/remake. Although I will say how it was a stupid move to not have original soundtrack as an unlockable. For some reason it's Automata's which feels like a huge disservice to the og music. I also understand people preferring the original artstyle/models as well, the exaggerated proportions of the models and greenish lighting/hue gave the game a grungy and dreamlike feel which is also really nice. I also really like the new ending for the Replicant remake as well.
There's only a couple of new tracks I prefer to the originals but I do still really like the new OST. I also wish they'd done an OG soundtrack swap, even as paid DLC. The Automata one is cute and surprisingly well done but it does feel disrespectful to go with that instead. I like the enhanced models as well, very different flavor but the designs are still great in both interpretations. I prefer the rougher/shinier texturing on original Weiss and Emil but think all 3 versions of Nier look nicer in the remaster. Ending E is definitely my favorite part of the 2021 version. I wasn't a huge fan of it as a novella but it works super well in the game. I think both versions are worth playing for sure
Tauranoro
2 years ago