I TRIED PLAYING SHMENUNE but I couldnt get him to open the door.

FF9 is, to me, painfully under-rated. It has perfect gameplay (<3 the
item-ability system), beautiful FMVs and pre-rendered graphics, and the
character development is incredible! And the music is great, too, but Nobuo did it so that's a given! But no one ever talks about FF9! It's drowned out by FF7, which, don't get me wrong, is a great game, even though people like it for the wrong reason, cuz they're all like 'omg cloud's sword is big <3 sephy omg woo tifa has big.... materia!, yet they -should- like it because of the character development and the open-ended plot that generates so much discussion... But, FF9 is really left in its shadow. I wish people would obsess over it like they do over FF7, because it's a fantastic story.

Also, Secret of Mana is better than Chrono Trigger! There, I said it!

--Kefka

Chu Chu Rocket!

I <3 that game! Too bad more people don't. It makes me sad.

~Shrubey, who doesn't find anybody from Chu Chu Rocket sexy

Why am I told to go to hell by this Kefka? This so-called "villain" has never done anything to me before. BTW, FF6 was boring, ha!

Anyway, I think the Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the Nintendo 64 did not get the recognition it deserved. I spent hours playing through that, beating people with a steel pipe. And the beginning sequence has a naked Ebisumaru dancing for money! At least I think. When I look back at it, a lot of the humor went over my head, but I still loved it. I also enjoyed the robot boxing matches. Too bad I didn't buy this game a long time ago.
SOMEONE GIVE ME THIS GAME!

~DeeCee, who receives unwarranted attacks by overrated villains.

Chris, you've actually made me crank out the effort to write to you two days in a row! You're evil indeed! Evil! I hope you keep on hosting for a year or two!

Anyway, underrated games. I'll go out on a limb here and vouch for games nobody I know who owned a PS2 (or a PS for that matter) ever played. First up, Shadow Hearts. From what I heard the game was released around the same time as FFX, which got it relatively ignored, and those who did play it gave it average reviews. I don't really blame them though - the graphics weren't the best, the voice acting was laughable, and the Judgement Ring system might've been a bit too much for us reflex-deprived people (this can be rectified anyway, no biggie). However, what it lost in prettiness it more or less made up with concept. I haven't seen an RPG that takes place in our world, during a time that actually happened in history. The story and characters might still be cliche, but it's the presentation that counts. Shadow Hearts had it, at least.

And it's saying something when I've finished the sequel in Japanese, and I don't know Japanese.

2. Vagrant Story. Stop laughing, I actually thought the game was *fun*. The weapon-making, the insanely long save times, and the drabness did nothing to deter me from playing the game twice (the only game so far in my collection too!) for the extra dungeon and story. I suppose you can tell I'm a story person by now.

3. Drakengard. Repetitive killing is therapeutic, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People were comparing the gameplay too much to have noticed the inherent weirdness in the game. I love Japanese irony, don't you?

Another game that I never played enough was this Japanese strategy RPG called Volfoss. I think it should've been given more attention just so I can figure out what is a roast turkey doing in the game as an ACTUAL COMBATANT. I'm serious, the roast turkey carries a machinegun and has bullets strapped over it and stuff!

DMJ, whom everyone thinks is a guy online for some reason.

Chris:

Rez.

Umm.

REZ.

Also, for some strange reason I really really REALLY enjoy Umjammer Lammy. I think it is better than Parappa for gameplay but not music. Plus, after you beat it you can play the levels again as Parappa. It didn't sell that well, but dammit, I loved that game.

And also now that I think of it, Typing of the Dead too. It's mad fun. I don't know if it sold a lot, but I would say no...

That's it, sorry for the randomness.

Regards:

A>

Two words-Vagrant Story.

I bought this game in the summer of 2000 upon its release, mainly due to the Squaresoft logo on the cover, and how cool it looked in general. After bogging down near the beginning, I shoved it aside and worked my way through other games that year like FF9 (by the way, one of my fav FFs, I encourage you to pick it back up someday). The next summer, I grit my teeth and determined, much like you plan on doing now, to finish some games I had left undone. So I bought the strat guide to VS, climbed the steep learning curve, and had one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of my life. The story was absolutely phenomenal, with one of the biggest plot twists I have ever encountered in a game, one that I totally didn't see coming on top of that. The music is FFT caliber, the graphics are dark and moody, and the game is just the right length, roughly 20 hours.

It should be known that renowned Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has only given a perfect 40 score to 4 games ever. Zelda: Ocarina, Zelda: Wind Waker, Soul Calibur, and you guessed it-Vagrant Story.

It saddens me when I go to the games section of my local Wal-Mart and I see a pile of Vagrant Storys in the ever-dwindling PS section, still priced at their original $39.99 retail. Tis a shame...

JR

Hey Chris,

My vote for 'overlooked game' goes two two games (sort of). I'll get to
that in a minute.

First of all, Bangai-o for the dreamcast/n64(japan). That was an awesome game, you're a huge mecha robot (but you are drawn in about 30 pixels, total) that has to fly around giant stages, filled with bad guys and exploding bits of level. Sort of like Smash TV, in that flight control and 8-way firing were possible in all directions, at once. (meaning, you could fly backwards and shoot at the same time, or fly up and shoot down/right/whatever) The level design is really playful, the story is an incredibly bad (intentionally bad?) hodgepodge that is frickin hilarious, and let's not forget the Gimmick; when enemies and their bullets are near you, you can release your desperation/big bomb shot, which is a crapload of missiles that fly out from your body in all directions. The gimmick is that the more enemies/bullets there are, and the faster they are traveling, the bigger your desperation shot will be. Awesome. So it's best to wait til you almost get hit, THEN drop the big'un.

My second choice is the Street Fighter III line. That's right - one of
the biggest series in history gets my 'overlooked' vote. Why? Cause when you ask someone if they've played SF, they'll enthusiastically go on and on about how they were great at it. Of course, they mean they played Street Fighter II, ten years ago. SF3 has amazingly smooth hand drawn graphics, a super-deep fighting/parrying system and a distinct lack of annoying bugs/glitches (a la Marvel vs Capcom). Unfortunately, SF3 only put down roots in the hardcore fighting game community (where it's still played in tourneys today), perhaps because of its lack of 60-hit combos and gimmicky superhero characters. In any case, it's going to be re-released on the ps2 and xb this year, so at least I'll have a chance to play the other 40 fans of the series.

Cheers,
Tom

I wish more people had noticed/played Ico. Sure it was 4 hours long, but it was gaming’s finest 4 hour experience. Metal Gear Solid games may be roughly twice that if you’re really good—but they can spread their goodness evenly across those 8 hours. Ico crammed everything it had into 4, dammit.

I don’t have any problem with 95% of gamers ignoring a game, but when the sequel’s domestic release is put into jeopardy, that’s where I draw the line. Nobody played Klonoa, but we got Klonoa 2. However, Sony doesn’t want to publish Nico (the sequel to Ico, philistines) and nobody else has stepped up to the plate. If I don’t get Nico, I’m taking all of you down with me.

-Tomm

Yes. Yes we can fault people for having not beaten Final Fantasy VI. You know why? Because then they might try to get a job talking to people about these games and then embarass themselves in front of the entire internet. You've skipped the foundation of the house and just moved right onto adding a waterfall in middle of the living room, Frank Lloyd Wrong. If you can't be bothered to play the games that are the keystones of our little nerd culture, what makes you think you're qualified to talk to us about them? I'm sure years of playing Pokemon have made you a MASTAH at... being a corporate shill. Really, did you sign up for 400 level courses in college without taking the 100s?

Keep up the good work. You're the most hilarious letter guy Gameforms has ever had. Maybe with a couple of years it'll be because you're actually funny, and not just a great gelatinous mountain of sad.

-Len Cannon