GameFAQs obviously doesn't have enough top ten lists. I've been meaning to make a "Top 10 iOS Ports" list for some time, but I probably won't get to that until winter break. So I figured, why not band together and make one.
I figure people are always looking for something new to try, so it might make a decent overall category. You could also think of it as "overlooked gems" or something to that effect. Anyone who wants to participate, just think of a game that you don't think many people know about, and write some about it.
Then, once we have ten, I'll create one of those google docs polls, and to try to measure from the boards which titles really are the most obscure. Then, I'll whip up an intro and conclusion and submit it.
I'll start off.
SpaceChem
SpaceChem is both one of the hardest and most entertaining puzzle games I've ever played. At its root, it involves assembling molecules from atoms or other molecules. This is done by using a pair of 'WALDOs' (no, not the tall skinny guy in the red and white sweater). The WALDOs travel across a grid. When there is a command in the grid, they execute that command as they pass over it. As the player, you have to create tracks for the WALDOs, with appropriately placed commands so that they take the input molecules, manipulate them, and then deliver the completed molecules. Part of the joy of the game is working against the world--upon completing a level, you see a frequency distribution of the number of commands used, and the time needed for the desired molecules to be delivered, based on everyone else who has played the game. This gives a great extra challenge, in trying to maximize either command efficiency, or speed efficiency. Even without replaying levels, the difficulty is astonishing. I still have yet to play it, and a scant 2.5% of Steam users have managed to beat it at the time of writing. Still, there's no denying the immense pleasure of finally beating a particularly tricky level, and so I must thoroughly recommend this title to anyone looking for a puzzle game with some teeth.
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Fame is but a slow decay.
-Theodore Tilton
I'd like to participate,, but I don't really play any obscure video games.
I might have played some obscure NES games back in the day but my memory of Karnov and others isn't good enough to write an entry for it.
Perhaps I'll write a paragraph on SimLife. I've never played Spore, but as I understand it, SimLife was a better demonstration of evolution by means of natural selection.
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Brandon: "I had casual sex this weekend." Alex: "I had sex too, with someone I love who accepts and loves me." Kodi: "I cleaned up my .emacs."
Obscure? Yeah I dunno if I've played many of those... Overlooked on the other hand, I may have one or two of those. I might type something up for Baten Kiatos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Edit: Blah, stupid doubles...
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Well, there is a new accent of n00b language. It's called: Vet LUEser goes Foreign!-MegaSpy22
Those must be the pants of the gods!-Digitalpython
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
Do people know about Terraria?
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Willis, it seems like every other time you post, I need to look up a word that's in the OED or Urban Dictionary but not both.
-Mimir
Don't worry about it not being obscure enough. I'll look at the overall sum of the selections and put a proper label on the list. Overlooked will do just fine.
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Fame is but a slow decay.
-Theodore Tilton
Oh, and Terraria sounds like a good choice to me.
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Fame is but a slow decay.
-Theodore Tilton
I guess you should do the poll with the titles before writing any descriptions, so as to save the effort of writing descriptions that don't end up in the final essay.
Some other titles that occur to me:
- Final Fantasy Legend III (actually a game in the SaGa series; Square rebranded it in the US) is pretty cool. The airship, called the Talon, looks like a stealth bomber, can travel through time, and has a sweet theme song ( http://youtu.be/_zICpWwRU6I ). You can turn into any kind of enemy by eating its meat or installing its machine parts, and of the four types of enemy (monster, beast, cyborg, and robot), three have radical consequences for gameplay mechanics (e.g., cyborgs have big intrinsic penalties to all stats, but ordinary equipment increases their stats). And there's one boss who lives in an underwater castle that's full of escalators. There's all the wackiness of Final Fantasy VII with a fraction of the angst and grinding.
- The Heroes of Might and Magic series has traditionally been something of a cult classic.
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Brandon: "I had casual sex this weekend." Alex: "I had sex too, with someone I love who accepts and loves me." Kodi: "I cleaned up my .emacs."
Eh, I just figured we'd let people submit as they have the time, and stop collecting once we hit ten, since I'm not seeing it as terribly likely that we'll be at 9, and then have two people submit at nearly the same time, and if it were to happen, I could just stick a 'runner up' bit in the introduction. Plus, I want to make it as easy to contribute as possible.
But, if there is a game that you know you want to write about, feel free to claim it so we don't get redundancy that way.
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Fame is but a slow decay.
-Theodore Tilton
Is there a specific format you want? I figure we should try to keep this stuff uniform.
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Well, there is a new accent of n00b language. It's called: Vet LUEser goes Foreign!-MegaSpy22
Those must be the pants of the gods!-Digitalpython
Well, if you want to model it off what I did, I basically stated what I liked about the game, described the game, paying special attention to how I thought certain features made it enjoyable and unique, then ended by basically restating why I liked it in slightly different words.
I'm all for creative freedom, but if you want a format, you can try to go for that sort of structure.
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Fame is but a slow decay.
-Theodore Tilton
I played FFLIII over the summer on me phone. It was great.
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Willis, it seems like every other time you post, I need to look up a word that's in the OED or Urban Dictionary but not both.
-Mimir