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The Most Slept-On/Overlooked Games of 2023 - According to NEOGAF

Beer Baelly

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
simpatico said:
Turbo Overkill

Offered up more content than Doom Eternal. Maps and gameplay scale are equal if not larger. Only actual concession is texture resolution and model complexity. (aesthetically they made up for that)

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I can't imagine anyone who likes set piece FPS games not finding something to like here. The demo does not do it justice. This shit is a wild ride.
Click to expand...

Im waiting for console release
 
Pimpollo818

Pimpollo818

Member
Grildon Tundy said:
This thread is for those games that went under the radar in an absolutely stacked 2023.

My pick is Bramble: The Mountain King, which currently has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, and is available on Game Pass.


This entry in the "sad boy runs to the right" genre (per the Developer in their Reddit AMA) stands tall with the best. Think Limbo/Inside/Little Nightmares but with Swedish mythology that absolutely does not hold back in terms of violence, horror, and dark subject matter. Great pacing, boss fights, and tonal shifts. Personally, the trailer was good, but didn't do it justice. I have the feeling the reputation of this game will grow over time.

What's your lesser-known pick for games that released in 2023?
Click to expand...
I nearly finished Bramble in one sitting yesterday. Definitely my GOTY and biggest surprise of 2023. It felt like playing a Team Ico game set in a fantasy horror world imagined by Guillermo Del Toro. While playing I was reminded a lot of Ico and Pan's Labyrinth.
 
Grildon Tundy

Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
Poppyseed said:
Same. Loved Limbo and loved Inside. I think the reason we got on with those is simple: Among other things, they tell a story. Cocoon tells no story. Just you're a weird thing doing even weirder things, with no sense of time/space. It's appalling (lack of) exposition.
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Man, I can usually put my finger on why I like/don't like something all by myself, but I think you nailed it for me. With Limbo and Inside, I was making up my own concrete narrative to explain what was going on--plus you play as ostensibly human boys, which are easier for me to relate to than a bug thing. I can appreciate that Cocoon is well made...but I just don't think it was for me.
 
P

Poppyseed

Member
Grildon Tundy said:
Man, I can usually put my finger on why I like/don't like something all by myself, but I think you nailed it for me. With Limbo and Inside, I was making up my own concrete narrative to explain what was going on--plus you play as ostensibly human boys, which are easier for me to relate to than a bug thing. I can appreciate that Cocoon is well made...but I just don't think it was for me.
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Don’t sell yourself short. You could relate to being a bug thing (probably) if there had been any grounding to the story. Instead, there was no story. Ostensibly it’s just puzzle room after puzzle room with nothing to motivate you forward. I’m convinced people liking it is some conspiracy. 😂
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Member
GHG said:
If you are to buy one game that gets mentioned in this thread then it should be one of these:





The end.
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Yeah, Shadow Gambit is so unfortunate as the Studio shut down :(. And Jagged Alliance 3 is really good so if you were a fan of 2, should jump in.

Edit: Shadow Gambit is also quite good, Studio closing wasn't related to game quality, just couldn't sell enough, sigh...
 
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Dontkidyourselfjimmy

Dontkidyourselfjimmy

Member
Dacvak said:
Does Dave the Diver count? I had no idea how good that gameplay loop was until recently.
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The Mrs got it for switch on boxing day and must have put in 30 hours since, not a sleeper hit by looking at the amount of steam reviews but I never heard of it
 
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kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is my GOTY. It got deservedly shat on for the artstyle but the actual game is fantastic. Octopath Traveler 2 will probably take the crown when I play it but for now DD is easily the best game I played all year.
 
JimmyRustler

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
GymWolf said:
As an immersive sims lover i want to buy the game but i heard it can be super cryptic on a level that i would probably not appreciate.
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It’s old school alright. There is no hand holding whatsoever. There isn’t even a mission log. I admit, it’s very confusing at time but hey… that’s what people wanted. Had to use a guide a few times as well. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Absolutely worth it.
 
OmegaSupreme

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
Grildon Tundy said:
This thread is for those games that went under the radar in an absolutely stacked 2023.

My pick is Bramble: The Mountain King, which currently has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, and is available on Game Pass.


This entry in the "sad boy runs to the right" genre (per the Developer in their Reddit AMA) stands tall with the best. Think Limbo/Inside/Little Nightmares but with Swedish mythology that absolutely does not hold back in terms of violence, horror, and dark subject matter. Great pacing, boss fights, and tonal shifts. Personally, the trailer was good, but didn't do it justice. I have the feeling the reputation of this game will grow over time.

What's your lesser-known pick for games that released in 2023?
Click to expand...
That's funny. When I came into this thread I was going to post Bramble. Terrifying game. Looks and sounds great.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Member
I fully agree with Bramble. It's a spectacular game which reminded me a lot of Plague Tale and Little Nightmares series. I probably wouldn't play it if it wasn't for Game Pass.

Aliens Dark Descent in my opinion also deserves more recognition. It's among the best titles based on the Alien franchise and I didn't expect that from a studio that didn't have previous experience with the genre.

GymWolf said:
As an immersive sims lover i want to buy the game but i heard it can be super cryptic on a level that i would probably not appreciate.
Click to expand...
System Shock Remake simply requires to pay attention to stuff you hear or read. It's not like a puzzle you can't solve, because it's too complicated or too abstract. It's definitely a breath of fresh air when 95% of similar games just show you where to go and tell you what to do after 5 seconds of being idle.
 
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NeverYouMind

NeverYouMind

Member
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has not had much discussion, but with the latest DLC (Dec. 12th) adding whips and an endgame it is in a pretty great place now. Of course if you have a PC version it requires at least a Gen 3 NVMe SSD and a midrange graphics card to run on par with consoles.

 
P

Poppyseed

Member
Pimpollo818 said:
I nearly finished Bramble in one sitting yesterday. Definitely my GOTY and biggest surprise of 2023. It felt like playing a Team Ico game set in a fantasy horror world imagined by Guillermo Del Toro. While playing I was reminded a lot of Ico and Pan's Labyrinth.
Click to expand...
Been playing it today and almost finished it. It's... alright. It's not outstaying its welcome. Some of my issues are artistic: For whatever reason, the protagonist looks awful compared to every other character in the game. He doesn't sit in the environment, but rather on the environment, moonwalking everywhere. Essentially it looks like a pretty game engine where the character you control doesn't really look like it belongs there. That's partly due to lack of ambient occlusion or proper shadow maps from the main character. Just bizarre. Also, some occasional frame rate hitches don't help (13700K + 4090), but it's certainly an interesting one. Worth checking out, but ultimately I'll forget I played it, - it's not that memorable. Just a bunch of ideas we've already seen before in a fairy-tale setting with an occasionally annoying camera angle. One or two interesting fights, but ultimately going to be in the ~6.5-7 out of 10 for me.

*Edit*

And just finished it. Yep, reasonable, doesn't outlast its welcome. 7/10. Enjoyable, annoying camera, fantastic soundtrack.
 
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Freelance Yakuza

Freelance Yakuza

Member
amigastar said:
I really like Against the Storm, don't know if people slept on it but it's on Game Pass.

Against the Storm

Banished meets Slay the Spire. Against the Storm is a roguelite city builder set in a fantasy world where it never stops raining. You are the Queen's viceroy - a pioneer sent into the wilds to establish and manage new settlements inhabited by beavers, lizards, and humans. Your goal is to...
www.metacritic.com www.metacritic.com
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I have this game on my steam wishlist
Thanks for the heads-up
 
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