Hidden Gems for Wii, PS3 and Xbox360?

[lendelin]

I know, the term 'hidden gem' is overused. The reason is that it is still used for games of systems which are 10 or more years old; but for these systems all the gems are hardly hidden anymore.

However, the last generation of systems have huge game libraries and I'm pretty sure all these games didn't experience the same scrutiny. I'm sure there must be shiny little games among them which are buried just underground and are hardly mentioned.

In the last six years I wasn't well informed about games. I was out of the country, and despite having in Germany a 360 and a PS3, I didn't play very often. Additionally, I bought almost exclusively games for the PS3 (no region lock) which means that I have to get a lot of games for the 360 and the Wii.

Looking at my gameroom, I'm in gaming mood again. I'm catching up. In the last couple of months I made must-have lists for some consoles. I have to update in particular my Wii-collection (!) and 360-collection, but also my PS3-library needs attention.

Especially the Wii-library is frightening. A lot of terrific games, but among the huge amount of shovelware there are certainly great games I've never heard of.

What are the hidden gems of this generation? Unusual games, great games and very good ones which are either under the radar already or were hardly noticed right after release?

[Gamevet]

I highly recommend Culdcept Saga for the 360. It's a board game that is played using cards. You collect different cards that you obtain from winning matches. There's also online play, but it's very unlikely you'll find any matches now.

[Tanooki]

Fragile into dreams and Zack and Wiki for Wii would be a good starting point as would both from namco the munchables and klonoa.

[Niku-Sama]

I'm not sure how hidden this one would be but I know it's not talked about a whole lot and that's any of the blaz blue games on ps3.

I always liked them allot.

Fortune street on the Wii is an acquired taste kinda falls into the same category as before with just not mentioned a whole lot

[celerystalker]

I agree big time with Culdcept Saga and Fortune Street. I pumped a ton of time into those. Some others (some better known than others):

Xbox 360:
Akai Katana
Raiden Fighters Aces
Death Smiles
Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
Eschatos
ESPGaluda II
Otomedius Excellent
Gal*Gun (also on PS3)
Battle Fantasia
Nier (also on PS3)
Terraria (also on PS3)
Wartech

PS3:
Dragon's Crown
Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara Chronicles
Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai
Lost in the Rain
Strider
Afrika
Folklore
Backbreaker (if you want something unique and non-NFL)
Catherine
Cross Edge
Hyperdimension Neptunia series (I think many prefer the Vita version)
Akiba's Trip
Aquapazza

Wii:
Rooms: The Main Building
Gunblade NY/LA Machineguns
Data East Arcade Classics
Heavenly Guardian (also on PS2)
Dokapon Kingdom (also on PS2)
Sakura Wars (also on PS2)

That's a start, at least.

[kupomogli]

What really consists of "hidden gem" after all? I'm including games that are either good/very good/great that everyone is sure to know of, but were ignored by the majority, sequel or otherwise.

For Wii.

Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Dungeon(okay, so I haven't played this and only watched a bit of it and read up on it before purchase, but I'm listing it anyways. From what I've seen, the game is a good roguelike and the dungeon crawling is pretty much identical to Chocobo Dungeon 2. Chocobo is now more limited because of the class system though. The feather system of Chocobo Dungeon 2 allowed for Chocobo to collect summon monsters, magic spell upgrades, and stat boosts. Spell books were found on the ground and were single items that could be stocked up to 99, allowing for Chocobo to cast spells. All that has been done away with and a class system has been added which give stat differences and allow Chocobo to use skills based on the class. Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Dungeon also includes the card game that was included in Chocobo Tales as well. From what I know about it, if you like roguelikes then this still seems to be a very good one.)
Dokapon Kingdom(also on PS2, Wii is the best version with wide screen and native 480p.)

PS3.

Armored Core 4
Armored Core For Answer
Atelier series
Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena(also on 360 and includes Escape From Butcher Bay)
Gundam Breaker(an amazing game that sort of plays like a mix between Diablo mixed with Devil May Cry.)
Siren the Blood Curse
Stranglehold(also on 360)
White Knight Chronicles 2(includes the first game, so no need to purchase both.)
Yakuza 3
Yakuza 4

Games that are well known but not well received for some reason or another.

Army of Two series(PS3 and 360. EA game. Amazing third person cover based shooter series but didn't sell well.)
Dante's Inferno(PS3 and 360. EA's attempt at making a successful franchise that ripped off the God of War gameplay while doing it much better, kind of like they did with Dead Space. Graphically it's worse, but everything else about it is far better than any God of War.)
Mirror's Edge(PS3 and 360. EA game. This one actually received a lot of recognition in past years about being a hidden gem and all, so much word of mouth and received so much praise for it's unique design after the fact that EA announced Mirror's Edge 2.)
Playstation All Stars(One of the best fighting games that mostly got ignored because by design and even graphically, it looks to be a smash bros clone.)
Saboteur(PS3 and 360. Another EA game, see a pattern? One of the best GTA clones. In terms of control and gameplay options, the game is better to not only than most games in the genre, but it's even got better third person shooting mechanics than some games that are designed as a third person shooter.)
Twisted Metal(Best game in the series imo and the most enjoyable multiplayer I've ever played, but didn't sell because it's no longer a well known franchise, it got trashed by developers, and because the online was completely broken. While there is barely any activity in the online community, some people can't even get on because of a glitch in the system caused by the developers. If you've ever made a custom paint job and it's no longer on your console, it will crash when you try to go online or to customize vehicle when on PSN because the server will see that you made a custom vehicle and search for it, but there's no way of getting the paint job any longer because the paint jobs were taken down from the servers. The only way to play this game online is play on an alternate PSN account.)
X Men Origins Wolverine(PS3 and 360 versions. This is fairly well known because of the name, but as a movie licensed game, this is a pretty good game that'd probably be overlooked because it's a movie licensed game.)

[Gamevet]

I thought that X-Men Origins Wolverine was pretty well known. I know at least a couple of friends that played it, as well as I.

[lendelin]

Thanks a lot, guys! Very interesting suggestions, and some of the games were indeed new to me. I looked them up and made notes.

Fortune Street is certainly interesting, but GunGal?? This game, an awkward anime rail-shooter in which you make girls like you by shooting them with a love gun? This is so weird, I have to have this game. After having 3 decades experience with games, you look for something unusual, sometimes quirky and weird as well.

The Munchables I overlooked, and since I loved Katamari I'll get this game for sure. I also second Culdcept Saga, Dokapon Kingdom, Klonoa, White Knight Chronicles (!!), all games I already have. I will also underline Mirror's Edge, a great game, an unusual game, and there will be for this generation a fantastic looking sequel which might have even better gameplay. Very promising.

From a gameplay standpoint there is one game I'll get for sure and which I didn't know. 'Lost in the Rain' looks and seems to play great, this might be my kind of game. Atmosphere, great and innovative gameplay moments seems like always the recipe to draw you in. It's high up on my hidden gems list for the PS3.

...and I didn't know that there is a Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Dungeon for the Wii. I added it immediately to my Wii-RPG-list.

Siren the Blood Curse I also added to the PS3-list. It is still surprising to me that a couple of survival horror games are among the most expensive games for the PS2, actually more expensive that most RPGs. Rule of Rose and Haunting Ground I got from a Gamestop and Amazon a long time ago cheap, however, another game on my list I wanted for a nice section of PS2 horror games I didn't get - the now expensive Kuon. 8 years ago it wasn't expensive, just hard to get.

Another heads up: not a hidden gem, but a very good underrated game is Boom Blox for the Wii. It is very cheap. Last week I got it at a Gamestop complete in great condition for $1.50! This is one of the chaepest games I've ever got. Pick it up now if you don't have it already.

[lendelin]

Maybe not a hidden gem (didn't actually play it) but on my list of weird games: "Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed" (PS3 exclusive) in anime style. Basically it's a beat em up with RPG elements (had it originally on my RPG list). You have to fight vampires, and one mechanic to do so is to undress them and drag them into the light.

There is also the chain-mechanic, but (so I read) the game might get repetitive but it certaiinly is unusual, weird and just plain awkward. Second positive aspect it has going for it is the environment: it plays in the Akihabara district in Tokio, the famous district for electronics and gaming with all the great stores, and the game supposedly pretty faithfully recreates this part of town.

These two aspects make it worth to check the game out and to get it. Weird with a strong hardcore gaming background? Sounds to me that this game might be sought after in a couple of years. Rare in a couple of years? Who in the hell knows. Might be all over the place and very cheap, but certainly worth owning it and give it a try.

EDIT: sorry, I noticed too late that celerystalker already listed Akiba's Trip.

[lendelin]

I'm not sure if this gem is hidden anymore, but I heard already about it when I was in Germany, and last month I remembered it and got it from Great Brittain (It's only a Japanese and European release): SHORT PEACE: Ranko's Longest Day for the PS3.

It's a 2D-sidescrolling hack 'n slash, very fast paced like Sonic, great boss battles, fantastic gameplay which I enjoyed very much. It is short though, I was through it in 2 hours, but the two hours were very sweet. I have nothing against short games if they are great. And this one is.

I got it from Amazon for 10 bucks (can't remember if shipping was free). So it's easy to get and not expensive at all.

[kupomogli]

Akiba's Trip

If you're going to get this for the potential rarity, then sure, but if you're going to get it for the quality of the game, ignore the game like the plague. Akiba's Trip Undead and Undressed is a pos. As a fan of Yakuza and gameplay that looks similar to it, I purchased the game. The gameplay videos looked bad, but I just thought the people playing sucked like most people do, but that wasn't the case at all.

So if you've played Yakuza, start with that and just imaging being in Kamurocho. On Akiba's Trip though, after you get to the end of one block, there's long load times. It's not open like it is in Yakuza, so you'll constantly go from block to block having a lot of loading screens.

Okay so what about the combat, that's got to be pretty fun right? Wrong. Yakuza combat might be a bit stiff, but in comparison to Akiba's Trip, Yakuza may as well have the fluidity of Devil May Cry. There are several buttons on Akiba's Trip that have more than one action, the lock on button for instance, and instead of doing what you want the button to do, it often does the other action instead. The amount of jankyness of the combat is just ridiculous. If you've played anything of any reasonably high quality, it's improbable that you'll get any enjoyment out of the combat whatsoever.

[celerystalker]

I personally had a lot of fun with Akiba's Trip. The atmosphere of Akihabara as it is presented, the goofiness of the story and premise, and the heavy anime fan references were all fun for me. I wasn't looking for an experience like Yakuza or any other open world game, really... I just wanted to play something fun and silly, and I got that out of it. It's not particularly deep, but the fact that I got a game over during the opening cutscene by choosing dialogue choices that I found funny made me happy, and there was a lot more fun to be had for me.

[Niku-Sama]

I forgot I even owned Akiba's.... I've been having a shitty time, maybe i'll pop it in and finish it

[Haoie]

Yakuza 5 finally released last month after 3 years in limbo.