General News - 15 most underrated RPGs of all Time

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HiddenX

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Gaming Bolt made a video about the 15 most underrated RPGs of all time:

15 Most UNDERRATED RPGs of All Time



Amid all the big-budget RPGs, loot shooters and free to play titles of our time, there are a number of role-playing games which have faded into history. Many are still excellent to this day or enjoy a small but passionate group of fans. Let's take at 15 of those underrated RPGs here and what makes them worth playing.
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More information.
 
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Underrated is profoundly subjective in this video.
As is all all time. A lot of recent products.
 
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ChienAboyeur said:
Underrated is profoundly subjective in this video.
As is all all time. A lot of recent products.
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Well, isn't underrated always subjective? (Unless we're talking about titles that have sold millions of copies and gained critical acclaim anyway, but even those titles could be claimed to be underrated by raving fans who wants everyone to love the game…).

Not many on that list that would appear on my own most underrated, but that's hardly surprising.
 
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I have played at least some of most games on that list (except for the PSx & Dreamcast games) and found most to be pretty decent.

And agree that as always both under-rated and forgotten tend to be very subjective terms, and there is a pretty heavy ‘last 20 years’ view.

I would disagree with some belonging on the list - for example, Riviera was a late-GameBoy Advance gem that was widely celebrated and made its way onto many GBA ‘GOTY’ lists.

Similarly, Jeanne D’Arc is an incredible game that was widely celebrated as amongst the very best PSP games ... and Valkyrie Profile gets high praise every time it is re-released (PSP version I also loved).

So maybe over-all sales lagged, or they no longer appear on ‘top 20 RPG games for X platform’ lists? Who knows. As the author notes, many of the games are not really RPG - Jeanne D’Arc was a turn-based strategy game, which is how I described it for my round-up review here back in 2006-ish. I was surprised by the depth of role-playing elements, but still wouldn’t call it an RPG.
 
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See I find that subjective as Jeanne D’Arc is a Tactical role-playing game as Japan likes to label those games. It's the same with the Valkyria Chronicles series of games.

Anyway can someone make a list of games in the video?
 
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Why must everything be a video these days ?
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
Why must everything be a video these days ?
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One reason: money.

Nobody reads articles anymore, and people put billions of hours into watching YouTube videos. You can do it in the background, like I did as I was cleaning up from last night. That said, I am not putting in another 9 minutes to compile the list! :D
 
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TomRon said:
Well, isn't underrated always subjective?
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In this case, it is deeply subjective as they speak about an extremum.
A wanted criminal might be subjective, the most wanted, a bit less.
(Unless we're talking about titles that have sold millions of copies and gained critical acclaim anyway,
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Not even sure that some products displayed in the vid do not match that depiction.
 
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Well... i prefer to read than watch video but that is just myself. I can't speak for the non-me.

txa1265 said:
One reason: money.

Nobody reads articles anymore, and people put billions of hours into watching YouTube videos. You can do it in the background, like I did as I was cleaning up from last night. That said, I am not putting in another 9 minutes to compile the list! :D
Click to expand...
 
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I'm with you, Alrik. I'll check out most anything if it's available in a text form. Videos I've avoided, got burned quite a few times back in bbs days and early internet times, had to learn the hard way.
 
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you said:
Well… i prefer to read than watch video but that is just myself. I can't speak for the non-me.
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I agree - I much prefer articles over over-long videos. This is not terrible by those standards at 9 minutes, but still could have been a 2 minute read even with some decent text for each one.

But - as always follow the money. We know there are a bunch of ‘millionaire YouTubers’, and I have numerous folks I know who make their living exclusively on YouTube now ... whereas bloggers have really lost their ability to attract those types of audiences.
 
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Usually YT videos like this have a list in comments, sadly not this one.
Have no time for streams that aren't a show. I'm skippin.
 
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joxer said:
Usually YT videos like this have a list in comments, sadly not this one.
Have no time for streams that aren't a show. I'm skippin.
Click to expand...

That is always my first check - do I get a list and/or time stamps? That is why I did watch this once in the background but never again.
 
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Most of those games aren't underrated in any way, they got the rate they deserved (generally very high). The title of the video should be "List of games that were really good without being the absolute top notch, and most people will agree so I can get money out of the obvious clickbait". I guess it worked with me, cus I got baited to click.

Never learn.
 
Nereida said:
Most of those games aren't underrated in any way, they got the rate they deserved (generally very high). The title of the video should be "List of games that were really good without being the absolute top notch, and most people will agree so I can get money out of the obvious clickbait". I guess it worked with me, cus I got baited to click.

Never learn.
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I also think there is always an element of “and didn’t sell as well as games in similar genres that weren’t as good” to these articles ... especially if you look in the comments. Some decent (surprising) discussion, but loads of “better have X on the list!”
 
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OK, I did just go through the video again while waiting for the HVAC person to get here (system failure was the Christmas gift we did NOT want!):

1. Shadow hearts from the New World
2. Jade Empire (from when BioWare made good games!)
3. Skies of Arcadia
4. Mount & Blade: Warband
5. Grim Dawn
6. The Age off Decadence
7. Torment Tides of Numenera
8. Legend of Grimrock 2
9. Riviera: The Promised Land
10. Jeanne D’Arc
11. Phantom Brave
12. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
13. Tyranny
14. The Last Story
15. Valkyrie Profile (Lenneth)

A mix of PC and console stuff.

You’re welcome! :D
 
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purpleblob said:
WTF how is M&B underrated?

Also, thanks for the list txa!
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if the list maker thinks M&B is the greatest game ever made then they might think it's overrated. It's all relative. But yeah, seems pretty popular/successful to me. Calling Bloodlines underrated is another one that doesn't fit for me. It has a very devoted fanbase to this day and it's about to get a sequel.
 
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