General News - Overlooked RPGs

HiddenX

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PC Gamer made a list of often (not at RPGWatch!) overlooked RPGs:

Overlooked RPGs that are worth playing today

Great games that didn't get enough love.

Few genres have as rich and varied a history as the noble RPG. We love a good, long, talky adventure, preferably with a nice leveling system with a little bit of crafting, alchemy and, if we're especially lucky, a lovely cloth map. But not every RPG is born equal, and games deserving of recognition and success sometimes sink into obscurity. Perhaps they came out at the same time as a blockbuster competitor, perhaps they had flaws that put players off, or just looked ugly.

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Thanks henriquejr!

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Interestingly some of them are my all time favourites.
 
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Good list, but like HiddenX says many of them are hardly overlooked on the Watch. It did remind me that I have to get Regalia though. The rest I already own apart from the JRPG's.
 
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shitty list
revenant was cool
Siege of Avalon was cool
rage of mages
 
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Yeah I just don’t get the anime looking stuff I could never bring myself to play it. And I’m a big anime fan ironically.
 
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Trials of Cold Steel is my favorite of that list, loved that game!
 
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I've played a lot of those, but I'd certainly have a different list. Recatteer would not make my list. Cool concept, but not that great of implementation. The same goes for Neo-Scavenger. I liked many of the others but am not sure if they wouldn't have been pushed out by something else. Lisa just repulses me. I'll skip that one. ToCS Reglia, and CSH I have yet to play, but Legends of Heroes is my favorite JRPG series, so I've no doubt I'll like ToCS.
 
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Its a rouge-like, whether you consider that an rpg or not is up to you. I know the RPGCodex loved it.

No, I don't consider roguelikes RPGs, that's why they developed their own specific genre name where games tend to be called either RPGs or roguelikes and very rarely both. I've no doubt there are some that try to be both, there always will be people trying stuff out, but no, usually the two genres are specifically different. Looking at google's info on this game it wants to advertise itself as both a roguelike and an RPG, which to me is merely a disingenuous marketing scam. The original Rogue, which didn't even have the roguelike genre to call itself, now only refers to itself as a roguelike. I wouldn't even call Neo-Scavenger a hybrid, I'd just call it someone looking to advertise itself to people who don't buy roguelikes...
 
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I don't think roguelike and RPG are generally considered to be mutually exclusive genres. Roguelike is just a description of the types of features you'd expect in the game, such as permanent death and procedural generation. It's similar to describing a game as open world or story based. Some roguelikes are turn based RPGs and some are action platformers or shooters.

I'd definitely place Neoscavenger in the RPG category, but I also think it's a bit overrated. The beginning is amazing, but the game breaks down pretty quickly if you survive longer than 30 minutes, and it had a lot of incomplete content that I don't believe were ever finished (?).
 
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Mm, some good ones I'd considered overlooked, for sure.

Anachronox, definitely overlooked. Features probably the best humor I've seen in an RPG yet, with great exploration, unforgettable characters and gags and some really solid gameplay (once you get further to open up new aspects of the combat, that is.)

Risen, also overlooked. Excellent exploration and a demanding type of RPG that only Piranha Bytes can make. The island setting is really lovely to explore, and the premise of having to survive in that strange land is awesome done really well.

Avernum, yup. Another excellent RPG with a great setting and premise. Multiple endings and ways to proceed as you explore the underground prison colony, where all sorts of weird creatures, known and unknown reside. If you spend time and look past the graphics you can really get immersed in that one, quickly, too.

Arcanum, while awesome, I wouldn't call overlooked. I want to try the King's Bounty and possibly Regalia game there. Neo-Scavenger just seems like your typical roguelike/RPG/survival thing, and nothing really spectacular to me. Cool list, though.
 
Mm, some good ones I'd considered overlooked, for sure.

Anachronox, definitely overlooked. Features probably the best humor I've seen in an RPG yet, with great exploration, unforgettable characters and gags and some really solid gameplay (once you get further to open up new aspects of the combat, that is.)

Risen, also overlooked. Excellent exploration and a demanding type of RPG that only Piranha Bytes can make. The island setting is really lovely to explore, and the premise of having to survive in that strange land is awesome done really well.

Avernum, yup. Another excellent RPG with a great setting and premise. Multiple endings and ways to proceed as you explore the underground prison colony, where all sorts of weird creatures, known and unknown reside. If you spend time and look past the graphics you can really get immersed in that one, quickly, too.

Arcanum, while awesome, I wouldn't call overlooked. I want to try the King's Bounty and possibly Regalia game there. Neo-Scavenger just seems like your typical roguelike/RPG/survival thing, and nothing really spectacular to me. Cool list, though.

I'd strongly recommend King's Bounty. Whether my recommendation puts you off or not I've no idea though :D
 
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I really should give Anachronox another go, I started it a couple of years ago after getting recommendations on the Watch, but something else caught my attention and I never got back to it.

Arcanum not overlooked? Try mentioning it on any other forums apart from the Watch and the Codex and I'm pretty sure people have no idea what you're talking about (I might be wrong though). It deserves it's place on that list more than any others in my opinion.
 
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I agree with Lackblogger, King's bounty is an excellent srpg.

I agree, I've played through and enjoyed The Legend, Armoured Princess and WotN. In my opinion Armoured Princess is the one to get if you haven't tried any of them.

Edit: I'm not sure I'd call them RPG's though, rather a Strategy title with loads of RPG elements? Might not be important though.
 
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I agree, I've played through and enjoyed The Legend, Armoured Princess and WotN. In my opinion Armoured Princess is the one to get if you haven't tried any of them.

Edit: I'm not sure I'd call them RPG's though, rather a Strategy title with loads of RPG elements? Might not be important though.

For this series I'd call them hybrids with the stronger side the RPG, the strategy side is more the window dressing IMO. Some people think strategy = games which involve tactics more than plot, but for me strategy = a game with an active AI with which you have to compete for territory. Everything in King's Bounty is static and you approach everything in the same way you would a regular RPG.
 
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For this series I'd call them hybrids with the stronger side the RPG, the strategy side is more the window dressing IMO. Some people think strategy = games which involve tactics more than plot, but for me strategy = a game with an active AI with which you have to compete for territory. Everything in King's Bounty is static and you approach everything in the same way you would a regular RPG.

King's Bounty is a Tactical RPG. There are very few games that can be considered Strategy RPGs, Crusader Kings 2 is one for example.
 
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