9 Seriously Underappreciated Video Games

Australian Cinephile

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Transcript

00:00With the gaming industry bigger than ever, kicking out multi-million dollar projects left and right,

00:04it's hard keeping up with every last thing you should play. On the flip side though,

00:08you've got more options than ever. More games that have associated fanbases or passionate

00:12followings screaming that a certain title didn't get its due. The more time passes,

00:16the more the collective spotlight moves on, and the more that recommendation feels essential

00:21because that wider set of people just don't know what they're missing.

00:24I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 9 seriously underappreciated video games.

00:29Number 9. Batman The Enemy Within

00:31Interestingly, the second season of Batman was really Telltale Games' swan song. The Walking

00:37Dead saw two episodes released before the studio closed, and the rest went off in a handful of

00:41other directions. Batman was that studio's final game from the original creative run,

00:46and what a way to go. Season 1 of Telltale's Batman was genuinely phenomenal, putting you in the shoes

00:51of Batman and Bruce Wayne in a way that no other work of fiction has ever attempted. It made for a

00:56fascinating dynamic as you knew a potential boardroom decision as Bruce could mess with

01:01Batman's duties and vice versa. Season 2 then continued that formula but improved on it.

01:06Bruce was forced to go undercover and infiltrate a gang consisting of Bane,

01:10the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, and the Joker. The story and choices tested how far you were

01:15willing to go to maintain your cover, whilst also making you feel sympathy for the Joker. No small

01:20feat. It was Telltale Games firing on all cylinders, at everything they always did better than the

01:25competition. The Enemy Within is a fantastic Batman slash Bruce Wayne story that subverted expectations

01:31and had you reeling at every decision that had to be made. Troy Baker's Bruce-Bat combo is low-key

01:37an all-timer, and I think it'll only get more appreciated as we move forward.

01:41Number 8. Ni No Kuni 2

01:43A sequel to Sony's breakout JRPG was never a sure thing, but Ni No Kuni 2 is a beautiful RPG that does

01:50lack the heart of the original, whilst making up for it with better gameplay and a more robust world.

01:55If you never played the first Ni No Kuni, it was a mesmerising JRPG that tasked you with

01:59collecting familiars, then battling, almost like Pokemon or Persona. What really set Ni No Kuni

02:04apart, however, was its heart-wrenching story, told with Studio Ghibli-style animated cutscenes

02:09that were just endlessly charming. The sequel then features even better gameplay, a more interesting

02:14world, lots more familiars, and a fun town-building mode. Yes, it missed those Ghibli cutscenes

02:19and the touching story, but Ni No Kuni 2 remains one of the most recommendable and gorgeous

02:24RPGs of the modern day.

02:26Number 7. Grease

02:28Graphics will never trump gameplay entirely, but if we're making a pie chart of reasons

02:33to play Grease, it's definitely 80% that godlike art direction. An absolutely wondrous

02:39painterly style backed by an impactful story told entirely through visuals, gameplay borrows

02:43small parts of a Metroidvania structure, including light platforming and various abilities you'll

02:48unlock over time. Speaking of over time, this initially launched on Switch and PC, though

02:532019 saw one hell of an upscale over on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. With the game now running

03:00at 4K with locked FPS framerates also available on PS5, if you want a literal feast for your

03:06eyes that's a joy to play through and explore, Grease is that game.

03:09Number 6. Firewall Zero Hour

03:12Languishing for a couple of years after launch, 2018 was the breakout year for virtual reality.

03:18In particular, it was a banner year for PlayStation VR, which saw incredible games like Astro Bot

03:22Rescue Mission and Moss. It was also the year we got the best console VR shooter so far,

03:28Firewall Zero Hour. Others had attempted to make FPS games in VR, such as Bravo Team,

03:33but Firewall was the first on PlayStation that made you feel like you were really in the firefight.

03:37Gritty, tactile and addictive when it comes to making you actively think of different ways to

03:42approach firefights, you'll physically take cover or play the angles game against someone in hiding

03:46to just pop a headshot. Solid graphics help immerse you in the action, and every time you

03:51see a bullet coming square at your face, your heart will skip a beat. Firewall was a huge stepping

03:56stone for PSVR when it comes to how these kinds of experiences can really work and elevate the genre

04:01itself. Number 5. Detroit Become Human

04:04Somehow the forgotten Quantic Dream game, despite an insane budget, production values and fact it

04:10has a very dedicated fanbase, Detroit Become Human is a story told from multiple perspectives

04:15you need to experience yourself. Detroit Circa 2038 is a city revitalised by the advent of androids

04:21as human helpers. Think iRobot, but much more lifelike. Three androids, Kara, Marcus and Connor,

04:27find themselves intrinsically linked in a world that is on the brink of a revolution. It's a story that

04:31works surprisingly well once you have to make decisions as one character that affects the other,

04:36even if the whole thing is insanely heavy-handed when it comes to drawing on racial subject matter

04:40across the board. The elephant in the room is obviously that Detroit and David Cage's writing

04:45play too fast and loose with incredibly sensitive topics, not to mention Cage's reputation plummeting

04:50in recent years alongside a string of ugly accusations. It'll be on each player whether or not

04:55they're comfortable separating these elements from the game itself, as in the latter's case tracking a

05:00collective player base's choices in this context, and seeing which branching story paths you missed

05:04or committed to can be very satisfying.

05:07Number 4, Vampyr

05:09Vampyr is set in 19th century England, and puts you in the shoes of Dr Jonathan Reed, who's just

05:14contracted vampirism. You then play the game struggling with the need to feast versus the

05:19morality of killing your patients for sustenance and some fancier unlockables. As you can imagine with

05:24this coming from the minds of Life is Strange and Remember Me, Vampyr is more about storytelling

05:28and worldbuilding than it is gameplay. This dark and twisting story is reflected in the gloomy

05:33and claustrophobic streets of London, which makes for a refreshing tale in a world overflowing

05:38with sequels and safe bets. Vampyr has atmosphere in abundance, and what it lacks in polish and

05:44occasionally repetitive combat, it more than makes up for with style, uniqueness and supremely

05:48well written characters.

05:50Number 3, Guardians of the Galaxy

05:52The best Marvel game that isn't Insomniac Spider-Man titles but deserves to be up there with

05:57them, Guardians of the Galaxy suffered a terrible initial gameplay demo at E3, and then a completely

06:03flat marketing rollout that didn't accentuate its positives whatsoever. What Square Enix appeared

06:08to show off was a thrown together cash grab almost feeling like Avengers DLC being sold for full price.

06:13What Guardians actually is though is an incredibly well written character piece from some key

06:17minds behind Deus Ex. Optional side missions and conversations are on the level of Mass Effect,

06:23and the overall story here gets incredibly emotional and unique in tackling themes of fatherhood,

06:27and what it even feels like to know a group of people have your back no matter what. Yes,

06:32combat gets repetitive, but it's serviceable enough, and nowhere near the majority of what

06:36you're doing. This is a game that prioritises its characters, fun soundtrack, neat dialogue options,

06:41and above all, that specific Guardians tone. It's clear creative director Jean-Francois Dugas got the

06:47source material and knew exactly how to elevate it. Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy is the

06:52best Guardians of the Galaxy thing we've had so far. 2. Florence

06:57Florence tells the most realistic tale of a relationship ever seen in video games. The ups,

07:02the downs, the joy, the melancholy, it's incredibly moving but it was initially exclusive to mobile,

07:07and that meant flying completely under most people's radars. Thankfully it's now on Switch,

07:12and this touching story focuses on Florence falling for someone and the days and weeks that follow.

07:17You'll go from start to finish in around 40 minutes, with Kevin Penkin's gorgeously carefree,

07:21occasionally sad soundtrack carrying you through. Made to be a drop-in short story of a video game

07:26centred on dating in a city, there isn't much in the way of gameplay but every mechanic serves to

07:31make playable the various mindsets and realities of a relationship where some things fit and others

07:36don't. Making the mundane interesting and nailing a tight artistic vision, Florence joins the likes of

07:41Unpacking and The Artful Escape as brilliant indie gems that really stick with you.

07:461. A Way Out

07:49It took It Takes Two to really catapult Joseph Farris into the limelight, and that was after

07:53Critical Darling Brothers A Tale of Two Sons initially turned heads. However there is a release in the

07:58middle that far less people seem to care about. A Way Out then pits you and a friend, be it local or

08:03online, as two prison inmates who band together to try and escape. The crux is that the whole game

08:08takes place in split screen, with each player performing unique actions or making decisions about how to

08:13approach situations, affecting the other in real time. As would become more obvious across It Takes

08:18Two, Joseph Farris has endless ideas for dual agency in an interactive space. And here you'll do

08:24everything from stealth sections to over shoulder shooting, car escape chases to mini games like

08:28playing Kinect 4. Honestly, it's just awesome. With a far, far tighter runtime and personally a more

08:34enjoyable story than It Takes Two, A Way Out is more than recommendable if you like what Farris brings to the

08:40gaming table. And those are just a handful of totally underappreciated video games. Let me know your

08:45favourites down in the comments below and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.

08:49For now I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com and I'll catch you soon.

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