Enslaved is one of my favorite games of all time. It's a shame that the sequel got canned, the cliffhanger ending will haunt me until the end of time now lol
Loved Enslaved: Odyssey to the West so much I played through it + "Pigsy's Perfect 10" DLC three times. First on the 360 and then later, twice on the PC. Fell in love with the charming characters and excellent game play.
I played the Re-Reckoning. Story-wise it's an absolute train-wreck, the game is repetitive as all hell and the sound design made me want to murder someone; the battle music starts to play if you're 30 miles away from enemies; you could barely hear the dialogue, especially the elf deuteragonist... however, the combat was good enough to keep me for close to that figure as well. It's seldom the case that the best part of an RPG is grinding the combat, but it was the case here.
Wait, wait, wait, you're telling me that Beyond Good and Evil or Okami did not sell well?! People are missing out on two of the best games of all time there! Very sad
It was fairly hyped up in 2006 but being a new IP in the year the PS3 released it was totally skipped over. It won awards though and I bought it the first day.
I remember being cheap and wanting to relax after work so I bought enslaved for 3$ at a local game store. I enjoyed the story and gameplay to a point it was in my top 5 of ps3 titles.
I own four of those ten: Kingdoms of Amalur, Okami, Enslaved and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Loved Okami and the epic story and amazing soundtrack of PDS absolutely got me through the January lockdown when I played it for the first time.
Okami is immortal- art style, music, gameplay are top of the tops. This game should have temples for cult followers. But right, when it came out it immediately won the titles of the game of the year and sold very, very poorly. However, people have not forgotten how great this game is and re-releases prove that not every game needs a remake, remaster, etc. Good games just have to be available. And such as Okami, which set new horizons, all the more.
I never got to play it but I was drawn in by the art style when I was a kid. It's crazy how easy something as simple as presentation can peak people's interests.
Most of Clover(later Platinum Games) products usually had an amazingly low sales number despite getting critical praise from virtually everyone, from journalists to players(except for IGN, in God Hand's case), it's almost like a curse
I believe the major contributing factor to System Shock 2's poor sales was the game's system requirements were way too steep at the time... Obviously, that's been like 20 years ago, though, so I could be misremembering
I had 32Mb of ram on my Celeron 266 PC. The loading times were long. I went out and bought 512MB of ram and everything went smoothly. It was the maximum my board supported. I wonder what my GPU was at the time? Voodoo 1 maybe?
@@CrocvsGator The first one (1998). Not the god awful 2014 reboot😬. That abomination deserve to crash and burn. Granted Thief 1998 actually got two sequels. None of the games/franchise sold particularly well.
Something else to note about Spec Ops: The Line. There was a series of "Spec Ops" games on the PS1, and they were generally, not well received. And certainly not looked back on fondly by most. I'm thinking the name of the most recent entry didn't help either, along with the other possible reasons you stated.
Rien à voir avec les jeux ps1 pourtant , en tout cas le titre était bien trouvé car il était conforme au jeu , c'est surtout que le jeu est sortie en pleine hype des Call of donc forcément ça na pas aidé car Spec ops est l'anti Call of, un peu comme PES est l'anti FIFA
I remember wanting to get the Skies of Arcadia Gamecube Version back then at release and went to like 5 stores right after release. I couldn't find it anywhere. Some month later i've found it in a grab basket at a freaking super market for 10 bucks. No wonder it sold so poorly. They fcked the distribution up big times.
I LOVED Earthbound. It's such a bummer it didn't take off when initially released. The writing holds up to this day! There's nothing quite like it. The aesthetics were so enjoyable that the semi underwhelming fight system didn't feel as such. It fit perfectly in the game's universe. I really wish they would give us Earthbound 2, and commit to a remake or reboot of the series.
Well, good news, as the Mother series is just that! A series. Though Kurtis Le is wrong, as Mother 3 has not been released in the US in English. That GBA cart is a repro featuring a fan translation. An official release has not happened and I think literally everyone wants it to.
@@luliby2309 Yes, an official english version of Mother 3 hasn't been released. However, what he meant was most likely the fact that you can actually play Mother 3 in english on emulator on your pc. It may not be the same as playing on a console, but the translation is very-well done, there are no bugs or anything like that. So if you really want to play the game, you can try emulating it with an engish patch. To me it actually makes no difference if Mother 3 is released in the west since we have that translation.
Okami is one of my favorite games of all time. I will recommend it to the day I die. When I first played and reached a certain boss, thinking 8t was the final one, only to find out that I was maybe a third of the way into the game (which I should have realized, but was too into it to keep count of brush techniques), I was beyond giddy... And I started with the Wii version.
One of the greatest games of all time for sure. I still can't find many games with this much style and charm to this day. Such a memorable game. Made a big impact on my childhood when it came out. I don't think i'll ever forget about it.
Can you tell me what is so good about the game? I've seen many recommending it so perhaps I should give it a try to but first it'd be good to know what the gameplay is like. And does it have a good story?
@@martinpiekarski1512 The story is loosely based on various myths from around Japan. Honestly, the ending pulls your heartstrings. It does a great job getting you attached to the main characters. Even a lot of the side characters are great, too. There’s also some great comedy, a lot of it in exchanges between characters. Definitely go for Okami HD. I know it’s great on console, but it’s also available for PC. The game is generally similar to a Zelda title (I actually first got it at a used game store that didn’t have the Zelda game I was looking for, but they recommended it as a sort of alternative). What makes it unique is the Brush Technique mechanic. You have something called the Celestial Brush, which basically lets you stop time in the game to draw symbols over things. These symbols do a wide variety of things from turning night into day to making flowers bloom to controlling fire, and many can be upgraded later in the game.
I did my part by buying System Shock 2, Spec Ops the Line, Enslaved, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, Beyond Good & Evil and Okami from this list. And PSN+ users like myself got Kingdoms of Amalur for free in November.
I own four of those titles: System Shock 2 (my all time favorite and still played to this day), Kingdoms of Amalur, Beyond Good & Evil, and Freespace 2. Every single one of them is exceptional, I preordered all of them and picked up day 1, and in the case of KoA and BG&E, I purchased the HD remake as well just to help keep the IPs alive.
Okami is such an incredible game and may well have been my introduction to aspects of japanese culture as a young boy so it means a lot to me personally
Fun side note- this video featured KoA:Reckoning and released on the same day as the first new all original content for KoA:Re-Reckoning... So yeah, guess there is finally hope for a sequel at some point...
This was a great list but it's so depressing that all it does is show how the US gaming audience didn't appreciate anything that did things remotely different and/or unique. And people wanna sing praises for Call of Duty and other FPS games for "pushing gaming forward." Right.
Oh Freespace 2 :( Ended on a cliffhanger even. Definitely my favourite of the genre, and thankfully kept alive by the fan source code project community. Modern and incredible to this day.
Was it a cliffhanger? I thought it ended with the Shivans and Terrans never being able to get in contact again after the destruction of the capella system?
@@bingobongo1615 It's been so long since I played it, but I feel like it was heavily implied there was more to come with the rogue admiral getting away. And since when is "never being able to get in contact again" ever firm in sci-fi :)
@@bingobongo1615 I remember when i was playing it as a kid. That supernova blast was mindblowing, one of the best unexpected scripted game events i've ever experienced. I had a ripped version back then without cutscenes so i didn't even know the outcome of the blast lol.
I actually just bought Spec Ops The Line this week finally after hearing it come up in forums quite frequently over the past year. First time playing it. I think it probably did get written off as a double A COD knockoff or something at the time. The name just screams generic cash grab double A military shooter. If they had named it something more provocative or closer to the dark overtones it set out to show, it would have got a lot more eyes. There is a lot in a name that people don’t realize.
Would it have been evocative enough without the expected name, though? Like, it could have been called Heart of Darkness to be true to the story it's a reference to (same as Apocalypse Now) but would that have been nearly as effective it hadn't seemed on the surface to be a generic 3PS cover shooter?
@@Dionysius8421 I think it would have sold more and more people would have played it at least. A generic sounding shooter in a world full of generic shooters. A lot of people passed this one over until it started getting some word of mouth.
8:19 unfortunately this is why most games we get now days is basically the same thing over and over. We complain about it, but the hard truth is, alot of the time it's us as consumers' fault. We are only interested in investing in the formula, so that's what the big studios make to ensure profit. Games that try something different, games that may challenge us a a bit, no one wants to know. As a result creativity in gaming is just so stifled now. It's a shame 😕
I thought Mad Max would have been one of the highest on this list. It’s one of my all-time favorite games and I got it for $1 only a few years after it’s release. I heard that the sales were hit hard, since it released on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
A damn shame too. I got both first day and I just popped in Mad Max just to see what it looked like before cracking open Phantom Pain. 3 weeks later, I started Phantom Pain. 😉
Mad Max sold like shit because it had NOTHING to do with Mad Max. It was Batman reskinned into a post apocalyptic world. If you watch the Mad Max movies you'll see he NEVER fights. He thinks or drives his way out of trouble. Turning him into a boxing kung fu master was stupid. Not to mention he's a cop and lives by his moral standards (but not in the game). The game was nothing like the source material. That's why it sold like shit.
@@whosaidthat84 And that's why you are not a game designer. - In Mad Mad 1, it was a pure revenge story. He killed the gang that killed his friend and family. In Mad Max 2, he used his driving skills to save a peaceful colony that was under attack by another gang. In Mad Max 3, he rescued a pack of children, again utilizing his superior driving skills. In the Thunderdome he out smarted Master-Blaster, once again brains or skills over brawn. In Mad Max 4, he did actually brawl finally. All movies feature Mad Max driving and avoiding physical combat. In this game you are in fisticuffs plowing your way through countless desert denizens right off the bat. There's any number of places they could have drawn inspiration from for a pseudo fifth series installment. Car combat that doesn't require a mutant sidekick. The opening scene was pretty good, but he looses his car and the game goes sideways from there. In all 4 movies he found a group to protect, and he used his driving skills to save (or avenge) them. I'd start there for a game plot. Maybe I gave up to soon and the game goes down that path? It didn't seem like it from what I played. It wasn't Mad Max, it was Desert Batman, and I quit.
I seem to remember Strangers Wrath sold poorly because it jumped platforms. The original Odd World games were Playstation titles and Strzngers Wrath was an Xbox exclusive. Most fans either didn't have a second console or weren't willing to buy one to play the game.
i'm watching this video with my ps3 copy of enslaved sat proudly on my shelf. a real diamond in the rough. it saddens me how hard done by it was on release
One of the biggest tragedies you guys forgot to mention was Valkyria Chronicles. Best strategy game of the 7th gen. Remember seeing 2 copies of it at Best Buy when it came out next to 5 shelves of Gears Of War. So yeah,it hardly got any chance at getting noticed. Panzer Dragoon Saga is the greatest RPG of the 5th generation. I remember getting it day one. The store only had as many copies as there were pre orders. Amazing gameplay and soundtrack that still holds up. Only 24,000 were made. I've been selling a bunch of my collection recently, collecting just for the sake of collecting is pointless now,and have had offers of over $2,000 for the game. Haven't sold it yet.
@juliette Irene Yep. It's amazing. The gameplay is great but the story is very well done. Really makes you care about the characters unlike other strategy games like X Com. I've played the first game twice as well as the second game on the PSP,which is cool because it actually takes place after the first game unlike the other sequels. Valkyria Revolution is also quite good even though it's a different game.
8:32 Beyond Good and Evil has the most unique feature in every Videogame ever. Take Photos and sell them. Not your Main Quest, but your actual job. It is normal. Videogames hardly ever do that. 10:40 I love what german Videogame Journalist Katharina Pache wrote in her Fazit of her Okami Test: "Whether on the Switch or anywhere else, Okami is still the best Zelda Game Nintendo never made."
I may be mistaken; but I used to watch something similar to what culture gaming or something like that; like 5 years ago. And I’m pretty sure this guy narrating was on it. Glad to see you’re still making content if that was you I used to watch. A friend and I are attempting to make gaming content and haven’t released anything; but I admire those who do. It takes a lot to put yourself out there sometimes
I see Enslaved in a thumbnail, and it’s an instant click for me. Fantastic game. I average completing 1 game every 2 years (yes yes, I know. But busy life, and too many great games to try) but I’ve completed Enslaved twice, on 2 different systems. 👍🏻
I bought Okami on PS2 from Asda for a tenner and didn't get around to playing it until a couple of years later when I was at a bit of a low point in my life, living alone with very little to do when I wasn't at work, but it was such an escape. The graphics, the music, the story. It was beautiful. I was so passionate about it talking to one of my colleagues at work at the time that I convinced him to buy a PS2 just so he could play it himself. I've also got the remakes on XBox and Switch. So much fun.
10. System Shock 2 9. Spec Ops: The Line 8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 7. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath 6. Panzer Saga 5. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West 4. Beyong Good & Evil 3. Okami 2. Freespace 2 1. Earthbound
Dude, imagine a reimagining to OddWorld: Stranger’s Wrath that was open-world with Zelda style dungeons, temples, and gauntlet challenges. There’s so much potential in that property. They could expand on the ammo types and design them in such a way that each one would have multiple uses as a weapon and as a way to tackle challenges and traverse the world. They could also expand on the mythology and world building, perhaps increasing the diversity of biomes you traverse on your quest. Man there’s so much potential in the Oddworld universe.
Wow, I played all these games and always felt in love with them. But that fits to my nature, to have a heart for them. To be underrated, that's what they have in common with me. It is my first time on this channel and I thank the RUclips algorithm, for recommending me this vid. Thanks for the entertainment. It was a great pleasure to watch this.
I played Enslaved as a kid and Okami as well and Okami is one of my favorite games of all time lol. I've bought it on so many different platforms repeatedly
Hehe currently working for YAGER, the dev of Spec Ops: The Line I somehow was not surprised to see it on that list. Great game though, definitely makes you think.
I'm actually playing System Shock 2 right now and it is super underated. Its a great first person RPG. With a bunch of logs and emails to go over in your PDA. Lots of emersion.
I got a free copy on PC about 3 years ago and it was one of those games I was compelled to play through. While the 3rd person cover shooter mechanics were fairly generic for the time of release the story is one of the very best ever put into a game. I don't normally play storylines but this is one I recommend, though not for the squeamish or those looking for mindless action.
@@darthwiizius pretty much exactly how I feel about it, the gameplay is quite generic but the story is so good it more than makes up for it. Some truly harrowing sequences in it too, feels like one of the few war sims that doesn't shy away from the dark side of it.
@@Dave_ja_vu Yeah, the game completely broke the usual mode where military action is a harmless romp saving the World from 2 dimensional bad guys. This game is about trauma, consequences and grey areas. It is to gaming what Vietnam films are to war movies.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was great I had a lot of fun with it when it came out. Also played Enslaved and it was pretty good as well. Also played Beyond Good and Evil, wouldnt call it one of the greatest games, but it was a lot of fun. Only played the first Okami, need to get back and play the ds one eventually.
Played through System Shock 2 a couple of years ago. Added a few mods to make it prettier but that's about it. One of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had.
I have owned all of these games, and still do for many of them. They were all great in their own way so kudos for giving them some exposure. Although anyone who originally missed the boat may find it has now sunk! You can still get some of them on ebay etc and most of them are still cheap!
I auctioned my UK copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga on eBay in 2012. Mint condition. I only got £150 for it. It would probably fetch over £600 today. Gutted.
8:19 And we really wonder, why the industry is so afraid of trying something new and rather sticks with tested and well known formulas? Kinda our fault as well I guess, when we as gamers back then whenever something was really new and fresh avoided it like the plague despite it being a really good game. *SIGH* I miss this "old" world of gaming with way more diverse genres and types of games.....
Spec ops the line would have made a great movie , the twist at the end and the multiple endings make you understand how serious shell shock is . Freakin awesome game man .
Oh Enslaved… it has one of those ending that’s you either love or hate. I, personally, loved it. It was sorta out of place, but sometimes that how things are in life, so it worked for me. An incredibly depressing twist.
38 Games, MAKERS OF Kingdom of Amalur, were started by Curt Schilling, a retired Baseball player. He basically used his popuarity and connections to get a massive loan from the state of RI that he never paid back and just stole a ton of money, made and destroyed tons of jobs and is currently not looked at as a great guy because of his STRONG political stance and encouragement of the Jan 6th rioting at the white house SO I HAVE AN IDEA, OH YEA ITS SPORTS TIME, IVE NEVER LOOKED UPHOW MANY ATHLETES HAVE DIRECT TIES TO VIDEO GAMES, BUT YOU SHOUD GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT.... AND MAKE A LIST of 10 major athletes directly onvolved in video game controversy or scandal (im sure you can find 10 Curt Schilling and his bloody sock are a shoe in for that list)
I feel your pain with Beyond Good and Evil, and Okami. Especially BGaE. That was the first Xbox 360 game (the rerelese) that I 100%'d on achievements. I LOVED it.
Definitely agree with Spec Ops and Enslaved, both can be picked up cheap for PS3/360 these days, and I highly recommend them. I would also have included Mini Ninjas in this list, a wonderful game that was ignored due to the fact it was viewed as a “kids” game.
the issue with the joystick scene is they were very particular in what they worked for and did not. Time would go by and people would pull out those joysticks only to find.... they were no longer supported by the next game that would actually be good for it. With this bad support and limited use of what was clearly often a larger out there purchase, and trying to chase down what was supported vs what was not, the joystick ideal fell away and with it games that tried to push towards that particular requirement play style. A good example of what not playing well with others can get you. Of course now other companies that dont play well with others do better because they actively try to squash competition with things like pattent trolling and IP sitting.
BG&E had fairly decent advertising, at least in print. This was still a time where, outside of a commercial, you couldn't necessarily take seeing gameplay or a trailer for granted before buying a game. All you had were reviews, word of mouth and ads. BG&E ads pretty well represented in GamePro, EGM and Nintendo Power that year from what I remember. Obviously not Halo level coverage, but still.
"Solatorobo: Red The Hunter" on the Nintendo DS is a game that was able to receive pretty good reviews when it was released back in 2011, but it didn't seem to sell that well, considering the fact that a complete copy of it can be sold for over $100 nowadays (unless the case was that not many copies were produced). But, even so, it is such an underrrated yet wonderful title that everyone needs to check out, especially if you're looking for a JRPG that doesn't have humans as its main cast (like, say, every other JRPG ever made).
I DEFINITELY recommend adding Zwei II (The Ilvard Insurrection) to the list. Awesome action-oriented JRPG that sold, like, two copies. I loved it as a child and was absolutely shocked to know as an adult that Zwei II marked the end of Falcom's PC games since it sold so poorly. 2009 game, still holds up great. Only downside is that, for some reason, they stripped the game (sold on gog and steam) of the Japanese audio??? Not that the English one is bad though, just kind of weird.
I've played through Beyond Good & Evil, Okami, and Earthbound and I wholeheartedly second the recommendations. I've also got the Switch version of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath and just need to find some free time to play it in. I got a good way into the game on the original hardware but never finished it. Definitely going to be checking out the other entries based on the strength of those 4.
I own all of these. Seven of them I bought on original release. Two (Earthbound and Panzer Dragoon Saga) I missed because I didn't own the required platform at the time, but bought on re-release on other platforms. One (Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath) I bought later on GOG. Maybe I just have weird taste in games? Some titles I also bought on re-release - I think I have Okami on three different platforms. Anyway, I can agree that these are all good games, although there are some I could never really get into... The list of games that belong on this list is dismayingly long. For SS2, it wasn't playable for some time because it used a weird video codec which was basically unavailable in later Windows releases. I believe the GOG releases fixes all this, though.
The spec ops: the line situation is challenging from a market perspective, because they didn’t want to ruin the big twist of the game which was that it was very different to all the military shooters at the time, so it had to pretend to be just another shooter in an oversaturated market
You showed it in the opening so maybe it sold well cos Brutal legend along with The Darkness are my all time favourite games ever, Jack Black as the protagonist for one, the awesome world setting and the absolute killer soundtrack, if you’ve not played it I highly recommend it, finished it 5 times and I loved it as much each time, it’s a masterpiece 10/10
Enslaved is one of my favorite games of all time. It's a shame that the sequel got canned, the cliffhanger ending will haunt me until the end of time now lol
My Xbox died before i could finish it.
Absolutely loved every moment of it.
Such an underrated gem
Yes!, I loved the art direction and the crazy-ass story. Great characters, and Andy-freaking Serkis. It's an awesome game indeed.
Loved Enslaved: Odyssey to the West so much I played through it + "Pigsy's Perfect 10" DLC three times. First on the 360 and then later, twice on the PC. Fell in love with the charming characters and excellent game play.
It's one I keep meaning to start up my ps3 to get round to finishing at some point.
I will always say Binary Domain deserves a spot on lists like this.
Agree. Great game indeed.
Superb game!
Excellent game. That and Vanquish.
Yes. Forgot about this!
Yup that game was dope. Sucks it doesn't have backwards compatibility on Xbox One
Enslaved was amazing. I can't believe so few people know about it.
One of my favorite games.
It is a great game indeed
I happened to pick it up in a store one day because of it's vibrant artwork. One of the best games I've played
Awsm game enslaved
Ah dude I absolutely loved enslaved oddsey to the west it was one of my favourite plus you play as a monkey dude how cool is that
Titanfall 2 could easily be an honourable mention. That game was sent out to die by EA
While a fair point it was definitely on their minds given the first clips are literally from TF2
Basically everything EA does without crap monetization it's sent out to die
@@budaroddy truuue
Awsome campaign
The funny thing is that Respawn later said that it was them that set that release date. EA sucks shit, but this time it wasnt their fault.
Spec Ops and Enslaved are two of my favorite games of the generation. I’ll be forever disappointed that Enslaved never got that sequel.
Agree loved both games
Kingdoms of Amalur was an amazing game. One of a handful of games I pumped over 100 hours into.
I played the Re-Reckoning. Story-wise it's an absolute train-wreck, the game is repetitive as all hell and the sound design made me want to murder someone; the battle music starts to play if you're 30 miles away from enemies; you could barely hear the dialogue, especially the elf deuteragonist... however, the combat was good enough to keep me for close to that figure as well. It's seldom the case that the best part of an RPG is grinding the combat, but it was the case here.
Wait, wait, wait, you're telling me that Beyond Good and Evil or Okami did not sell well?! People are missing out on two of the best games of all time there! Very sad
I never even heard of it
It was fairly hyped up in 2006 but being a new IP in the year the PS3 released it was totally skipped over. It won awards though and I bought it the first day.
You're not missing out if you were never interested in either of them
@Grima the Fell Dragon you didn't watch a let's play a year later.
I remember being cheap and wanting to relax after work so I bought enslaved for 3$ at a local game store. I enjoyed the story and gameplay to a point it was in my top 5 of ps3 titles.
Enslaved was genuinely a gem
Faw weel
I own four of those ten: Kingdoms of Amalur, Okami, Enslaved and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Loved Okami and the epic story and amazing soundtrack of PDS absolutely got me through the January lockdown when I played it for the first time.
If you own panzer dragoon saga it's worth a fortune!
I have those too!
Okami is immortal- art style, music, gameplay are top of the tops. This game should have temples for cult followers. But right, when it came out it immediately won the titles of the game of the year and sold very, very poorly. However, people have not forgotten how great this game is and re-releases prove that not every game needs a remake, remaster, etc. Good games just have to be available. And such as Okami, which set new horizons, all the more.
I never got to play it but I was drawn in by the art style when I was a kid. It's crazy how easy something as simple as presentation can peak people's interests.
My kids absolutely loved it. I played it when I first came out so it made me happy.
Most of Clover(later Platinum Games) products usually had an amazingly low sales number despite getting critical praise from virtually everyone, from journalists to players(except for IGN, in God Hand's case), it's almost like a curse
Mad Worlds and the Viewtiful Joe games are absolute classics.
I believe the major contributing factor to System Shock 2's poor sales was the game's system requirements were way too steep at the time... Obviously, that's been like 20 years ago, though, so I could be misremembering
I also remember not being able to run that game on my PC and none of my friends being able to either.
I had 32Mb of ram on my Celeron 266 PC. The loading times were long. I went out and bought 512MB of ram and everything went smoothly. It was the maximum my board supported. I wonder what my GPU was at the time? Voodoo 1 maybe?
Thief and Jade Empire also deserve a mention. Great list though. Beyond Good & Evil, and Okami deserve a high place the list.
Which Thief, may I ask?
@@CrocvsGator The first one (1998). Not the god awful 2014 reboot😬. That abomination deserve to crash and burn. Granted Thief 1998 actually got two sequels. None of the games/franchise sold particularly well.
@@gentlesirpancakebottoms6692 Yeah, I figured it was the original, but you never know these days.
I still have my copy of Jade Empire.
@@widexawake_ Me too. I own the steelbook collectors edt:D
Something else to note about Spec Ops: The Line. There was a series of "Spec Ops" games on the PS1, and they were generally, not well received. And certainly not looked back on fondly by most. I'm thinking the name of the most recent entry didn't help either, along with the other possible reasons you stated.
Rien à voir avec les jeux ps1 pourtant , en tout cas le titre était bien trouvé car il était conforme au jeu , c'est surtout que le jeu est sortie en pleine hype des Call of donc forcément ça na pas aidé car Spec ops est l'anti Call of, un peu comme PES est l'anti FIFA
“Skies of Arcadia” and “Shenmue” are 2 other great games that sold poorly.
shenmue used to be quite popular didnt it? i guess yakuza puts a massive shadow over it these days though
I remember wanting to get the Skies of Arcadia Gamecube Version back then at release and went to like 5 stores right after release. I couldn't find it anywhere. Some month later i've found it in a grab basket at a freaking super market for 10 bucks. No wonder it sold so poorly. They fcked the distribution up big times.
I absolutely love shenmue, shame about the third one.
Oddworld Strangers Wrath is still one of my favorite games! It totally holds up in quality IMO too! I played the HD version a year or 2 ago!
I’ve got this in my Switch backlog, hopefully I get to it in 2022.
@Find That Music! Did you ever get around to playing Stranger's Wrath? I played it back when it first came out on the Xbox, and it was terrific fun.
I LOVED Earthbound. It's such a bummer it didn't take off when initially released. The writing holds up to this day! There's nothing quite like it. The aesthetics were so enjoyable that the semi underwhelming fight system didn't feel as such. It fit perfectly in the game's universe. I really wish they would give us Earthbound 2, and commit to a remake or reboot of the series.
i thought it was a great game, but i think me and 1 or 2 of my friends played it, most were playing action games
They released Mother 3
@@oktaperdana9414 In the US in English?
Well, good news, as the Mother series is just that! A series. Though Kurtis Le is wrong, as Mother 3 has not been released in the US in English. That GBA cart is a repro featuring a fan translation. An official release has not happened and I think literally everyone wants it to.
@@luliby2309 Yes, an official english version of Mother 3 hasn't been released. However, what he meant was most likely the fact that you can actually play Mother 3 in english on emulator on your pc. It may not be the same as playing on a console, but the translation is very-well done, there are no bugs or anything like that. So if you really want to play the game, you can try emulating it with an engish patch. To me it actually makes no difference if Mother 3 is released in the west since we have that translation.
Okami is one of my favorite games of all time. I will recommend it to the day I die. When I first played and reached a certain boss, thinking 8t was the final one, only to find out that I was maybe a third of the way into the game (which I should have realized, but was too into it to keep count of brush techniques), I was beyond giddy...
And I started with the Wii version.
I had a similar experience with it. Amazing game.
There are so many false endings, and it's such an emotional roller coaster. I think I shed tears when it was finay actualy over.
One of the greatest games of all time for sure. I still can't find many games with this much style and charm to this day. Such a memorable game. Made a big impact on my childhood when it came out. I don't think i'll ever forget about it.
Can you tell me what is so good about the game? I've seen many recommending it so perhaps I should give it a try to but first it'd be good to know what the gameplay is like. And does it have a good story?
@@martinpiekarski1512 The story is loosely based on various myths from around Japan. Honestly, the ending pulls your heartstrings. It does a great job getting you attached to the main characters. Even a lot of the side characters are great, too. There’s also some great comedy, a lot of it in exchanges between characters.
Definitely go for Okami HD. I know it’s great on console, but it’s also available for PC. The game is generally similar to a Zelda title (I actually first got it at a used game store that didn’t have the Zelda game I was looking for, but they recommended it as a sort of alternative). What makes it unique is the Brush Technique mechanic. You have something called the Celestial Brush, which basically lets you stop time in the game to draw symbols over things. These symbols do a wide variety of things from turning night into day to making flowers bloom to controlling fire, and many can be upgraded later in the game.
I did my part by buying System Shock 2, Spec Ops the Line, Enslaved, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, Beyond Good & Evil and Okami from this list. And PSN+ users like myself got Kingdoms of Amalur for free in November.
Shadow of Rome on the PS2 was great. The gladiator arenas were so arcadey
I own four of those titles: System Shock 2 (my all time favorite and still played to this day), Kingdoms of Amalur, Beyond Good & Evil, and Freespace 2. Every single one of them is exceptional, I preordered all of them and picked up day 1, and in the case of KoA and BG&E, I purchased the HD remake as well just to help keep the IPs alive.
System shok 2 aint that the game with that goggle guy who says nah
@@ContendCreators I don’t think so. Are you talking about Splinter Cell?
Okami is such an incredible game and may well have been my introduction to aspects of japanese culture as a young boy so it means a lot to me personally
Same
Kingdoms of Amalur is very good. I did my part. Pre-ordered the first release and picked up the switch and ps4 versions. Go Sox
Fun side note- this video featured KoA:Reckoning and released on the same day as the first new all original content for KoA:Re-Reckoning... So yeah, guess there is finally hope for a sequel at some point...
Terranigma would fit in great here, it’s one of the best games that no ones ever heard of.
Me and my buddy beat that game. We played it on an emulator in 98 lol. I actually have it on my nes mini
@@hekstoo5988 Always glad to hear someone else has heard of it, it’s the best game on the super nintendo in my opinion
Dragon's Dogma, another great game, could be an honorable mention.
Your mom gets an honorable mention
This was a great list but it's so depressing that all it does is show how the US gaming audience didn't appreciate anything that did things remotely different and/or unique. And people wanna sing praises for Call of Duty and other FPS games for "pushing gaming forward." Right.
Oh Freespace 2 :(
Ended on a cliffhanger even. Definitely my favourite of the genre, and thankfully kept alive by the fan source code project community. Modern and incredible to this day.
Was it a cliffhanger? I thought it ended with the Shivans and Terrans never being able to get in contact again after the destruction of the capella system?
@@bingobongo1615 It's been so long since I played it, but I feel like it was heavily implied there was more to come with the rogue admiral getting away. And since when is "never being able to get in contact again" ever firm in sci-fi :)
@@bingobongo1615 I remember when i was playing it as a kid. That supernova blast was mindblowing, one of the best unexpected scripted game events i've ever experienced. I had a ripped version back then without cutscenes so i didn't even know the outcome of the blast lol.
I actually just bought Spec Ops The Line this week finally after hearing it come up in forums quite frequently over the past year. First time playing it. I think it probably did get written off as a double A COD knockoff or something at the time. The name just screams generic cash grab double A military shooter. If they had named it something more provocative or closer to the dark overtones it set out to show, it would have got a lot more eyes. There is a lot in a name that people don’t realize.
Would it have been evocative enough without the expected name, though? Like, it could have been called Heart of Darkness to be true to the story it's a reference to (same as Apocalypse Now) but would that have been nearly as effective it hadn't seemed on the surface to be a generic 3PS cover shooter?
@@Dionysius8421 I think it would have sold more and more people would have played it at least. A generic sounding shooter in a world full of generic shooters. A lot of people passed this one over until it started getting some word of mouth.
8:19 unfortunately this is why most games we get now days is basically the same thing over and over. We complain about it, but the hard truth is, alot of the time it's us as consumers' fault. We are only interested in investing in the formula, so that's what the big studios make to ensure profit. Games that try something different, games that may challenge us a a bit, no one wants to know. As a result creativity in gaming is just so stifled now. It's a shame 😕
I thought Mad Max would have been one of the highest on this list. It’s one of my all-time favorite games and I got it for $1 only a few years after it’s release. I heard that the sales were hit hard, since it released on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
A damn shame too. I got both first day and I just popped in Mad Max just to see what it looked like before cracking open Phantom Pain. 3 weeks later, I started Phantom Pain. 😉
Mad Max sold like shit because it had NOTHING to do with Mad Max. It was Batman reskinned into a post apocalyptic world. If you watch the Mad Max movies you'll see he NEVER fights. He thinks or drives his way out of trouble. Turning him into a boxing kung fu master was stupid. Not to mention he's a cop and lives by his moral standards (but not in the game). The game was nothing like the source material. That's why it sold like shit.
Love that game, sad that it did badly.
@@cyberbillp so what's Max supposed to do in that game? You can't just drive around.
@@whosaidthat84 And that's why you are not a game designer. - In Mad Mad 1, it was a pure revenge story. He killed the gang that killed his friend and family. In Mad Max 2, he used his driving skills to save a peaceful colony that was under attack by another gang. In Mad Max 3, he rescued a pack of children, again utilizing his superior driving skills. In the Thunderdome he out smarted Master-Blaster, once again brains or skills over brawn. In Mad Max 4, he did actually brawl finally.
All movies feature Mad Max driving and avoiding physical combat. In this game you are in fisticuffs plowing your way through countless desert denizens right off the bat. There's any number of places they could have drawn inspiration from for a pseudo fifth series installment. Car combat that doesn't require a mutant sidekick.
The opening scene was pretty good, but he looses his car and the game goes sideways from there. In all 4 movies he found a group to protect, and he used his driving skills to save (or avenge) them. I'd start there for a game plot. Maybe I gave up to soon and the game goes down that path? It didn't seem like it from what I played. It wasn't Mad Max, it was Desert Batman, and I quit.
I seem to remember Strangers Wrath sold poorly because it jumped platforms. The original Odd World games were Playstation titles and Strzngers Wrath was an Xbox exclusive. Most fans either didn't have a second console or weren't willing to buy one to play the game.
i'm watching this video with my ps3 copy of enslaved sat proudly on my shelf. a real diamond in the rough. it saddens me how hard done by it was on release
One of the biggest tragedies you guys forgot to mention was Valkyria Chronicles. Best strategy game of the 7th gen. Remember seeing 2 copies of it at Best Buy when it came out next to 5 shelves of Gears Of War. So yeah,it hardly got any chance at getting noticed.
Panzer Dragoon Saga is the greatest RPG of the 5th generation. I remember getting it day one. The store only had as many copies as there were pre orders. Amazing gameplay and soundtrack that still holds up. Only 24,000 were made. I've been selling a bunch of my collection recently, collecting just for the sake of collecting is pointless now,and have had offers of over $2,000 for the game. Haven't sold it yet.
@juliette Irene Yep. It's amazing. The gameplay is great but the story is very well done. Really makes you care about the characters unlike other strategy games like X Com. I've played the first game twice as well as the second game on the PSP,which is cool because it actually takes place after the first game unlike the other sequels. Valkyria Revolution is also quite good even though it's a different game.
My beloved Kingdoms of Amalur, how very happy I was to see it rereleased.
8:32 Beyond Good and Evil has the most unique feature in every Videogame ever. Take Photos and sell them. Not your Main Quest, but your actual job. It is normal. Videogames hardly ever do that.
10:40 I love what german Videogame Journalist Katharina Pache wrote in her Fazit of her Okami Test: "Whether on the Switch or anywhere else, Okami is still the best Zelda Game Nintendo never made."
I may be mistaken; but I used to watch something similar to what culture gaming or something like that; like 5 years ago. And I’m pretty sure this guy narrating was on it. Glad to see you’re still making content if that was you I used to watch. A friend and I are attempting to make gaming content and haven’t released anything; but I admire those who do. It takes a lot to put yourself out there sometimes
The Kingdoms of Amalur entry should have just been, "Ellen was right."
Thanks, always appreciate proper subtitles. Subscribed.
Freespace 2 is so deserving of a spot on this list. The game was and still is incredible.
Enslaved is in my top 10 of all time favorite games....... and I didn't discover it until 2014....... just a diamond in the rough
I see Enslaved in a thumbnail, and it’s an instant click for me.
Fantastic game.
I average completing 1 game every 2 years (yes yes, I know. But busy life, and too many great games to try) but I’ve completed Enslaved twice, on 2 different systems. 👍🏻
I loved Enslaved. I still have it and Spec Ops: The Line for the PS3. Great games.
Enslaved was amazing and it sucks people didn't play it.... I hate how the best games and music are always slept on.
Honestly, I hated critics treatment of Spec Ops. Such a unique experience and the reception was mixed leading to bad sales.
Critics dont know what theym talking about man, spec ops is so good
And for the contrary list of bad games that sold well: Insert every sports title here
brutal legend was such an amazing game i’m surprised it actually sold poorly
yeah same, i thought jack black being involved would've made a bigger splash. i really enjoyed that game
The marketing made it out to be a third person action game. People felt lied to, because they were.
@@RepublicofODLUM guess I missed that situation but it wouldn't have stopped me from giving it a try.
@@jimmyeng663 Yeah, it's a real shame as well because the game is actually really great.
Sadly if it's not a fighting game, or a Tactical RPG, I usually miss out 😪
Enslaved is out there on Steam for PC gamers - so so good!
Thumbnail is enslaved, noticed it instantly, Def a game of my childhood it was so good, played it again couple years ago
I bought Okami on PS2 from Asda for a tenner and didn't get around to playing it until a couple of years later when I was at a bit of a low point in my life, living alone with very little to do when I wasn't at work, but it was such an escape. The graphics, the music, the story. It was beautiful. I was so passionate about it talking to one of my colleagues at work at the time that I convinced him to buy a PS2 just so he could play it himself. I've also got the remakes on XBox and Switch. So much fun.
#10 1:02
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10. System Shock 2
9. Spec Ops: The Line
8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
7. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
6. Panzer Saga
5. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West
4. Beyong Good & Evil
3. Okami
2. Freespace 2
1. Earthbound
Played Enslaved last year during quarantine....awesome game
Dude, imagine a reimagining to OddWorld: Stranger’s Wrath that was open-world with Zelda style dungeons, temples, and gauntlet challenges. There’s so much potential in that property. They could expand on the ammo types and design them in such a way that each one would have multiple uses as a weapon and as a way to tackle challenges and traverse the world. They could also expand on the mythology and world building, perhaps increasing the diversity of biomes you traverse on your quest. Man there’s so much potential in the Oddworld universe.
You lost me at "open world."
Wow, I played all these games and always felt in love with them. But that fits to my nature, to have a heart for them.
To be underrated, that's what they have in common with me.
It is my first time on this channel and I thank the RUclips algorithm, for recommending me this vid. Thanks for the entertainment. It was a great pleasure to watch this.
I played Enslaved as a kid and Okami as well and Okami is one of my favorite games of all time lol. I've bought it on so many different platforms repeatedly
Hehe currently working for YAGER, the dev of Spec Ops: The Line I somehow was not surprised to see it on that list. Great game though, definitely makes you think.
RPGs aren't really my cup of tea, so I never got around to playing Earthbound. However, I have to say that its graphics still look gorgeous today!
RPGs are extremely my cup of tea, and I don't like it. It's just nonsense.
@@Atlas_Redux I've played JRPGs that even JRPG fans haven't heard of... and I agree with you. The game did nothing for me.
I'm actually playing System Shock 2 right now and it is super underated. Its a great first person RPG. With a bunch of logs and emails to go over in your PDA. Lots of emersion.
Def not “underrated”, it’s a classic of the genre
Recently replayed Spec Ops The Line on Ps Now. Man 2k used to take so many risks with their games. Now they just churn out lazy sports titles
I got a free copy on PC about 3 years ago and it was one of those games I was compelled to play through. While the 3rd person cover shooter mechanics were fairly generic for the time of release the story is one of the very best ever put into a game. I don't normally play storylines but this is one I recommend, though not for the squeamish or those looking for mindless action.
@@darthwiizius pretty much exactly how I feel about it, the gameplay is quite generic but the story is so good it more than makes up for it. Some truly harrowing sequences in it too, feels like one of the few war sims that doesn't shy away from the dark side of it.
@@Dave_ja_vu
Yeah, the game completely broke the usual mode where military action is a harmless romp saving the World from 2 dimensional bad guys. This game is about trauma, consequences and grey areas. It is to gaming what Vietnam films are to war movies.
You can forget about 2K doing something worth mention, I believe it's mostly Take-Two that buried all their own
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was great I had a lot of fun with it when it came out. Also played Enslaved and it was pretty good as well. Also played Beyond Good and Evil, wouldnt call it one of the greatest games, but it was a lot of fun. Only played the first Okami, need to get back and play the ds one eventually.
What no Gravity Rush or Gravity Rush 2?! For shame!
Played through System Shock 2 a couple of years ago. Added a few mods to make it prettier but that's about it. One of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had.
I have owned all of these games, and still do for many of them. They were all great in their own way so kudos for giving them some exposure.
Although anyone who originally missed the boat may find it has now sunk!
You can still get some of them on ebay etc and most of them are still cheap!
I auctioned my UK copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga on eBay in 2012. Mint condition. I only got £150 for it. It would probably fetch over £600 today. Gutted.
Great list! Also almost every Sony Japan Studio game could fit this criteria. Gravity Rush and Puppeteer, for example.
Prototype 2?
That Game Was Really Great, But It Sold Not Alot Of Copys To Save Radical Entertament From Being Closed Down By Activision…
Prototype 2 is awsome man i wish there was a 3rd
8:19 And we really wonder, why the industry is so afraid of trying something new and rather sticks with tested and well known formulas? Kinda our fault as well I guess, when we as gamers back then whenever something was really new and fresh avoided it like the plague despite it being a really good game.
*SIGH* I miss this "old" world of gaming with way more diverse genres and types of games.....
Tbf I feel most people probably didnt play Spec Ops: The Line because of the lackluster c rate entrees in that series that preceded it.
That's exactly why I didn't play Spec Ops. They were terrible games!
Spec ops the line would have made a great movie , the twist at the end and the multiple endings make you understand how serious shell shock is . Freakin awesome game man .
3:48 ohhhh, EA is well beyond repainting FIFA. These days they re-sell the same game as repainting is too much effort.
Oh Enslaved… it has one of those ending that’s you either love or hate. I, personally, loved it. It was sorta out of place, but sometimes that how things are in life, so it worked for me. An incredibly depressing twist.
Alright, here we go, underrated solid games time!
After playing the Enslaved demo, I was there on day one to play that game!
38 Games, MAKERS OF Kingdom of Amalur, were started by Curt Schilling, a retired Baseball player. He basically used his popuarity and connections to get a massive loan from the state of RI that he never paid back and just stole a ton of money, made and destroyed tons of jobs and is currently not looked at as a great guy because of his STRONG political stance and encouragement of the Jan 6th rioting at the white house
SO I HAVE AN IDEA, OH YEA ITS SPORTS TIME, IVE NEVER LOOKED UPHOW MANY ATHLETES HAVE DIRECT TIES TO VIDEO GAMES, BUT YOU SHOUD GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT.... AND MAKE A LIST of 10 major athletes directly onvolved in video game controversy or scandal (im sure you can find 10 Curt Schilling and his bloody sock are a shoe in for that list)
I feel your pain with Beyond Good and Evil, and Okami. Especially BGaE. That was the first Xbox 360 game (the rerelese) that I 100%'d on achievements. I LOVED it.
Like Star Wars Squadrons doesn't even exist. What disrespect....
How is brink not on this list lol, CRIMINALLY underrated.
Definitely agree with Spec Ops and Enslaved, both can be picked up cheap for PS3/360 these days, and I highly recommend them. I would also have included Mini Ninjas in this list, a wonderful game that was ignored due to the fact it was viewed as a “kids” game.
the issue with the joystick scene is they were very particular in what they worked for and did not. Time would go by and people would pull out those joysticks only to find.... they were no longer supported by the next game that would actually be good for it. With this bad support and limited use of what was clearly often a larger out there purchase, and trying to chase down what was supported vs what was not, the joystick ideal fell away and with it games that tried to push towards that particular requirement play style.
A good example of what not playing well with others can get you. Of course now other companies that dont play well with others do better because they actively try to squash competition with things like pattent trolling and IP sitting.
I still remember the TC (Total Conversion) of Freespace into Babylon 5. It was bloody brilliant
BG&E had fairly decent advertising, at least in print. This was still a time where, outside of a commercial, you couldn't necessarily take seeing gameplay or a trailer for granted before buying a game. All you had were reviews, word of mouth and ads. BG&E ads pretty well represented in GamePro, EGM and Nintendo Power that year from what I remember. Obviously not Halo level coverage, but still.
Quantum Theory is an extremely underrated game, y'all should try
"Solatorobo: Red The Hunter" on the Nintendo DS is a game that was able to receive pretty good reviews when it was released back in 2011, but it didn't seem to sell that well, considering the fact that a complete copy of it can be sold for over $100 nowadays (unless the case was that not many copies were produced). But, even so, it is such an underrrated yet wonderful title that everyone needs to check out, especially if you're looking for a JRPG that doesn't have humans as its main cast (like, say, every other JRPG ever made).
I can always hope Enslaved will be remade on Nintendo. Or just be ported there.
Enslaved was one of my favorite games for the PS3, love it! (it felt to me at the time like a prequel to The Matrix)
Jet Set Radio was good and i'm sure that didn't sell too well
I DEFINITELY recommend adding Zwei II (The Ilvard Insurrection) to the list. Awesome action-oriented JRPG that sold, like, two copies. I loved it as a child and was absolutely shocked to know as an adult that Zwei II marked the end of Falcom's PC games since it sold so poorly.
2009 game, still holds up great. Only downside is that, for some reason, they stripped the game (sold on gog and steam) of the Japanese audio??? Not that the English one is bad though, just kind of weird.
Enslaved was sooo good like the ending was a bit mad I was so young when I played it I was confused man I thought it was just a solid game as a whole.
3:34 kingdoms of amalur
10:39 freespace 2
Enslaved was such a great game. Its one of the most fun games I've ever played and 100%'d it on my 360 years ago.
Freespace 2!!!!! You guys included Freespace 2! This is my 5th favorite game of all time
I've played through Beyond Good & Evil, Okami, and Earthbound and I wholeheartedly second the recommendations. I've also got the Switch version of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath and just need to find some free time to play it in. I got a good way into the game on the original hardware but never finished it. Definitely going to be checking out the other entries based on the strength of those 4.
I used to look for games like these all those decades ago,so i luckily played most of them.Okami being my "blown away" title.
I own all of these. Seven of them I bought on original release. Two (Earthbound and Panzer Dragoon Saga) I missed because I didn't own the required platform at the time, but bought on re-release on other platforms. One (Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath) I bought later on GOG. Maybe I just have weird taste in games? Some titles I also bought on re-release - I think I have Okami on three different platforms.
Anyway, I can agree that these are all good games, although there are some I could never really get into...
The list of games that belong on this list is dismayingly long.
For SS2, it wasn't playable for some time because it used a weird video codec which was basically unavailable in later Windows releases. I believe the GOG releases fixes all this, though.
The spec ops: the line situation is challenging from a market perspective, because they didn’t want to ruin the big twist of the game which was that it was very different to all the military shooters at the time, so it had to pretend to be just another shooter in an oversaturated market
You showed it in the opening so maybe it sold well cos Brutal legend along with The Darkness are my all time favourite games ever, Jack Black as the protagonist for one, the awesome world setting and the absolute killer soundtrack, if you’ve not played it I highly recommend it, finished it 5 times and I loved it as much each time, it’s a masterpiece 10/10
I loved Enslaved! Such a great game