What is an unpopular game/series you enjoy anyway?
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
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.
Mine is Alpha Protocol. While it has some minor cult status its really Obsidians least known modern title.
Its clunky and ugly, but one of the best espionage RPGs with tons of meaningful choices and really unbalanced combat (looking at you pistol head shot god). I would kill for a sequel.
I loved the timed dialogue system in it, I can understand why people would hate that, but I think it really put the pressure on a game mechanic that's usually pretty stale.
I really enjoyed the game and I think it's one serious weakness was the RPG dice role combat being applied to a skill based combat system, if you can target with the mouse/controller you shouldn't have to worry about hitting a target and damage rolls as much as they did.
I followed a guide to use pistols and it was excellent.
Guild Wars 1. Unlike other MMOs it is entirely separately instances in combat, the level cap was very low, it had a focus on narrative storytelling, and a max parysizr of up to 8(depending on area of the game). It also came from the era where subscriptions were the model for MMOs and it didn't require (or even have) subs. You just bought the game and you got to play. There were multiple campaigns (basically separategames worlds with different proffestions and skills) that you could cross between with any of your characters assuming you owned that campaign. Very different game from gw2.
Played GW1 when it first came out and it was a rush. You actually depended on each other to win campaigns and sometimes get the bonus. MMOs were still young then so botters were practically non existent. I loved the story. Felt like I was playing a DND campaign with all the cutscenes!
I played Guild Wars starting from the beta and loved it. I was super excited for the sequel - even bought the collector's edition - but didn't end up playing it that much.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I second creeper World. awful title for a game, but I've played the shit out of all of them. I got hooked on the old Kongregate flash version of the original.
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 played the hell out of this video game called Axis and Allies that I found for like $5 in cheap games section of Office Max around 2008. I've never heard anyone talk about it or share my experience. I'm sure it wouldn't hold up if I played it today but back in '08 I was a pro.
It was actually a board first, and there have been a number of electronic versions throughout the years. I had one such adaptation on CD growing up in the late 90s, but I'm not sure it would be the same one you played.
I'm late to this party, but you might appreciate the open source Axis and Allies engine called TripleA.
My step-dad was a big WWII history buff, and he had the pc version of Axis and Allies installed on the family computer! Loved it and occasionally fire up TripleA for nostalgia.
Not unpopular back in the day but it sure is now -- Battlefield 1943. I play on xbox all the time, the servers are still online and you can still find full lobbies. I've been playing it on and off for a decade. Its just chaotic low-stress fun.
Amazing that the servers are still online. I just checked and the game is included with Gamepass as well. Maybe I’ll try it out again some time, those maps where great.
I forget which achievement it was but it was bugged keeping me from getting all of them. Curse you 1943! Still, an amazing re-visiting of the OG map/game. ❤️
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.
Does Diablo 3 count? It got panned at launch and I do understand why. The story was predictable and dumb. Making the whole game revolve around a damn auction house made it unsatisfying. But man, the game itself played so well - I loved smashing my way through a dungeon as fast as I could wiping whole screens at a time. And they did do "loot 2.0" with the expansion, which killed the auction house and made the gear you picked up actually worthwhile sometimes.
Not sure how unpopular it is, but "The Settlers 2: 10th Anniversary" is a great remaster of a game which I think is a bit forgotten now. It's still a really fun and charming citybuilder with unique mechanics.
I don't think it's unpopular as in "people don't like it". I get the impression that very few people in the US have ever heard of this series, which is a shame.
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 quit that game years ago for my mental health. I was obsessed with it, but I remember spending over an hour every day trying to get x wins to get the daily chest. I miss playing it sometimes, but ultimately I think it's bad for me lol
I feel like I'm guilty of this within the Borderlands series -- I love all the things about 2 that OG fans seemed to dislike, namely Anthony Burch's writing and the weapons spread, and I actually think 3 is pretty respectable as a shooter; it's a lot of fun to play, it's just a weak sequel to 2. The things that fans seem to love about The Pre-Sequel (the ice and the butt slams and the new player characters) left me cold, and I think the first game pales in comparison to the second.
That's funny, because I love 1 and Pre-Sequel the most in the entire series. 2 just feels so dated, and I can't stand listening to the dialogue anymore, but Pre-Sequel has that something about it that I loved about 1.
Borderlands 2 is an absolute masterpiece. The humor was adorably cheesy, the characters were much more interesting that OG and Pre-Sequel imo (totally in love with zer0).
I should probably install it and find some friends to play with.
While they sell millions, typical „Ubisoft formula“ games are critically unpopular because they‘re dumbed down treasure hunts, and I enjoy them (in moderation) exactly because of that. Sometimes I just wanna turn my brain off and walk to map marker #312 while taking in the sights.
Red Dead Online has a ~5 jobs that you can maintain or choose to ignore.
One of the jobs is Collecting. All you do is wander the countryside hunting for treasures, then return to the collector and sell them. That's the entire job. But it was my girlfriend's favorite because you just stare at the scenery as you wander the map
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.
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.
My whole family has put in way too many hours, it's the only game where we actually are competitive against each other. Even my dad, who plays 0 other video games likes to play with us. I wouldn't say it's unpopular, just irrelevant today for most people, but not for us...
For a long time, we each had some PS2s to play, but not I emulate on the steam deck and and play even more than before. I've never had a game before where I actually try for high scores and practice.
My oldest brother is definitely the undisputed champion, but I can beat him when my favorite character, Moby, is maxed out, while his, Mac, is default level (which is the case and will remain the case on my steam deck)
Also, I still play Black Ops 1 zombies. I think they added more to the zombies in future games than I'm interested in. I own black ops 3 and hear that Shadows of Evil is amazing but every time I sit down to learn it, I just lose interest. Maybe there's extra friction because I'm usually playing solo.
These are both great games that are highly lauded, though. Unless I'm crazy, SSX tricky is/was incredibly popular and BO1 Zombies, specifically Kino, was also prolific.
Damn, I wish I had friends to play pls Zombies with 😭
Eternal Card Game - basically an online MTG clone. It's always been small, and the userbase has been gradually shrinking since it started. I still think it's a great game though.
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.
I'm with you on Starfox! I think there's a lot of missed potential to try new things with that style of game. So much so that I've been working on a game in my spare time with similar mechanics and action, but with a greater focus on giving players different ways to approach combat.
I heard retro studios was working on their own take on Starfox. Hopefully they'll revive that after Metroid Prime.
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.
The development of it made the game not live up to it's hype, but it was still a really playable ARPG.
I really enjoyed the control scheme too which used two joysticks for combat, instead of the buttons, the idea was to put less stress on the player over long gaming sessions and I think they got very close to that. It's a shame no other games followed that control scheme
I was obsessed with this game when it came out. Rented it from Gamefly for 360 and immediately fell in love with the twin stick combat. Had a good loot system too from what I remember. I really want to go back and play it again now.
I haven’t played in years, maybe over a decade at this point, but I used to play a shit ton of the absolutely terrible Anarchy Online. I never got very far, I never really understood much, but I liked playing it for some reason.
No, the Persona series didn't start with 3. There were three episodes before it (one 1, and two 2s 🤓 [did I mention the prototype, Shin Megami Tensei: If?]), and Revelations is the Americanized version of the very first Persona, with characters suddenly becoming hamburger-eaters in an American town, and at least one of them doing a reverse Michael Jackson.
Even for the elitists who spit on what the series has become under the direction of Katsura Hashino, Revelations isn't liked that much, thanks to the localization and the amputated Snow-Queen quest. Nevertheless, I enjoy this game partly for its peculiar 90s charm (dubious localization included; it was the style at the time), and partly because of the qualities that survived the ocean crossing, like the OST and that sweet, grindy hardcore gameplay.
It would probably have to be Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. Bad game, poor reviews, overall considered to be a flop, but I still had a ton of fun with it and played the heck out of it a few years back. It would be hard for me to recommend it honestly, but if you could get it for free or super cheap and you’re looking for a sniper game where you don’t have to think about a story (since it’s bad and doesn’t really make much sense), I’d say it doesn’t hurt to try. I had a lot of fun with it, so maybe you could have fun with it too. If my very mediocre review has somehow convinced you to try it, I do believe it’s currently on sale on steam for a couple bucks
Disc Space. A small 3v3 ultimate frisbee game built in the Unity engine. It's silly and not realistic at all. But had just right amount of learning curve with a high ceiling. Had a little player surge during covid and promptly died. It is what actually led me to playing Rocket League
I used to log in to armorgames.com to play shitty browser flash games occasionally. There was one "mmo" game called Rise of Mythos. It was a deck building collectible card game. I would play it for a few days then forget about it for 6 months. Over time I had a cool deck from years of occasionally logging in, never spent money on it though. Then one day I logged in and it was gone. I would have paid some money to keep it around.
Armor games was so great. I forgot what the games were called but I used to play one set in WW1 and it’s sequel set in WW2 all the time. There were 3 lanes and different troop types you could send in
Hunted: The Demon's Forge, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and Fear Effect: Sedna
I played the first two way after release on PS Now and the picked up the third on sale for $2. Sure, they have reputations that range from so-so to war crime but I think Hunted is a diamond in the rough and find ORC and Sedna to be the perfect games to play after another one is a huge disappointment.
A fantastic pair of games which died too quickly because everyone saw the power armor and thought it was going to be a standard run and gun Halo style game. When in fact it had a mechanic that required dropping shields with certain types of weapons before you could then use other types to penetrate the armor. It also had a power management mechanic allowing you to move faster or use other abilities if you had the power remaining to do so.
As a result all the Halo/COD bro's bounced off the game because the few of us who took the time to understand and master those mechanics would just absolute wreck their faces. This unfortunately also included many critics/reviewers. Which results in a whole lot of "this game sucks". In this case the bliss of ignorance killed both games.
I enjoyed them immensely if briefly. They died too soon.
I remember playing at least the first one back in the day. It was a solid shooter for sure. The problem now is that the video game market is so huge that unless you are providing a quality product which is being constantly updated people will move onto the next big thing.
Russian Fishing 4. I’m not an IRL angler whatsoever but I love games that lean hard into real gear and simulation (as much as possible in a video game).
Rf4 just has a good chunk of content and feels good. The other fishing games out there are a joke in comparison IMO.
It’s unpopular because of grinds and the fish spawning, but I chalk it up to real life …sometimes, the day isn’t yours right?
I’ll take it “unpopular” as in, literally dead and not “not liked”… but mine would be Obsidian Conflict. I have a 24/7 server that runs on my server just for the sake that once every few months a random player can join it.
I love all the community mods and spent sometime years ago scraping every map I found online for it.
"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.
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?!
Shadow Man. It was definitely shit, but I played it for so many hours. The mood and the scale of it was incredible, but the controls and gameplay were sorely lacking. Even so, I found it incredibly immersive.
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
I would say Rebel Galaxy and especially Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw, which reminds me of Wing Commander: Privateer for the "Good game with little recognition".
For the "Objectively bad but I still love it" type, Lichdom: Battlemage and Technomancer are deeply flawed but wonderfully fun gems that require you to ignore some pretty big problems to find your enjoyment in them. Same with DarkStar One and the Starpoint Gemini series.