Joystiq's Top 10 "Hidden Gems" of this Generation [Archive]

pacmanhat

11-28-2005, 07:29 PM

This was mentioned elsewhere, but I think this warrants its own discussion.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000770069581

I have to say I LOVE this list (I have 8 of the games listed, in fact), and its #1 choice is very deserving. What does everyone else think?

Joker T

11-28-2005, 07:36 PM

Good list I love Beyond Good and Evil more than any game on the whole list :)

njiska

11-28-2005, 07:56 PM

I love it too. It's pretty much my to-buy list.

Lothars

11-28-2005, 08:05 PM

Very good list

They are all going on my must buy list though i only owe two games on the list at the moment i think so anyway

but the only one that im meh about is alien humonoid but gonna have to try it.

but thanks I'm gonna be trying all the rest of them out

unwinddesign

11-28-2005, 08:39 PM

I was gonna buy almost all those games at one point, but it ended up that I own a grand total of 0 of those titles. I really want to get Indigo Prophecy. Looks freakin' sweet.

dbiersdorf

11-28-2005, 08:48 PM

Personally I think too many of those are wide open. Ikaruga, Alien Hominid, Ico, Rez, Beyond Good & Evil and Psychonauts are consitantly hailed as under the radar classics. Of all of those I would say only Indigo Prophecy and Stubbs the Zombie are truely unheard of gems, everything else was to some extent brought out into the open. Where's Metal Arms? Where's Cubivore? Where's Oddworld Stranger's Wrath?

Eh, take it as you will, the games are good, but certainly not hidden.

Gamereviewgod

11-28-2005, 09:26 PM

Totally agree the last Oddworld deserved to be there, and I hated Psychonauts. Brilliant character designs and style wrapped around a typical platformer with awful cameras and boring item collection. The rest, of what I played, is hard to disagree with.

Austin

11-29-2005, 04:33 AM

Very cool list. I already own six of the games, and three of the others were near the top of my to-buy list.

I haven't really looked much into Indigo Prophecy, but this article made me want to.

hydr0x

11-29-2005, 04:58 AM

i own 4 of those and 5 others where in my watchlist anyways, Indigo Prophecy i'm not too interested in (but knew) and Stubbs i never heard of, might look into it (after i buy the 5 others)

apparently the time of current gen retrospectives has begun, love it :D

sabre2922

11-29-2005, 07:00 AM

The only one I dont agree with is Eternal Darkness I remember picking the game up for $12 when I had my Gamecube and it was kinda a let down, I mean after sooo many years in development it just wasnt that great of a game and I was glad that I only paid 12 bucks for it to be honest.

le geek

11-29-2005, 09:05 AM

Pretty good list! Shocking as most lists are crap these days... LOL

Cheers,
Ben

Lord_Magus

11-29-2005, 09:56 AM

Actually, Eternal Darkness was the one game I was extremely happy to see on that list.

I feel it never gained the recognition it truly deserved... It has always been undermimed as a B-graded Resident Evil wannabe, but in reality I found that it surpassed Capcom's survival horror series in almost every aspect. The graphics may be just above average, and the gameplay mechanics don't always feel that fluid, but the deep, epic storyline and atmosphere are second to none. The game is geared towards adult gamers in every possible sense (probably moreso than any other game I've played so far), and is a stab in the heart to those who see Nintendo as a "kiddy-only" company.

Other than that, great list :) The only one I can think of that didn't quite appeal to me was Alien Hominid. I can understand the homebrew+underdog significance of the title, but I just found the gameplay to be a little empty and flat at times. Then again, I never was a fan of the Metal Slug series, so that's probably why :P

Ed Oscuro

11-29-2005, 11:43 AM

Bah, I see lists like this and roll my eyes. Hidden, huh? How can a first-party Sony title be "hidden?"

Also, there's Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is missing. For shame!

hydr0x

11-29-2005, 12:34 PM

Julio III

11-29-2005, 09:53 PM

Despite me only having a Dreamcast, I own 3 of those which is suprising (Rez, Fahrenheit (PC), Ikaruga(in the mail as I type). Of the others I am only interested in Ico and Killer 7. I am aware of the titles on the list but I guess as someone who these "hidden gems"

PapaStu

11-29-2005, 11:22 PM

Ive already got everything but 10a/b and #1. I asked for both 10's for xmas and will now hunt down Psychonauts. I really liked the list.

Theres always more that can be added on, but for a simple top 10 this one was pretty on the money.

Ed Oscuro

11-29-2005, 11:59 PM

Bah, I see lists like this and roll my eyes. Hidden, huh? How can a first-party Sony title be "hidden?"

Also, there's Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is missing. For shame!

how can an Oddworld title be "hidden?" :roll:
How often do people talk about it?

Do you know how it sold compared to Psychonauts? (I'm going to guess something in the range of 1 to 20...)

In my opinion, it easily holds its own against most of the games on that list, and probably beats a few - but it truly seems to be forgotten.

qbertandernie

11-30-2005, 12:04 AM

liked the list and have 8 out of 11 of those games...

liked psychonauts, but didnt think it was all too new and exciting...then it glitched in the stage/play level, and wont play any voices anymore, though background sounds come through great! no subtitles = no more playing. :(

if i ever decide to buy an xbox and play it, strangers wrath is on my short list of games to check out...from these statements sounds like thats a good thing.

squidblatt

11-30-2005, 07:26 AM

Maybe those titles aren't hidden when it comes to DP members, but they continue to be overlooked by most people. I don't think that the article is meant to draw its audience's attention to these titles so much as it is to rank the best games that got ignored in general. There aren't many superb titles that Joystiq's readers are likely to have missed, so I think it's more of a homage than a buying guide.

I would've also put Stranger's Wrath on there. Probably instead of Alien Hominid. AH is neat as one of the only (if not THE only) original non-handheld 2D run 'n gun worth mentioning this gen, but I'd call it number eleven on this list.

Tanis178

11-30-2005, 07:37 AM

if i was gonna throw in number 11 it would be shining force neo, game really hooked me, that or spartan total warrior

Daltone

11-30-2005, 08:41 AM

Actually, Eternal Darkness was the one game I was extremely happy to see on that list.

I feel it never gained the recognition it truly deserved... It has always been undermimed as a B-graded Resident Evil wannabe, but in reality I found that it surpassed Capcom's survival horror series in almost every aspect. The graphics may be just above average, and the gameplay mechanics don't always feel that fluid, but the deep, epic storyline and atmosphere are second to none. The game is geared towards adult gamers in every possible sense (probably moreso than any other game I've played so far), and is a stab in the heart to those who see Nintendo as a "kiddy-only" company.

Eternal Darkness was the only game I felt didn't deserve a place on the list simply because of the clunky play mechanics spoiling it for me.

Past that, yep, good list.

jcheatle

11-30-2005, 06:54 PM

Interesting list, I have to admit to not hearing of a couple of them... just not as up on the current games I guess. I picked up Eternal Darkness when I first got my Gamecube back in 2002, I think it was. I remember thinking it was great and playing through it thrice right away since I only had that and that year's NCAA football, though it's sat on the shelf ever since.

But, like others, they went on my to-buy list and wouldn't you know I stopped by EB tonight and picked up a few at the buy 2, get 1 sale. I'd been wanting to get Ikaruga for a while, so I picked up that, Ico and Indigo Prophecy. Now I know what I'll be doing over winter break.

PDorr3

11-30-2005, 08:38 PM

Glad to see ICO and beyond good and evil got a high spot. BG&E deserves every right to hold the #2 position. I also need to get ahold of a copy of psychonaughts myself.

Sniderman

11-30-2005, 09:00 PM

Interestingly, I came here to post Gamepro's "Ten Underappreciated Gems." Might as well do it here, as it seems to be basically a similar list:

1. Ico (PS2)
2. Poy Poy (PSX)
3. Beyond Good & Evil (PS2)
4. Incredible Crisis (PSX)
5 Katamari Damacy (PS2)
6 Adv. of Cookie and Cream (PS2)
7. Mad Maestro (PS2)
8. T2: Judgement Day
9. Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast)
10. Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES)

Let's ignore the fact that the list is pretty Sony-centric. Let's also ignore the fact that several of these were released for more than one platform. I'd have to agree with several of them as being underappreciated. BG&E, Incred. Crisis, and Typing fo the Dead to be sure. But Katamari? Sorry, an "underappreciated game" does NOT get a sequel. :roll: And T2 is underappreciated? Hell, that arcade game was released for virtually every system I can think of - including the Game Boy! "Underappreciated game" does NOT get released across a shitload of different platforms. :roll:

-hellvin-

11-30-2005, 09:15 PM

That's a really good list.

I love the games mentioned on there such as Rez, Eternal Darkness and ICO. ICO is just amazing, I throughly enjoyed my playthrough of it recently. The ones that I haven't played on there that I REALLY want to check out are:

Gamecube - Beyond Good & Evil
Gamecube - Killer 7
Xbox - Psychonauts
Xbox - Stubbs the Zombie

Beyond Good & Evil I've heard nothing but good things about, and most people have said the GC version is the best. Killer 7 looks awesome and I'm probably gonna pick that one up this Xmas. Psychonauts I want to play just simply because Tim Schafer is involved and I worship his Lucasarts adventure games. Stubbs hasn't seemed to have sold well AT ALL at my Best Buy, but all reviews I've read said it's actually an excellent game.