Shilling underrated games

[YakuInTheFlesh]

I'm sure all of us have this one game (or an entire series) that we feel like is completely flying under the radar and would like more people to check them out...

Or in other words. I'm making this thread to shill my favorite game:

Umihara Kawase​

Now Umihara Kawase doesn't have any real story and all that exists feels like a huge after thought, but that really doesn't matter! Why? Because it has some of the most satisfying gameplay I've ever got to enjoy.

Umihara is by no means a one off though! Even though you never hear about it and sales seem to be overall low the game itself came out for: SNES, PS1, NDS, PSP, 3DS, PSV, NSW & PC!

Gameplay​

If you couldn't tell from the video. The game is a 2D Platformer, with the exception that your main method of moved is a fishing line. You'll spend most of the game using your (very stretchy) fishing line to grapple through the many levels the games offer. The best part about this however is that the creator was very aware of what you can to with that gameplay. Thus some levels are insanely difficult and require extreme precision, but once you've learned the ropes the movement is really satisfying and something you can't get enough of.

Games and where to get them​

As already mentioned. Umihara Kawase came out for various platforms throughout the years. There are roughly 4 games in the series. Umihara Kawase, Umihara Kawase Shun, Sayonara Umihara Kawase and Umihara Kawase Fresh!
Now I say roughly since the second game (UK Shun) has like 3 versions and there is one spin-off.

Game	Platform	Where to get	Which one to get
Umihara Kawase	SNES, PC & included on Shun for PSV & DS	Umihara Kawase on Steam Umihara Kawase is a girl who uses a fishing hook as a grappling hook. You’ll need quick reflexes to swing your way through the branching surreal environments. Use your brains to figure out the best way through. They say fish is brain food—you’re going to need it! store.steampowered.com Used market	Either get the PC version or Shun for the DS
Umihara Kawase Shun	PS1, DS, PSP, PC	Umihara Kawase Shun on Steam Umihara Kawase is a girl who uses a fishing hook as a grappling hook. You’ll need quick reflexes to swing your way through the branching surreal environments. Use your brains to figure out the best way through. They say fish is brain food—you’re going to need it! store.steampowered.com Used market	If you can get the DS version since it includes the first game and it plays very well with the DS d-pad. Avoid the PSP version at all cost! The physic engine is bugged
Sayonara Umihara Kawase, Yumi's Odd Odyssey	3DS, PSV, PC	Sayonara Umihara Kawase on Steam Umihara Kawase is a girl who uses a fishing hook as a grappling hook. You’ll need quick reflexes to swing your way through the branching surreal environments. Use your brains to figure out the best way through. They say fish is brain food—you’re going to need it! store.steampowered.com Used market	If you can get the PS Vita one it includes the 1st game.
Umihara Kawase Fresh!	PC, NSW, PS4	Umihara Kawase Fresh! on Steam Umihara Kawase become open world? Clear the quests with rubbering action! store.steampowered.com EShop, PSN Store, potentially from stores or used	Don't bother if your not a fan and want more. Otherwise I prefer Switch.
Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!	PC, NSW PS4	Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! on Steam Umihara Kawase become esports?Rubbering battle action in fixed area. store.steampowered.com EShop, PSN Store, potentially from stores or used	Don't bother if you don't get it for 5$ or less

My personal favorite is Umihara Kawase Shun and if you only want to buy one game make it this one. Check it out it's a great little gem. (Also the trilogy costs like 6$ during most steam sales)

Also a little fun thing: There was/is a guy who kept his SNES on for 20+ years to keep his records in the SNES version

(I have some other games I'd like to shill, but I'll do that at a later date in this thread)

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

Gravity Rush​

Gravity Rush is about the amnesiac Kat and her cat Dusty. Soon after waking up it is revealed that thanks to the cat you have the ability to manipulate gravity. As the name suggests this the main feature of the game and it is implemented really well. I honestly cannot recommend this game series enough! Around the time I played the 2nd game it seemed to have a little resurgence since a youtuber made a video about it, but since then I've never seen it mentioned again. Sales seem to have been good overall, but nothing to write home about. It didn't help that the game came out shortly before Nier Automata (which it had a small promotion with. Check the image below).

The game has been released on the PS Vita & PS4

Gameplay​

The main gameplay loop is in itself quite simplistic. Float to your goal -> potentially fight a few monsters -> get some story -> repeat. This however works extremely well since it makes the main power you have shine bright. Using the gravity power feels great to use and makes traveling around really fun. This to the point that I never thought that I would like a quick travel option.
As mentioned another aspect you will encounter is fighting some monsters, which is also never too much of a bother since it's really well incorporated with the whole gravity aspect

Artstyle​

I feel like this has to be mentioned. The artstyle for this game is fantastic! This is one of these games that looked good when they came out and will look good in 10 years. It also helps that everything looks & feels really coherent, which isn't easy when you can see everything from all sides!

Games and where to get them​

As I've said before the games came out for the PS Vita and PS4 and honestly this is somewhat of a shame. This game would work amazingly on the Switch and I hope that this will happen someday!
But yeah... there are 3 games in the series: Gravity Rush, Gravity Rush Remastered & Gravity Rush 2

Game	Platform	Where to get	Which one to get
Gravity Rush	PS Vita	PSN or Used market	Honestly if you have a PS4 skip this one and go straight to the remaster since the game is somewhat expensive nowdays.
Gravity Rush: Remastered	PS4	PSN or Used market	Start with this one if since the 2nd game is a direct sequel. The prices have been climbing on this one. If you want to get it on disc buy it now since I can't see it coming down for now.
Gravity Rush 2	PS4	PSN or Used market (Some stores might have stock left)	Buy this one after the first game. As for physical I found this one to be cheaper, but it's also climbing. If you liked the first one after playing for a little I recommend to just buy this for your backlog.

This about covers it. It's a great game that I can highly recommend. Especially now since the prices seem to be climbing.

Cross-promotion with Nier:

 

[PhantomXero1x]

twewy now thats a great one.

 

[Tamamo]

Dead or School. 2D action game with guns, swords and a big tiddie anime schoolgirl protag.

The camera can be a bit of a pain in the ass but the game has that charm that allot of games lack these days.

DEAD OR SCHOOL on Steam

Underground dwelling girl Hisako is aiming for the surface in a zombie infested Tokyo. Hack and slash RPG! Obtain weapons and gear from enemies, and customize your skill tree to create your own unique and powerful a character!

store.steampowered.com

 

[Tamamo]

Gravity Rush: Remastered	PS4	PSN or Used market	Start with this one if since the 2nd game is a direct sequel. The prices have been climbing on this one. If you want to get it on disc buy it now since I can't see it coming down for now.

The NA disk release was an amazon exclusive hence why its kinda pricey these days.

In Europe and SEA the game had a normal release so those versions are allot cheaper. Over here it goes for around 15 euros. If you don't like the green cover of the EU release, the SEA release has the same cover as NA.

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

If you don't like the green cover

I myself have the EU version and think the green cover looks much nicer. Honestly if I would see the NA version in the store I wouldn't give it a second glance.

 

[Tamamo]

I myself have the EU version and think the green cover looks much nicer. Honestly if I would see the NA version in the store I wouldn't give it a second glance.

I have SEA version because i like the simplicity of the NA cover.

 

[Migi]

These always stood out in my eyes.


First is Folklore,
It was a PS3 launch titles which was criticized for being short and having the same area's, but i think it had potential but just not the funding it needed.
IT sure beats the garbage franchise called: Knacked.

Folklore (video game) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The second is one that most people would know by now at least, but it tanked during launch.
Binairy Domain,
A futuristic third-person shooter that was made by the guy behind the Yakuza series. It at least tries to give an interesting story
instead of a simple Gears of War style of there is the enemy and we just gotta commit genocide.

Binary Domain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And lastly.
Lost Planet 2
Another futuristic third-person shooter that takes a lot of out of anime in sense of style and grand scale or even style of its story moments.
This game basically was Monster Hunter with guns, but for some reason people couldn't cope with the idea of a game just being about fun
in a co-op kinda way. This was before you paid your ass off for customization.

Lost Planet 2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's weird how people tend to support garbage copy pasted titles instead of those that try something new and stand out.

 

[Tamamo]

And lastly.
Lost Planet 2
Another futuristic third-person shooter that takes a lot of out of anime in sense of style and grand scale or even style of its story moments.
This game basically was Monster Hunter with guns, but for some reason people couldn't cope with the idea of a game just being about fun
in a co-op kinda way. This was before you paid your ass off for customization.

Lost Planet 2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's weird how people tend to support garbage copy pasted titles instead of those that try something new and stand out.

Funny you say that since there is an Lost Planet anime spin off called EX Troopers. Sadly it never came over to the west because shitcom thought it was "too Japanese and wouldn't sell in the west" even though people were begging them to localize it.

Ironically the game tanked in Japan.

Its a real shame it never made it over and they never bothered to rerelease it to give it a second chance. The game is incredibly fun and the multiplayer was great.

There is a fan translation for the 3DS. Though its entirely machine translated. Personally I'd rather play the PS3 version anyway.

[TRANSLATION] [RELEASE] EX Troopers - English (3DS)

************************************************************** 22/nov/2022 - My translation has been here for the past 3 years, and will continue forever. I thank everyone for their attention and affection, who with their good energy made my project possible. But now, we must turn our attention...

gbatemp.net

 

[Migi]

Funny you say that since there is an Lost Planet anime spin off called EX Troopers. Sadly it never came over to the west because shitcom thought it was "too Japanese and wouldn't sell in the west" even though people were begging them to localize it.

Ironically the game tanked in Japan.

Its a real shame it never made it over and they never bothered to rerelease it to give it a second chance. The game is incredibly fun and the multiplayer was great.

There is a fan translation for the 3DS. Though its entirely machine translated. Personally I'd rather play the PS3 version anyway.

[TRANSLATION] [RELEASE] EX Troopers - English (3DS)

************************************************************** 22/nov/2022 - My translation has been here for the past 3 years, and will continue forever. I thank everyone for their attention and affection, who with their good energy made my project possible. But now, we must turn our attention...

gbatemp.net

I kinda hope that Lost Planet 2 will get a re-release, seeing as it has been pulled from STEAM nearly over a year because it was tied to XBOXlive and was locked at 4 or 6 cores.
You see more garbage remasters of games that didn't need it instead of some actual good B rated games.

 

[Tamamo]

I kinda hope that Lost Planet 2 will get a re-release, seeing as it has been pulled from STEAM nearly over a year because it was tied to XBOXlive and was locked at 4 or 6 cores.
You see more garbage remasters of games that didn't need it instead of some actual good B rated games.

Given how they took a steaming shit on game preservation and fucking censored Capcom Fighting Collection, i'm not sure i even want a Lost Planet remastered collection from current year shitcom even if it did include a localized EX Troopers because i fully expect it to:

A: Be censored because anime tiddies bad
B: Have some shit meme ridden wokelisation
C: Have Both

 

[Migi]

Given how they took a steaming shit on game preservation and fucking censored Capcom Fighting Collection, i'm not sure i even want a Lost Planet remastered collection from current year shitcom even if it did include a localized EX Troopers because i fully expect it to:

A: Be censored because anime tiddies bad
B: Have some shit meme ridden wokelisation
C: Have Both

At the moment, I just think they might try to get GFWL out of the game and fix the core issue. Back in those days, there wasn't all that many memes or other bullshit. Still wasn't a great translation, but at least not woke agenda.

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

Folklore

Been looking for that one for a while. But the price...

Lost Planet 2

Just recently played through the first one and didn't really think it was anything special. Is the second one better?

At the moment, I just think they might try to get GFWL out of the game

Man GFWL... what a shit show! I remember when they pulled the plug and a shit ton of games just broke. I just can't believe how people to this day support DRM.

 

[Migi]

Been looking for that one for a while. But the price...

Just recently played through the first one and didn't really think it was anything special. Is the second one better?

Man GFWL... what a shit show! I remember when they pulled the plug and a shit ton of games just broke. I just can't believe how people to this day support DRM.

Folklore,
There were barely any launch titles, so I just bought them all. It's a short game, but it did stand out in my opinion.

Lost planet 2.
The second game was way more fun than the energy based first game. I see it as a more dynamic Monster Hunter style game with over the top cinematic.
The game can only be played with more individuals because of the heavy co-op elements. In my opinion, it was far better and more fun than the first one.
There were a lot of fun option to use weapons in a co-op style.

This was the best boss, you needed to get inside it to eventually kill it.

If I recall, Capcom pulled a couple that were still tied to GFWL. I hope it returns in a more playable state, the GFWL is easier to bypass than the core count.

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

The Vagrant​

A wonderful gem of a game where you control Vivian in her quest in a far of land to lay to rest her family's curse. The actual synopsis describes it better than I ever could:

Guide Vivian the Vagrant, through vibrant and dynamic landscapes while hacking and slashing a path from a quiet coastal village through mysterious forests, haunted castles, and wrecked battlegrounds. When the endless barrage of enemies have been vanquished, what solace will be left for our hero?

Gameplay​

The Vagrant is a side-scrolling action RPG with beautiful art, tight combat and a wide range of enemies, bosses, weapons and locations.
You control Vivian through a screen based 2D map with exits on either side or up and down. There is some exploring you can do and the world feels satisfying to traverse. Almost every screen can either have "loose" enemies which just walk around or little arena segments where you first have to kill a bunch of enemies to progress.
The game has a nice upgrading system, where you can earn Mana and then spend this Mana on upgrading either your character or your weapons. Weapons and Armor you no longer need can be broken down to regain some Mana (I wish I knew that before selling them, since mana is rarer than gold).

Where to get it​

Currently the game is only available on Steam as far as I am aware. I would however immediately buy it again on Switch if that ever happened. And here is the biggest thing about this game: It costs 4 bucks and that is the FULL price! I got it during a sale for 1.60 and had plenty of fun with it.

Save 80% on The Vagrant on Steam

Guide Vivian the Vagrant, through vibrant and dynamic landscapes while hacking and slashing a path from a quiet coastal village through mysterious forests, haunted castles, and wrecked battlegrounds. When the endless barrage of enemies have been vanquished, what solace will be left for our hero?

store.steampowered.com

Honestly I can't say much more. Go and buy it. It's worth it! I played through it in one sitting and it took me roughly 9 hours. I honestly regret leaving this game in my library for a year without touching it.

 

[Terra]

Dead or School. 2D action game with guns, swords and a big tiddie anime schoolgirl protag.

The camera can be a bit of a pain in the ass but the game has that charm that allot of games lack these days.

DEAD OR SCHOOL on Steam

Underground dwelling girl Hisako is aiming for the surface in a zombie infested Tokyo. Hack and slash RPG! Obtain weapons and gear from enemies, and customize your skill tree to create your own unique and powerful a character!

store.steampowered.com

Oh hey I remember playing that game a year ago or so on the switch when I was on a vacation trip, it was pretty decent and surprised me for what I expected to be a kusoge eroge bait game lol.

 

[boloros]

Jack The Reaper

Demo of a never released game that mixes Kirby gameplay (someone else's observation) with gorgeous sprite art like that of games by Treasure (going by the McDonald's game and Gunstar Heroes).
Plays great, looks great and is outstandingly charming from the first screen, and outright assault of good design and

Jack the Reaper

Jack the Reaper

forums.tigsource.com

From the developer post linked above:


Jack the Reaper is a 2D platforming game revolving around the titular Jack, a custodian of the dead who must investigate a strange occurrence: the moon has fallen from the sky onto Earth, and all the souls that dwell there have returned to the world of the living! Jack must restore the natural order, fighting through countless levels and bosses to put the dead back to rest. The game will be presented as if it's been made for the SNES- graphics, music, and presentation-wise. The gameplay, on the other hand, was inspired by the Kirby games of the old days (Kirby 64, in particular).

DEMO AVAILABLE HERE (Updated 9/28/2016 11:28 PM): https://www.mediafire.com/?p6vc6eb6vy57i32

Now I know what you're thinking! "Aw, man, yet another game about a cute version of the Death fighting monsters." But there's much more to it! Being the Grim Reaper, Jack does get certain...benefits; by defeating enemies, Jack can absorb their 'souls' to replenish health and acquire new abilities. Just a few examples:

Boomerang: Throw a deadly boomerang from afar!

Shield: Protect yourself from oncoming enemies and projectiles!

But there's more! After a certain point in the game, Jack can also 'combine' different souls, giving him even greater
powers than before!

Using these abilities, Jack can overcome any obstacle!


Play until beating the dragon and meet one of the cutest and most distressed characters I've seen.

 

[Deleted member 1309]

Neocron


A post-post apocalyptical completely free MMORPG(no in game store nothing!), delightfully 90s/00s cyberpunk, about life in the world after nuclear war anihalated world as we know it. This game, oozes atmosphere, the titular city Neocron is just marvel to explore, design of everything is trully done with love to aestetic, and german idea of cool (boobs and asses are everywhere).

Gameplay
This game is an FPS MMORPG, and this should give you general idea what to expect. Classes, stats, loot, items, crafting and questing. What this gives you, is an enormous freedom of what you want to do with your character, there is many types and classes of character, and inside each class, you can build them differently based on what you want to do. This is absolutely the best part of Neocron its not only not holding your hand, it allows you to stretch your imagination, and build many types of characters as you see fit. This game is wast, you have soo much places, and soo many things to do, 15+ years of development shows, hell game has its own functional "cyberspace".

But unfortunately, this is all great parts of the Neocron. Problem is that behind the veil of atmosphere is very generic junky MMORPG of 00s breed. You start "reborn" on the training isle, and it ooze atmosphere, you are being reprogrammed by a dictator president regime into abiding citizen, and after escaping the tutorial island, you do basic runs and game start to show its problems. You think you join the police of the town and fight against underground rebbels? Do you think you join some kind of resistance and prepare some kind of eleborate coup? Or maybe some cyberpunk church and try to resurect some ancient AI? Well ocasionally for 10 minutes of time you do this fun activities, but most of the time, you just do MMORPG stuff, grind repetative quests, maybe grind just enemies, ocasionally craft or fight, but mostly grind.

Combat is junk as fuck, just that. IT IS JUNK.
Interface is dated, its uninformative, and doesn't scale well with modern resolution
Balance is barely existing
Infromation is scattered and hard to get on the game, their own Wiki is hard to read and has many blank pages, there is a line between hand holding, and just straight lack of information, and neocron is lacking essential information for player
PvP is junky and borderline broken, yet kind of entertaining not gonna lie one of the best part of this game
Graphics is well 2003 even with updates, it is dated
Game is infamously buggy
Community is special, when they are not fighting each other on discord for some bullshit reason, they scream how Neocron is a dead game, or scream at each other about balance, or how non-PvP chars are carebares and ruining their fun. Marvelous people. They are decent folks when they are on their meds, very helpful most of the time, but they are in the slow state of slowly dying as a community.
As MMORPG it has population of avg rural town, aka slowly climbing to 0, on avg you can expect around 15-30 people online.

Conclusion
So after all of this shitting on the game, why i'm trying to show it to you? Because it is a game from bygone era. It is a dying breed of a game. This game doesn't hold your hand, it offers enormous amount of freedom. It requires you to cooperate with people, because most things in games can only be achived in groups or cooperating with people. And man that atmosphere! This is unlike any modern "mmo"RPGs. It is early 00s edgy, which in our "current year" is breath of fresh air. This is experience unlike any other. Most problems i mentioned, is just game being very dated. This game right now is available absolutely for free, so you have nothing to lose. At least try it, because with how slowly numbers of players is crawling down, you don't know when it will finally kick the bucket and dies.

Where to play
There is 2 primary servers to play on most community plays on Neocron Evolution this is the most played server, as far as i know. There is one more server which is trying to be Neocron closer to original state of the game, but it is being turned on and off and doesn't have constant online, to find that one google helps, but it often offline.

 

[snivy]

Post void

Post void is one hell of an experience, Its an ultra fast pace first person shooter rogue-like with trippy graphics.

it'll take you at most 3 hours to 100% the game but those 3 hours will be unforgettable, please give it a shot if you got the time.

Post Void on Steam

Post Void is a hypnotic scramble of early first-person shooter design that values speed above all else. Keep your head full and reach the end; Kill what you can to see it mend; Get the high score or try again.

store.steampowered.com

 

[blackjack]