Underrated Current Generation Games

[dsheinem]

dsheinem, were you able to get on board with DMC4 or no?

I thought it was on par with DMC2. There was WAY too much backtracking, the difficulty was relatively low, and the story was less interesting than the stronger entries in the series.

[FiftyDollarCurse]

That game was 110% an on rails experience, nothing but a chain reaction of triggered events and such,

Ninja Gaiden, the DMC series, Onimusha series[...] These games don't hold your hand, there's so much more depth to weapons/items, way more combo's and intricate skill based gameplay that makes ME feel like a badass instead of just playing Simon Says with QTE events.

I'd say you pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as why I like the God of War series and why they've been so massively popular. It's cool if you like intricacies and pretension from your action games, it isn't like God of War somehow makes those games unavailable to you. Some of us are happy to tear our enemies limb from limb, crush their skulls, play goofy sex-themed mini-games and gawk at the pretty graphics without having to learn the game for 5 hours, or worse, play it for 25 hours only to give up because it's too damn hard.

Also, Rygar's bosses are awesome, and it's influence on God of War is obvious. But it sucks pretty hard. That might be why nobody talks about it.

[Xeogred]

I think I've told brunoafh this, it's really funked up, but DMC4 is the only one I've beaten. ...

Played a good chunk of the 1st and 3rd games though, never touched 2. But I'll probably have to find that trilogy pack myself sometime and really go through these games.

I'll easily agree about the backtracking in 4 though, that was way too much, but somehow... damn that game kept me VERY busy for quite awhile. I ran through it on all the difficulties (except Hell & Hell I think, or whichever the one was where you die in one hit and enemies don't). So I replayed the game a ton, mastered most of it, and conquered that insane tower arena thing with Dante (so much more fun to play as than Nero, haha).

Angelo Credo in Dante Must Die was one of the most satisfying things ever to conquer, holy shit that boss... my kind of fights!


EDIT: @FiftyDollarCurse: Yes, I can agree the PS2 Rygar game wasn't anything too great, the influences were totally there though. But yeah.

[Ack]

I suppose I should say that my distaste for God of War shouldn't be seen as a criticism for the entire series, as I've only ever played the first. In Devil May Cry's case, I enjoyed the first one quite a bit back when I played through it a decade ago. But I haven't actually played any more of the games in that series either. I have Devil May Cry 2, but I just can't seem to work up the gumption to sit down with it.

[brunoafh]

Devil May Cry 2 is actually a totally solid game in my opinion. Most of the criticism stems from the fact that the first game set the bar impossibly high and that second game did not even come close to meeting it. Another low point is that the boss designs are kind of... awful. When DMC 2 first came out I kind of hated it, but a few years ago I gave it an honest shot and felt it was a definitely an enjoyable game. It even has some unique features not included in any of the other games. Great OST too.

DMC 3 is on a completely different level though, it's likely the best 3D action game ever made. I can't think of anything that even comes close other than Otogi 2.

[dsheinem]

Devil May Cry 2 is actually a totally solid game in my opinion. Most of the criticism stems from the fact that the first game set the bar impossibly high and that second game did not even come close to meeting it. When DMC 2 first came out I kind of hated it, but a few years ago I gave it an honest shot and felt it was a definitely an enjoyable game. It even has some unique features not included in any of the other games. Great OST too.

DMC 3 is on a completely different level though, it's likely the best 3D action game ever made.

Agreed. DMC2 is not bad, it is just not as good as the awesome # 1. That's a very apt observation about DMC3.

I can't think of anything that even comes close other than Otogi 2.

I have never played this...how are they in any way comparable?

[brunoafh]

I have never played this...how are they in any way comparable?

Well, they aren't all that similar really. It doesn't heavily rely on skill and extreme difficulty (but it's definitely challenging), and it's not super fast paced like DMC. It's hard to describe the draw of the game, it's just one of those games you have to experience to see why it's so awesome. The coolest thing without a doubt is the atmosphere that the game creates. If you're into Japanese oriented games then Otogi 2 is an absolute must play. Another big thing is that there are 6 playable characters and a fair amount of customization and upgrading to do.

This video should give you a good idea of what the game is like:

[Xeogred]

Gonna tag along with brunoafh here and highly recommend Ninja Blade. While I haven't played the Otogi games (been dying to check them out though), Ninja Blade is also by From Software and I hear most of the same staff worked on these games. In my honest opinion I found Ninja Gaiden 2 to be quite a let down compared to the first game, but at the time I checked out Ninja Blade shortly after and had a lot more fun with it. Never finished it, but I plan to pick it up again someday.

It's also the one game I've played where I LOVE the QTE's, because they're so over the top. Swinging an enormous bulldozer wrecking ball into a giant spider, surfing on rockets directing them back at a helicopter, driving motorcycles on the side of walls, etc, it's as hilarious and awesome as it sounds. The cutscenes were amazing. Definitely one of the best action games I've played this gen that plays like most action games of the last gen.

[Ack]

What about the game Bujingai? Did anybody here play that? I remember being interested in it when it came out, but I never picked it up.

[J T]

What about the game Bujingai? Did anybody here play that? I remember being interested in it when it came out, but I never picked it up.

It's on my shrinking list of PS2 games I still need to buy. It looks like my kind of game from the videos I have seen online.