9 Seriously Under-Appreciated Video Games

Australian Cinephile

Which games deserve more love?

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

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

01:00Batman'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

01:36an 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

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

01:54world. If you never played the first Ni No Kuni, it's just even better gameplay, a more interesting

01:59world, lots more familiars, and a fun town-building mode. Yes, it missed those Ghibli cutscenes and the

02:05touching story, but Ni No Kuni 2 remains one of the most recommendable and gorgeous RPGs of the

02:10modern day. Number 7. Grease

02:12Graphics will never trump gameplay entirely, but if we're making a pie chart of reasons to play

02:18Grease, it's definitely 80% that god-like art direction. An absolutely wondrous painterly style

02:24backed by an impactful story told entirely through visuals, gameplay borrows small parts of a

02:29Metroidvania structure, including light platforming and various abilities you'll unlock over time.

02:34Speaking of over time, teens saw one hell of an upscale over on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation

02:404 Pro. With the game now running at 4K with locked FPS frame rates also available on PS5,

02:46if you want a literal feast for your eyes that's a joy to play through and explore,

02:50Grease is that game. Number 6. Firewall Zero Hour

02:54Languishing for a couple of years after launch, 2018 was the breakout year for virtual reality.

02:59In particular, it was a banner year for PlayStation VR, which saw incredible games like Astro Bot Rescue

03:05Mission and Mars. It was also the year we got the best console VR shooter so far, Firewall Zero Hour.

03:11Others had attempted to make FPS games in VR, such as Bravo Team, but Firewall was the first on

03:16PlayStation that made you feel like you were really in the firefight. Gritty, tactile and addictive when

03:21it comes to making you actively think of different ways to approach firefights, you'll physically

03:25take cover or play the angles game against someone in hiding to just pop a headshot. Solid graphics

03:31help immerse you in the action, and every time you see a bullet coming square at your face,

03:35your heart will skip a beat. Firewall was a huge stepping stone for PSVR when it comes to how these

03:40kinds of experiences can really work and elevate the genre itself. Number 5. Detroit Become Human

03:46Somehow the forgotten Quantic Dream game, despite an insane budget, production values and fact it has

03:52a very dedicated fanbase, Detroit Become Human is a story told from multiple perspectives you need to

03:57experience yourself. Detroit Circa 2038 is a city revitalized by the advent of androids as human

04:03helpers. Think iRobot, but much more lifelike. Three androids, Kara, Marcus and Connor, find

04:09themselves intrinsically linked in a world that is on the brink of a revolution. It's a story that

04:13works surprisingly well once you have to make decisions as one character that affects the other,

04:18even if the whole thing is insanely heavy-handed when it comes to drawing on racial subject matter

04:22across the board. The elephant in the room is obviously that Detroit and David Cage's writing play

04:27too fast and loose with incredibly sensitive topics, not to mention Cage's reputation plummeting in

04:32recent years alongside a string of ugly accusations. It'll be on each player whether or not they're

04:37comfortable separating these elements from the game itself, as in the latter's case, tracking a

04:41collective player base's choices in this context and seeing which branching story paths you miss or

04:46committed to can be very satisfying. Number 4. Vampyr Vampyr is set in 19th century England and puts you in

04:54the shoes of Doctor Jonathan Reed, who's just contracted vampirism. You then play the game

04:59struggling with the need to feast versus the morality of killing your patients for sustenance

05:03and some fancier unlockables. As you can imagine with this coming from the minds of Life is Strange

05:08and Remember Me, Vampyr is more about storytelling and worldbuilding than it is gameplay. This dark

05:13and twisting story is reflected in the gloomy and claustrophobic streets of London, which makes for a

05:18refreshing tale in a world overflowing with sequels and safe bets. Vampyr has atmosphere in abundance

05:24and what it lacks in polish and occasionally repetitive combat, it more than makes up for with

05:29style, uniqueness and supremely well-written characters. Number 3. Guardians of the Galaxy

05:34The best Marvel game that isn't Insomniac Spider-Man titles but deserves to be up there with them,

05:40Guardians of the Galaxy suffered a terrible initial gameplay demo at E3, and then a completely flat

05:45marketing rollout that didn't accentuate its positives whatsoever. What Square Enix appeared

05:50to show off was a thrown together cash grab almost feeling like Avengers DLC being sold for full price.

05:55What Guardians actually is though is an incredibly well-written character piece from some key minds

06:00behind Deus Ex. Optional side missions and conversations are on the level of Mass Effect,

06:05and the overall story here gets incredibly emotional and unique in tackling themes of fatherhood

06:09and what it even feels like to know a group of people have your back no matter what.

06:13Yes, combat gets repetitive, but it's serviceable enough, and nowhere near the majority of what

06:18you're doing. This is a game that prioritises its characters, fun soundtrack, neat dialogue options,

06:23and above all, that specific Guardians tone. It's clear creative director Jean-Francois Dugard

06:28got the source material and knew exactly how to elevate it. Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy

06:33is the best Guardians of the Galaxy thing we've had so far.

06:37Number 2. Florence Florence tells the most realistic tale of a relationship

06:42ever seen in video games. The ups, the downs, the joy, the melancholy, it's incredibly moving,

06:47but it was initially exclusive to mobile, and that meant flying completely under most people's radars.

06:52Thankfully, it's now on Switch, and this touching story focuses on Florence falling for someone,

06:57and the days and weeks that follow. You'll go from start to finish in around 40 minutes,

07:01with Kevin Penkin's gorgeously carefree, occasionally sad soundtrack carrying you through.

07:06Made to be a drop-in short story of a video game centred on dating in a city,

07:10there isn't much in the way of gameplay, but every mechanic serves to make playable the various

07:14mindsets and realities of a relationship where some things fit and others don't. Making the

07:19mundane interesting and nailing a tight artistic vision, Florence joins the likes of Unpacking

07:24and The Artful Escape as brilliant indie gems that really stick with you.

07:28And number 1. A Way Out

07:30It took it takes two to really catapult Joseph Farris into the limelight, and that was after

07:35Critical Darling Brothers A Tale of Two Sons initially turned heads. However, there is a

07:40release in the middle that far less people seem to care about. A Way Out then pits you and a friend,

07:44be it local or online, as two prison inmates who band together to try and escape. The crux is that

07:49the whole game takes place in split screen, with each player performing unique actions or making

07:54decisions about how to approach situations, affecting the other in real time. As would become

07:59more obvious across It Takes Two, Joseph Farris has endless ideas for dual agency in an interactive

08:04space. And here you'll do everything from stealth sections to over-shoulder shooting,

08:08car escape chases to mini-games like playing Kinect 4. Honestly, it's just awesome. With a far,

08:14far tighter runtime and personally a more enjoyable story than It Takes Two, A Way Out is more than

08:20recommendable if you like what Farris brings to the gaming table.

08:22And those are just a handful of totally underappreciated video games. Let me know your

08:27favourites down in the comments below and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.

08:31For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com and I'll catch you soon.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended