9 Seriously Under-Appreciated Video Games
Which games deserve more love?
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00:00With the gaming industry bigger than ever kicking out multi-million dollar projects
00:03left and right, it's hard keeping up with every last thing you should play.
00:07On the flip side, though, you've got more options than ever. More games that have
00:10associated fanbases or passionate followings screaming that a certain title didn't get its due.
00:15The more time passes, the more the collective spotlight moves on, and the more that
00:19recommendation feels essential because that wider set of people just don't know what they're missing.
00:24I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and these are 9 Seriously Underappreciated Video Games.
00:299. Batman The Enemy Within Interestingly, the second season of Batman
00:34was really Telltale Games' swansong. The Walking Dead saw two episodes released before the studio
00:39closed, and the rest went off in a handful of other directions. Batman was that studio's final
00:44game from the original creative run, and what a way to go. Season 1 of Telltale's Batman was
00:49genuinely phenomenal, putting you in the shoes of Batman and Bruce Wayne in a way that no other work
00:54of fiction has ever attempted. It made for a fascinating dynamic, as you knew a potential
00:58boardroom decision as Bruce could mess with Batman's duties and vice versa. Season 2 then
01:03continued that formula but improved on it. Bruce was forced to go undercover and infiltrate a gang
01:08consisting of Bane, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn and the Joker. The story and choices
01:13tested how far you were willing to go to maintain your cover, whilst also making you feel sympathy
01:18for the Joker. No small feat. It was Telltale Games firing on all cylinders,
01:23at everything they always did better than the competition. The Enemy Within is a fantastic
01:27Batman-slash-Bruce Wayne story that subverted expectations and had you reeling at every
01:32decision that had to be made. Troy Baker's Bruce-Bat combo is low-key and all-timer,
01:37and I think it'll only get more appreciated as we move forward.
01:418. Ni No Kuni II A sequel to Sony's breakout JRPG
01:46was never a sure thing, but Ni No Kuni II is a beautiful RPG that does lack the heart of the
01:51original whilst making up for it with better gameplay and a more robust world. If you never
01:55played the first Ni No Kuni, it was a mesmerising JRPG that tasked you with collecting familiars,
02:00then battling, almost like Pokemon or Persona. What really set Ni No Kuni apart, however,
02:05was its heart-wrenching story, told with Studio Ghibli-style animated cutscenes that were just
02:10endlessly charming. The sequel then features even better gameplay, a more interesting world,
02:14lots more familiars, and a fun town-building mode. Yes, it missed those Ghibli cutscenes and
02:19the touching story, but Ni No Kuni II remains one of the most recommendable and gorgeous RPGs of
02:25the modern day. 7. Grease
02:28Graphics will never trump gameplay entirely, but if we're making a pie chart of reasons to play
02:33Grease, it's definitely 80% that godlike art direction. An absolutely wondrous painterly
02:39style backed by an impactful story told entirely through visuals, gameplay borrows small parts of
02:44a Metroidvania structure, including light platforming and various abilities you'll unlock
02:49over time. Speaking of over time, this initially launched on Switch and PC, though 2019 saw one
02:54hell of an upscale over on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. With the game now running at
03:004K with locked FPS frame rates also available on PS5, if you want a literal feast for your eyes
03:06that's a joy to play through and explore, Grease is that game.
03:106. Firewall Zero Hour
03:12Languishing for a couple of years after launch, 2018 was the breakout year for virtual reality.
03:17In particular, it was a banner year for PlayStation VR, which saw incredible games
03:22like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Moss. It was also the year we got the best console VR shooter
03:27so far, Firewall Zero Hour. Others had attempted to make FPS games in VR, such as Bravo Team,
03:33but Firewall was the first on PlayStation that made you feel like you were really in the firefight.
03:37Gritty, tactile and addictive when it comes to making you actively think of different ways to
03:42approach firefights, you'll physically take cover or play the angles game against someone in hiding
03:46to just pop a headshot. Solid graphics help immerse you in the action, and every time you
03:51see a bullet coming square at your face, your heart will skip a beat. Firewall was a huge
03:56stepping stone for PSVR when it comes to how these kinds of experiences can really work
04:00and elevate the genre itself.
04:025. Detroit Become Human
04:05Somehow the forgotten Quantic Dream game, despite an insane budget, production values and fact it
04:10has a very dedicated fanbase, Detroit Become Human is a story told from multiple perspectives
04:15you need to experience yourself. Detroit, circa 2038, is a city revitalized by the advent of
04:20androids as human helpers. Think iRobot, but much more lifelike. Three androids, Kara, Marcus and
04:26Connor, find themselves intrinsically linked in a world that is on the brink of a revolution.
04:30It's a story that works surprisingly well once you have to make decisions as one character that
04:34affects the other. Even if the whole thing is insanely heavy-handed when it comes to drawing
04:39on racial subject matter across the board. The elephant in the room is obviously that Detroit
04:43and David Cage's writing play too fast and loose with incredibly sensitive topics, not to mention
04:49Cage's reputation plummeting in recent years alongside a string of ugly accusations. It'll
04:53be on each player whether or not they're comfortable separating these elements from the game
04:57itself, as in the latter's case, tracking a collective playerbase's choices in this context,
05:02and seeing which branching story paths you miss or committed to, can be very satisfying.
05:074. Vampyr Vampyr is set in 19th century England,
05:11and puts you in the shoes of Dr Jonathan Reed, who's just contracted vampirism. You then play
05:16the game struggling with the need to feast versus the morality of killing your patients for
05:20sustenance and some fancier unlockables. As you can imagine with this coming from the minds of
05:25Life is Strange and Remember Me, Vampyr is more about storytelling and worldbuilding than it is
05:30gameplay. This dark and twisting story is reflected in the gloomy and claustrophobic
05:34streets of London, which makes for a refreshing tale in a world overflowing with sequels and
05:39safe bets. Vampyr has atmosphere in abundance, and what it lacks in polish and occasionally
05:44repetitive combat, it more than makes up for with style, uniqueness and supremely well-written
05:49characters. 3. Guardians of the Galaxy
05:52The best Marvel game that isn't Insomniac's Spider-Man titles but deserves to be up there
05:57with them, Guardians of the Galaxy suffered a terrible initial gameplay demo at E3,
06:02and then a completely flat marketing rollout that didn't accentuate its positives whatsoever.
06:06What Square Enix appeared to show off was a thrown-together cash grab almost feeling like
06:11Avengers DLC being sold for full price. What Guardians actually is though is an incredibly
06:16well-written character piece from some key minds behind Deus Ex. Optional side missions and
06:20conversations are on the level of Mass Effect, and the overall story here gets incredibly emotional
06:25and unique in tackling themes of fatherhood, and what it even feels like to know a group of people
06:30have your back no matter what. Yes, combat gets repetitive, but it's serviceable enough,
06:34and nowhere near the majority of what you're doing. This is a game that prioritises its
06:38characters, fun soundtrack, neat dialogue options, and above all, that specific Guardians tone.
06:44It's clear creative director Jean-Francois Dugas got the source material and knew exactly how to
06:49elevate it. Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy is the best Guardians of the Galaxy
06:53thing we've had so far. 2. Florence
06:57Florence tells the most realistic tale of a relationship ever seen in video games. The ups,
07:02the downs, the joy, the melancholy, it's incredibly moving but it was initially exclusive to mobile,
07:07and that meant flying completely under most people's radars. Thankfully it's now on Switch,
07:12and this touching story focuses on Florence falling for someone and the days and weeks
07:16that follow. You'll go from start to finish in around 40 minutes, with Kevin Penkin's gorgeously
07:21carefree, occasionally sad soundtrack carrying you through. Made to be a drop-in short story
07:26of a video game centred on dating in a city, there isn't much in the way of gameplay but every
07:30mechanic serves to make playable the various mindsets and realities of a relationship where
07:35some things fit and others don't. Making the mundane interesting and nailing a tight autistic
07:40vision, Florence joins the likes of unpacking and the artful escape as brilliant indie gems that
07:45really stick with you. 1. A Way Out
07:48It took it takes two to really catapult Joseph Faris into the limelight, and that was after
07:53Critical Darling Brothers A Tale of Two Sons initially turned heads. However, there is a
07:57release in the middle that far less people seem to care about. A Way Out then pits you and a friend,
08:02be it local or online, as two prison inmates who band together to try and escape. The crux is that
08:07the whole game takes place in split screen, with each player performing unique actions or making
08:12decisions about how to approach situations, affecting the other in real time. As would
08:16become more obvious across It Takes Two, Joseph Faris has endless ideas for dual agency in an
08:22interactive space, and here you'll do everything from stealth sections to over-shoulder shooting,
08:26car escape chases to mini-games like playing Connect 4. Honestly, it's just awesome.
08:31With a far, far tighter runtime and personally a more enjoyable story than It Takes Two,
08:36A Way Out is more than recommendable if you like what Faris brings to the gaming table.
08:41And those are just a handful of totally underappreciated video games. Let me know
08:45your favourites down in the comments below and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.
08:49For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com and I'll catch you soon.