What Culture - 10 Severely Underrated RPGs
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Falksi
Sentinel
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Where did this bizarre inclusion of meaningless loot in games come from?
I remember when each treasure you'd find or earn felt special. Now so many games drown you with stuff, and you just stop caring.
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Probably around diablo 1, Baldur's gate...(part because of ad&d 2nd edition...)
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The game is based off Wuxia, not kung-fu. It is one of the very few Wuxia games that exist and the only one made by a Western studio (we need more!).
It was their last release before being purchased by EA and their first non-D&D RPG. It was considered a failure because of low sales at release despite high rating from critics and players. The game followed KoTOR design-wise (no D&D though), has memorable characters and a very good story with twists (I personally rate it higher than KoTOR) and an interesting setting (from my point of view). The button smasher with power-ups combat needs an overhaul though.
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The biggest underrated RPG is The Last Remnant for PC. I put 240 hours into that game. Awesome combat system, great characters, insanely good music, interesting story, great environments, lots of hidden quests.
But I'll agree I also adored Alpha Protocol on PC (played it three times over). Don't play the console version because like The Last Remnant both have serious issues on console.
But I'll agree I also adored Alpha Protocol on PC (played it three times over). Don't play the console version because like The Last Remnant both have serious issues on console.
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Farflame
SasqWatch
And I have to say.. What Culture is a garbage site. It's one of those tabloid type sites filled with click-bait headlines that lead to "Top 10" this or that, and all the articles are formatted so that you have to constantly click through pages just to see what 10 things they're talking about.
I vote we ignore them in the future.
Dont. Or they will put themselves on "10 most severely underrated websites".
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Liked Alpha Protocol, except for the level design. (They might as well have put up giant arrows pointing to where you were to stealth or use a zipline.) Nifty dialogue system, except for the timer. I like action RPGs that are based more on your stats than your twitchy wrists. Bloodlines is one of my faves.
Didn't play KoA, because even the demo bored the hell out of me.
Didnt play Jade Empire long because the combat was barfy. A shame, since I like Asian-themed games. Looking forward to One Samurai: Dusk, which is also turn based. How awesome is that?
Didn't read the website's actual list, because I opened the page and the click-bait design is also barfy.
Drakensang should definitely be on that list, if it isn't. Not sure it's underrated, but I'm also not sure everyone fully appreciates how great Arcanum is.
Not sure how much of an RPG it is, but Neo Scavenger is also great.
Didn't play KoA, because even the demo bored the hell out of me.
Didnt play Jade Empire long because the combat was barfy. A shame, since I like Asian-themed games. Looking forward to One Samurai: Dusk, which is also turn based. How awesome is that?
Didn't read the website's actual list, because I opened the page and the click-bait design is also barfy.
Drakensang should definitely be on that list, if it isn't. Not sure it's underrated, but I'm also not sure everyone fully appreciates how great Arcanum is.
Not sure how much of an RPG it is, but Neo Scavenger is also great.
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lackblogger
SasqWatch
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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines - extremely buggy on release, most people know about it, did not come from an 'unknown' dev team, those that know RPGs will let people know about it fairly sharpish.
Alpha Protocol - extremely buggy on release, most people know about it, did not come from an 'unknown' dev team, gets mentioned very regularly in RPG circles, is one of those shooter-RPGs.
Neo Scavenger - seems meritable to be on the list. Is a rogue-like isn't it...
Jade Empire - it's a Bioware game, a Bioware console game.
Risen 1-3 - I suppose, they're still from pretty well known dev team.
Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning - whatever.
Seems more like a list of "the crappy ones" that the big well known dev teams have made rather than an insightful list of hidden gems. My last 4 RPGs have all been much more deserving of such a list: Serpents in the Staglands, King's Bounty: Armoured Princess, Paper Sorcerer, Drakensang: The River of Time - list those out on casual.com and see who knows about them, list them on a more discerning forum and see how little 'controversy' they create. If they were on the list (no I didn't read it either), then I apologise.
Alpha Protocol - extremely buggy on release, most people know about it, did not come from an 'unknown' dev team, gets mentioned very regularly in RPG circles, is one of those shooter-RPGs.
Neo Scavenger - seems meritable to be on the list. Is a rogue-like isn't it...
Jade Empire - it's a Bioware game, a Bioware console game.
Risen 1-3 - I suppose, they're still from pretty well known dev team.
Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning - whatever.
Seems more like a list of "the crappy ones" that the big well known dev teams have made rather than an insightful list of hidden gems. My last 4 RPGs have all been much more deserving of such a list: Serpents in the Staglands, King's Bounty: Armoured Princess, Paper Sorcerer, Drakensang: The River of Time - list those out on casual.com and see who knows about them, list them on a more discerning forum and see how little 'controversy' they create. If they were on the list (no I didn't read it either), then I apologise.
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Asdraguuhl
Keeper of the Watch
I agree. VtM:B and Gothic 2 tend to be highly regarded. In fact, they are both among my favourite RPGs.
Of that list, I'd say that Alpha Protocol is indeed underrated. It is not without it flaws but IMO it got too much flak when released. I enjoyed it very much and would love to see a (spiritual) sequel.
Merin
Watchdog
Okay. Several of those I've not played.
I loved and played the crap outta V:TM-B and even moreso Alpha Protocol. I know many tear AP down, but damn, that is one of my absolute favorite games for the amazing C&C.
I've put time into PoE, and I liked it, but I got distracted by other games and need to start it over. Maybe I'll wait for the next DLC release.
I'm in the minority of actually disliking D:OS. The gameplay was good, but I dislike the world, story and characters so much that … it was Ultima like, and the Ultima vibe just never worked for me.
K:OA-R was also quite fun. I like it a lot, although it disappointed slightly as I expected it to be a favorite and it ended up only being good (IMO.)
Oh, and while I did enjoy one run through Jade Empire, it is definitely way down on my list of BioWare games, let alone cRPGs.
I loved and played the crap outta V:TM-B and even moreso Alpha Protocol. I know many tear AP down, but damn, that is one of my absolute favorite games for the amazing C&C.
I've put time into PoE, and I liked it, but I got distracted by other games and need to start it over. Maybe I'll wait for the next DLC release.
I'm in the minority of actually disliking D:OS. The gameplay was good, but I dislike the world, story and characters so much that … it was Ultima like, and the Ultima vibe just never worked for me.
K:OA-R was also quite fun. I like it a lot, although it disappointed slightly as I expected it to be a favorite and it ended up only being good (IMO.)
Oh, and while I did enjoy one run through Jade Empire, it is definitely way down on my list of BioWare games, let alone cRPGs.
P
purpleblob
Guest
I disagree with several on the list. V:TM-B, D:OS & PoE are so not underrated. It gets mentioned just about everywhere I go, just google best crpg of all time or 2015 and those will pop up without a doubt.
Personally, I've only played D:OS, PoE and JE. Unlike most here, I actually think PoE was "overrated" but then I haven't played it since new patches were out.
I didn't enjoy JE at all because of shoddy combat system and I don't find setting appealing at all. It just isn't Asian enough for me (hint, I'm from Asia so I can nitpick)
Personally, I've only played D:OS, PoE and JE. Unlike most here, I actually think PoE was "overrated" but then I haven't played it since new patches were out.
I didn't enjoy JE at all because of shoddy combat system and I don't find setting appealing at all. It just isn't Asian enough for me (hint, I'm from Asia so I can nitpick
)suibhne
Watchdog
Some of those titles are "under-known", maybe, but almost none are "underrated" by any measure (AP being a rare exception, possibly, when you compare its current critical and fan support to its original review scores). But the larger sin is that each game is put on a separate page, which is the surefire sign of a clickbait article intended to jack up ad impressions.
suibhne
Watchdog
The wuxia genre is largely coterminous what what we think of as "kung fu" in the West. "Wuxia" is a genre distinction (it simply means "fighting hero" or somesuch), but "kung fu" generally describes the many families of martial arts used in those media. Both are Chinese.
There are wuxia films and novels that we might not think of "kung fu", and there are also some kung fu films (especially comedies and more contemporary stuff) that are clearly not wuxia, but they overlap when it comes to many - including Jade Empire (which Bioware described as inspired by old Bruce Lee and Shaw Bros. films, along with stuff like Hughart, Journey to the West, and more traditional wuxia stuff like The Water Margin).
Dragon's Dogma on PC will sell 50 million copies, and every single gamer will realize it is the most perfect, wonderful RPG ever made. FACT.
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Merin
Watchdog
'Underrated' might be a trouble word.
From the article, the author poses - "But the dominance of franchises like Elder Scrolls, Fallout and The Witcher means that there are tens of RPGs that missed out on the mainstream spotlight."
I think the keywords are mainstream spotlight. Nothing on that last hit the mainstream gaming spotlight, let alone mainstream media spotlight. Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Skyrim - those are RPG's that catch even CNN's attention. Even, arguably, stuff like Mass Effect and Dragon Age were big enough / had enough tv commercials to maybe be considered mainstream audience penetrated.
In a depressing way, KA-R technically can be considered mainstream aware due to the very publicized legal and financial issues of the developer, but all that attention was NEGATIVE. Hence 'underrated' could still really be applied.
As much as V:TM-B, PoE, and even (arguably the most successful/highly regarded generally of the bunch) D:OS get praised in RPG forum circles, that's not even mainstream gaming. Maybe it's mainstream RPG gaming circles spotlight, but you are REALLY abusing the word mainstream.
My two cents on the veracity of the list.
From the article, the author poses - "But the dominance of franchises like Elder Scrolls, Fallout and The Witcher means that there are tens of RPGs that missed out on the mainstream spotlight."
I think the keywords are mainstream spotlight. Nothing on that last hit the mainstream gaming spotlight, let alone mainstream media spotlight. Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Skyrim - those are RPG's that catch even CNN's attention. Even, arguably, stuff like Mass Effect and Dragon Age were big enough / had enough tv commercials to maybe be considered mainstream audience penetrated.
In a depressing way, K
A-R technically can be considered mainstream aware due to the very publicized legal and financial issues of the developer, but all that attention was NEGATIVE. Hence 'underrated' could still really be applied.As much as V:TM-B, PoE, and even (arguably the most successful/highly regarded generally of the bunch) D:OS get praised in RPG forum circles, that's not even mainstream gaming. Maybe it's mainstream RPG gaming circles spotlight, but you are REALLY abusing the word mainstream.
My two cents on the veracity of the list.
lackblogger
SasqWatch
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soooo.... you mean every single RPG ever made apart from Bethesda games and Witcher 3 deserved to be on that list? Ok...
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Hmmm, to me the "underrated" should be translated as "hidden gem" or "diamond in the rough" - and absolutely nothing to do with metascores, reviews, etc.
So, to me, basically all Piranha Bytes and Troika games are a perfect fit for this category.
All games were good in some regard, yet several factors detracted to shine in their full glory.
We, rpg aficionados, do understand the value of these games and can live with the imperfections.
So, to me, basically all Piranha Bytes and Troika games are a perfect fit for this category.
All games were good in some regard, yet several factors detracted to shine in their full glory.
We, rpg aficionados, do understand the value of these games and can live with the imperfections.
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Youre missing out if you've never played Jade Empire - just sayin'