wastedyears
Member
Better than Skyrim? Absolutely. Better than Demon's/Dark Souls? Nope, not even close.
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2012 Year in Review: Good games that few people played
- Thread starter alfredofroylan
- Start date
Better than Skyrim? Absolutely. Better than Demon's/Dark Souls? Nope, not even close.
fushi
Member
Please do. These sorts of obscurities need more of attention, even if they tend to be rather flawed at times.
... what? Was this really worth sharing?My take on the OP's list:
No Vita, no go. Though if I did have any interest in buying a Vita, this would be at the top of my list of games to buy for it.
No PS3, no interest.
Yet again, no Vita.
No 3DS, and I haven't been interested in a Final Fantasy game since Final Fantasy 6 (3) on the SNES.
Same comment as above (minus the Final fantasy comments)
No Wii, not heavily interested in this one.
Pass.
Dark Souls is a much better game overall, but I did enjoy the combat more in DD, except that DS has way more variety of bosses, the leveling was also crap in Dragon's Dogma, hope hardmode will fixes some of those issues.
There are a lot of things I didn't like about DD, Dark Souls was a more polished game/experience.
drkOne
Member
What... 50% of your comments were "I don't have this console", the rest were "I'm somewhat interested" and XCOM is going to be GOTY in a couple of sites for sure, not really a sleeper hit...
Huge posts with barely any content... Why?
Phonomezer
Banned
Skyrim + Dragon's Dogma combat = heavenly.
MrCunningham
Member
Yes... yes it was.
I don't know. That didn't think about it when I was making that post. Edited for sake of complaints.
paperspace
Member
Last edited:
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Another vote here for Dragon's Dogma, it wasn't a flop but it really deserved a lot more sales than it got. Best game Capcom have had their name on in a long time imho.
Yes, there's plenty to quibble about with its wobbly frame-rate, but the simple truth is that it still played extremely well in spite of that -and that is the important thing after all.
Looking forward to the free hard-mode/speedrun patch allegedly launching this week.
Yes, there's plenty to quibble about with its wobbly frame-rate, but the simple truth is that it still played extremely well in spite of that -and that is the important thing after all.
Looking forward to the free hard-mode/speedrun patch allegedly launching this week.
Mantorok
Member
Damn, if only that was available on the 360, sounds great.
Shai-Tan
Banned
Hell Yeah Wrath of the Dead Rabbit - not the best game but it's pretty good. I think most assume it's total crap. It's one of those games that reviewers are divided over. Eurogamer, Edge, Joystiq gave it a good review, IGN, Gamespot, Polygon gave it low scores
There's a big oversaturation of platformers this year, puzzle platformers in particular but also just side scrolling platformers in general, which I think caused some good games to get missed e.g. La Mulana, Dokuro, Closure, Vessel, Dustforce, etc
There's a big oversaturation of platformers this year, puzzle platformers in particular but also just side scrolling platformers in general, which I think caused some good games to get missed e.g. La Mulana, Dokuro, Closure, Vessel, Dustforce, etc
Twentytwo2277
Member
I hate this thread so much, thanks for nothing. All you guys are doing is making my backlog even taller than my Christmas tree is. (Just kidding! Some awesome suggestions in here, love hidden gems)
PoweredBySoy
Banned
I think Binary Command was one of the worst games I've played all year.
Certainly a few I played that got overlooked sadly..
Spec Ops - Shooter fans that bitch about campaigns recently (and rightfully so) need to play this game.
Transformers FoC - Love this dev and they delivered their best yet in a full package.
Forza Horizon - For some reason sales were much lower than they should have been. An amazing racer and a great first time effort by a new studio.
This last one will get me ripped but I do not care..
MoH Warfighter (multiplayer) - After putting in 25+ hours into BO2 .. MOH is far more balanced and in no way deserved the hate it got for the online mode. Big step up from the previous game and more fun than BO2.. Have noticed many youtube personalities that play these games also saying this exact thing. There I said it..
Spec Ops - Shooter fans that bitch about campaigns recently (and rightfully so) need to play this game.
Transformers FoC - Love this dev and they delivered their best yet in a full package.
Forza Horizon - For some reason sales were much lower than they should have been. An amazing racer and a great first time effort by a new studio.
This last one will get me ripped but I do not care..
MoH Warfighter (multiplayer) - After putting in 25+ hours into BO2 .. MOH is far more balanced and in no way deserved the hate it got for the online mode. Big step up from the previous game and more fun than BO2.. Have noticed many youtube personalities that play these games also saying this exact thing. There I said it..
brandonh83
Banned
Silent Hill Downpour.
I'm not going to make any excuses for its bugs or other technical drawbacks. The game could have performed a lot better and the visuals could have been improved. I'm not even a graphics whore at all, but Silent Hill games should always look terrific in my opinion because the presentation and atmosphere is so key in these games.
That being said, I felt like there were still so many things about this game that were very solid. For one, it fucking sickens me that we're getting articles about how good the story and storytelling is in Black Ops 2, when the story, dialogue, voice acting, and revelations in Downpour run circles around that junk, and frankly, every other game I've played this year. Its characters were supremely well defined and written and the storytelling was absolutely exceptional for a videogame.
While many feel that the atmosphere has been lost since "Team Silent" left, I completely disagree. It may not be the same, but it still had its own defined theme and I thought they did an excellent job with the direction they picked for this game. It had a very damp, dreary atmosphere that I thought fit very well with the franchise and it made it feel very unique. The otherworld sections, while mostly linear and some of them having a stupid urgency to push you forward, were still highly creative and sometimes very disturbing.
The soundtrack by Daniel Licht was also very good and he didn't make me miss Akira Yamaoka at all. The gameplay itself, well, it's standard survival horror fare more or less. If you don't like that sort of thing in general, I wouldn't recommend it, but I actually liked that the gameplay was very basic and "barebones" as I don't really need some great combat system or amazing gameplay in this kind of game (see: every other survival horror game including the older SH's).
It's by no means a perfect game, it could have used a lot of technical work, could have used better graphics, and its gameplay is merely serviceable to the type of game it is, but Downpour's atmosphere, music, story, and characters were outstanding, and the game had its fair share of spookiness especially if you actually finished it and did all the sidequests. We're still a bit of a way from having that "ideal" Silent Hill experience on newer consoles as I feel there's still loads of untapped potential both graphically and atmospherically, but with a higher budget and the same kind of strong creative talent that was involved with Downpour, I feel pretty good about the future of the series, even while so many others may not.
So yes. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this game to graphics lovers or any "mainstream" gamers, but to fans of the niche horror gaming genre that actually has good storytelling/writing unlike some of these "AAA" games like Mass Effect or Assassin's Creed I would implore them to at least give it a shot.
I'm not going to make any excuses for its bugs or other technical drawbacks. The game could have performed a lot better and the visuals could have been improved. I'm not even a graphics whore at all, but Silent Hill games should always look terrific in my opinion because the presentation and atmosphere is so key in these games.
That being said, I felt like there were still so many things about this game that were very solid. For one, it fucking sickens me that we're getting articles about how good the story and storytelling is in Black Ops 2, when the story, dialogue, voice acting, and revelations in Downpour run circles around that junk, and frankly, every other game I've played this year. Its characters were supremely well defined and written and the storytelling was absolutely exceptional for a videogame.
While many feel that the atmosphere has been lost since "Team Silent" left, I completely disagree. It may not be the same, but it still had its own defined theme and I thought they did an excellent job with the direction they picked for this game. It had a very damp, dreary atmosphere that I thought fit very well with the franchise and it made it feel very unique. The otherworld sections, while mostly linear and some of them having a stupid urgency to push you forward, were still highly creative and sometimes very disturbing.
The soundtrack by Daniel Licht was also very good and he didn't make me miss Akira Yamaoka at all. The gameplay itself, well, it's standard survival horror fare more or less. If you don't like that sort of thing in general, I wouldn't recommend it, but I actually liked that the gameplay was very basic and "barebones" as I don't really need some great combat system or amazing gameplay in this kind of game (see: every other survival horror game including the older SH's).
It's by no means a perfect game, it could have used a lot of technical work, could have used better graphics, and its gameplay is merely serviceable to the type of game it is, but Downpour's atmosphere, music, story, and characters were outstanding, and the game had its fair share of spookiness especially if you actually finished it and did all the sidequests. We're still a bit of a way from having that "ideal" Silent Hill experience on newer consoles as I feel there's still loads of untapped potential both graphically and atmospherically, but with a higher budget and the same kind of strong creative talent that was involved with Downpour, I feel pretty good about the future of the series, even while so many others may not.
So yes. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this game to graphics lovers or any "mainstream" gamers, but to fans of the niche horror gaming genre that actually has good storytelling/writing unlike some of these "AAA" games like Mass Effect or Assassin's Creed I would implore them to at least give it a shot.
Great thread
Spec Ops: The Line - Absolute must play game.
Asura's Wrath - Get the DLC ending and enjoy the dumb fun.
Binary Domain - I couldn't put this down. Such a sense of adventure, there's just something about how this game comes together that I can't quite put my finger on.
Syndicate - Best co-op ever, and one of the best FPS games in a while.
The Darkness 2 - I liked this a lot, the story was well done and left me wanting more.
MOH: Warfighter - I really liked the MP, It's got some cool ideas, especially if you're playing with a friend. SP not great though.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - Much better than the first game IMO
I am Alive - Some really cool ideas in this game, I'd like to see them refined and expanded on.
Spec Ops: The Line - Absolute must play game.
Asura's Wrath - Get the DLC ending and enjoy the dumb fun.
Binary Domain - I couldn't put this down. Such a sense of adventure, there's just something about how this game comes together that I can't quite put my finger on.
Syndicate - Best co-op ever, and one of the best FPS games in a while.
The Darkness 2 - I liked this a lot, the story was well done and left me wanting more.
MOH: Warfighter - I really liked the MP, It's got some cool ideas, especially if you're playing with a friend. SP not great though.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - Much better than the first game IMO
I am Alive - Some really cool ideas in this game, I'd like to see them refined and expanded on.
I'd add Gungnir, Growlanser IV, and the US release of Xenoblade (for some reason a lot of people forget this in their GOTY lists, perhaps because they all played the euro or Japanese versions already?)
Apple Jack 2 is probably the best XBLA Indie game of the year, yet I hardly hear it get any attention.
Apple Jack 2 is probably the best XBLA Indie game of the year, yet I hardly hear it get any attention.
Scribblenauts Unlimited needs a shout out. Just go to the official thread and look at the crazy awesome custom objects people have made.
Riposte
Member
Did you not read the thread? If you are going to say something this, then you should at least engage what other people are saying.
I liked Domain & Conquer better.
Great OP, agree with most of those, like Darkness 2 and Binary Domain.
Shank 2 was really solid and a big improvement over the first game control-wise. I know a lot of people were dissapointed with Shank 1, hoping Mark of the Ninja's success gets more people to go back and give it a chance.
I wonder how much better the PC version did.
Shank 2 was really solid and a big improvement over the first game control-wise. I know a lot of people were dissapointed with Shank 1, hoping Mark of the Ninja's success gets more people to go back and give it a chance.
I wonder how much better the PC version did.
AgentP
Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
True, but easier, more open and less intimidating.
Felix Lighter
Member
Out of curiosity, has there been any mention of a PC version of Dragon's Dogma since the game's release? Prior to release I believe the developer mentioned that they were considering it but I haven't heard anything since.
I don't recall ever seeing numbers for it though?
pants
Member
Game has an obnoxiously loud icon on the XMB. I may be shallow but for that reason alone I uninstalled and will never play it.
Not enough people have played Double Dragon Neon
Snapshot King
Member
I've played Downpour start to finish twice and the writing and plot in it is absolutely terrible. The people holding it up to the Team Silent days must have finally let the low expectations get to them. It's an improvement on homecoming, to be sure, but that's not saying much. It's also a really, really tame and un-scary horror game.
Felix Lighter
Member
Nobody mentioned Chivalry Medieval Warfare in this thread? I'm surprised. It got more attention after the most recent Steam sale. It was a complete surprise for me. The combat feels great, there is depth but at the same time it's very accessible. It comes down to mind games with your opponent. Catch them off guard with feints and intentional misses that screw with their parry timing. At the same time, it is one of the funniest games I've ever played. I think it may be the best use of voice acting in a game this year. The war cries and taunts and death screams and gargles, it just cracks me up whenever I play. The game is just straight, pure, uncut fun.
Twisted Metal? Game is solid from a game play point of view, but terrible single player and awful launch month (plus demo failings) sealed it in a coffin quickly. Dunno about sales, but people sure didn't keep the game long.
The disc is still in my PS3 and it's probably the best arena combat game to come out in a while. Most of the maps aren't great, and Sony didn't even think it deserved DLC (which was in the pipeline)
Jaffe and Co. Announcing that they were bailing shortly after release wavered a lot of hype as well.
Great game marred by industry bullshit.
The disc is still in my PS3 and it's probably the best arena combat game to come out in a while. Most of the maps aren't great, and Sony didn't even think it deserved DLC (which was in the pipeline)
Jaffe and Co. Announcing that they were bailing shortly after release wavered a lot of hype as well.
Great game marred by industry bullshit.
Oh, yeah. Chivalry is great. Battlefield meets Die By The Sword, what's not to love?
brandonh83
Banned
Clearly we disagree, but there's nothing wrong with that. And I'm not holding it up to the first three games.
A Huge Battleship
Member
Rose Cross Stilettos: Penis was the best game this year that no-one played.
In the same post recommending Syndicate while slamming Dragons Dogma, they should just put a screengrab of it in the dictionary alongside "Wrong". Dragon's Dogma is probably the most authentically realised fantasy sandbox there's been so far.
I think Dragons Dogma did alright sales wise but it should have set the world on fire. The combat was some of the best RPG combat in the past few years and the monsters were a visual (and interactive) treat!
Sooo good.
Damn, have to buy that. I love monsters.
What I take from this thread is that Sony creates a lot of good to great games that don't sell. No sequels for people who like them :/
Zyrusticae
Banned
Dragon's Dogma has:
- The best combat of any action RPG in years. Yes, I AM including the -Souls series in there (it just wasn't for me). Being able to actually climb on top of a hydra's neck and slice it off, without ever losing direct control of your character, is an unmatched experience.
- Excellent character customization. Choose between a large array of attacks and passive abilities - passives can even be used across all 9 classes! So you can, for example, level up the assassin class to gain the passive abilities that increase your damage and defense when you're traveling alone if you want to play the lone wolf, and those passives will take effect regardless of which class you choose. Even beyond that, the physical character customization is ace - you can change facial features, height, body mass, musculature, and more. Also, there is a good variety in armor appearances, and multiple visible armor slots (head, arm, chest armor, chest clothing, leg clothing, leg armor). Oh, and by the way, player weight and height actually has an effect on gameplay.
- Night time is pitch-black, and requires the use of torches to see most anything at all. This makes playing during the night an intense, possibly terrifying experience.
- Great monsters, especially all of the big ones. Though you will eventually get to the point where you kill chimeras in the space of a few seconds, before you reach that point, they will give you a huge challenge. They have some of the best animation I've ever seen in a video game, too. Many of them have unique quirks that you will learn to take full advantage of (wisps will try to possess player characters, and can only be hit by physical weapons once they do; saurians will parry your attacks, but cutting off their tail leaves them vulnerable; and so on).
- The story blows your mind in the last third. Admittedly, the story takes a back-seat otherwise, but I loved the direction it went in once you
finally off the dragon
Those were my highlights. I really think the game deserves more success than it got. The sequel is going to be amazing if it's on next-gen systems!
Dragon's Dogma has:
- The best combat of any action RPG in years. Yes, I AM including the -Souls series in there (it just wasn't for me). Being able to actually climb on top of a hydra's neck and slice it off, without ever losing direct control of your character, is an unmatched experience.
- Excellent character customization. Choose between a large array of attacks and passive abilities - passives can even be used across all 9 classes! So you can, for example, level up the assassin class to gain the passive abilities that increase your damage and defense when you're traveling alone if you want to play the lone wolf, and those passives will take effect regardless of which class you choose. Even beyond that, the physical character customization is ace - you can change facial features, height, body mass, musculature, and more. Also, there is a good variety in armor appearances, and multiple visible armor slots (head, arm, chest armor, chest clothing, leg clothing, leg armor). Oh, and by the way, player weight and height actually has an effect on gameplay.
- Night time is pitch-black, and requires the use of torches to see most anything at all. This makes playing during the night an intense, possibly terrifying experience.
- Great monsters, especially all of the big ones. Though you will eventually get to the point where you kill chimeras in the space of a few seconds, before you reach that point, they will give you a huge challenge. They have some of the best animation I've ever seen in a video game, too. Many of them have unique quirks that you will learn to take full advantage of (wisps will try to possess player characters, and can only be hit by physical weapons once they do; saurians will parry your attacks, but cutting off their tail leaves them vulnerable; and so on).
- The story blows your mind in the last third. Admittedly, the story takes a back-seat otherwise, but I loved the direction it went in once you.finally off the dragon
Those were my highlights. I really think the game deserves more success than it got. The sequel is going to be amazing if it's on next-gen systems!
Sounds neat! I may have to give it a try. I still wish that it had turned out to be a Breath of Fire game though, haha!
Man, this type of game is what I miss from PC gaming. I'll file it away though for when I do re-enter the scene.
Looks fun.
Icefire1424
Member
Wargame: European Escalation. So good. So very good.
Came here to post this one. Really think this was one of the strongest RTS titles to come out this year, was almost completely overlooked. Single player was pretty meh, but multiplayer was a blast. Generated enough interest to spark a sequel anyways, so there is still some hope for the series.
That, and the game was supported by the developers exceedingly well. All DLC was free, and brought in new maps and new modes regularly.
Botanicula
1) If you have ~3 minutes, listen to this music and try not to smile
2) If you have ~40 minutes, watch this delightful Quick Look
From the makers of Machinarium and many other games, Botanicula oozes charm and personality more than anything else released this year. The sound design is consistently excellent and the scenarios you run into are really bizarre and creative. You get to play volleyball at one point, for example.
Know what you're getting into, though; Botanicula is a fairly simple point and click adventure game that's more about poking around and exploring than challenge. It provides a nice change of pace from, say, an FPS campaign, but it might not be for everybody.
Oh, and the art design. This game is gorgeous.
1) If you have ~3 minutes, listen to this music and try not to smile
2) If you have ~40 minutes, watch this delightful Quick Look
From the makers of Machinarium and many other games, Botanicula oozes charm and personality more than anything else released this year. The sound design is consistently excellent and the scenarios you run into are really bizarre and creative. You get to play volleyball at one point, for example.
Know what you're getting into, though; Botanicula is a fairly simple point and click adventure game that's more about poking around and exploring than challenge. It provides a nice change of pace from, say, an FPS campaign, but it might not be for everybody.
Oh, and the art design. This game is gorgeous.
eso76
Member
True. I really wanted to like DD, but HUD, camera and frame rate made everything so confusing. Game is simply unreadable. Shame because it has a few amazing things.
pants
Member
Wow, this looks fantastic
You can turn off the hud
this sounds really cool but are you sure about it being simple and easy. people told me that machinarium was relaxing in a similar way and i wanted to love that game so much but i just don't have the mind for its puzzles and ended up finding it very frustrating.