Mine is the Army Men series. Objectively mediocre games at best but the concept of toy soldiers fighting over our yards and rooms has always been cool to me
Not a series but the Saboteur is an awesome AC/GTA clone set during WW2 that I never see anyone talk about
Edit: special mention for Klonoa 2. My dad picked it up for me when I was a kid and I recently replayed it. It’s a pretty challenging 3D platformer with a story that will draw tears
Is Klonoa not liked. I’ve recently been playing this on Gameboy Advance and PS1 and they’ve been great
I’ve never heard anyone talking about Klonoa. Idk if it just ever took off outside of Japan but out of everyone I know no one else has played it
It just recently got a well received and covered remaster/remake thing.
Dragon Age 2. Lot’s of people think it’s the weakest game in the Dragon Age series and there is a lot to not like: dungeons and outdoor areas are largely the same recycled maps with different layouts, story was a bit lackluster compared to the previous title, party controls were a step down from Dragon Age Origins. I still enjoy it for the party dynamics and the main character dialogue wheel had more varied option that didn’t along with previous Bioware titles that had the good, neutral, and evil/jerk responses.
I’m a huge Dragon Age fan, and 2 is my absolute favorite. It gets a lot of (perfectly valid) criticism, but the ‘found family’ themes really resonated with me. And I love how it focuses on the people in this one city instead of having a big, save-the-entire-world narrative like most RPGs. It felt so personal.
Plus, snarky Hawke is one of the most fun protagonists I’ve ever played in a game. It really doesn’t deserve the bad reputation that it got.
DA1 and 2 Are absolutely my favorites of the series, I could barely make it through inquisition.
The most unpopular/niche game series I’ve really liked is the Princess Maker series. Japanese games which only received official English translations recently, niche genre (life raising sim), some silly fanservicey elements… but it reminded me of playing with dolls when I was younger, and in some ways the Sims series also.
Another series I liked which is much more well known but still has a small presence in the gaming consciousness is Star Fox. Character cameos in the Super Smash Bros series don’t count.
Daaaaaamn, I found a copy of Princess Maker 2 on the internet all the way back in 2002 or so, only years later I found out about the original translation and failed attempt to release it in the USA. I personally love PM2 and should play 3 sometime properly.
The Princess Maker series are now officially available on Steam! Unfortunately the translation quality is quite poor and the unofficial DOS copy of 2 is much better in that regard, but it’s nice to have access to multiple entries in the series now.
they also cut some content which was against steam rules. (underage nudity and such)
Hell yeah, the Army Men games are so dope. Terribly clunky, combat leaves much to be desired, mediocre map layouts but goddamn do I still find them fun. Specifically Sarge’s Heroes, would love a switch port.
Good grief! Memory of struggling with the difficulty back in the day. Amd the shattering when you finally unleased the “power” of the auto rifle.
I played a toooon of Sarge’s Heroes 2 on PS2. My next favourites are RTS and PS1 Air Attack
Air Attack rips 🤙
Maybe not an unpopular game, but my unpopular game opinion is that I prefer Fallout 3 to Fallout New Vegas. Both are fantastic games, but I prefer the more bleak and desolate Capital Wasteland to the more lived in Mojave Wasteland. Plus I kinda liked the karma system of fo3.
I like both, but Fallout 3 is my favourite as well. I really enjoyed the aesthetic, the music, everything. It was my first game and got me obsessed with the universe.
They have such different atmospheres you can enjoy both the same. I really had fun roaming around the sewers and ruins of DC in 3, while the more pure RPG aspects of New Vegas are great in 3D.
Removed by mod
Dang is it really not popular? That game was a large part of my childhood. It was also the best fable game
I thought it was decent but fable: the lost chapters was the game for me. I loved the hell out of that game.
chicken chaser!
NGL I loved 2 and 3 and they accounted for massive parts of my childhood gaming
I was genuinely unaware for a long time that P.N. 03 on the Gamecube was pretty strongly disliked, and now seemingly forgotten.
I love everything about this damn game - the ridiculous “inside a macbook” looking aesthetic, the Drum n Bass-esque soundtrack, the fact that it’s a game based on getting a high score (which is probably the one game mechanic I miss the most in a lot of more modern games), what more could you want?!
Creeper World. It’s like an RTS/TD type game that uses fluid dynamics that is always fun to go back to. The campaign writing and UI are just terrible but the gameplay is great and there are plenty of good community made maps to try.
This game series is the best. Somebody suggested the 3rd one to me when I was looking for a game which simulated the feeling of moving across the map with a seige tank line in StarCraft. It was perfect. The move th 3d in the 4th one worked very well too. Excited for the wide scrolling looking one they have coming out next too
Oh god the music loops forever and gets stuck in your brain. I haven’t played the 4th game in a couple of years and the score is still regularly stuck in my head.
Their space version of the game, Particle Fleet Emergence, is my most played game in my Steam library.
I wish more people knew about these games!
Is Particle Fleet similar? I love the Creeper World games but I was always hesitant to drop the cash for Particle Fleet because I just wasn’t sure.
Azure Dreams. A PS1 Konami game that mixes elements of RPGs, roguelikes, dating sims, and creature collectors.
I’ve never known anyone else IRL who’s heard of it, but it’s always been at the top of my favorite games list.
I have so many fond memories of the game, but I keep forgetting the name. Thank you for the reminder, maybe this time I’ll remember to try and emulate it.
Glad I could help jog your memory!
If you’re looking for a modern (only in the sense that it released in the past decade) game heavily inspired by Azure Dreams, check out Dungeon Dreams on Steam. It’s an RPG Maker love letter to Azure Dreams.
Heyy, very cool! Thanks for the recommendation! I gotta keep this one in mind, after I get through Fear&Hunger. It’s pretty brutal, but god I love the pixel art.
i feel like there are two ways to interpret this question. some games are unpopular because they’re widely known, but considered to be not good, but others are merely niche games that never got widespread recognition.
for the former, Mad Max (2015) got mixed reviews and seems to have been generally regarded as MEDIOCRE, but i still keep coming back to it every so often. for the latter, I wanna plug an old PS2 game called Steambot Chronicles, that has never gotten the recognition it deserves. Its a steampunk mech sandbox rpg, and is legit fantastic, but my partner is the only other person i’ve met that has even heard of it.
I’ve heard of it! I just started my latest playthrough, and I was wondering if it ever got any love on Lemmy.
Dynasty Warriors, They are my “Dumb fun” game. I usually just turn off my brain and “grind” even though I usually call out every game for grinding or unnecessary combat.
But something about that series makes me pick up every one and waste tens of hours just killing the same-ish soldiers over and over.
Lu Bu has entered the battlefield!
Same here. And if they come out with another one I’ll grab it. Although I didn’t play 9 because of bad reviews.
But I did recently replay DW8 Empires yet again. Love it!
I picked up a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to read finally.
As someone who invested an embarrassing amount of time into each mainline game since 3, 9 was awful. I think there may have been a decent (musou) game under there, but even several years and patches later it’s rough. The battlefields are empty. The traversal is buggy. The upgrade system is grindy in the least fun way. I don’t want to mine metal in a DW game…
The best musou games in the last 5-10 years have been spinoffs like Hyrule and Fire Emblem. I don’t have much faith in Koei Tecmo releasing a DW game that captures the essence of 3-5 in a modern way.
I recently started 9… and it’s… Yeah It deserved most of the somewhat negative reviews, but it’s still a DW game. I honestly think they should have called it something like Empires. As an open world game it’s interesting and unique but it is a little too open for “DW”. IT feels like a half step in the wrong direction but if they continued on and made “Dynasty Warriors 10 World” with that system and improved it, it could be something pretty unique. Just not as the main line series.
If you haven’t read Romance of the Three Kingdoms you’re in for a treat, I really enjoyed those books quite a bit, especially after being such a fan of the series. Getting more of the back story is great, and the characters are way more interesting.
Gallop Racer (psx)
It’s about racing and breeding horses.
“Newer” titles of the series (ps2) also had the element of raising/training the horses.
The collab with G1 Jockey on the PS3 also had those obstacle course racing included.
My dad loved betting on horses (he got it from his father), and loved the game.
It was simple game of racing horses with some fine details mixed in (when to gallop, correct positioning and timing, and etc.)
The best thing about the series is that the list of horses are already laid out, so you know which ones are the strong ones in a particular course except for the secret horses that you only get through winning particular races in a particular order throughout the horse’s career.
The endgame though is through breeding the horses, which is another element of euphoria when winning the genetic lottery.
Sometimes when I miss it, I just play it on my phone (through an emulator) and it’s always been a fun experience.
Shepherd’s Crossing 2, for the DS. I’ve put a truly ridiculous number of hours into it over the years, and keep coming back.
It’s not popular in the farm sims because a key part is butchering your meat animals so you can feed your dogs.
New Super Mario Bros U. Many people may hate it for being the same as the others NSMB games but it was the first Mario game I played and I very much enjoyed it. I revisit it to collect all the star coins.
The New Super Mario Bros. series is far from the first Mario games I played seeing as I was born in the 80’s - but damnit they are all among my favorites. File this in the category of “I had no idea people didn’t love these as much as I do” up until only a handful of years ago when I started spending more time on online video game communities.
I’ll argue that New Super Mario Bros. wii is my favorite of the bunch, but U is also wonderful!
I also think the wii version was better than the switch version but they’re both awesome games. I also had no idea people didn’t like NSMB for switch until the announcement trailer for Wonder dropped. But for someone who’s first Mario game was Super Mario Bros 3, that whole series/style of gameplay will forever be what Mario is to me.
Aranock-Online; Still available, but nothing like its earlier days, predictably.
