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Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Most of the time hidden gems lists include stuff like Stardew Valley or Rimworld for the thousandth time instead of actual obscure games that deserved the praise. Even then most of the actual hidden gems turned out to be shitty games that were not playable in 2020. So I decided to make a list of actual hidden gems that are fully enjoyable in 2020.

1. Battle Realms - a top-down RTS games based around Japanese culture and lore. My favorite thing about this game was how authentic it felt when compared to other RTS of its time. There are two primary resources, Rice and Water. Rice is gathered through Rice field which deplete and must be watered. Water can be gathered infinitly from a single source like pond. Horses also roamed the area and can be tamed to help in resource gathering or combat. Villagers are generated automatically and the game has a 30 unit cap. These villagers can be trained in various building to create archers, pikeman, etc. The unit can be further trained in different building to create complex units like Dragon Warriors and stuff. However, the environment interaction is what makes this game so good- fire spreads, units can be knocked off horses, trees can be felled, there is a terrain advantage, birds fly off, etc. Heck the campaign even has you making choices and branches out in different areas. Definitely a great time.

2. Iji - A level based, system Shock style rpg with great music. The game is a freeware. You go platforming through various levels because aliens have taken over the world while you were sleeping in a hospital or something. The story is actually quite emotional and changes depending on the actions you make, your loved one can die or live, the war can end or wage on, etc. You also level up 10 different skills allowing for different playstyles like tank, Sniper, etc. There are even handdrawn cutscenes and vocal fucking songs. The game has multiple endings depending on how many people you murder.

3. Cortex Command - A real time worms like physics based game. You spends money to call down units, guns, vehicles, etc on a 2d worms style world. You can individualy control each unit and it's inventory. Even single pixel in the game has physics and reacts to stuff like fire, poison, bullets, even meat gibs. Cannot reach a target? Use a big fucking 50 cal sniper rifle to tear through concrete and turn brains in to mush. See bunch of zombies moving towards you trying to kill you brain? Drop a big ol fooking naplam cluster bomb to burn them to ashes. Fuck Noita, this is what physics based games should be.

Btw: Total War Shogun 2 is free on Steam rn.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Using the magic of the internet, I bring links: Battle Realms + expansion Iji Cortex Command Total War Shogun 2 Not a huge fan of RTS games, Age of Empires II and Warcraft II were about the only ones I got into. But I've never actually heard of Battle Realms. I might check it out on a sale, but that's a hell of a generic title.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
The problem with this is that is totally subjective. The games you have said for me are totally garbage to be honest. Because RTS level based plataforms or worms games are no games I like at all.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
In Iji you can kill the girlfriend of an alien and watch his downward spiral into depression and insanity throughout the campaign as he runs away from you but eventually dies a cruel death at your hands. Also, you can sacrifice your little brother to alien hunters to acquire a sweet ability point.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a free open source rougelike. Highly recommend.

Pet the Pup at the Party a casual simulation of being at a party and trying to find the dog to pet. Good random level generation.

Ravenfield single player FPS game.

DotA 2 the most complex real time strategy game. Very competitive but takes about 100 hours to learn the basics. Huge skill ceiling and millions of dollars in eSports prizes every year. Gets semi regular balance patches, and is completely free to play. There are no in game purchases that give players an advantage. Every hero starts off unlocked (not behind a paywall like League of Legends or other competitors).

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
If we're bringing up free roguelikes then I've got to give a shout-out to Cataclysm and Unreal World. The best open world zombie (and everything else all at once) apocalypse sim there is, and the best getting frostbite and starving in Iron Age Finland game.

Unreal World I think has started charging for access to the newest versions but there's a stable one free, and it's been the most in depth wilderness survival game there is for the past fifteen years or so and only kept adding more since.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

CDDA is a great roguelike but a steeper learning curve than DCSS. I haven't played Unreal World yet.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Streets of Rogue is not free (or a hidden gem) but it doesn't get enough love. It a roguelite set in an urban environment where you have to complete 3 missions on each level. There is tons of emergent gameplay and Deus ex style problem solving. You can choose from a huge list of character (police, hacked, gorilla, vampire, etc.) or create you own. There is also a level editor and online coop as well.

Cataclysm also has an Android port but doesn't seems to be very user friendly.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Unreal World is really, really good

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

Poor DotA 2 devs, despite having a really popular publisher, it never stopped their game from just being a simple hidden gem.

Jokes aside, calling League's system a paywall seems a bit odd to me, since you can also grind for the characters. Although, I guess it is still a paywall from one perspective, since you do still pay (regardless of if it is the in-game or premium currency).

However, by that token, DotA 2 has in-game purchases that give you an advantage: items. Sure, you spend in-in-game currency (gold) to buy them, but that is still a purchase.

Also, if anyone here ever wins some of that esports money, I'd be very interested in knowing. This is because that part of your pitch reminds me of a relative who was like: "Hey, you play games, what games do you play?"

"[Game that isn't DotA 2]."

"Well... DotA 2 has millions of dollars in eSports prizes!"

Anyway, starting with all characters unlocked is obviously pretty damn nice.

Other than that, I heard that DotA 2 was losing players, or dying, or whatever. Granted, all multiplayer games are always said to be dying by someone, so I was curious on your thoughts regarding it, as you'd def know more than me.

I can certainly imagine that being so complicated, if the matchmaking isn't putting newbs with other newbs, they might get discouraged rather easily. However, I do remember DotA 2 and LoL being the big two, and both having a shit-ton of players. I am seeing LoL ads a lot more than DotA 2 ads tho (heck, haven't seen any DotA 2 ads for ages).

You know, I don't remember where I was going with all this.

Ah, hidden gems? Maybe...

Duelyst!? It is interesting to see a card game with a board, and the cards generally had a high power feel to them. The replace mechanic where you take a card from your hand, and swap it with a random card from your deck, up to once per turn, is also something that felt great. The pixel art is nice too. Anyway, the game is no longer supported: no servers and you can't download it anymore. That must make it a hidden gem!

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
I also feel sorry for DOTA devs making only 600 million dollars a year instead of 1.3 billion dollars that League makes. Deulyst had such great art, shame to see it go wasted.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

League of Legends is more focused on mechanical skill and DotA is more about strategy. DotA is harder to learn, but the people that play it play it a lot.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

Hehe, games! I'm really not a fan of RTS myself, but I have some friends who've got the brain for it. I'm not square enough. 

I will add as well!...Although the games I'll be talking about will require either fantastic cartidge hunting skills and a fat wallet or an emulator. I've been emulating tons of games on our hacked ps3, so my quarentine has been pretty great! Learn how to emulate, and you're pretty much set.

Technic Beat, PS2

An incredibly charming PS2 music game that's even better to play with friends. You run around the screen, bopping rings to the beat. There's actually quite the level of strategy involved. It is frustrating but also addictive like crack cocaine. The soundtrack is unique, the art style is funky and everything about it gives me joy... Like crack cocaine.

Money Idol Exchanger, PS1, NeoGeo

Probably not most of you fella's cup o' tea, but it sure as degenerate hell is mine. A poppy old-fashioned painfully anime arcade game that I've been playing obsessively for the last two days, It's kinda like bust-a-move, except you have to smash yen coins together into bigger and bigger quantities until they disappear. Kinda unforgiving, but I feel smarter now. Or maybe my brain wrinkles have gone smooth. I dunno, the music just really slaps.

Mr.Driller G, PS1 (but on many other platforms, soon also the Switch!)

My life now belongs to the drill. I'm pretty biased on this one, just cos' the art and music are so far up my alley. A cute arcade game about DigDug's son and friends doing all sorts of fun drill block sorts of things. The amount of love put into this thing really shows with the incredible polish and number of features it has. It even has a music player, which I highly suggest you check out.

Okay! Those games aren't very accessible, so here's a bunch of free RPG maker games for you to bust your PC with. If you ever want a quick, interesting (and sometimes very anime grimdark) way to spend your time without going broke, this'll do ya.

I was tempted to talk about romhacks as well, but I decided that was maybe a layer too deep of nerdism.

Oh, you could also play Elona+ and edit all the sprites in mspaint like me. But that's a whole 'notha level of brain damage.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
You should totally check out Drill Dozer for the Game Boy Advance. It is not randomly generated but has lite rpg elements with boss battles and fairly open ended levels.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

I'm a big fan of Drill Dozer! ^_^ It's got spunk!

The GBA is possibly my favorite console of all time (nostalgia is a big player, hehe). I've played....Probably 90% of the stuff on there, I don't want to so much as think about the hours wasted away on it. Gunstar Superheroes, Pocky & Rocky with Becky, ChuChu Rocket, Astro Boy Omega Factor....All really fun pick-up-n-play sorts of things. Bless da GBA.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Icy: Frostbite Edition has a little of that Eastern European jank but for me that's part of the charm.

You're one of a little tribe of hunters in a frozen apocalypse, tracking down some high tech kidnappers who targeted your village. VN style dialogue with CYOA choices sprinkled around, and your party travels around on a hex map. There's some survival and strategy involved but really just enough to keep it interesting without being too difficult. The weapons you equip everybody with give you different attack and skill tokens, and you make combos out of them for combat encounters. It's just $2.59 so really if it sounds even mildly interesting I can't recommend it enough, it's nothing flashy but I really enjoyed it.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
I was just talking about this with someone else so I guess I'll mention it here: Into the Breach is a game that doesn't seem too well known despite being made by the FTL devs. It's extremely challenging turn based tactics on a tiny hex grid with some seemingly simplistic rules. It feels like a board game, just very stripped down and balanced so that every move matters. You've got three mechs trying to save cities from giant alien bugs and continually having to bail on the timeline and start again. You can only take one pilot back each time. New abilities for both you and the bugs are rolled out as you progress, and again the balance is there; the upgrades don't seem too major at a glance, but every move matters. It's just such a simple game at its core, but it gets you thinking ahead and trying to outplot the AI like in a game of chess, and it really nails the atmosphere of grim and futile repetition. Even after you know it inside and out, it will still kick your ass more often than not. And it's never that the game is unfair; every map is beatable, it just doesn't leave you any room for carelessness.

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
Into the Breach is the only rogue-like that I have managed to beat (because it has difficulty options).

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago

Lethal League Blaze

Super high skill 2-D fighter. Hit a zero-gravity ball at your opponent at increasingly high speeds. 

Three Games that are actual Hidden Gems

3 years ago
GTA V is free on the Epic launcher right now, until the 21st.

Not that it's very hidden, or much of a gem, but this was a convenient video game thread.