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In today's world of video games, the most popular titles have a tendency to dominate the shelves, forcing games that are equally awesome to the bargain bin. As such, games that should be enjoyed are rarely talked about, much to my chagrin.
This list is made to give you, the reader, a list of games that, in my opinion, should be at least tried by everyone, and you may not have ever considered touching.
Now mind you, I'm not listing games that are truly obscure, as even I haven't really delved into good titles of that caliber. Nor am I saying that all of these games are the epitome of gaming itself. Just titles that you may or may not have heard of, and should give a shot if you haven't. You may find them to be pretty fun, just like I did.
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10: RUN SABER (SNES)
When I was a little kid, I remember going over to my best friend's house, absolutely dying to play Super Mario World, or other similar games. Imagine my surprise to instead be introduced to a game called Run Saber, a side-scrolling co-op game in the vein of Strider or Ninja Gaiden with catchy music, and quite a bit of flash and flare.
Or at least, as far as my four year old self was concerned.
The game, featuring (at the time) crazy special moves, fun fast paced combat, and the ever-loved couch co-op became one of my favorites as a child, and even now, I'd be glad to slap it into the SNES, and, along with my little brother, take Allen (The Electric Saber) or Sheeva (The Ice Saber), and go to town against Kurtz, the rogue first saber.
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9: DEVIL KINGS (PS2)
Despite how much I enjoy the Dynasty Warriors series, it eventually got somewhat stale to me. As such, I needed an alternative. Enter Sengoku Basara, or, Devil Kings as it was re-christened stateside.
As far as I'm concerned, the game is Capcom's answer to Dynasty Warriors, and it does it's job well. Relatively large masses of enemies, cool environments, unreasonably cool fighting styles, large scale special moves, and a stylish take on Japanese history made Sengoku Basara cool. It's English version dropped the history part, and came up with a darker story based around an emperor who sold his soul to the devil, and must be taken out.
Obviously.
The addition of the "Priming" system (necessary for those awesome special moves), extra moves, and 'so bad it's good' voice acting, plus the previously stated features make Devil Kings a fun game to play on a rainy day.
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8: SOUL BLADE (PS)
Ah.
My first encounter with the tale of souls and swords eternally retold occurred when my father picked up this game on a spur of the moment decision when first buying our old PS1. I was initially suspicious of the game, figuring it couldn't be better than Tekken, and the only experience I had with weapon based fighting games was Bushido Blade; A good game, but not my style.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Soul Blade is an unreasonably awesome game.
Years later, I was further surprised to fins out that there were many people who had played Soul Calibur, and yet never touched the father of the series. I was amazed. Soul Blade was a masterpiece for it's time, what with the varied character list, the ever awesome Edge Master mode, the stellar soundtracks (yes, in the plural), and a story worth telling again and again: A demonic pair of swords are found by a dread pirate, and years later, the pirate slaughters an entire port town in Spain, and takes it for his own. Warriors from around the world know of the swords from different variations of legends, and all converge to fight it out for the right to wield them. Little do they know that the current host to the blades awaits their arrival, so he can feed their souls to the ever-hungry blades.
What's not to love!?
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7: CHAOS LEGION (PS2)
The first time I saw Chaos Legion, a friend of mine was trying out a demo for the game, and I thought it looked pretty cool, especially since I had just beaten Devil May Cry, and was looking for something to fill the void. I never gave it a second look however until about 2 years ago. Chaos Legion is a rather awesome game. The reason, hands down, being the game's namesake.
If the game was simply a hack and slash with the fighting style Sieg Wahrheit (the main character) uses, then it could easily be written off as just another okay action game. But the inclusion of the Chaos Legion allows for quite a bit of variation that makes the game awesome. here are 6 different regular legions and one ultimate legion to choose from of which you can equip two at a time, each with their own specialties, be they range, brute force, explosions, swordsmanship, or otherwise. To add to their usefulness, each legion can give Sieg an extra special ability without having to be equipped, be it making Sieg jump high, summoning a legion for a quick assist attack, or taking an attack for Sied to keep him alive. Each legion can be leveled up for added strength and such, and altogether, they make the game. The game also has a good soundtrack that keeps in feel with the game, and interesting gothic level designs. It's not very long, but it will keep you entertained to say the least.
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6: GUILTY GEAR ISUKA (PS2)
The black sheep of the Guilty Gear franchise, Isuka is great fun for one big reason. And that's the GG Boost mode. Almost like a Street Fighter 1/Streets of Rage hybrid revival, Boost mode takes the fighting game characters and system of the regular Guilty Gear games, and slaps them into a 2D co-op side-scrolling beat-em-up with great music, awesome levels, and challenge up the wazoo. Fighting the second stage's version of Robo-Ky in Co-Op mode is by far one of the hardest battles I've ever faced in a game like this.
It surprises me that despite how popular Guilty Gear is, this entry simply wasn't as well received. Anyone who enjoys games of the beat-em-up genre should give this game a spin.
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5: PHANTOM DUST (XBOX)
In the land of RPGs, turn based battle tends to be king. And even when that isn't the case, action RPGs tend to follow similar formulas and story styles at all times.
This is not the case with Phantom Dust.
A strange meld of Action RPG and card game, Phantom Dust is set in the somewhat distant future, where everything above ground is a wasteland due to a strange dust that swept the planet, and the survivors suffer from amnesia save for the lone common memory of an area known as "The Ruins."
In order to restore their memories, the underground based survivors who can channel the dust to use a variety of powers, known as Espers, travel the surface looking for the ruins in hopes of achieving their goal of curing their amnesia. You play as a nameless protagonist whom the Espers found in a capsule along with one other man. Finding you that you are an Esper yourself, you join the Espers in their search for the ruins in hopes of finding out just who and what you are.
The gameplay itself is cool in a way I found very innovative, building skills into a deck known as your "Arsenal", which you use to fight your numerous opponents on your missions to the surface. The environments are entirely destructible, and the raw amount of variation your Arsenal is capable of is stunning. Unlike a card game, or a turn based RPG however, you utilize this arsenal while running, jumping, dodging and generally acting as if playing an action game.
All of this, plus the soundtrack comprised of remixes of classical compositions, and the option for a custom soundtrack if you so choose make this game a solid gem that I would suggest to anyone willing to listen.
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4: LEGACY OF KAIN: DEFIANCE (PS2)
I truly could mention any game in the Legacy of Kain franchise here, but I chose Defiance, as it is my favorite, no contest.
The grim story of Nosgoth is reason enough to give the games a look, from Kain's start as a nobleman turned vampire out for revenge, to the story of his eldest vampiric child, Raziel, whom he seemingly betrayed and killed, to the revelations of their Elder Gods, and of course, the mystery surrounding the Soul Reaver.
Defiance however, has, along with a spectacular story and great level design, a solid gameplay system, based around raw sword combat, powering the Soul Reaver, and, depending on who you're using, either draining the blood of your foes, or devouring their souls. The game is split between both Raziel and Kain, a first for the series that certainly provides a nice sense of perspective. This game is one of my favorites, and should be tried at least once.
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3: SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS (PS2)
The first of two games that are almost required to be mentioned on any underrated games list, and entirely interchangeable with the game in the second place spot, Shadow of the Colossus is, in short terms, a work of art.
The story of Wander journeying to the Forbidden Lands to bring Mono back to life is extremely well told in the most economic of manners, the games atmosphere is positively epic, and there are so many little details apparent that it makes your head spin with the thought of how much work had to go into the game's creation. And yet, the games shining point is without a doubt the battles with Wander's giant enemies, the Colossi. Scaling the massive beasts and using Wander's mystical blade to find their weak point, a glowing sigil, then stabbing them time and again in a frantic attempt to bring them down is without a doubt one of the most epic feelings one could have playing a video game. It's a spectacularly innovative idea for a game.
One only matched by...
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2: OKAMI (PS2)
The other game required to be on any and every list of underrated games, the tale of Amaterasu traversing the expansive lands of feudal Japan to vanquish the 8 headed demon snake Orochi and restore balance to the world is one of the most excellent experiences I've ever had playing a video game.
The innovation that matches the battles with the Colossi is known as the Celestial Brush. The ability to affect the very fabric of the world by painting your will across it is one of the coolest ideas I've ever encountered.
Okami has memorable characters, a beautiful soundtrack, an expansive world, a great amount of replay value, and an absolutely spectacular story. Celestial Brush aside, the combat system is still great fun, should you decide to wield Amaterasu's reflector, the giant blades she comes to possess later, or even the long strings of prayer beads, combat is never dull. Truly, this would have been the number one game for me. Except there's one other that managed to edge it out...
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1: BUJINGAI: THE FORSAKEN CITY (PS2)
This... This is a game that makes the top of the list not for it's story, which is absolutely non-existent.
It's not for the soundtrack, which, while catchy, isn't anything worth screaming over.
It isn't for the graphics, which are good, but certainly not groundbreaking.
It isn't even for the characters, as they're about as well developed as the story, which is to say, not at all.
No, Bujingai grabs the number one spot because every person I've ever asked has never heard of the game, and yet every person I've ever let play it came to the same conclusion. They've never encountered a more fun combat system in an action game.
Ever.
Bujingai's movie-like combat system is one of the most awesome things I've ever had the pleasure of watching or playing. Every move the protagonist, Lau Wong (based on japanese musician Gackt), makes flows together so well that I was blown away by the fact that his fighting style belonged to a Playstation 2 game character. Capable of chaining together combos that number in the high hundreds, the amount of things Lau can do with just two swords and a few special moves is insane. Especially for such a simplistic battle system. Truly, there are better combat systems out there, but I've never had more fun fighting hordes of enemies, running through castles broken into pieces in the sky, or fighting my rival on glowing blue water on a sliced in half portion of the moon than in Bujingai. The fact that you get to create the opening movie yourself by beating the snot out of poor unsuspecting enemies is just icing on the cake.
High quality icing.
There's so much I want to say for Bujingai, but I just don't have the words. Don't play the game if you're looking for anything groundbreaking or incredible in terms of story or anything to that effect. But if you want a raw undeniably fun time with great action, and an unreasonably awesome combat system, then grab this game, and PLAY IT!
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I'm sure there's a pile of other games just as worthy to be on this list as anything I may have put up here, and if you know any, you should let people know. They deserve the recognition. These are the games I think should be tried. Thanks for reading.
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Well alrighty. A blast of opinion from the past all set to start a new series of top 10s. I dunno when the next one is happening, but it is, and sometime soon preferably. I kind of look forward to seeing how my opinion of underplayed games has changed in the last 7 years.
Yep.
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