9 Seriously Under-Appreciated Video Games
Which games deserve more love?
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00:00 With the gaming industry bigger than ever kicking out multi-million dollar projects
00:03 left and right, it's hard keeping up with every last thing you should play.
00:07 On the flip side, though, you've got more options than ever - more games that have associated
00:11 fanbases or passionate followings screaming that a certain title didn't get its due.
00:15 The more time passes, the more the collective spotlight moves on, and the more that recommendation
00:19 feels essential because that wider set of people just don't know what they're missing.
00:24 I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 9 Seriously Underappreciated Video Games.
00:29 Interestingly, the second season of Batman was really Telltale Games' swansong.
00:36 The Walking Dead saw two episodes released before the studio closed, and the rest went
00:40 off in a handful of other directions.
00:42 Batman was that studio's final game from the original creative run, and what a way
00:47 to go.
00:48 Season one of Telltale's Batman was genuinely phenomenal, putting you in the shoes of Batman
00:52 and Bruce Wayne in a way that no other work of fiction has ever attempted.
00:55 It made for a fascinating dynamic, as you knew a potential boardroom decision as Bruce
01:00 could mess with Batman's duties and vice versa.
01:03 Season two then continued that formula but improved on it.
01:05 Bruce was forced to go undercover and infiltrate a gang consisting of Bane, the Riddler, Mr.
01:10 Freeze, Harley Quinn and the Joker.
01:12 The story and choices tested how far you were willing to go to maintain your cover, whilst
01:17 also making you feel sympathy for the Joker - no small feat.
01:20 It was Telltale Games firing on all cylinders, at everything they always did better than
01:25 the competition.
01:26 The Enemy Within is a fantastic Batman/Bruce Wayne story that subverted expectations and
01:31 had you reeling at every decision that had to be made.
01:34 Troy Baker's Bruce/Bat combo is low-key and all-timer, and I think it'll only get
01:39 more appreciated as we move forward.
01:43 A sequel to Sony's breakout JRPG was never a sure thing, but Ni No Kuni II is a beautiful
01:49 RPG that does lack the heart of the original, whilst making up for it with better gameplay
01:53 and a more robust world.
01:55 If you never played the first Ni No Kuni, it was a mesmerising JRPG that tasked you
01:59 with collecting familiars, then battling, almost like Pokemon or Persona.
02:03 What really set Ni No Kuni apart, however, was its heart-wrenching story, told with Studio
02:07 Ghibli-style animated cutscenes that were just endlessly charming.
02:11 The sequel, then, features even better gameplay, a more interesting world, lots more familiars,
02:15 and a fun town-building mode.
02:17 Yes, it missed those Ghibli cutscenes and the touching story, but Ni No Kuni II remains
02:22 one of the most recommendable and gorgeous RPGs of the modern day.
02:28 Graphics will never trump gameplay entirely, but if we're making a pie chart of reasons
02:33 to play Grease, it's definitely 80% that godlike art direction.
02:37 An absolutely wondrous painterly style, backed by an impactful story told entirely through
02:42 visuals, gameplay borrows small parts of a Metroidvania structure, including light platforming
02:47 and various abilities you'll unlock over time.
02:49 Speaking of over time, this initially launched on Switch and PC, though 2019 saw one hell
02:54 of an upscale over on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.
02:58 With the game now running at 4K with locked FPS frame rates also available on PS5, if
03:04 you want a literal feast for your eyes that's a joy to play through and explore, Grease
03:08 is that game.
03:13 Languishing for a couple of years after launch, 2018 was the breakout year for virtual reality.
03:17 In particular, it was a banner year for PlayStation VR, which saw incredible games like Astro
03:22 Bot Rescue Mission and Moss.
03:24 It was also the year we got the best console VR shooter so far, Firewall Zero Hour.
03:29 Others had attempted to make FPS games in VR, such as Bravo Team, but Firewall was the
03:34 first on PlayStation that made you feel like you were really in the firefight.
03:37 Gritty, tactile and addictive when it comes to making you actively think of different
03:41 ways to approach firefights, you'll physically take cover or play the angles game against
03:45 someone in hiding to just pop a headshot.
03:48 Solid graphics help immerse you in the action, and every time you see a bullet coming square
03:52 at your face, your heart will skip a beat.
03:55 Firewall was a huge stepping stone for PSVR when it comes to how these kinds of experiences
03:59 can really work and elevate the genre itself.
04:05 Somehow the forgotten Quantic Dream game, despite an insane budget, production values
04:09 and fact it has a very dedicated fanbase, Detroit Become Human is a story told from
04:14 multiple perspectives you need to experience yourself.
04:17 Detroit circa 2038 is a city revitalized by the advent of androids as human helpers.
04:22 Think iRobot but much more lifelike.
04:24 Three androids, Kara, Marcus and Connor, find themselves intrinsically linked in a world
04:28 that is on the brink of a revolution.
04:30 It's a story that works surprisingly well once you have to make decisions as one character
04:34 that affects the other, even if the whole thing is insanely heavy-handed when it comes
04:38 to drawing on racial subject matter across the board.
04:41 The elephant in the room is obviously that Detroit and David Cage's writing play too
04:45 fast and loose with incredibly sensitive topics, not to mention Cage's reputation plummeting
04:50 in recent years alongside a string of ugly accusations.
04:53 It'll be on each player whether or not they're comfortable separating these elements from
04:57 the game itself, as in the latter's case tracking a collective playerbase's choices
05:01 in this context and seeing which branching story paths you miss or committed to can be
05:05 very satisfying.
05:09 Vampire is set in 19th Century England, and puts you in the shoes of Dr Jonathan Reed,
05:14 who's just contracted vampirism.
05:16 You then play the game struggling with the need to feast versus the morality of killing
05:19 your patience for sustenance and some fancier unlockables.
05:23 As you can imagine with this coming from the minds of Life is Strange and Remember Me,
05:27 Vampire is more about storytelling and worldbuilding than it is gameplay.
05:30 This dark and twisting story is reflected in the gloomy and claustrophobic streets of
05:34 London, which makes for a refreshing tale in a world overflowing with sequels and safe
05:39 bets.
05:40 Vampire has atmosphere in abundance, and what it lacks in polish and occasionally repetitive
05:44 combat, it more than makes up for with style, uniqueness and supremely well-written characters.
05:50 3.
05:51 Guardians of the Galaxy
05:52 The best Marvel game that isn't insomniac Spider-Man titles but deserves to be up there
05:57 with them, Guardians of the Galaxy suffered a terrible initial gameplay demo at E3, and
06:02 then a completely flat marketing rollout that didn't accentuate its positives whatsoever.
06:07 What Square Enix appeared to show off was a thrown-together cash grab almost feeling
06:10 like Avengers DLC being sold for full price.
06:13 What Guardians actually is though is an incredibly well-written character piece from some key
06:17 minds behind Deus Ex.
06:19 Optional side missions and conversations are on the level of Mass Effect, and the overall
06:23 story here gets incredibly emotional and unique in tackling themes of fatherhood, and what
06:28 it even feels like to know a group of people have your back no matter what.
06:31 Yes, combat gets repetitive, but it's serviceable enough, and nowhere near the majority of what
06:36 you're doing.
06:37 This is a game that prioritises its characters, fun soundtrack, neat dialogue options and
06:41 above all, that specific Guardians tone.
06:44 Its clear creative director Jean-Francois Dugas got the source material and knew exactly
06:48 how to elevate it.
06:49 Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy is the best Guardians of the Galaxy thing
06:53 we've had so far.
06:55 2.
06:56 Florence
06:57 Florence tells the most realistic tale of a relationship ever seen in video games.
07:01 The ups, the downs, the joy, the melancholy - it's incredibly moving, but it was initially
07:06 exclusive to mobile, and that meant flying completely under most people's radars.
07:10 Thankfully, it's now on Switch, and this touching story focuses on Florence falling
07:14 for someone and the days and weeks that follow.
07:16 You'll go from start to finish in around 40 minutes, with Kevin Penkin's gorgeously
07:20 carefree occasionally sad soundtrack carrying you through.
07:24 Made to be a drop-in short story of a video game centred on dating in a city, there isn't
07:28 much in the way of gameplay, but every mechanic serves to make playable the various mindsets
07:33 and realities of a relationship where some things fit and others don't.
07:37 Making the mundane interesting and nailing a tight autistic vision, Florence joins the
07:41 likes of unpacking and the artful escape as brilliant indie gems that really stick with
07:45 you.
07:46 1.
07:47 A Way Out
07:48 It took it takes two to really catapult Joseph Fares into the limelight, and that was after
07:53 Critical Darling Brothers A Tale of Two Sons initially turned heads.
07:56 However, there is a release in the middle that far less people seem to care about.
08:00 A Way Out then pits you and a friend, be it local or online, as two prison inmates who
08:04 band together to try and escape.
08:06 The crux is that the whole game takes place in split screen, with each player performing
08:11 unique actions or making decisions about how to approach situations, affecting the other
08:15 in real time.
08:16 As would become more obvious across It Takes Two, Joseph Fares has endless ideas for dual
08:21 agency in an interactive space, and here you'll do everything from stealth sections to overshoulder
08:26 shooting, car escape chases to mini-games like playing Connect Four.
08:29 Honestly, it's just awesome.
08:31 With a far, far tighter runtime and personally a more enjoyable story than It Takes Two,
08:36 A Way Out is more than recommendable if you like what Fares brings to the gaming table.
08:41 And those are just a handful of totally underappreciated video games.
08:45 Let me know your favourites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture
08:48 Gaming Podcast.
08:49 For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, and I'll catch you soon.
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