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My thoughts of games that were under appreciated in 2008
flamesofchaos | 11:35 PM on 12.30.2008 15 comments


After countless of sites posting their games of the year and fanboys squabbling why the were wrong and such so why not do the opposite and do a post about the under appreciated games that were labeled as niche or got lost in the shuffle.

For me here are some my picks for under appreciated games on all platforms:

Wii:
Dokapon Kingdom - People like Mario Party and people like RPGs so why did this game fail? Oh besides it being really obsure. I had a lot of fun with this game because it's so weird. No other game gives you an option to change other players names, deface their character, or steal items/gold when you defeat them.

De Blob - This game deserved a lot more sales, it's a top notch 3rd party game with a few minor flaws and it was very enjoyable. The only flaw I had with it is the stages take way too long to complete at times this was noticeable but usually I had so much fun with De Blob that I honestly didn't care about it.

We Love Golf - Camelot and Capcom added a lot of awesome extras and it still sold like crap, it has the mario golf/hot shots golf mechanic every body knows and loves that's successfully optimized with motion controls. There's a lot of modes and content and also a pretty solid online mode.

Castle Of Shikigami 3 - Fairly popular series and only the Wii version got localized in America (360 version was left in the dust in Japan). It's a fun SHMUP with about a dozen different characters that play differently.

Blast Works - Another SHMUP that was adapted by free PC games(hell it has those free games on the disc as unlockables!), it had a pretty interesting Katamari Damacy-esque mechanic where you can attach enemy ships and use their guns or use the bodies of those ships as your sheild.

DS:

Mystery Dungeon Shiren The Wanderer: This game is a port of a SNES game, this is practically granddaddy of the Mystery Dungeon series. This game is amazing if you can get past the brutal difficulty and death penalty of going back to level 1 at the beginning of the game with your money and inventory that's not in a storehouse gone.

Summon Knight Twin Age: This game gets one thing right diablo/baulder's gate type of game fully transplanted right with only stylus controls. You have all your inventory short cuts, all your melee, ranged, spell casting and a tech tree. In a whole lot of ways this game is what Too Human tried to do on the 360 except done right.

Soul Bubbles: Game is fantastic, I made a reader review cblog on this site a few months back and you can practically find it on clearance for 10 dollars just get it and experience that awesomeness of this game.

Rhapsody A Musical Adventure: One of the most overlooked RPGs this year on the DS sure you can beat it in about 10 hours but the whitty dialog and the streamlined battle system. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some) the PSone's cheesy American version's musical themes couldn't be re-recorded because NIS couldn't find the original composers, couldn't fit it in the cart, or couldn't secure rights of the songs.

PS3:

Valkyria Chronicles: Personally this is my PS3 Game of the Year. It's one of the most satisfying strategy RPGs I played since Fire Emblem on Wii. The game's mechanics reminds me a perfect fusion of Advance Wars and Battalion Wars. For PS3 owners looking for an awesome game it would be a sin not to recommend this.

Disgaea 3: Yes it has essentially PS2 graphics with sprites that can come from a PSone game however it has a lot of humorous and awesome voice acting and NIS refined the gameplay from previous installments this game can literally last you a couple hundred hours because of how much content and customization this game has it's just plain ridiculous.

PSP:

R-type Command:
Who thought that Irem can turn a solid horizontal shooter into a deep strategy game? An awesome thing is you can actually play as the Bydo empire.

Yggdra Union: A remake or an enhanced port of a overlooked GBA game that got....overlooked again. The strategy element of this game is quite interesting and it's a nice spin of the strategy RPG genre.


Xbox 360:

Culdcept Saga: To me this game is absolute crack, it essentially fuses monopoly and magic the gathering. There's a lot of different deck types and strategies to discover that made this game very addicting. It's too bad that the online lobby for this game is a ghost town because a match of culdcept can last an hour. Culdcept failed on the PS2 when it was published by Capcom, now it failed on the 360 when Namco-Bandai published it and now the series is getting a 3rd try on the DS with Sega publishing Culdcept DS I hope that Sega brings it over to America.



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13 comments | showing # 1 to 13
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garison's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/30/2008 23:45
garison
Awesome article! I haven't even heard of some of these games! But I was this close to picking up De Blob. Maybe that will be a February game for me.
Chaotic Life's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 00:16
Chaotic Life
I totally agree with Valkyria Chronicles being the ps3 GOTY. That game is truly special.
grassr00ts's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 00:20
grassr00ts
I have to agree with VC for ps3, I love this game!
Marc of Arabia's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 01:01
Marc of Arabia
Soul Bubbles is fantastic, I totally agree. It's a pity that the game so effectively hobbled itself by only being available at Toys R' Us.
Clockwork's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 03:15
Clockwork
Considering I haven't played any of these games, let alone heard of some of them, you're probably right.
mistic's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 05:06
mistic
great article!

I'm gonna get VC this afternoon :-)
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 08:32
nilcam
Great list. I clicked over expecting the worst and saw a list that very much reflects my thoughts.

VC is my game of the year and Soul Bubbles is a truly special game. I bought Dokapon Kingdom from Amazon when it was on sale for $20 but my wife and I have not played it yet. We've been too busy with SF HDR and Tatsunoko vs Capcom.
Rational Animal's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 08:47
Rational Animal
This is in no way a knock against the game, but I wouldn't say VC was under appreciated. It's Metacritic score is an 86. I think it generally gets shown the love.

As for the rest of the list, you've given me a lot of fodder for new titles to explore. Thanks!
flamesofchaos's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 09:41
flamesofchaos
@Rational - I was aiming to make a list of games that were severely overlooked or got left lost in the shuffle or makes you think "if everyone is tired of sequels why the hell doesn't these original games sell!"

But I appreciate everybody's praise :).
Aurain's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 10:10
Aurain
Flamesofchaos:
Are you me, In the Disguise of you?

Your choices for PS3 games are dead right.
Valkyria Chronicles is easily my 2nd favourite game of the year, MGS4 taking the prize cos I'm a huge MGS fanboy,
It's physically impossible to dislike Disgaea 3.
flamesofchaos's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 10:58
flamesofchaos
I don't know aurain I just like playing awesome games whether they are awesome, niche or just plain fun :).
BulletMagnet's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 11:19
BulletMagnet
Cool list, quite a few of these titles made mention in my own top ten rundown - keep spreading the word!
falinter's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/31/2008 12:35
falinter
I was excited for De Blob when I still played my Wii. I really shouldn't neglect it so much.

Also, Camelot needs to stop making NOT Golden Sun 3.
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