Hidden gems

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Hi guys! I like starting new topics sometimes, or restarting a few evergreen discussions in gaming. Not sure which this counts as, but...

I'm wondering what hidden gems you have stashed in your hoard. I limited myself to Switch because I happen to have my menu open on my Switch atm, but you can mention games for any console or for PC (though it'd be nice if they are games that are playable without searching out a console that is no longer on the market, otherwise you're just torturing us with games we can never play.)

What games have you played that have had low exposure? People call these games 'underrated', though that word is often being used wrongly. For example, one guy insisted to me that Astral Chain was an 'underrated' game, and I wanted to know what the sweet vanilla fudge he meant when it is, by EVERY metric, rated incredibly highly, scoring 9.8 and 9.9 on basically every scale in existence. But later, I realized that he was probably trying to say that it is UNDEREXPOSED, under-marketed, or under-played, under-realized...hard to decide the best word, but: meaning that it's more obscure and lesser-known than it deserves to be. It's NOT underrated because it has very, very high ratings, but so few people have ever played it, compared to, well...Pokemon or ACNH. Even Xenoblade has more players than Astral Chain, and Xenoblade is also an under-played series even with the increase it's seen since the first game. It's not a game that should only be selling 1-2 million compared to games like Pokemon, Smash and AC. But I guess story-heavy, weighty games like Xenoblade will never be as popular as lighter, faster, more easily-consumed fare.

These games are the hidden gems of the gaming world. And here on Fogu, we're niche-game experts. Our favourite genre has finally seen a boom (though it may be a trend that fades away...we happen to be at the right time past the monstrous success of Stardew for current and upcoming copy-cats and inspired-bys to be saturating the market, right now.) but even with that, it's still pretty niche...everyone has heard of the genre, now, but most of them still haven't actually tried it.

I don't have any requirements for what you consider to be a 'hidden gem' game. It doesn't have to be indie. It doesn't have to have a certain price point. I think the only requirement is that the game SURPRISED you with how good it was, for some reason, and made you wonder why it isn't better known/more popular/more talked about. Or maybe you're a smartypants and can figure out why, but you still think it SHOULD be played by more people. :)

For me...

This one will be boring here, because most people have probably already played it...Fogu being that kind of a place, and all. :) I think Dragon Quest Builders (1 or 2) would be way more popular if more people actually TRIED it rather than writing it off as a Minecraft ripoff. I find Minecraft tedious and uninteresting, and LOVE DQB, so I find that comparison aggravatingly inapt to cover what DQB offers. And why shouldn't they try it, btw? 1 has a fairly big demo, and 2 has a HUGE demo.

Hope's Farm really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I played it like a maniac. That may come down to me never having realized that Match-3 games are like drugs for me, to the point of being an effective painkiller when dealing with chronic pain and discomfort. But it's also a game that costs $2 when it is NOT on sale, and I got it on sale, so it cost something like $0.39. And it's farm-themed! Extra nice if you're already a digital farming fan :) Most puzzle games have some kind of story framework to encourage you to complete levels, and Hope's Farm is that you're helping your dad or grandpa save the farm from ruin and make it successful again, which is something I can get behind, though it's not remotely important in a game like this...the story is really just a formality and something to base the graphics around. But still, I liked unlocking new crops (veggies/fruits/trees/animals) to fill orders with.

Buried Stars, a VN, surprised me by coming out of nowhere. It's from...uhh...Korea? I think? It's actually localized pretty well...the translation makes sense, and the story (basically a murder mystery) and characters and gameplay mechanics are pretty interesting. There's no romance, in spite of it containing attractive teen/young adults of both genders.

Battle Chef Brigade was WAY more fun than I would have thought. It's...not EXACTLY a match-3. I mean, it sort of is, but...well, I don't know how to describe it, even in the puzzle part. It's kind of half way between tetris as match-3, maybe. And the gathering and fighting/platforming are pretty fun. The watercolour-esque graphics are really nice, too, and the story and characters are surprisingly kind of interesting? The cooking may have been the coolest part...it was so neat how there were so many dishes, and variations on each, depending on how you arranged the ingredients' components.

Final Fantasy XV POCKET EDITION blew me out of the water. I tried the original FF XV, and found it tiresome and borderline nonsensical, but the Pocket Edition was very punchy! It cut out every scrap of extraneous stuff and left just the surprisingly good story behind, to hit you right in the face with both barrels. My friend, who also was disappointed in the 'real' FFXV, loved the Pocket Edition SO MUCH that he went back and tried playing the original again, to try to dig even more out of the story...and gave up, lol. The original is so bloated and drawn out that it's like trying to enjoy your favourite drink a single drop at a time. It's too little to quench your thirst or even let you taste much of anything. Pocket Edition lets you take big gulps to consume it as fast as you want to, and it's delicious :)

Pikmin 3 surprised me because it was stressy, as you are under a time crunch and your little critters die very easily and make tragic noises when they do it...yet I still wanted to play. I wanted to find all that FRUIT. I wanted every fruit! It was surprisingly difficult to find and retrieve them all though, especially without losing too many Pikmin.

Jenny LeClue - Detectivu was...a throwback? I grew up on point-and-click adventure games. I played all the original Monkey Island games on PC, Torin's Passage, Day of the Tentacle, all the King's Quest games (6 was the very best), Quest for Glory (actually more of an early RPG, probably) Space Quest...etcetcetc. I played all of those when they first released, and LOVED most of them at the time. It's been quite a long time since I've actaully liked the genre, though...I got used to a different level of interaction and immersion when I switched from PC to console. But Jenny LeClue is the first point-and-click that won me over in 15 to 20 years. The story was interesting, and Jenny was good as the MC. I hope they do a sequel since the story was left hanging! Apparently one is in the works and has been for several years...the Twitter account is still active. I remember being surprised that I got invested, as I felt like this genre was just a thing that could no longer grab me, and generally that is TRUE...but Jenny LeClue managed it, somehow. I need to play it again. I will, when we know when the second one is coming. Jenny LeClue tends to be fairly affordable at the base price, and go on good sales, too.

It also has extensive voice acting, and it's got lots of flavour and isn't annoying.

Transistor is...well, it's by Supergiant (the folks who made Hades and Bastion) so it's not really a surprise that it's unique and has almost alarmingly charismatic characters. It's shorter than Bastion, and I love the art nouveau feeling it has. They do fantastic narrative voice.

Townscaper and Dorfromantik are both fun zone-out, time-waster games of artistic placement and design. Sometimes you can surprise yourself with how cool a thing you end up with, for a game that works on relatively simple placement and connection principles.

And I'll stop there. :)

So, what about you?
Last edited by Kikki on Dec 04, 2022 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
greensara
Carrots... yum
Carrots... yum
Posts: 486
Joined: Jul 28, 2016 12:10 pm

Post  Posted:

Off the top of my head, some rather obscure games that I ended up loving and putting a lot of time into are:

Aground - This game starts out with trying to gather supplies to build up a settlement to survive after being wrecked on an island, but grows to be so much more. It has a good branching storyline, exploring, crafting, quests to complete, and more than one way to beat the game. My main complaints are the ugly graphics and the fact I had to really search online to find somethings out as the game is not really "hand-holding" at all. I honestly wish that there would be more games like this one or a sequel, something, as the formula really clicked for me.

Staxel - This one really is a Minecraft copycat with social and farming mixed in, but I liked it much better. I tried Minecraft and I couldn't get into it, but I love this sandbox, part of the reason being that there is no combat whatsoever. I can just make whatever I want when I feel like it, and do a few side stories too.

Grow - I loved being able to see the land get cleared up of all the thorny things, building up the villages, and of course growing the worlds on the tree's branches. The social aspects were pretty sparce, I think if they had added more to that aspect it would be even better.
User avatar
Mikodesu
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 313
Joined: Apr 07, 2016 7:45 pm

Post  Posted:

There's only a few games I could add to the list (especially since I get so many suggestions from FOGU :lol:), all of them puzzle games. More notably the first two, then an honorable mention. The first two, I don't know anyone else who has played it, I have seen little to no press coverage for the games, and I enjoyed them both quite a bit.

The Last Campfire is a narrative puzzler by a small team at Hello Games (No Man's Sky people). Mostly it's just peaceful. Nice visuals, didn't ask too much of my brain. Some of the writing is actually quite good (coming from a writing snob), and a lot of the puzzles are quite good! It ran well on my PC (always worth double checking, but I don't think you have to worry too much with Hello Games when it comes to performance). Good enough to recommend to fans of video game narratives, but better for fans of puzzles. The sum of its parts is what made it for me.


The Gardens Between is VERY short, like half a dozen levels, but every one of them is... like a multi-layered toy box that you have to unpack, bit by bit. Every level is built in 3D, but you move the protagonists on a 2D, side scrolling plane. Moving about the levels changes things about them, so you have to solve puzzles in a specific order to unlock more of the level.

Played this back in 2019 (had to look up the name on an old Backlog thread), I just stumbled on it on a Switch sale page and found it cheap enough and interesting looking enough to impulse buy. VERY unique little game. I only remember getting stumped for a bit on one or two of the later puzzles.


Stephen's Sausage Roll is 'honorable mention' only by way of press coverage, since some fairly well known Youtubers have talked about it. If you enjoyed Baba is You, and you're looking for something else wildly creative and agonizingly difficult, this is it. PC (Steam) only, but it runs perfectly on every potato laptop I've run it on. And pick it up on sale, when I got it, full price was surprisingly expensive for an indie, but, Steam has tons of sales. On sale it's VERY worth your time/money.


If I think of more, maybe I can add them later. :)
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

I recognize every title I see here, particularly TLC and TGB, which I can vaguely recall a screenshot or two for...Stephen's Sausage Roll is something I only heard of from Mikodesu and frankly my first thought was that it was mature satire, lol. (Well, maybe it is!)

Aground I'd heard of, but ONLY heard of, with nothing else...I had no image in my head at all for that. Looked it up to see and it reminded me immediately of miner.vga, whose title I do not, to this day, actually know (Surely its real name can't be Miner VGA?? I think that's just the file name I used to access through DOS)...it was a game in a huge bundle of PC freeware from the late 1980s. I have huge nostalgia for that ugly little game, so I was immediately slightly interested, though I bet they're nothing similar, actually, lol.

Ah, feel free to ask about any of the titles I listed, if my descriptions were insufficient (a couple of them were pretty short!)

I, uh...bought The Gardens Between just a few seconds ago, lol...I went just to look at screenshots, I swear! But...it was 80% off on Switch! A $5 game (CAD) with all kinds of game awards and nominations. It just seemed stupid NOT to buy it, and I need some extra pain management options...

Uh oh. The last campfire is ALSO on sale right now for 80% off. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?? It's even cheaper than TGB. Thank goodness Aground isn't on sale TOO. (I didn't even realize it was on Switch, lol.) It's very ugly but nostalgia is a pretty big draw all by itself, and miner.vga was also very ugly.

I'd be happy to see as many awesome hidden gems as you guys can vouch for, if you think of more later...no need to spill them all out in one go like I did, lol.
Last edited by Kikki on Dec 04, 2022 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Mikodesu
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 313
Joined: Apr 07, 2016 7:45 pm

Post  Posted:

I would have thought Stephen's Sausage Roll was a mature satire too, if I hadn't seen it on Youtube first. :lol: It's very literal. You are rolling sausages over grills to cook them. Starting with as simple a mechanic as if you cook the same side twice it will burn, and going through the roof (in terms of difficulty) from there. Obstacles to navigate around, multiple sausages to cook, water to not knock sausages into. It gets surprisingly crazy for such a basic concept.

It's one of the most difficult puzzle games I've ever played, partly because it's just...obtuse. Baba Is You is MUCH better at teaching difficult puzzles, but they're both good games. I can definitely see why Sausage Roll didn't catch on the same way.

Considering both Gardens Between and Last Campfire were on sale when I bought them, I wouldn't worry too much. Can't remember exactly what I got either for, but it was definitely deep enough a discount to be well worth it. :) Tis the season of sales.
User avatar
Thomaster
New Seedling
New Seedling
Posts: 18
Joined: Dec 04, 2022 3:38 pm

Post  Posted:

I keep most of my gaming mainstream, HOWEVER, I think Duck Life: Battle and Duck Life: Adventure are extremely underrated. :lala: So, I’m gonna talk about ‘em! The games started out as a series of Flash games - however, the scene sort of changed when these titles were brought to Switch.

Now, I’ve been a fan of this series since it was a Flash series. I may be a bit nostalgic and biased towards the originals. However, I absolutely love these new ones. For those not in the know, Duck Life is a game in which you train your cute little duck to race and become a champion. It’s simple in concept and execution - the game is padded out by grinding.

Duck Life: Battle was the first of the Duck Life games to make it to Switch. And, it switched up the formula! Rather than training your duck to race, you’re training it to battle, as the name would imply. It features the same grinding to level up via minigames, however instead of watching your duck race, you’re engaging in turn-based combat. And it’s SO FUN! I have more hours in this game than I’d like to admit… I beat the main story very quickly, but there’s online battling as well! You can train your levels infinitely so battles can get pretty tough when it comes to playing online haha. The game doesn’t get that much support though, so I fear the servers may be going down soon… the leaderboard servers for the minigames themselves have already taken a toll. :!:

Duck Life: Adventure also switched up the formula, featuring both battling AND racing, and it’s definitely the longest game in the series. I haven’t even beaten it yet, but that may be because I’ve been sleeping on it due to the fact I’m obsessed with Battle. But I know the general premise and story. (these games have a tad bit of story and lore to them - especially when it comes to Adventure, and I won’t be giving any spoilers because I’m nice like that hahah) They also changed up the racing so that you’re actually controlling your duck rather than just watching it race across the screen like the earlier entries.

Okay, that may have been a bit overkill for something as simple as a “hidden gem” question, but honestly I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk about these games. :heart: I’ve been thinking of starting a new Duck Life: Battle save, and this topic is kinda making me wanna do that rather than getting a decent amount of sleep tonight! :lol:
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Hrm, this is a bit of a tough one for me to answer because there is a certain era of my gaming history where I basically only played niche hidden gems that I barely see/hear mentioned any more. My list would be obscenely long if I were to list all of them, so I'll limit myself to three titles.

Knights in the Nightmare is one of those JRPGs that has no other of it's kind. RTS mixed with bullet hell set in a magical medieval kingdom already fallen to ruin? And you're playing as the King's soul reanimating your dead subject's souls to have them fight in combat? It's just so weird... but I loved it so much I had both the PSP and DS versions. The game itself is part of a series known as Dept Heaven in Japan that used to be fairly active, but has been on hiatus since 2011 outside of re-releasing their titles on Switch. I really want to play it again and have almost bought the JPN Switch version many a time, but I'd love them to be localized again so more people can have the chance to play this zany game, because the story is fantastic under all those weird mechanics.

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni is the lesser known sibling in the When They Cry series, insomuch most fans of Higurashi and Umineko have never read it. While the two aforementioned games build off each other and are the fandom's faves, Higanbana is usually left in the dust as it's a stand alone story and usually people want more of Higutashi/Umineko. It's a shame really, because the stories contained in Higanbana are raw and just as terrifying, but a different flavor of horror than it's siblings. It's hard to recommend due to some of it's subject matter, but regardless, it's my favorite Ryukishi07 work and I wish it'd get some more love.

I will never get over how Capcom skipped the west for E.X. Troopers, because it is by far my favorite 3DS game. The claimed the cutscenes (which were styled like a comic book) were hardcoded so it was impossible to localize, which is a « Snuggly Bunny » lie because you can just add subtitles - AND a bunch of fans released a translation patch this November, so you're full of « Cow Poopoo », Capcom! The reality is it bombed in Japan so they were too afraid to test the waters over here. Anyways, it's a 3rd person shooter with a Jpop OST and hyper stylized anime visuals. It plays like a dream on the 3DS (I imported it back in the day) and it's just such a fun romp all around. I'd love it if they gave it another chance on Switch, because the system is perfect for it, but I won't hold my breath.
User avatar
midnighttherabbit
Carrots... yum
Carrots... yum
Posts: 545
Joined: Aug 06, 2012 12:00 am
Contact:

Post  Posted:

My backlog is so massive that I don't usually venture into more obscure games, but there are a few I've played that I'd love for more people to check out.

Both Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, based on the browser game Fallen London are really fun and something I picked up a few years ago that stuck with me. They can be pretty hard to get to grips with but they're pretty satisfying resource management / exploration games and have a really interesting setting.

I'm not sure if it counts as obscure since I've seen a few YouTubers talk about it, but Calico is pretty cute. I got it in an itch.io bundle a while ago - it is (or was? I'm not sure if it was completely finished when I played it) very clunky rough, but it doesn't require a lot of skill or thought so that generally doesn't become much of a problem. It's nice to just play for a few minutes and relax with.

I also got Anodyne in an itch.io bundle and really enjoyed it. It's pretty heavily based on older Zelda games, which isn't usually my thing but it was really polished for such a small game and I really enjoyed it.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

The games don't have to be downright obscure...they just have to be something you feel is under-exposed because you were surprised how great/fun/etc it was. Basically anything that you think should be better known or have a larger player base. :) LIke...if you were playing and were thinking, wow, t his is so much more fun than I expected...why don't I hear anyone talking about how much fun this game is?? That's the kind of thing I want to hear about :) I think Battle Chef Brigade is somewhat known, as it launched in the Switch's release year (2017) when the console's library was still under-populated. Yet the sales numbers are still under 200,000, I think.

It's too cool for so few people to have ever tried it, imo. I hope they do more like it, but at that kind of response, they probably won't.
User avatar
infel
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
Posts: 83
Joined: Jun 23, 2019 4:24 pm

Post  Posted:

I didn't play many lesser known games this year, but I have a few. Two cozy games, two point and click games, and an rpg.

Our Life(Indie visual novel)-This is a visual novel, but I think many would like this game. It's a story about growing up with a boy named Cove and spending your time with him during the summer parts. The player gets to choose the gender, orientation, hobbies, and personality of the main character, along with shaping Cove to a degree as well. Romance is a part of the game, but you can just be friends. The main character is also a self insert to a degree and they don't have a sprite, but you can make a doll of them to get an idea of how they'll look. Our life is very well written, cozy, and has beautiful art. The DLC for additional things is also cheap and if you buy you, you'll be able to date another character if wanted. A thing I really like about this game is how much choice you are given. Yeah, it's not on the level of others games, but it's there and there is a decent amount of replayability. If you want something cozy and to make you happy, this will do a good job.

Unpacking (Indie Game)-Another good cozy game. You basically just unpack things and place them around various homes. It's short, but good and has a bit of a narrative. Like Our life, this game does have a pretty good following, but I feel like more people should play this like Our Life. It's good for anyone who needs to calm down or just wants something nice to play.

Unavowed-A point and click game. You can get this on steam. If you're looking for a story with a darker tone, good characters, interesting story, and supernatural elements, this is the game for you. Unavowed really wowed me and made me remember older point of click games. While on the darker side, it has charming characters and a very good narrative. I loved playing it and its good for anyone who love/like point and click games.

Blue Reflection 2- I'm replaying this currently. A pretty good game. It does have some fan service, but no where near as bad as the first. The combat is fun, characters likable, and it has an item crafting system. Technically this game does have a prequel, but you don't really need to play it to get this game. I will cautiously recommend the prequel, but the problem is that it has too much fan service. It's very cringy. However, Blue Reflection 2 is a good game and I think someone could like it, especially if you're into magical girls, yuri, or crafting.
fishifishie
Anonymous Fish

Post  Posted:

infel wrote: Dec 05, 2022 4:22 pm I didn't play many lesser known games this year, but I have a few. Two cozy games, two point and click games, and an rpg.

Our Life(Indie visual novel)-This is a visual novel, but I think many would like this game. It's a story about growing up with a boy named Cove and spending your time with him during the summer parts. The player gets to choose the gender, orientation, hobbies, and personality of the main character, along with shaping Cove to a degree as well. Romance is a part of the game, but you can just be friends. The main character is also a self insert to a degree and they don't have a sprite, but you can make a doll of them to get an idea of how they'll look. Our life is very well written, cozy, and has beautiful art. The DLC for additional things is also cheap and if you buy you, you'll be able to date another character if wanted. A thing I really like about this game is how much choice you are given. Yeah, it's not on the level of others games, but it's there and there is a decent amount of replayability. If you want something cozy and to make you happy, this will do a good job.
I cannot stress enough how amazing Our Life is! Its also so worth replaying to see all the different ways Cove develops alongside your character.
User avatar
infel
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
Posts: 83
Joined: Jun 23, 2019 4:24 pm

Post  Posted:

fishifishie wrote: Dec 06, 2022 5:22 pm
infel wrote: Dec 05, 2022 4:22 pm I didn't play many lesser known games this year, but I have a few. Two cozy games, two point and click games, and an rpg.

Our Life(Indie visual novel)-This is a visual novel, but I think many would like this game. It's a story about growing up with a boy named Cove and spending your time with him during the summer parts. The player gets to choose the gender, orientation, hobbies, and personality of the main character, along with shaping Cove to a degree as well. Romance is a part of the game, but you can just be friends. The main character is also a self insert to a degree and they don't have a sprite, but you can make a doll of them to get an idea of how they'll look. Our life is very well written, cozy, and has beautiful art. The DLC for additional things is also cheap and if you buy you, you'll be able to date another character if wanted. A thing I really like about this game is how much choice you are given. Yeah, it's not on the level of others games, but it's there and there is a decent amount of replayability. If you want something cozy and to make you happy, this will do a good job.
I cannot stress enough how amazing Our Life is! Its also so worth replaying to see all the different ways Cove develops alongside your character.
Totally agree! It's a very good game :)
User avatar
Mabbie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 2636
Joined: Jan 28, 2009 7:15 pm

Post  Posted:

infel wrote: Dec 05, 2022 4:22 pm Unpacking (Indie Game)-Another good cozy game. You basically just unpack things and place them around various homes. It's short, but good and has a bit of a narrative. Like Our life, this game does have a pretty good following, but I feel like more people should play this like Our Life. It's good for anyone who needs to calm down or just wants something nice to play.
I absolutely loved playing this game and I just came to talk about it! I finished it in 5 hours and damn! I'd really love to see more stories or versions of it, it was way too short!

It got me thinking about one thing:
Spoiler:
When she moved in with her boyfriend and I had to put the uni certificate inside the wardrobe... it just broke me. She had to erase her true self in order to live with him... no wonder it didn't last...
---

Child of Light: I played it a few years ago. Such stunning drawings and music <3

Lemon Cake: I bought it on Spring Sale, and it was super cheap. I didn't think I would enjoy it so much!
User avatar
infel
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
Posts: 83
Joined: Jun 23, 2019 4:24 pm

Post  Posted:

Mabbie wrote: Dec 08, 2022 8:21 am
infel wrote: Dec 05, 2022 4:22 pm Unpacking (Indie Game)-Another good cozy game. You basically just unpack things and place them around various homes. It's short, but good and has a bit of a narrative. Like Our life, this game does have a pretty good following, but I feel like more people should play this like Our Life. It's good for anyone who needs to calm down or just wants something nice to play.
I absolutely loved playing this game and I just came to talk about it! I finished it in 5 hours and damn! I'd really love to see more stories or versions of it, it was way too short!

It got me thinking about one thing:
Spoiler:
When she moved in with her boyfriend and I had to put the uni certificate inside the wardrobe... it just broke me. She had to erase her true self in order to live with him... no wonder it didn't last...
---

Child of Light: I played it a few years ago. Such stunning drawings and music <3

Lemon Cake: I bought it on Spring Sale, and it was super cheap. I didn't think I would enjoy it so much!

Yeah, it really is a relaxing game XD. It took me longer to finish because it has some odd puzzle parts. But the narrative for the story is really interesting. It was sad when she had to go through that, but the ending makes me happy she is able to find happiness. I'm glad you enjoyed it =)
User avatar
simside
Wacky Weed Puller
Wacky Weed Puller
Posts: 140
Joined: Nov 28, 2009 10:57 pm

Post  Posted:

Kinda excited to play Our Life, I'm waiting for the final DLC to drop. Sounds right up my alley. Lots of good recs in this thread! I'd never heard of Aground or Duck Life, which also sound like games I'd love. Knights in the Nightmare is a deep cut! I was obsessed with that game when it came out, but never wound up finding a copy to play. I should do a little digging.

Since I just finished it and it's on my mind, Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder was a great visual novel. An incredible amount of story and branching paths. Short loops, so it's fun to press the choices in certain areas to see different outcomes. I was still finding new story after 40 trips through the game. The only caveat is that you have to really be into complex fantasy worldbuilding (like... Jacqueline Carey or Lois McMaster Bujold novels), because there is A LOT of that and it can push you out initially. But it's definitely one of those games that left me in a vacuum afterwards, searching for something to scratch the same itch.

For Switch, my biggest one was Return of the Obra Dinn, which is a short narrative game, but it's the one I most wish I could wipe from my mind and start again. You're (insurance) investigating a deserted ship hulk and trying to figure out what happened to the crew. For some reason, the book you have lets you see short dialogue bursts and 3D scenes you can walk around to investigate. You're meant to track each crew member through these scenes and find their cause of death, and if applicable, who caused it. You mark them in your book, which is an account of the crew and incidents on the ship, the Obra Dinn. You build the story backwards, and it's weird figuring out the (slightly supernatural) mystery. The only downside is its realistic crew, which is large and not all directly involved with the story - there's a trick to figuring out who's who among the able seamen, but it's a pretty small detail. It's also got a really cool black and white pixel style.

Runner-up is probably Jurassic World: Evolution. Which is not exactly obscure, but I was expecting it to be a serviceable license game that let me play in a park for a bit. It was a lot better than I expected! There are a ton of options, dinosaurs, and customization. It really does let you build Jurassic Park if you want, and the challenges on each island are pretty fun.

If I dig a little deeper, I'd say « What The Eggplant »: Work Time Fun for PSP was shockingly fun. I like minigame games, which are usually quirky and absurd, and this turns it up to 10. The core idea is that the minigames are terrible part-time jobs, and the money you earn from playing them goes towards an odd assortment of collectibles, many of which can be had from a capsule machine. The part-time jobs range from the infamous pen-capping game (where you mindlessly press A, but you have to be paying attention, because sometimes they are upside-down and your pay is docked for that), to the protector of an elf-baby running an obstacle course. The baby is shown getting progressively more upset as you make mistakes, and has a very realistic and disturbing crying face. You can also buy "apps," or whatever they were called at the time, which include one where you can rotate through different masks and hold the PSP up to your face like you're wearing them, and the bizarre ramen timer. For a more normal time, I love the Rhythm Tengoku/Rhythm Heaven series, which is a Nintendo series and probably fairly well-known. It's a slightly more absurd/lite version of Warioware.
Post Reply