Step right in and post your favourite niche games

When lack of inovation strikes, sequels flood the market, and players' rants hit the vent, niche games are a good way to ease the blood pressure.

So what are your favourite niche games?

Mine are:

• Nier
• Deadly Premonition
• Shadows of the Damned
• Parasite Eve

What about yours?

Disgaea

Anything by Platinum Games

@Video_Game_King said:

I think you know the answer.

Not Fire Emblem is it?

I like a lot of the games Xseed publishes.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Jeust: Did you not hear the opera behind me? I had to summon them myself to sing the praises of Fire Emblem.

ahah you quirky little devil :P

Super Mario World is pretty great..

Super Mario World is pretty great..

Robot Alchemic Drive!!!!

and Earth Defense Force 2017, i guess.

Actually, most anything Sandlot does.

Call of Duty.

All of them.

@Video_Game_King: Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt. Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities sharply distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs ambivalence.

• Dwarf Fortress, can't get more niche than that, and I love that thing, 
• Any roguelikes,
• Avadon.
• Demons souls
• Freelancer
• Morrowind
  
• Thief games
• Hitman games (not sure if this could be considered niche, well at least nowadays I think they could)
• HOMM series
• AoW Shadow magic (haven't played the other ones)
  

s@Video_Game_King said:

I think you know the answer.

Yeah. And it's pretty much my answer too. Also: Might and Magic.

I think I have a hard time what could be considered niche.

Earthbound is my favorite game of all time. Mother 3 is also very good. I have a slight grudge against the game, it's nothing personal, I just didn't like that I had to download an emulator, ROM of the game, and a english patch. I should of had to go to a store and buy a copy that was translated by NOA. Though I'm super happy I got to play the follow up to my favorite game of all time.

I really like Bayonetta and Vanquish. GodHand is also an amazing game that I bought during the summer. I was blown away.

I know MGS isn't niche (I think) but I really like MGS2, the black sheep of the series. I think it's story is brilliant, I like Raiden, and the gameplay is pretty enjoyable.

• Eve Online
• Anything by NIS, Compile Heart, From Software, Gust Corporation, Idea Factory, and Atlus. As a matter of fact, just go ahead and add anything that's by a Japanese company that most people would look at and go, "wtf?!"
• Railworks. All my friends think I'm joking, but I cannot express my fascination with this game. It's so much fucking fun and it's relaxing as shit.
• Anything from the Eastern Bloc (King's Bounty, Stalker, etc I guess Railworks fits in here too doesn't it?...)

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble and WWE ALL-STARS

Too Human.

Halo.

Gitaroo Man is up there.

Anything Suda makes

Suikoden, Wild Arms, Disgaea, Dark Cloud 1 & 2, Rogue Galaxy, Quest for Glory (not entirely sure they were niche, but they sure are now), Silent Storm, and just about any damn point and click adventure, turn-based RPG, or strategy RPG out there.

Ring of Red is probably my favourite SRPG ever, and I love the design of the mechs in the game.

Panzer Front was also real fun.

Also Rollercoaster Tycoon and the Football Manager series are also great.

Dwarf Fortress

Killer7

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. That has to be niche right? I'm a little confused to as of what is considered "niche"

@AmatureIdiot said:

Ring of Red is probably my favourite SRPG ever, and I love the design of the mechs in the game.

Also has a great alternate history setting and the bad translation adds something to the charm. I bought it two years ago, couldn't believe what I'd been missing out on.. Masami Von Weizegger is one of my favorite video game character names ever.

Commandos BEL, Commandos BCD, Commandos 2. Love those games!

Well, Valkyrie Profile is one of my favorite games of all time. I also enjoy the Fire Emblem series. The Ouendan games are my favorite rhythm games, and I love me some Megami Tensei as a whole.

IL2: Sturmovik. A decade later and I'm still flying on hyperlobby on a regular basis.
 

Pokemon Pinball

• Nier
• SMT
• anything Ice Pick Lodge makes (Void, Pathologic, Cargo)
• Stalker
• Metro 2033
• Zeno Clash

Structurally Wild Arms 4 and 5 had their shit figured out, unlike everyone else making JRPGs set in 1997 in perpetuity.

Also Front Mission 5 is probably the best game Square Enix (not Square, not Enix, SquareEnix) have ever made. Anything that taps into obsessive compulsion like that is bound to grab me, and getting everything to work on your Wanzer without exceeding the weight limit totally taps that. And its the first FM with people in the rooms and a story I gave a shit about, so there's that too.

In the same vien, Ogre Battle 64 was pretty great. Again, because of all the prepro that you do before the battle even starts. Its the same reason I love gambits so much (even in DA2), you set everything up before the fight and then see how it plays out.

Also, obligatory mention of Age of Wonders 2, maybe the only game of that genre I've truly enjoyed. I've played a lot of shitty games in the same vien of AOW2 hoping they'd tap into a similar experience. Hasn't happened yet. HOMM5 wasn't even close, Disciples 3 wasn't even close.

Also, how is it we live in a world with like 11 Mario Partys and only 1 Pokemon Snap? Its criminal.

Any old SNES game.

Deadly Premonition for sure!

Wow you people don't know what niche means.

Avadon

Mount and Blade

Fire Emblem

Disgea

The Harvest Moon games.

Space Station 13

@AlexW00d said:

Wow you people don't know what niche means.

Does it mean not listing any names and just bitching about everyone else?

Phantom Dust and Jedi Academy.

@Fajita_Jim said:

IL2: Sturmovik. A decade later and I'm still flying on hyperlobby on a regular basis.

Is there a specific flight stick you prefer? I've been thinking about an x52, but I'm unsure.

Does Shenmue count? I fondly remember a number of Mega CD games. Road Avenger Night Trap Sherlock Holmes. Plus on the Saturn there was D, Enemy Zero, Burning Rangers and the soon to be rereleased Guardian Heroes.

Ps3 Games don't count !! You guys are mean :(

@Fajita_Jim said:

IL2: Sturmovik. A decade later and I'm still flying on hyperlobby on a regular basis.

Is there a specific flight stick you prefer? I've been thinking about an x52, but I'm unsure.

@Juicebox said:

Ps3 Games don't count !! You guys are mean :(

There are some pretty niche PS3 games, actually. Disgaea 3 and 4 among them.

@Hailinel said:

@Juicebox said:

Ps3 Games don't count !! You guys are mean :(

There are some pretty niche PS3 games, actually. Disgaea 3 and 4 among them.

Stuff like Noby Noby Boy and Katamari would apply, too. And Demon's Souls is a niche game that just managed to get noticed in the mainstream, somehow.

Space Sim: FreeSpace 2 (Volition)

Mech Sim: MechWarrior 2 (ActiVision)

Flight Sim: F-22 Air Dominance Fighter (DiD)

@ryanwho said:

@AlexW00d said:

Wow you people don't know what niche means.

Does it mean not listing any names and just bitching about everyone else?

That's super ironic coming from you. Anyway, I don't have any niche interests that I have to fulfil with video games. But if I have to answer: that farm simulator game.