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Underrated low key studios that make good games

StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
First one that comes to mind is Monolith Productions (not the Monolith that makes games for Nintendo systems).

Not saying they make mind blowing games every time, but going by their games since the 360/PS3 era, they got some good Condemned, Fear and Mordor games.

And the games are infrequent lately too. The last games they made were Mordor games in 2014 and 2017.

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Rebellion are stalwarts of the industry and have somehow survived all these years delivering AA goodness. They don't do anywhere near enough with 2000AD though
 
Larian Studios immediately comes to mind. Divinity OS2 was damn near perfect. Baldur's Gate 3 will be day one.

Spiders really impressed me with Greedfall.

Double Fine probably doesn't count anymore but Psychonauts 2 still had the feel of a game made by a "underrated low key" studio. Great experience.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
First one that comes to mind is Monolith Productions (not the Monolith that makes games for Nintendo systems).

Not saying they make mind blowing games every time, but going by their games since the 360/PS3 era, they got some good Condemned, Fear and Mordor games.

And the games are infrequent lately too. The last games they made were Mordor games in 2014 and 2017.

RrQ7A4y.jpg
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Man, I would absolutely love another Shadow of Mordor game. Those games were fun as hell. And just like Rock Steady's Batman Arkham Asylum, it came out of no where. No hype at all. Everyone was expecting more shitty licensed games. Both were awesome surprises.
 
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Jeff Minter's Llamasoft man. Polybius in PS4 had me hooked. Master of the trippy trance games. His Twitter indicates he's working on a game. Hopes it comes to fruition.
 
Falcom and Vanillaware.

I feel Falcom need a publisher that gives them alot of money for a AAA JRPG with a modern day graphics engine, cuz as good as they games are they all look 2 generations old in the visual department.

Vanillaware manages to impress visually cuz of they artstyle and good use of 2D.

Maybe these 2 are not as low key as ppl that play they games know how good they are, but i still feel they games go under the radar to the general public.
 
I don't know if they would still be considered low-key, but Asobo makes some truly amazing games. A Plague Tale is simply gorgeous. It looks more AAA than most AAA games and I'm looking forward to the sequel this year. FS 2020 is the most next gen and graphically/technologically advanced game so far this generation.
 
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Previously, Housemarque. Dunno if they qualify as "low key" any longer.

Another up-and-comer: dotEmu. Responsible for Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, Metal Slug Tactics, and others. They've done a lot of contracting work so I'm not exactly clear on their ground-zero creations, but they keep impressing.
 
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Irobot82 said:
Obsidian and InExile. But do they even count now?
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They won't for long as they're working on AAA games, but at the moment certainly....

I doubt most gamers could name a single inxile game, let alone played one

Obsidian less so, but I doubt casuals are particularly familiar with them
 
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Spiders has been releasing better and better games over the years. Greedfall was pretty good and I'm interesting in Steelrising and Greedfall 2.

Rebellion for their Sniper Elite series, and also CI Games with the Sniper: Ghost Warrior - Contracts games that are pretty good.

Too many indie studios to list as well.
 
Portkey games. They have only made shit mobile games, but they're currently making the new Hogwarts Legacy game. From what I've seen of the gameplay it looks good.
 
Phoenix Labs made Dauntless, a Monster Hunter clone with more of a cel-shaded art style. It's free, though pay to advance faster, so be warned. The core gameplay is fun, but the level design doesn't hold a candle to MHW.

One cool thing it's it is completely cross platform so PC, Xbox, PS and switch can all play together. No mobile from my understanding.
 
Radian Games.

They made tons of awesome twin stick shooters during the 360/PS3 era. And recently made a few more on recent systems. They seemed to cut back on those on consoles compared to 10 years ago.

They also made Instruments of Destruction on PC. It's one of those physics/demo kind of games. I didn't know they made it until I checked their website and Steam.
 
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They only have one game so far but Pulsatrix Studios is on my radar.

They recently released Fobia, it's a first-person RE clone. I've only played a bit but its really impressive considering it's their first game and from an indie studio.




Protocol Games. They did song of Horror and it's really solid, need to go back to it but that game has some top-notch atmosphere and clever game design.




Obscure Tales. They made Lamentum, a pixel style RE clone, it's really good. I feel like they're a 1-2 person team.




Also, for lowkey underrated game review outlets, Noisy Pixel is great.
 
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fart town usa said:
They only have one game so far but Pulsatrix Studios is on my radar.

They recently released Fobia, it's a first-person RE clone. I've only played a bit but its really impressive considering it's their first game and from an indie studio.




Protocol Games. They did song of Horror and it's really solid, need to go back to it but that game has some top-notch atmosphere and clever game design.




Obscure Tales. They made Lamentum, a pixel style RE clone, it's really good. I feel like they're a 1-2 person team.




Also, for lowkey underrated game review outlets, Noisy Pixel is great.
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Might have to check some of these games out.
 
R6Rider said:
Might have to check some of these games out.
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I'd say Lamentum and Fobia over Song of Horror. Just because SOH doesn't have combat, just puzzles and button prompt stealth stuff. If you're into that though, definitely check it out first. It's probably the most impressive in terms of game design and atmosphere out of the 3. Some of them are probably pretty cheap on Steam but they're all available on PS5 if that's your system of choice.
 
fart town usa said:
I'd say Lamentum and Fobia over Song of Horror. Just because SOH doesn't have combat, just puzzles and button prompt stealth stuff. If you're into that though, definitely check it out first. It's probably the most impressive in terms of game design and atmosphere out of the 3. Some of them are probably pretty cheap on Steam but they're all available on PS5 if that's your system of choice.
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I added Fobia to my wishlist for now, but plan on picking up Lamentum after work. Checked out some reviews and it's even on sale right now for 7 bucks.
 
SadSquare Games

They only made one game, Visage.

But if their first game is so good, i fee like they have a bright future. I am very curious about what;s next.

Also, Playdead Studios

Again, not many games, just two, Limbo and Inside. Looking forward for their next project.
 
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nkarafo said:
SadSquare Games

They only made one game, Visage.

But if their first game is so good, i fee like they have a bright future. I am very curious about what;s next.

Also, Playdead Studios

Again, not many games, just two, Limbo and Inside. Looking forward for their next project.
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Ooooooooo, Visage has been on my radar.

Is it really as good as some reviews make it out to be?
 
Battlefront.com

Makers of the Combat Mission series, which they've been plugging away at for more than 20 years. They pretty much own the (very niche) genre.
 
Nihon Falcom. Trails is my favorite JRPG series along with Persona. Ys is a long-running and well respected franchise. Tokyo Xanadu was underrated.
 
Another one I think is currently underrated is Neon Giant. They're a small developer and have only made one game I'm aware of but it was an excellent first game. The Ascent is one of my favorite games from last gen.
 
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