Hidden Gems!

[IyoTheHelpfulWolf]

I almost never hear anyone talk about ATV Quad Power Racing 2 and it drives me nuts!

 

[What's His Face]

Off-radar, you say?

 

[newageretrohippie]

Kya: Dark Lineage is definitely one of my favorites. It's a 3D adventure platformer with some really cool play mechanics. Lots of flying on air currents and you get a little board that lets you "skate" down little air tunnels.

a real shame this wasnt more popular. I talked to wayforward and atari about doing a possible remake/reboot... One of the guys from wayforward said he "vaguely remembers playing it back in the day" and said it was a "definite possibility" whatever that means haha. Not sure what happened to eden games (the og devs).

ive never talked to anyone else who even heard of the game.

https://cdromance.org/ps2-iso/kya-dark-lineage-usa/

 

[jawg_da_dawg]

i have a real softspot for Blood Will Tell! but that ones starting to pick up a cult following, so you might have already checked it it out.

I was thinking about posting Blood Will Tell here too lol, same semi-cult following status applies to Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc too

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2024

I would recommend Maken X (Shao) and Okage Shadow king View attachment 2495View attachment 2496

I'm not very familiar with Atlus games outside of the MegaTen series, but I love Kazuma Kaneko's artwork so I might check that one out

 

[xman8245]

Baroque.

 

[junkman]

360 appreciation threadm, i like. I started colecting 360 games three years ago and now have more than 700 games on physical for it. Can not say how much the 360 has taken control of me.

I can not really tell much about hidden gems, but i'd recommend some of my favs:

For Racing, especially these days, checking back into the first Forza Horizon game is a reviving catch. Less of the "fortnite-y" gameplay action, more focus on the racing festival. A decent copy of Colorado let's you get absorbed into a glimpse of what race festivals would be like. Which leads me to my next recomm, the NfS ProStreet for 360 :D as well Carbon and Most Wanted are insanely improved in comparison to the PS2 adaptions.

Love getting back to the games in the console that had found remakes and remasters throughout the time, just to get the feeling of the vanilla game back, like Mirrors Edge, Burnout Paradise, Bioshock, GTA5.

Playing also Bayonetta on it rn, in addition to Just Cause 2, Saints Row 2+3 aaaand Final Fantasy 13 (wow, three discs)

 

[rosemarymenace]

If someone in this thread hasn't already suggested John Woo's Stranglehold kicks ass, also that weird compilation remake thing of the first 2 flatout games that I don't remember the name of but I quite enjoyed playing

 

[themoon]

Automodelista is a beautiful and overlooked arcade racer

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

Lemme give you some REAL shit. some ACTUAL obscure games, like Tsugunai, Yanya Caballista, Azumi, Iru..., and Septerra Core.

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

Dual Hearts is an amazing action adventure game that didn't get the attention it so richly deserved.

 

[Eclipse14]

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land. An early PS2 game, but definitely my favorite one from that period.

 

[RedNin3]

- Front Mission 5: I will never forget when I found out, as a teen, that my favorite Strategy Mech game had a sequel (Front Mission 4), and that it was not even in English at that moment.
- Jak X: really fun kart-style racing game that everyone seems to forget when it goes away from their sight.
- Ar Tonelico, Mana Khemia, and Atelier Iris: they aren't THAT hidden, but people just completely ignore them most times when you talk about PS2 JRPGs, it's all FFX and KH (ugh) or nothing.
- God Hand: can this one be considered hidden anymore?
- R-Racing Evolution: Weird physics sometimes, but a good GT-like try, also it has nice -plots-
- Naval Ops: Warship Gunner and Warship Gunner 2: both start like a weird proto-World of Warships and end up as Naval Dynasty Warriors.
I might have more, but these are the ones on top of my brain all the time.
Edit: GLADIUS: how could I forget that random Lucas Arts RPG? Might not be the best, but damn it had some nice stuff in it.

 

[themoon]

[...]
Edit: GLADIUS: how could I forget that random Lucas Arts RPG? Might not be the best, but damn it had some nice stuff in it.

Gladius was dope.

 

[GrimRiven]

Not necessarily a hidden gem in Europe, but largely unknown outside since it was PAL exclusive is Asterix & Obelix XXL 2. The first game , which is also great, was released in the US, but not this one. It is an excellent action-adventure game with tons of colourful environments, fights against loads of Romans, and video game references. It was remastered, alongside the first one, for current consoles and PC, and is available to buy in all regions. I highly recommend it!

 

[Auriiya]

Orphan
Tears to tiara
Dark cloud

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

Not necessarily a hidden gem in Europe, but largely unknown outside since it was PAL exclusive is Asterix & Obelix XXL 2. The first game , which is also great, was released in the US, but not this one. It is an excellent action-adventure game with tons of colourful environments, fights against loads of Romans, and video game references. It was remastered, alongside the first one, for current consoles and PC, and is available to buy in all regions. I highly recommend it!

View attachment 10120

I like how the enemies in that game were parodies of other video game characters.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Post automatically merged: Jan 10, 2025

 

[Keaks]

EDIT: After seeing how many games people have added, we could push it to more than just Playstation games?

I have asked a lot of places the same question: PS1, PS2; What are true hidden gems?

I am trying to expand my gaming with these systems and this would be huge to find games I never knew about, that are sick.

Cheers, post them up!

 

[MajesticSiN]

Guardian's Crusade for the psx.

 

[Bobmeboi]

it not the most hidden game but all the ace combat games are fantastic

<-- *not from ace combat*

 

[Cu-Neo]

Valkirie profile 2 on PS2 and also the Ys games in general, in PS2 you can play the sixth game. Also the dot hack games for PS2, Gungrave and Zone of the enders (everything is for PS2 ?)

 

[Doomstruck]

I feel like AGDQ has made this one more popular lately but No One Can Stop Mr. Domino has always been a childhood favorite. Tobal 2 is one of my favorite fighting games on the system, and for puzzle games I really like Tall infinity and its sequel tall - twin's tower

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

oh right, for PS2 there's mawaza, really weird puzzle game about connecting dots to make shapes then rotating them by each corner to slam them into other shapes. Road Trip and Choro Q are both fascinating racing game RPGs in the same franchise set in a world where cars are just alive. Flipnic which is this surreal pinball adventure with the most wild graphic design I've seen in a game of that era.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Rhapsody A Musical Adventure for the PS1 is an amazing tactical rpg a hidden gem and an obscure one too.

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Seems like a dupe post, but I'll again mention Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 or My Summer Vacation 2.

 

[RustySK]

I don't hear this game mentioned often outside of places like this, so just to make sure it's out there, since it's an absolute goddamn masterpiece: Alundra, for the PSX.
Pretty much the best top-down Zelda game that's not a Zelda game. Highly, highly recommend it.

And while I'm at it, here's a random, overlooked action game that deserves way more attention: Rising Zan, also for PSX.

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

Man, now I'm remembering tons and tons more - I'll limit myself to one more recommendation, since I don't want to flood this thread: Racing Lagoon, a street racing JRPG, also for the PSX.
Games like this are the reason people like me still consider the fifth console generation the most interesting. Genuinely weird ideas realized with an actual budget (for the time). Great stuff.

(Great Youtube channel btw - plenty of other recommendations on there as well)