Hidden Gems!

[Yousef Yousef]

I always found the Switch's touchscreen a bit unreliable

Me too

 

[chrismas]

PC has tons of these.
Azrael's Tear (1996)
FPP adventure game with some shootan and role-playing elements baked in. it's presented in polygonal 3D with free movement and everything, pretty impressive since it only came out a couple months after Quake. Shame about the control scheme (movement is tied to the mouse lol).

Dark Heart of Uukrul (1989)
This one has a little buzz now since GOG licensed it a few years back... This one's a blobber [edit: this isn't actually a blobber, the battle system is really a more primitive version of tactical-minded JRPGs like Rhapsody and Trails in the Sky] in the Wizardry clone vein (coming 2 years after Dungeon Master rewrote the book on blobber making... ouch). It sets itself apart by having some fairly sophisticated level design, lots of puzzles and the like akin to what Myst and its many clones would do a few years later. Also, the game has no sound.

I was tempted to throw Dungeon Master (1987) and the Myth (1997~2001) series on here, but those were huge when they released... not that you'd believe it nowadays. There's also plenty of games that look totally obscure but were pretty big in Europe, such as Dark Earth (1997, and did you know this was at one point going to have a sequel co-developed by Square?), the Little Big Adventure (1994~7) series, Silver (1999), Albion (1995), Silent Storm (2004), and so on and so forth. Most of GOG's retro catalogue consists of games like these, well worth mining it for the more obscure side of 80s~00s PC gaming.

Silent Bomber on PS1
Blade of Darkness on PC
Muscle March on Nintendo Wii

Blade of Darkness got a port/remaster for Switch and PC a couple years back, it's pretty sick, devs for it have even gone back now and then to update it some more.

 

[JustLooking123]

I have played Monster Racer in the past, one of very fun games!
it's sort of like pokemon where each monster is strong against some and weak against some other... and there's also catch 'em all thing, if you are interested in doing so.
It has a breeding system too, where two monster can give birth to a new one with a fusion of their skills and stats!
I managed to breed my ultimate shining monster! (i was so lucky!)
It was naturally so strong that could beat even last boss with ease!
so i rarely used it, and instead always used my other weaker monsters... none of them could even come close to it, yet they were quite strong too!
I have fond memories of it, thank you for reviving my memories! ?

 

[lester_summon21]

I really love this DS Games.
I played Pokemon Ranger, that was fun.

Never played these two games and I want try it.

 

[antii antii]

My favorite under the radar RPG for the PS2 is Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land. I might write a review on it. one of these days. Apparently, the Wizardry series is still popular in Japan and a dev over there bought the rights to the IP. They continue to make games in the series over there and they have some interesting takes on the dungeon crawler formula. There's a sequel to that game, called Busin 0: Wizardry Alternative, that didn't get localized, but there's a fan made English guide for it floating around the internet. So there's two under the radar games for you.

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Atlus really use to pick up a lot of people in the early 2000 I’m noticing now it’s reminding me like some early 2000 devolver or something ?

Post automatically merged: Dec 11, 2024

If your into graffiti culture i totally recommend getting up it’s really fun it can get repetitive at times but the combat and story is cool

 

[kelbot]

Oni

It is a 3D 3rd person action/beat em up/shooter. I remember it being really hard but fun when I bought it on a whim back in the day. Have not played it recently though so I'm not sure how I would consider the difficulty today.

Bonus: Test Drive: Eve of Destruction

Not a genre you mentioned being interested in but it's a very under the radar PS2 game and it's one of the best destruction racers ever IMO and one of my favorite games of all time. It has a great career mode where you work your way up the destruction ranks. There are TONS of different really fun even event types, car upgrades and customization. Really fun for couch multiplayer.

 

[BlissfulBandit]

Gungrave and its sequel, Gungrave Overdose. They seem to have gotten some more attention since a third game released 2 years ago, but I'd still consider both of them to be "under the radar".

 

[bobobobo]

Chaos Legion - the saddest game on the planet, cause it got shoved under the radar as discount goth devil may cry, totally disregarding the squad of monsters you get to summon and control. Kind of like minions in overlord, except less puzzle/tactics and more action. The best execution of that idea in terms of mechanics IMO.

 

[Keaso]

For me I think it's Shadow Tower Abyss. One of my favorite ps2 games that no one really talks about. I'd love to see a remake of this game, along with the entire King's Field series.

 

[ObscureJigglypuff]

I'd say Baroque, but you may not like it.

 

[Karnik]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but Super Robot Taisen OGs comes to mind; the remake of the 2 GBA titles with massive graphic and sound improvements plus JPN voice acting.
Imagine that nowdays I'm playing it on a smartphone (readmi note model), which was unthinkable a few years ago, thanks to NetherSX2: a truly wonderful feeling!
Having said that, regarding the first title contained in the game, the gameplay is a bit repetitive, the maps are all the same, little variety of enemies and the plot is flat and banal, when compared to the twisted, complex and intertwined one of other SRWs containing anime protagonists. Translated a few years ago. It's at least worth trying. ?‍

 

[Laura Zonih]

Excellent article!

I recently played for the first time 2 of the games you mention here:
That nice Final Fantasy Tactics and Magical Starsign.

I'll take a look at some of the Luminous Arc on DS as well?

 

[Platinum_depth]

Los pokemon ranger son joyas que se merecen unos remakes

 

[Raud]

Luminous Arc! Love The 3 games, Dragon Ball Attack Of The Saiyans is a Nice RPG, I was hoping for a sequel for years ?.

 

[cdgaymance]

Way of the Samurai 1 & 2. 3 & 4 are on ps3/pc. They don't get nearly enough love. The games are pretty short, but have a ton of branching paths as well as endings and can be finished in one sitting. The first game is a bit bare bones, but the second one is apparently the best one, been meaning to play it for years(only one I haven't played).

Samurai Western has been mentioned, I think it had the same devs and uses the same engine as WotS.

 

[Tronky.it]

Prisoner of War. A.K.A, "a sort of Metal Gear Solid set in the World War II".
I played it when I was 13, and I had a lot of fun. Today it perhaps doesn't hold up well to the weight of age, but it's still worth a try. It is also available for Xbox and PC.

 

[Aziamuth]

Los pokemon ranger son joyas que se merecen unos remakes

Duro hacerlos fuera de DS y 3DS, aunque tengo entendido que alguien está haciendo uno inspirado en Steam

 

[queensquest]

The combat in the Monolith Dragon Ball game is very similar to the combat in the two Super Robot Wars games they did on DS, which are both great - the second especially.

I've been playing a lot of DS recently so I'll add to the list of hidden gems:

Bangai-O Spirits - a cross between a shmup and a puzzle game, very fun and easy to play
Metal Max 3 and 2R - open-world(ish) JRPGs with masses of content, nice spritework and quite funny scripts
Resident Evil DS - calling RE a hidden gem may seem a stretch but I don't think many have played this one. It's a version of the PS1 original but with lots of added content and a re-arranged mode.

 

[hanni-ho]

Ooooooh Henry Hatsworth sounds like a fun but tricky game. Never heard of it, and this article is making me think of giving it a shot at some point. Good job!

 

[Mithraslogos]

What are some of your favorite PS2 Hidden Gems? I am looking for some obscure PS2 games to play this Xmas.

 

[Bonkers225]

Blood Will Tell
Legaia 2
Ar Tonelico
God Hand
Radiata Stories
MS Saga
Shining Force EXA

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Hey! I recommend checking out these two topics for some good recommendations:

https://retrogametalk.com/threads/c...ps2-games-that-truly-are-under-the-radar.722/

PS2 Thread 'PS2 title you owned that you didn't see many others having?'

Dec 17, 2024

The PS2 has a beautiful library, it's vast, there's hidden gems mixed in everywhere, and many of the games have really good gameplay for their time.

What was a PS2 game you owned that you didn't see very often in others' libraries? For me, it was Rune - Viking Warlord, man I loved that game. I remember finding it at a garage sale years and years ago when I still had a fat PS2. Ragnar was a legend, he had that traditional barbarian name, the sound effects were terrible yet I couldn't help but love em'...

• LUNARMYTH
• Replies: 64
• Forum: Sony Talk

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[rexfenix]

If you like mechs you should check out Gundam Federation Versus Zeon. It's basically the predecessor to those modern extreme vs games, except it's mission-based. It has a sequel too, Gundam VS Zeta.
If you like action, there's a Nightmare Before Christmas game made by the same people who made Devil May Cry. Actually it is literally just DMC with Jack Skellington.

 

[moonbits]

Gradius V

 

[PSVitaForever]

Not sure if they're hidden, and they could be "gems" just for me, but:
* Stella Deus (strategy rpg, I used a guide to recruit all characters, I enjoyed it and I loved everything - the graphics, the story, the characters)
* Atelier Iris 3 (turn-based rpg, colourful, I enjoyed it very much and I liked the use of various classes for characters)
* Suikoden 5, sadly I've lost my save right after the final battle, before the last dungeon, but I enjoyed the journey until there!