One dozen hidden gems? List 'em as it is the point of the thread. I am honestly curious because that is a solid number to justify a console.
Not sure the word "hidden" applies but:
Exclusives (incl. stuff that later got ported but were designed as exclusive initially):
ZombiU
Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones
Rayman Legends
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Affordable Space Adventures
Scram Kitty & His Buddy on Rails
FAST Racing Neo
Runbow
Swords & Soldiers II
Typoman
Multiplatform games with particularly cool/useful GamePad integration:
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition
Need for Speed: Most Wanted U
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Assassin's Creed III & Black Flag
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
Resident Evil Revelations
Terraria
Don't Starve: Giant Edition
Year Walk
Noitu Love: Devolution
Severed
Little Inferno
Multiplatform games:
Batman: Arkham Origins
Teslagrad
Elliot's Quest
Futuridium EP Deluxe
The Fall
The Swapper
The Swindle
SteamWorld Collection (Dig & Heist)
Toki Tori 2
Lone Survivor: Director's Cut
Human Resource Machine
Runner 2
Jotun: Valhalla Edition
etc etc long list of cool eShop indies
Was watch dogs no good? Seems like a fun title to play on the gamepad in bed.
There's stuff to like in Watch Dogs. Like most games, if you get past the hype cycle and review phase (aka is this worth 59.99 USD lalala), you can have a good time with this too.
Was Nintendo Publisher in Japan?
If you go down that route then Hyrule Warriors is suddenly no longer a first party game either
Wanna know something amazing? I booted up ME3 on Wii U earlier today, because I just felt like playing the multiplayer after all the andromeda talk lately. I didn't actually expect to find anyone playing it, but I logged in, and actually got in a game with 3 other players lol. I was shocked to say the least.
Still? I was wondering about that. Last checked maybe 2 years ago and also instantly got into a match. Given their history, it's amazing EA kept the servers running this long for what must be a tiny but consistent group of players. I might hop on again too sometime
I really wish I liked this game more. Criterion really tried with it, especially the Wii U version where they took advantage of the hardware by including those higher res textures. It's just it never clicked with me. It had the formula of Burnout Paradise, but it never felt like it was as fun as that game.
What I loved about NFSMWU was that silly-sounding Co-Driver Mode that let you a) play actual co-op in a weird way where you could control the same car with two controllers and b) had one player with God Mode at all times where you could turn off traffic, change the time-of-day or simply instaswitch to a new vehicle while the other one just focused on driving. It always sounds so dumb until you play it and it's just a blast.