Post-PS2 Hidden Gems?

TheImmortalP

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Last year I made a topic asking for PS1 and PS2 hidden gems. I mentioned that I feel like I've asked this everywhere else. I've tried googling, gamefaqs, and reddit, but no one seems to actually know some titles that actually are under the radar.

When I say actually under the radar, I'm talking titles that were never popular, were never hyped, and still aren't.

To my surprise, I've found the rare gaming community that not only actually knows hidden gems are able to recommend a lot, but it's the rare gaming community that is actually very welcoming and friendly, and encourages friendly discussions instead of endless bickering, hate, and drama. It is beyond refreshing. To everyone I've interacted with on this website, thank you for being so nice.

Today I'm making a topic asking looking for hidden gems that came out after the PS2 era. Any platform is fine, just try to mention the system the game is on please.

Genres that I'm interested in:


Action games, Action-Adventure, RPGs(that aren't super tactical), And Story-Rich pure adventure titles(not to be confused with puzzle games.)

Examples of what I'm looking for:
Cat Powered UFO, Young Souls, and Trigger Witch:
These are the 3 hidden gems that I recommend a lot. They're RPGs with less than 50 steam reviews, and some of the best games I've played in my life.
Games more than a year old, with less than 1,000 steam reviews that aren't owned by a AAA publisher.

Examples of what I'm not looking for:
Roguelikes, Souls-likes, and other games where the main selling point is that they're extremely hard:
The vast majority of indie titles that get attention are in these genres, and whenever I make a topic like this almost everything everyone mentions is one of these. Let's make this topic a break from this.
Anything owned by a AAA publisher from ps4 and ps5 era:
This stuff always gets a lot of attention, and the good ones that the company themselves doesn't advertise are usually the first in line when people claim are the "most underrated." We're looking for stuff that won't show up on top 20 underrated games of the year lists by clickbait websites.
MEME Games:
This is also the type of game that flood this type of topic. We're looking for stuff that is unironically good.
Post automatically merged:

Let's start with the PS3:


Dark Void: Different in a good way third person cover shooter.
1761324348253.png


Bound By Flame: Medieval Fantasy Action RPG that I imagine that you haven't played by the Greedfall Dev.
1761324403775.png


Arcana Heart 3: 4 button Arcade-Anime style fighter with Visual Novel style cutscenes.
1761324507367.png


Ketsui
1761324603926.png


007 Blood Stone: Oooh, a good Bond game that I didn't know about. It's apparently cheap to pick up on the system and the PC.
1761324798679.png


Saint Seiya Brave Soldiers: Anime fighter that nails joy in its simplicity.
1761324850692.png



Eat Them: Cartoon style Rampage-like. Well this looks fun!
1761324949940.png


The Club:
Battle Royale-like.
1761325062236.png


Asura's Wrath: God of War-like.
1761325142651.png
 
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If you include ps3/xbox360 games in your question, I recommend "Eternal Sonata". I'm not sure if it's a hidden gem so maybe my reply is out of place, but I think it's not as famous as other AAA titles on those consoles. It's a mix of turn-based and action, meaning you mash buttons when it's your turn, either moving around or attacking or with special skills. There's a light/shadow mechanic but it's not really important in the end apart for some skills and some boss. The graphics are colourful and nice, there's Chopin music (and also slides of Chopin's story that may or may not be boring), encounters are not random and you have lots of party members to choose from. I played it on xbox360 last year (ps3 version has some difference and some extra features), or better I've bought a cheap used console ONLY to play this title and FF13.
 
this game is really fun and has a cute story
Graffiti_Kingdom_Coverart.png


EDIT oh... i thought you meant to POST hidden gems for the ps2... oops LOL
 
this game is really fun and has a cute story
View attachment 121896

EDIT oh... i thought you meant to POST hidden gems for the ps2... oops LOL

Nope, that's right here.

 
Arcana Heart 3 is also on PC albeit in an updated form
The Arcana Heart series itself is already criminally underrated as it is
Btw, the developers behind that series are also responsible for Aquaplazza and Million Arthur: Arcana Blood, both of which also have PC ports
Tsk tsk tsk
 
Fur Fighters.

1761329266086.png


A super underrated collect-a-thon. It was also on Dreamcast too but the PS2 version is better. Whenever I recommend it nowadays people ask if it's a furry game and I have to tell them 'technically yes, but actually no'.
 
When I say actually under the radar, I'm talking titles that were never popular, were never hyped, and still aren't.
This is going to be different for everyone, though. Several of the games in your post, I've heard hype for in the past and were popular with a small audience. So like if I pick Mamoru-Kun Curse as a hidden gem, someone out there was definitely hyped for it, so is it hidden still under your criteria?

Anyway, Mamoru-Kun Curse, if only for the soundtrack.
Also Trash Panic but a lot of people liked it iirc
 
The two Dusk Diver games are quite good. Another review called them Yakuza meets Persona and I can't help but agree. Both are on PC and I think the second is on Switch.

11197880-dusk-diver-2-front-cover-3207874798.jpg


Do you like weird and janky games? Burrow Wing might suit you. 7 reviews.
Helvetii is a game that took major inspiration from Vaillaware games. 29 reviews.
Maybe the three Oceanhorn games? Fans of Zelda made them. First has over 1k reviews but the other two have much less.

If these don't fit, then I'm sorry. I never did understand the action or adventure tags.
 
Is White Knight Chronicles 2 a Hidden Gem? Or am i a PS3 noob? I like how you create a character, just for him to be a mute side character, in the story of the first game.
 
My recent find is this game that has a PC version but it was released on PS3 and PS Vita initially, Lost Dimension:

Lost_Dimension_boxart.png


I dislike the tactical RPG genre but this game is ok. It's "different" so it's not like Front Mission or something, it's more like Valkyria Chronicles that it's just turn-based combat with being able to move around, something like Baldur's Gate 3.

Whole deal of the game is you have a party but like "half of them" turn out to be a traitor. So to progress the game you gotta find traitor in your own power and be careful not to kill your loyal party member because if you kill it your job gets harder.

So as in story or as RPG the game is not a big deal but this traitor system would make me recommend it. I'm actually surprised why it is that "went under radar" but I guess people took it as another visual novel rubbish or its traitor system wasn't properly advertized.
 
I've gotta say Tokyo Jungle for the PS3

Highlights from my playthrough here, I think it's definitely best experienced for itself.

Some may read it as a meme game, but while I do find it humorous, I genuinely enjoy it each time I sit down to play.
 
Ketsui
View attachment 121880


Asura's Wrath: God of War-like.
View attachment 121889
Doesn't this break your own rulling? Ketsui was released in 2003 just three years after PS2. And the Ashura Wrath was super popular on release and was developed by AAA publisher: Capcom.

Also I think you need to be slightly more specfic because the subject of this thread is way to broad. If you mean "any hidden gem game released after PS2 era" then there are thousands of games that could potentailly fit this description:
Katana ZERO
ECHO
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
Aztez
Stealth Inc. Deluxe
Siralim Ultimate
Tormented Souls
Cortex Command
LocoRoco
Soul Sacrifice
Puppeteer
HellYeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
Pseudoregalia
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Vanishing of Etahn Carter
Atomfall
Viewfinder
Styx
World of Goo
RUINER
13 Sentinels
Hellish Quart
El Shaddai
etc.
Unless you specifically need something that has less then 50 steam reviews, I can go on, and on, and on, and on, and on. Instead I would suggest to simply finding any reputable reviwer and watch/read his stuff chronologically.
Like Zero Punctuation series for example or MandaloreGaming.
 
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