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Underrated Games From The Last 10 years

Lemming42

Arcane
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
6,806
Location
The Satellite Of Love
Not necessarily great games or ones that were universally panned that you think deserve another chance, but rather just games that sort of made no impact but which you think people might have missed and should check out.

Here's some:
Shadwen - stealth game by the Trine devs. You're an assassin who meets a little girl. You can either assassinate guards, which will make the girl increasingly horrified, or distract them and slip by, which will keep her happy. Imagine third person Dishonored with Trine physics and you're basically there. People rag on the game for having shitty AI but that's sort of the point, think something more akin to Desperados than Thief, it's about manipulating the predictable AI to get them out of your way.

Heaven's Vault - game about deciphering a fictional language. I really liked this, you have to mark down and remember what different symbols mean so you can start unearthing mysteries.

Industria - FPS that clearly takes inspiration from Half-Life 2. It's set in East Berlin with robots who have big claws and come to rip you apart. It's pretty short and not a great game but it's interesting enough to be worth checking out.

Dead in Vinland - game where you manage a party of stranded fuckers. You've got to build your base and ward off raiders, all while getting constantly ill from bad weather. Other people can join your camp and help out, and everyone invariably falls out with each other. Great fun.

Outcast: A New Beginning - sequel to 1999's Outcast. CUTTER SLADE returns! It plays a lot like the original, except with absurd freedom of movement that lets you fly around, glide, what-have-you. If you liked the original you'll probably like this.

Dwarrows - city building game where you play as three different people, each with their own abilities. There's no combat or danger, you solve puzzles and explore the map to uncover stuff. I thought it was really sweet and a lot of fun, but eventually it does settle into endless resource gathering which kills the momentum.

Elderborn - sort of like Dark Messiah. Kick things and watch them go flying, then swing your big physics-based sword to knock people down.
 

fredsteel

Erudite
Patron
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Messages
236
Location
the Hanging Rat
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is.
One game I rarely see mentioned but totally deserves more attention is Yomi Hustle (Your Only Move Is Hustle). It’s a unique turn-based fighting game where you plan out your moves like a strategy game, then watch them unfold in real time. The depth of the combat system is surprising, with loads of character options, combos, and ways to outsmart your opponent.

The pixel art style might seem simple at first, but it grows on you, and the complexity of its mechanics makes it highly replayable. It’s like a blend of fighting games and tactical RPGs, perfect for people who enjoy thinking three steps ahead.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2212330/Your_Only_Move_Is_HUSTLE/
 

NecroLord

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Sep 6, 2022
Messages
14,843
Not necessarily great games or ones that were universally panned that you think deserve another chance, but rather just games that sort of made no impact but which you think people might have missed and should check out.

Here's some:
Shadwen - stealth game by the Trine devs. You're an assassin who meets a little girl. You can either assassinate guards, which will make the girl increasingly horrified, or distract them and slip by, which will keep her happy. Imagine third person Dishonored with Trine physics and you're basically there. People rag on the game for having shitty AI but that's sort of the point, think something more akin to Desperados than Thief, it's about manipulating the predictable AI to get them out of your way.

Heaven's Vault - game about deciphering a fictional language. I really liked this, you have to mark down and remember what different symbols mean so you can start unearthing mysteries.

Industria - FPS that clearly takes inspiration from Half-Life 2. It's set in East Berlin with robots who have big claws and come to rip you apart. It's pretty short and not a great game but it's interesting enough to be worth checking out.

Dead in Vinland - game where you manage a party of stranded fuckers. You've got to build your base and ward off raiders, all while getting constantly ill from bad weather. Other people can join your camp and help out, and everyone invariably falls out with each other. Great fun.

Outcast: A New Beginning - sequel to 1999's Outcast. CUTTER SLADE returns! It plays a lot like the original, except with absurd freedom of movement that lets you fly around, glide, what-have-you. If you liked the original you'll probably like this.

Dwarrows - city building game where you play as three different people, each with their own abilities. There's no combat or danger, you solve puzzles and explore the map to uncover stuff. I thought it was really sweet and a lot of fun, but eventually it does settle into endless resource gathering which kills the momentum.

Elderborn - sort of like Dark Messiah. Kick things and watch them go flying, then swing your big physics-based sword to knock people down.
Deus Ex: Invisible War.

It's not easy being a sequel to such a monumental game as Deus Ex, perhaps it never needed a sequel, but I would love to see an overhaul and improvement of Invisible War.
 

Strange Fellow

Peculiar
Patron
Joined
Jun 21, 2018
Messages
4,241
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Broken Lines. Like Frozen Synapse, but less puzzle and more RPG. Good fun, short and sweet. I don't think it sold well, which is a shame, as an expanded sequel could have been a properly excellent game.

Lurking and Note of the Outskirts. Lumped together because they're both old-school RPGs, of the Ultima and Bard's Tale/Wizardry variety, respectively. Both games are free and neither is available on Steam/GOG, so obviously no one knows about them outside of a handful of weirdos on this site. Both are really good games, just as good as their inspirations if not better.

Hellpoint. Quite well-known in comparison to the other games I've mentioned, but it's still one of the best Souls-likes in terms of level design and atmosphere. I'm always having to mention it in discussions about good non-From games similar to the Souls series because nobody else does, so I consider it underrated.

I'll also mention Qvadriga, the phase-based roman chariot racer. Not necessarily because it's underrated, but because I'm guessing nobody's heard of it, and it's a cool idea and an all right timewaster/palette cleanser.
 

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
Patron
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
13,114
Legend of Grimrock II (2014): Prestigious Dungeon Master-like deserves far more play than it received, especially among Codexers.

Apotheon (2015): An action-platformer based on Greek mythology with artwork in the style of classical Greek 'black figure' pottery illustrations.

Warlock of Firetop Mountain (2016): Best digital gamebook ever.

The Bard's Tale IV (2018): Not a great game, or perhaps even a good one, but it didn't deserve to flop.

Spacebourne (2020): Created by one person, with better spaceship combat than Starfield, though not much else to the game.
 

Dr1f7

Scholar
Joined
Jan 25, 2022
Messages
1,508
Evil Genius 2 - EG1 with better graphics, everyone hated it because it was too true to the style of EG1, still the best 'dungeon builder' game ever made
SW:JFO - MCA played a part in the story writing and you can tell, it's good. also sekiro with lightsabers
DBZ Kakarot
- It's Dark Souls combat but fast DBZ action, nobody realized this, everyone shit on this amazing game because people are dumb
Hero's Hour - Great HOMM clone
Amnesia: Machine for Pigs - universally hated (because people are dumb), amazing game
Amnesia: Rebirth - also universally hated (because people are dumb), amazing game
 

Valestein

Arcane
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
6,196
Location
Haliask, North Ambria
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In
This metroidvania that's like a hardcore combo of Metroid Fusion and Super Meat Boy.



This horror themed (loosely) Zelda-like.



This throwback to 90s JRPGs.



Another 90s JRPG throwback

 
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markec

Twitterbot
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
50,999
Location
Croatia
Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Dead State Project: Eternity Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Im not that into JRPGs but I did find this game quite entertaining, I wish we had more tactical games set in Napoleonic era.



Few simple but fun games.





Its a game made by a coomer and probably a troon, which reflects on some nudity and character designs present in the game. But it does have really good level and encounter design and also weapons and enemies are also pretty well done. Its overall a really good game that should have been a instant hit if it werent for some questionable visual designs.

 

ferratilis

Arcane
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
2,904
Death's Gambit. When it came out, it was a mediocre 2d soulslike/metroidvania thing with a lot of bugs. Some time later, they released Afterlife which fixed the bugs, expanded and rebalanced the whole game, and made it much better. But I guess the reputation from release remained, so not that many people checked out the revised version. It's worth it imo, especially since you can regularly find it for just a few bucks.

 

Eldrin

Novice
Joined
May 28, 2024
Messages
90
King Arthur: Knight's Tale. Surprisingly solid game. Great Atmosphere, Artstyle, Music, Voice acting, Cinematics (rare sight these days), Fun Tactical Gameplay, even if a bit too easy once you get the gist of it, Good Amount of Content. Conan-esque Writing - not the highest prose, but good dialogues, punchy and enjoyable. No woke bullshit.

 

Lemming42

Arcane
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
6,806
Location
The Satellite Of Love
Few more:
Shadowhand - made by the people who made Regency Solitaire (another cool game worth checking out if you like the idea of Solitaire with insane powerups and mad shit). This one's really cool because it has some light RPG elements, like stats that influence the RNG of solitaire in various ways and equippable items that help you in the solitaire-duels you get into. Story is silly but a lot of fun and filled with period drama atmosphere, you play as a high society lady who lives a double life as a highwayman.

Reigns - very unusual game that employs a swipe left/swipe right system to let you make decisions about running a fictional kingdom as its king. Invariably, everything starts to come apart very quickly as your bad choices compound. There's a sequel called Her Majesty where you play as a queen with a new deck of decision cards.

Vaporum - Steampunk Legend of Grimrock, sort of.

Crookz: The Big Heist - puzzle game where you're a bunch of 1970s jackasses planning the titular BIG HEIST. The crew each have different abilities that you use to distract or KO guards, disable security, or bypass obstacles. Sort of like a much slower Commandos.

Ghost of a Tale - cute game where you play as a mouse who's got to sneak through a fantasy world. I didn't beat it because unfortunately I got bored before the end, but it's a lovely game and very well-presented, worth checking out for stealth fans.

Zortch - throwback shooter in the style of the early 3D era, sort of a blend of Unreal and Turok. You play as ZORTCH MAXINUM, a dimwit who winds up being taken captive by aliens and has to fight her way out of the alien ship and across the surface of their world.

Fights in Tight Spaces - this one's better known than the others here I think but it still deserves more recognition. The best roguelite deckbuilder since Slay the Spire, and in my view, maybe even better.
 

AndyS

Augur
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
587
Slain: Back From Hell and Valfaris. Just a couple of well-done 2D run-and-gun games. Slain had an especially disastrous launch, which is why the new, fixed version has the Back From Hell subtitle. The developer has a very strong death metal sensibility, and the soundtracks are by a former Celtic Frost member. A fun antidote to the whimsical, self-referencing style you see in a lot of retro indie games.

La Mulana 2. The first game, especially the original MSX version, was a bit of a sensation when it came out, but I don't see nearly as many people talking about the sequel even though it's basically more of the same thing and is still quite good.

Arthurian Legends. There's a thread on this, but I'll mention it anyway. A retro FPS with a heavy melee focus. It's not made on the Build engine, but it has a similar style. Unfortunately it's a bit buggy, but still worth checking out.

Curse of Issyos. One of Locomalito's games, this one sort of a Castlevania-like with a Greek mythology theme. I would just recommend all of his games, which, aside from Super Hydorah and Maldita Castilla EX, can all be downloaded for free.
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
8,383
Location
Kelethin
The Bard's Tale IV (2018): Not a great game, or perhaps even a good one, but it didn't deserve to flop.
Not long finished my 2nd playthrough of it and, whilst it certainly has it's issues, I utterly love the game.

Would love a sequel to it.
Same. It is comfy to play, lots of atmosphere too. I liked it. I also loved M&MX, I wish these games could keep going.
 

Gostak

Educated
Joined
Jan 10, 2022
Messages
253
Also, for me personally Rings of Saturn is another one.
It kind of used to melt my system and felt not-quite-finished-yet in EA so I only checked it every now and again (because the physics and atmosphere was already nice).
I must have picked it up around May 2021.
Things have changed and it's a good game and still has updates coming for it.
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
8,383
Location
Kelethin
Legend of Grimrock II (2014): Prestigious Dungeon Master-like deserves far more play than it received, especially among Codexers.
Did they make their own engine? It's a nice looking game and feels nice to play. Would love a sequel. There is stuff that bothers me about the game, but I really love it too. It is a tough game compared to most I think. My main gripe is that there's no healer. And also the rune clicking... my god. I ended up getting some macro software which lets me press a button and it does whatever shape I want. Makes it a lot more fun for me. Also the mod Master of Magic mod was a lot of fun for a second play through.
 

Fargus

Arcane
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
3,867
Location
Mosqueow
Antharion. Because every rpg name should start with "A". Open world turn based rpg where you create your party. Not much in terms of story but i enjoyed it a lot.
Dead State. Will be 10 years in december. Yet another flawed but fun rpg. Really enjoyed because of Mitsoda's humor and dialogue writing. And the gameplay wasn't bad, maybe tedious for some.
Monsters' Den: Godfall. Dungeon crawling turn based rpg. Deserves more attention.
Robocop and Terminator games from Teyon. Deserve more love for trying to be authentic to the franchises they are based on. Not bad popamole games.
Arthurian Legends. Awesome, oldschool fps slasher. It's sad the dev vanished.
Hand of Fate games. Fun action rogue likes\card game. Usually hate this kind of games but i had fun with with these.
Survivalist: Invisible Strain. Really cool survival w some town management elemets, despite the looks and weird combat system that can put even 2000s jankest of jank to shame.
Urtuk: The Desolation. Battle Brothers clone and not the worst one at that. As it is 40-50 hours of solid tactical game before it gets tiresome. More if you are an autist. The dev should have supported it more post release so its his fault the game faded into obscurity.
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos. Tactical rpg based on some french comedy fantasy series nobody heard about. I think more would have played it were it not named so poorly. Naherberuk... Niggerbrofist... jfc
Hob. Zelda-like "action adventure" by Runic Games with cute (kinda) art direction.
 
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