PS3 gems?...

So, I'm currently at home caring for my Dad and between that and taking some time to relive my geeky teenage years by getting into building model kits I'm working my way through PS3 games I never played before.

Just got through a pile of triple A titles (Uncharted 3, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, etc) and decided to start looking for some more obscure or less obvious releases. Traded in what I had and I'm now looking at a pile of games that includes Asura's Wrath, Yakuza 4, Lair, Anarchy Reigns, X-com and was wondering if people have any suggestions on hidden gems for the PS3?

Those titles that might be a little broken, frustrating or even feel a bit unfinished but still have something interesting to recommend them? So in a way not even looking for good games just those with a bit of a spark of inspiration?

Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe Dragon's Dogma or Sturmovik (that even make it to PS3?)

Pop Lair in right now, use only the SixAxis controls and prepare yourself to go on a wonderful, wonderful journey.

Going to suggest Haze next?

Oh man, I forgot all about Haze. Definitely check that one out too @jarowdowsky. It may just be the Paths of Glory of video games.

Presently playing Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll, which is reasonably solid. Great gameplay; mediocre storyline, pretty bad quest design; but ridiculously underrated and almost no one knows it exists. Golden Axe Beast Rider is another really underrated game with solid gameplay and rough edges. If you like Koei at all then Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage is not bad, as is Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War.

The above games are more in the obscure underrated category (which one could consider gems), there aren't really enough games made at a full retail budget to find actual "hidden gems" anymore, chances are anything that's good has some sort of outlet or praise about it. Bulletstorm is excellent, Vanquish is excellent, Patched and installed Bayonetta is excellent on the PS3, MGS HD Collection lets you play Peacewalker on a console. If all else fails get a Playstation Plus subscription and just play whatever they wind up giving you for free, chances are it'll be pretty good. Demon's Souls is good but not obscure at all, I'd say it wasn't even a hidden gem at release as there was a shitload of press about it. A fun thing to theorize about is what if Demon's Souls didn't have hype and game reviewers were thrown to the wolves by it; then it would've received comparable reviews to the games listed above (50s-60s on metacritic). Of course then we wouldn't have Dark Souls which is fucking awesome so I guess that's not an ideal world, just an amusing one.

Haze is probably the most hyped and then quickly forgotten game this generation, if not one of the most of all time. The amount of hype leading up to the game's release was huge and then it just flopped and vanished to the point people have completely forgotten about it.

I'm struggling to think of any other game that did that, even if games were more disappointing they still have some presence (Spore for example)

@mijati: Gaming for me is a religion, and Haze is the shit! - Korn

I would say Valkryia Chronicles.

Resistance 3 doesn't get enough love.

I've been playing the excellent Valkyria Chronicles recently, so I have to give that a shout out. It's a gem of an SRPG that plays somewhat similarly to X-COM. So yeah, if you enjoy SRPGs, definitely give VC a try.

@crosstheatlantic Actually used to work with a friend of one of the Kubrick daughters. If I give Haze a try and Christiane is singing at the end I'm gonna pass on my disappointment ;)

But will definitely give it a try. Valkryia I looked for today - enjoyed what I played of it in the past but need to give it a proper try again.

@fredchuckdave Peacewalker I'm enjoying in short bursts, though got a little carried away filling my roster so need to invest in some better recruits! Vanquish I loved so may try Bayonetta if the bugs are finally fixed, got Anarchy Reigns sitting in the pile as well.

Did have a feeling that the cost of modern development was gonna be a hindrance compared to the previous generations but great to already some fantastic suggestions that had slipped my mind :)

• Nier - a game with an awesome story and background, a good art direction and varied and functional gameplay
• Alice: Madness Returns - an awesome and inventive game
• Catherine - an adult puzzle game with a mature story about relationships, aging and maturity
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - a cell-shadded japanese rpg, whose graphics were created by Studio Gibli
• Bulletstorm - a creative first person shooter with an interesting plot
• The Darkness - a first person shooter with a fantastic story
• Silent Hill: Downpour - a survival game with an awesome and metaphorical plot and the most expansive Silent Hill town
• Alone in the Dark - a survival horror game with some interesting and innovative concepts like its inventory system

Silent Hill: Downpour worth a shot then? Silent Hill 2 is still one of my favourite games of all time so may look at that.

Nier I quite liked - that's the one with the fishing and the pretty expansive areas to run around in? Enjoyed it but had to sell my PS3 for rent a fair few hours in. May give that a go after I get back to Ni No

Dark Void: broken but mildly interesting. Not everyday you play a jetpack based game.

Valkyria Chronicles of course. Also, I played The Unfinished Swan without knowing much about it and was blown-away.

...Tokyo Jungle's pretty good.

Folklore

I don't really have much to add that hasn't been said.

I would say Valkyria Chronicles and Folklore are the closest things to hidden gems on the system. Alice and Nier are also both decent choices. Haven't played it myself but I've heard that Resonance of Fate is pretty good. And I guess if you count Demon's Souls as obscure then I'm really enjoying that. Just got it from PS Plus. Lastly, I'll second Vanquish. One of the best shooters of all time. Shame it wasn't more successful.

I know this isn't hidden or obscure or anything, but did you play the first InFamous? I really liked that one. I haven't yet gotten around to the second game, but I loved the first, even though it was far from perfect.

The inFamous games are my favorite games of this generation. I recommend you pick up the collection.

Resistance 3 is one of the most underrated games of this generation, and it has a different protagonist from the first two so it is perfect for jumping into.

The Starhawk single player can be downloaded off PSN for like $20 and it has a kick ass sound track with fun gameplay. Also it is about SPACE COWBOYS!

Heavy Rain is fun if you haven't picked it up yet.

As is LittleBigPlanet 2.

Twisted Metal has FMV cut scenes like no other game this generation.

I'm going to be the guy that suggests Journey.

there is a lot of insane japanese stuff on ps3 that i personally love but not im sure if they are recommendable.

3D Dot Game Heroes. White Knight Chronicles 2(Comes with 1 in the US). Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, Resistance 3(Yes, it was near triple A, but it didn't seem to get the public credit it probably should have) are a few lesser known games I could think of, although Demon's Souls is probably more well known now.

For more bizarre fair, Disgaea 4(3 is good, but 4 is likely the most rounded). Ni No Kuni is also fantastic.

Way of the Samurai 4, havn't seen anyone cover it.

Prince of Persia(2008) was gem that got a lot of hate and seems to be forgotten now. I really enjoyed it for what it was.

PS Plus is a good option like someone mentioned, I'm discovering games all the time that I wouldn't have thought to try otherwise.

Yeah, loving Playstation Plus and the games that show up. Obscure japanese games I'd love to hear more about but I've sadly already got the Souls franchise and Tokyo Jungle well under my belt... Did always fancy a Disegaa game though and loved the earlier Way of the Samurai games so need to find 4

yakuza 3 . 4 and dead souls.....better yet dont play dead souls

The ones listed so far are pretty good - I'd like to add Fight Night Champion to the mix :)

Even if you're a casual boxing fan you'd probably enjoy it - you can play a pretty good story mode, or build up the career of an existing/past boxer or make your own (with your own face too)!

@mijati: Maybe Rage? That also had a ton of hype that led up to a fairly "meh" response. The game was $20 in like 4 months.

Holy crap, been playing Way of the Samurai 4 - lots of fun but it's like someone gave a 5 year old a crayon and asked them to guess what happened in Japan when the English turned up... Just properly bonkers

There were a few games last gen that failed just as miserably (Blinx, Brute Force) But I cant think of any this gen besides Lair that were that forgettable.

OT: If you want a couple of janky hack & slash games there's Genji: Days of the Blade & Heavenly Sword. Both have interesting ideas but dont quite pull off the gameplay part. If you havent played the Wii version there's also No More Heroes: Paradise, although I dont know how that game plays without motion controls.

I also enjoyed Nier, Dead to Rights: Retribution & Alpha Protocol which were all recieved quite poorly. Enjoy!

Is Mirror's Edge considered an hidden gem? Although it is very well known, it isn't considered a triple A title.

So..., you know, check it out. Can be a bit frustrating at times, but when you get going, you really get going.

Silent Hill: Downpour is great. It has the most expansive Silent Hill town in any game, sidequests that flesh out the town, an interesting and dark plot (in the vein of the first four Silent Hill games), good exploration, fair combat... Try it if you are a Silent Hill fan.

Another game I played and I find it awesome is Okami HD. Great graphics, good gameplay, interesting characters and plot.

I actually liked enchanted arms. It wasn't a ps3 exclusive, it was on xbox too but I played on ps3. I still had a lot of fun with it and need to get another copy. I always mistake blue dragon for it and when I put blue dragon in I get sad.

3d Dot Game Hero.

Are just looking for hidden gems on the ps3 or just in general? Screw I'll just anwser both.

Folklore

Valkyria Chronicles

Demon's Souls

Resistance 3 (through well known, no one really talks about how excellent the game is)

Nier

Alpha Protocol

Mirror's Edge

Renansance of Fate

Prince of Persia (2008)

Little Big Planet 2

asuras wrath, demon souls, dark souls, mgs4, noby noby boy, journey, idk those are the ones im enjoying as a new ps3 owner.

i think the uncharted and god of war and resistance and little big planet games are trout shit

so dont play those

Thanks again everyone - enjoyed some really bizarre and fun experiences thanks to this thread. Gotta say though, in the end, just made me decide to go for a PC rather than wait for the next generation.

So dipped into some inheritance and the new PC finally turned up. Much as a loved the PS3, the wealth of kooky, cool, crazy shit available for next to fuck all on steam, and on other services, has just blown my mind... at least for me, definitely the way to go.

Just can't see the next generation doing anything other than making strange, odd games even harder to find on console, sadly.

If you're still open for suggestions, I've heard good things about Enslaved. I haven't played it so hopefully someone who has can chime in, but it might be worth a look anyways.

PC's definitely a good choice for random weird games though

Sonic 4 Episode 1

@jarowdowsky: Details!

I haven't played the remake of Siren, but the original's one of my favorite PS2 games.

Good thread with some great responses.

I'm going to throw Birds of Steel and Alice: Madness Returns into the mix.

Yakuza 3 is reaaal good. I actually prefer it to 4. CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS

A bit of a late suggestion as well, but HDfied Oddworld - Stranger's Wrath was really fun on PS3.

@jarowdowsky:

My vote goes out for Dragon's Dogma : Dark Arisen. After some *growing into its quirks*, it's the damn best console RPG of this generation - at the very least in terms of breath and depth of gameplay, and how well its balanced. It's also the game with the most effective and atmospheric lighting to date.

My tip to you. Don't take any sidequests from the job boards. Focus on the main storyline, and on just exploring the world and fucking shit up. There's a proper *endgame* to this to, with two challenging dungeons (Everfall and Bitterblack Island) - Bitterblack Island being Dark Arisen exclusive, and about 1/3 the size of Dark Souls and just as good - albeit a bit more forgiving (and it plays smoother).

btw. hurry up with your purchase, Dark Arisen was a very limited print.

@fredchuckdave: About the PC, the odd games on PS3 or the new stuff on PC? Whatever you'd like :)

@seppli: Didn't get to Dark Arisen but I do like how conflicting the views are on it, always a pretty good sign of a game with something different to offer. May try it at some point but hell, the PS3 just feels like it take forever to do anything these days after even a short bit of time on the PC ;)

And thanks for the other suggestions, enjoyed Birds of Steel (love me some third person action flying!) and Strangers Wrath and currently got a save of Yakuza 4 I'm working through. May give 3 a try again sometime in the future but right now still coming to terms with the hostess stuff... I mean, they aren't fucking these guys for money are they? Early on am I basically recruiting homeless women into prostitution then doing their make-up to make them more attractive to fat, rich, businessmen?

Hell, now that's the kind of odd game design that grabs your attention!

Enslaved is great by the way @chibithor - I'd recommend picking up a cheap copy and giving it a try, can only be a couple of quid on ebay these days?

@jarowdowsky:

Dragon's Dogma breaks the mold, that's one thing for sure. Especially when it comes to gameplay. Every base vocation (class) type plays very differently. It takes some time wrapping one's head around every control scheme they've cooked up for the different classes, but once one does, controls work nearly flawlessly. It's also full of quirks and odd systems, and lots of stuff outside of the core gameplay and worldbuilding (which is what is executed brilliantly) - stuff like UI and quests and such, are what are flawed.

At first I said, it's the rare kind of game that's quite shitty at first glance, almost too much to bare - but the truth of the matter is, its core is pure gold, and the process of discovery is getting through just enough of a layer of shit to ward off many from ever *getting it*. If you do however, it's like the hottest shit you can play, if you are into all things RPG in general. Thing is lots of the shit doesn't matter to me anymore, because it can either be ignored, or there are systems in place, that *fix it* in time (like quicktravel evolving from non-existent to *just right*).

You haven't lived, if you haven't stared in a monster's glowing eyes staring at you out of the pitchblack night.

Speaking seriously though, I heard that the update Sony and F5 put out like 6 months after release basically fixes a lot of the issues that people had with that game. You can use the actual controller buttons and sticks instead of SixAxis and they made tweaks.

Honestly, I adore Valkyria Chronicles, you cannot fault that game in any way!

Asura's Wrath, Vanquish, Shadows of the Damned, Yakuza 3/4 and Hot Shots Gold are amazing and often overlooked too.