Hidden PS1 "Gems" That Should Stay Hidden

[Jacko the Lantern]

Mizzurna Falls is so interesting on paper.
A Japanese PS1 freeroaming detective adventure game with life sim elements, that was inspired by David Lynch and other classic americana movies.
The actual game is unbelievably rough. It's incredibly buggy, the time limits of events are strict as hell, and sometimes it seemed like the game wanted to soft lock itself, and after multiple hours and three restarts, I just gave up.
That being said, just by reading that summary you probably had 3 other classic games popped in your head that came out after Mizzurna Falls.
Not to mention that the dev studio, Human Entertainment, would later go bankrupt, and have members join other studios. Most notably Grasshopper Manufacture.
It feels like the game equivalent of the Lucy fossils. This is the ancestor of so many other influential games, but on its own it can't stand on its legs.

 

[514lorn]

Racing Lagoon has got to be it for me. Awesome style and concept, awful game.

 

[What's His Face]

it controls just as horribly as it looks

I'd argue worse. Shockingly, the SNES game is leagues better.

 

[RashFaustinho]

Not really an hidden gem, but... Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories.

Just enjoy the soundtrack on Youtube or whatever, but don't bother with the game.
A gacha game before gachas existed.

 

[χKai]

Not really an hidden gem, but... Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories.

Just enjoy the soundtrack on Youtube or whatever, but don't bother with the game.
A gacha game before gachas existed.

I still have no idea how I beat this as a kid. Probably cheat codes.
It's like a really dumbed-down version of Yugioh with a hugely-expanded and different fusion system.

Honestly it's so different from regular Yugioh, it's like learning an entirely different  game, and that's not a good thing, especially considering there is only one entry in the series where the game mechanics function like this.

It would be like intentionally learning the outdated and obsolete version of a programming language when everyone else already uses the more advanced alternative.

 

[RashFaustinho]

I still have no idea how I beat this as a kid. Probably cheat codes.
It's like a really dumbed-down version of Yugioh with a hugely-expanded and different fusion system.

Honestly it's so different from regular Yugioh, it's like learning an entirely different  game, and that's not a good thing, especially considering there is only one entry in the series where the game mechanics function like this.

It would be like intentionally learning the outdated and obsolete version of a programming language when everyone else already uses the more advanced alternative.

When this game was made in Japan, Konami was still confused on what the actual card game was supposed to be, so it's understandable that it played differently.

The real problems were the obnoxious bullshit drop rates and the fact that the game didn't tell you where to find the right cards lmao

 

[χKai]

When this game was made in Japan, Konami was still confused on what the actual card game was supposed to be, so it's understandable that it played differently.

The real problems were the obnoxious bullshit drop rates and the fact that the game didn't tell you where to find the right cards lmao

Yeah, and it would have been nice for them to have included some sort of guide for fusion, or at least give the player more info on how it worked.

 

[nobitakun]

King's Field. If not for it being attached to FromSoft, i think it should've and would've stayed hidden. View attachment 53724

Wow, I knew this thread would throw some dinamites at some games I can find hilarious, and because of that enjoyable. But just a while ago I was discussing on how King's Field would be critisiced as "ohhhh, the gameplay is really bad" if it were released now as a remaster. How old are you? lol

LOL, forgot about this one. I had it stored deep in my brain vault. It is a fairly impressive game visually though, just horrible to play.

This game created the fun from nowhere. It's like eating food which smells like rot but ends being delicious. I can't say enough that people who think King's Field is bad is because of not understanding it, and the devs are kind of guilty on that.

But anyways, without changing the thread title I would change its meaning: hidden PS1 games that should stay hidden (because I don't want them to be mainstream, as people wouldn't appreciate them). As being mainstream is usually something that makes further entries in a saga become crap (not in all cases, but hey, tell that to Bio Hazard).

 

[Zooey]

Wow, I knew this thread would throw some dinamites at some games I can find hilarious, and because of that enjoyable. But just a while ago I was discussing on how King's Field would be critisiced as "ohhhh, the gameplay is really bad" if it were released now as a remaster. How old are you? lol

I'm 38. King's Field to me, is only remembered because of its association with Dark Souls. I really think that if it wasnt made by FromSoft, nobody would ever talk about it. Its a similar story with Drakengard, which is just a mediocre Musou game (Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors, etc), but because of its connection to Nier Automata and Yoko Taro, its still remembered.

But objectively, when King's Field came out, it wasnt popular, it didnt blow up, even in Japan it found barely any success. It was only after Dark Souls came about that King's Field really got much attention.

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

Fucking Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout and Eggs of Steel. With Final Bout, it is just an incredibly clunky and overall unresponsive game that should not be considered. Eggs of Steel, on the other hand, is a war crime. There is something so utterly repugnant about it. Even the sound design feels like it's designed to invoke despair into its players. It is a rotten, vile thing that should not be played by anyone other than the most dedicated to the slop. It is an awful feeling mess with a dogshit protag, annoying level design, poorly placed platforms and looks ugly as sin

 

[MemeAlert]

Final Fantasy VI until someone fix the load times in that port.

 

[Pjira]

Fucking Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout

I honestly feel like Final Bout is a masterpiece in comparison to this

not to say that means Final Bout is good lol
And here is another game I remember hating when I rented it

 

[MemeAlert]

And here is another game I remember hating when I rented it
View attachment 76257

Ah the Ghost n' Goblin of Playstation 1.

 

[ThatOneLum]

I'm gonna go ahead and second Yu-Gi-Oh Forbidden Memories.

This thing was a repetitive, grindy maze. So many wasted hours just wanting to be able to play yugioh and not knowing what was wrong.

Thank god for the PC trilogy and the GX PSP games. Pure gold.

 

[What's His Face]

I'm 38. King's Field to me, is only remembered because of its association with Dark Souls. I really think that if it wasnt made by FromSoft, nobody would ever talk about it. Its a similar story with Drakengard, which is just a mediocre Musou game (Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors, etc), but because of its connection to Nier Automata and Yoko Taro, its still remembered.

But objectively, when King's Field came out, it wasnt popular, it didnt blow up, even in Japan it found barely any success. It was only after Dark Souls came about that King's Field really got much attention.

Agreed. I'm...let's just say vastly older and leave it at that. At least in America, FromSoftware had absolutely no name recognition at all prior to Dark Souls. King's Field? You'd only hear about that game by the creepy I.T. intern who sat in the back of the office basement cubicle-hell constantly putting paperclips into electrical sockets then sticking his tongue to them. Echo Night? Shadow Tower? Eternal Ring? Evergrace? Known as "meh" games from that "meh" publisher, Agetec. No-one knew or cared who made their early games - most everyone agreed they sucked.

FromSoft first decent US release was, naturally, Armoured Core...which was beloved by mech enthusiasts and largely ignored otherwise, even with later games getting a monthly 2-page "competition build" in Expert Gamer or some mag. Something I suspected as a deranged old bag was paid for by the various publishers for the series or Sony directly. Even then, people ignore the Playstation 1 games. Their first games that reviewed well by both players and journies were the two Otogi games on Xbox - remember those? Yeah, those seemed like Bob Ross "happy little accidents."

The issue with Demon's Souls, at least in the US, is that the normal players just saw it as a fantastic Atlus game (the US publisher), and had no clue that it was made by the same company behind Armoured Core, Kuon, and Enchanted Arms (likely hidden in the US to prevent sales from tanking). It wasn't until Dark Souls, released by an entirely different publisher (Namco Bandai) and the constant "From The Makers of The #1 Global Hit Demon's Souls!!!" advertising behind Dark Souls (mostly so people wouldn't view it as a rip-off of Demon's Souls thanks to the publisher switch) that anyone in the US paid any attention to FromSoft as a company, nor had looked at their back catalog of mostly crap-to-mid titles. Crap, as-in Steel Battalion.

Just like Drakengard 1 & 2 in the US. I own the games. The base gameplay is bloody boring as all duck. There's a reason the Japanese title, Drag-on Dragoon, was used to mock the games as they did nothing but drag on and on and on. Even the pseudo-sequel, Nier, didn't garner a lot of attention. These games were the "IYKYK" games due to their exceptionally bizarre stories and endings. It wasn't until Nier Automata that the greater public at large started to look at the past games with renewed interest.

 

[nobitakun]

I'm 38. King's Field to me, is only remembered because of its association with Dark Souls. I really think that if it wasnt made by FromSoft, nobody would ever talk about it. Its a similar story with Drakengard, which is just a mediocre Musou game (Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors, etc), but because of its connection to Nier Automata and Yoko Taro, its still remembered.

But objectively, when King's Field came out, it wasnt popular, it didnt blow up, even in Japan it found barely any success. It was only after Dark Souls came about that King's Field really got much attention.

Nobody is talking about a game that has been released 20 years ago that didn't have any re-release or new installment. I discovered King's Field before PS3 was even a thing, because of King's Field IV. I discovered PS2 Drakengard games when they were released, and I don't think they are bad, also not very good. I am a fan of musou games because they are a lot of fun when nicely executed, but I wouldn't call them musou games, as I wouldn't call Stellar Blade a hack'n slash game. When Nier was released, I stayed 1 month thinking of playing it, until I did, and I was surprised on how good it is, one of my most unexpected surprises ever. Actually, if I was convinced that Nier Automata would be a good game is because of the original Nier, otherwise I wouldn't have paid so much attention to it.

And this is exactly why some games never get famous or stay hidden, because usually people (the mainstream) never gets to understand them. And for me that's a plus, I don't want the masses ruin games that are hidden diamonds, they better stay as they are :)

 

[Burzuru]

King's Field. If not for it being attached to FromSoft, i think it should've and would've stayed hidden. View attachment 53724

nuh-uh king's field is awesome. i love the early 3d graphics and atmosphere. the controls, while they may take some getting used to, are very doable. i also love the slower pace of king's field. i absolutely hated how frantic they made DaS3 and elden ring. un-fun. dark souls 2(both versions) was their last good game in that style.

 

[King_Fisher]

Yeah, I initally thought "misunderstood" as "hidden", but that game was still regarded as bad.
But if we're talking very bad, I only can think of PS1's Spectral Tower by Idea Factory. God, that game played absolutely terrible and while the roguelike concept of it was "neat" on paper, in reality it plays like some terrible bootleg rpg game with absurd stuff like random save spots and enemies hitting your inventory items. I'm surprised the devs even managed to go farther after that with stuff like Neptunia, but seeing how those play...
At least the cover art is nice, if albeit misleading

View attachment 53884View attachment 53885

Darn you beat me to it. This is probably my favorite of kusoge since I genuinely like the lore in-game that the towers are actually a purgatory the player character is going through to find salvation. It be quite funny if IF gave this thing another chance as an intentional kusoge like a Kaizo/rage game for dungeon crawlers. I don't know the market for that but it'd be really funny and fitting. (Since the player is literally going through hell completing it.)

 

[Maw]

it controls just as horribly as it looks

That's the worst thing tbh lol

 

[Max320]

Pixie the adventurer Rerez made a video on youtube about the game. Looked like the hardest worst looking game ever created

 

[Yousef]

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero

Misunderstood masterpiece

 

[Hourai]

Just like Drakengard 1 & 2 in the US. I own the games. The base gameplay is bloody boring as all duck. There's a reason the Japanese title, Drag-on Dragoon, was used to mock the games as they did nothing but drag on and on and on. Even the pseudo-sequel, Nier, didn't garner a lot of attention. These games were the "IYKYK" games due to their exceptionally bizarre stories and endings. It wasn't until Nier Automata that the greater public at large started to look at the past games with renewed interest.

Even Drakengard fans will admit Drakengard 1 isn't remotely fun. It's not a secret that as a video game, it's not fun. Even well before you're required to upgrade every weapon to its max level so you can fight an unfun reaction-based boss for an extremely anticlimactic ending, it's not fun. It's the type of game you play for everything else that comes with it being a video game, and for the story nobody outside of eroge will be willing to write.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Spectral Tower AKA Azure Dreams at home

 

[Nelson2001]

Misunderstood masterpiece

Because that's just Ridiculous. No one Beats at Sub-Zero.

 

[Antilocal123]

All of them