A look back at some older, obscure, or passed over next gen games

[Grave]

Then, uh, stop doing that while you're getting hit. I don't think I ever died while healing. Crowd control is also a nice thing to learn, if you don't let them surround you you only to worry about multiple enemies in one very late portion of the game.

I'm not saying the game can't be frustrating, but I'm also saying you shouldn't hate it because it doesn't coddle you.

I've never had the "hit while healing or picking up items" problem, I just had difficulty fighting more than one person... or even one person. It was as hard as hell for me to track them. Like I said, the game did a lot of cool things, but in the end, I didn't feel like it was rewarding enough to deal with the frustration I got. And in the end, if I'm not having fun, well... I'm gonna stop playing the game, because it's no longer serving its purpose.

[Timber]

I'll have to second RAD & the Buffy games (I liked Chaos Bleeds even better).

And I'll add in Sub Rebellion for the PS2. A true 3d sequel to In the Hunt, I was surprised it came together so well. Fighting underwater & on the surface were done differently enough to make it enjoyable to go back and forth between them. Plus there were some great boss battles. I haven't taken it off my shelf for over a year now, think I'll put in some time with it this week after I finish kotor2.

[sleeve]

Yeah, Sub Rebellion really is a great game.

Another great, looked-over title is Sega GT 2002. It's little more than a nice-looking GT clone, but it plays really nice and doesn't make you do those silly driving tests.

[Grave]

Okay, fuck it, I'm done with classes, and I have all the time in the world. I will continue!

DMC2 was ok a little better than what people made it out to be thought a little bit on the easy side and a worthless second disc.

I paid $30 for DMC when it was new (I think I had a Best Buy gift card or somesuch) and I never really regretted it. No, it was nowhere near as good as the first, and some of the dreary environments got boring fast, while being nowhere near as cool as the castle in the first game. It was mind-numbingly easy (even on Dante Must Die mode, there was no challenge) and I didn't really like the girl (whose name I forgot... Lucia or something?), but... it wasn't an awful experience. I had fun with it. I played through it a couple times and when I got bored with it, I felt like I got what I paid for. I can't hate it too much, but DMC3 looks infinitely better.

Also I like Castlevania LOI. People hated that one it seemed the music was great.

BTW JSRF was ok I liked the first so much better from music to play machanics. The second game wasn't as great or good as the first to me. I got either frustrated or bored by the time I got the Roller Coaster stage I think thats where I left it off at. I have yet to finish and don't have any desire to.

I liked LoI a lot. Once you get done with the "Castlevania May Cry" heckling, it's not a bad game. It's not a terribly difficult game either, but I did enjoy it a good deal. I absolutely loved the enemy design, a lot of old CV enemies translated to 3D extraordinarily well. The environments were a bit boring at times and I do wish it was one seamless castle like SotN, because I feel that could work insanely well in 3D, but oh well. For those who didn't like LoI, shut up and go play the N64 Castlevanias again. You'll develop an appreciation really fast.

I liked the first JSR a lot, but I had a couple problems with it. For one, I thought the control could use some tightening up. I know I'm alone on this one, but I didn't always like how it felt. Two, I wanted to play that game fast, and I felt like the tagging just slowed me down. Yeah, one-button tags make the game a lot easier, but I love the look of JSRF, and the gameplay moves at a much faster rate, and I actually had more fun with it than I did with the first. Though, now that I think of it, I don't think I finished either one. Hm.

I'll have to second RAD & the Buffy games (I liked Chaos Bleeds even better).

Never played Chaos Bleeds, I forgot all about it. I should hunt a copy down sometime.

Another great, looked-over title is Sega GT 2002. It's little more than a nice-looking GT clone, but it plays really nice and doesn't make you do those silly driving tests.

A friend of mine told me that a while ago, too. He said after the first couple races (which I gave up on it in the middle of), it gets good. Unfortunately, I still don't like Gran Turismo-style racing games, so I don't think I can find much there. Not doing the driving tests helps, but I just don't see the fun in trying to emulate real world driving physics without the other fun parts of driving... it just seems dull when games like Burnout exist. I'm still interested to give it another try sometime soon, though, and hell, I'm sure a number of us have it on the same disc as JSRF and probably never gave it much of a chance.

[Jeremy]

I'll second a Sega GT 2002 nod to some extent, the graphics are still amazing, and it's the most enjoyable sim game I've ever played, as I wasn't bored to tears after a day of play. The replay feature also rules, I need to get the online expansion soon, while it's still in stores. Okage Shadow King is quite awesome, although not quite an uknown gem. JSRF isn't unknown, but it is under appreciated.

[Shin Johnpv]

With ease,what a great game.

I really really really really hope there's a sequel

I remember when the game was coming out Eurocomm said they made enough from everything else they had done that even if it sold poorly they'd beable and want to do a sequel but I haven't heard anything about it since

[Compass]

Shadow of Destiny (PS2) - Very cool little adventure game, especially if you love Shenmue-style campiness, which I do indeed fancy.

I always chime in when I see this game mentioned. Easily the best story in any adventure game I've ever played! Brilliant stuff.

Gothic's cool too. Worst interface ever? Maybe. But it's somehow more forgiveable than Morrowind's. Just forget the mouse entirely and you'll start to adapt. I like this game's sense of exploration though I've barely begun. I really need to set aside some time for it 'cause I have the sequel waiting as well.

And to the guy who mentioned Sky Odyssey. Did you mean Sky Gunner... or is that the japanese name? Anyway, I have this too. Looks good. Heard there's slowdown problems though.

And to finally add my own: Doom 3. This game received a lot of undeserved backlash. Lights off. Sound up, way up. Graphics set to high. Probably my favorite FPS of all time even above HL2 (though I concede HL2 is a better, more fleshed-out overall experience, I had more fun with Doom 3).

[Dipstick]

And to the guy who mentioned Sky Odyssey. Did you mean Sky Gunner... or is that the japanese name? Anyway, I have this too. Looks good. Heard there's slowdown problems though.

Are you kidding? Both! Okay, I was not the one to make that statement, but both of the games were really fun, and completely overlooked.

Skygunner was a game where you flew around in these odd-looking biplanes and shot the crap out of stuff. It had a distinct visual style (even considering the fact that "anime-inspised" is hardly distinct), some interesting scoring/destruction mechanics (shooting things in a specific order and chaining explosions would score you crazy points and make your life easier), and a very odd health system (when you took too much damage, you spun out of control and had to mash on the controls to recover -- the more times you did this, the more buttons you had to hit in the time limit. Your health was a direct function of how fast you can mash.) The real problem with the game is that it is short as hell (5 stages), but playing with the various characters (three plus two secret ones) changes all of the missions around.

-Dippy

[Grave]

Are you kidding? Both! Okay, I was not the one to make that statement, but both of the games were really fun, and completely overlooked.

Yeah, I meant Sky Odyssey when I said Sky Odyssey, but Skygunner fits the bill too. Fun little game, but yeah, there's big slowdown problems.

[Compass]

Hmm, okay. I guess I have no idea what Sky Odyssey is. I know I've seen it written but my brain always translated it into Skygunner and I thought they were the same game. I'll look into it.