The forgotten gems of this generation

So we're coming to the end of the seventh generation of video games consoles. Obviously in november we'll see new IPs or continuing AAA franchises, but I was wondering "What about those small, B-tier games that we love so much? What about those early runners that are no longer with us but were still imaginative and fun? What about those original IPs that did not get another chance?"

So what are your forgotten gems of this generation?

EDIT: Wow, did not expect this thread to blow up this far. Anyway I compiled every game mentioned.

• 1 vs. 100
• 3D Dot Game Heroes
• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
• Alice: Madness Returns
• Alpha Protocol
• Anarchy Reigns
• Army of Two: The 40th
• Asura's Wrath
• Bango Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Battlefield 1943
• Battlefield: Bad Company
• Binary Domain
• BioShock 2
• Birds of Steel
• Blitz: The League II
• Bloody Good Time
• Blur
• Brink
• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
• Brütal Legend
• Bulletstorm
• Catherine
• Chivalry
• Chromehounds
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
• Condemned: Criminal Origins
• Crusader Kings 2
• The Darkness
• Darksiders
• Dark Souls
• Deadly Premonition
• Disgaea 3: Absence of Jusitce
• Divinity II
• Earth Defense Force 2017
• Enslaved: Journey to the West
• Eternal Sonata
• Fallout: New Vegas
• FarCry: Instincts - Predator
• F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
• Flotilla
• Folklore
• From Dust: An Elysian Tail
• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
• Half-Minute Hero
• Haze
• Heavenly Sword
• I Am Alive
• IL-2: Birds of Prey
• Kameo: Elements of Power
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
• The Last Story
• Limbo
• Lost Odyssey
• Machinarium
• Marble Blast Ultra
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Metro 2033
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
• MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
• Muramasa: The Demon Blade
• Nier
• Orcs Must Die!
• Outland
• Pandora's Tower
• Prince of Persia
• Resonance of Fate
• Rock Band
• The Saboteur
• Saints Row
• Shadow Complex
• Shadows of the Damned
• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
• Singularity
• Spec-Ops: The Line
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• Split/Second
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Super Paper Mario
• Syndicate
• Test Drive: Unlimited
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
• Torchlight 2
• Trauma Team
• Twisted Metal
• Valkyria Chronicles
• Vanquish
• Viva Pinata
• Warhawk
• Way of the Samurai 3
• World of Goo
• Xenoblade Chronicles

Does Nier count? I keep forgetting whether or not that game's cult fanbase is loud enough to be considered obnoxious.

In anycase, Nier.

Alice: Madness Returns was a real surprise and a treat. Something about it really brought back an n64 platformer vibe. Some of the levels were a tad too long, but overall I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Asuras wrath, that game took spectacle pretty much as far as you can take it i think.

Darksiders

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is a great game.

Way of the Samurai 3. I haven't had that much fun with a bad games since the ps2.

This was the game that immediately came to mind when seeing the thread title. Great game, great soundtrack. There are friends of mine that I wish would give the game a go and then invest themselves into the story through the game and then Grimoire Noir.

Bloody Good Time, you could hear the tumble weeds rolling through that lobby...

How did you feel of the 4th title if you have ever played it? I want to get into one of those games so I might as well play the latest, right?

Binary Domain and Alpha Protocol

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

it's still forgotten because shit all people played it.

(also you are totes correct)

Binary Domain is another one, but Nier is the big one.

I haven't played it yet, but it looks pretty similar to 3.

Chivalry

Yeah, 'tis a shame. Games like that and The Ship are great, but getting a good match set up is nigh impossible.

Kameo Kameo Kameo Kameo Kameo Kameo Kameo Kameo and Kameo

Valkyria Chronicles because as a friend put it, it's basically an evolved version of XCOM:Enemy Unkown. Also Resonance of Fate because it's stupid in all the right ways.

Is Resonance of Fate worth $20 on Games on Demand?

I really enjoyed Twisted Metal. Mainly for it's multiplayer(when it worked). I'd also put in Prince of Persia reboot(if that counts) and Valkyria Chronicles(even if I never finished it)

Disgaea 3. Incredible game, Still love it and I still get a smile whenever I think about it. 200 hours and $60 well spent on a niche title that nobody in the world cares about except me.

Can I say Metro 2033? Or did Last light put that game on everyone's radar? Either way it's a great FPS that doesn't prance around like all the modern shooters out there. It's unique, detailed and only cares about it's self, not what everyone else is doing / copying.

I'll second Binary Domain and Spider-Man: Web of shadows.

Binary Domain is completely nuts and I will never forget it.

Web of Shadows? I just really like it. ...Worst Spider-Man voice ever though...

@mcfart: As a disclaimer, I'm actually pretty early on in the game, but I feel I've played enough of it to say that it's worth $20. Be warned that the combat system is pretty complex, so it might take some getting used to, but it's really fun when you do.

Prince of Persia (2008) was a pretty cool game with lovely art, good character interactions and a light heart tone that was all ditched in Forgotten Sands not that FS was a bad game. The Condemned series was fun creepy horror that I wish Monolith would go back and revisit. Kameo: Elements of Power was an enjoyable game to play back when it launched with the 360 and I really would like to see a sequel to that game.

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation was probably the apex of its genre with its semi-open world levels and endearingly awful story. It's about six years from release and it's still a really great game, shame it was followed up by the disappointing Assault Horizon.

I really liked I Am Alive, although I admit it should have been better for its ridiculously long development.

I could reel off a whole bunch of Xbox Live Indie Games that got forgotten, but I really liked They Came From The Ground, and Soulcaster.

@mcfart: yes

Prince of Persia 08. Divisive but one hell of a fun little adventure.

• Singularity was somewhat low key at the time, but I really liked it.
• Prince of Persia 08 - Others have mentioned it, but was very fun and charming.
• Valkyria Chronicles was Xcom Eu before Xcom Eu.
• Lost Odyssey was one of my favorite Jrpgs this generation.
• Vanquish was just crazy fun.
• Dark Souls was somewhat niche due to it's rough exterior, but it's a gem for those who really got into it.
• Catherine - I only played a small portion of it, but it seemed pretty unique.

Brutal Legend, only because I bought it two years after release and never played the multiplayer because no one was ever playing it. However its single player content was excellent.

I loved this game. It probably is my all time favorite superhero game.

Banjo 3, Alpha Protocol and Viva Pinata.

Most of what I'd say has been said so I'll just ad things that haven't been mentioned.

• Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (The DLC is the high point for series. It went downhill after that)
• Warhawk
• Folklore

Dude, go back and finish it. Especially if you stopped where most people stop; the boss battle in chapter 7. Chapters 8-10 are so good and most people never make it that far. :(

Hey it's the Singularity topic for talking about Singularity.

Here's some

Singularity

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Trauma Team

Vanquish

Binary Domain

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Shadows of the Damned

Syndicate

Outland

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (the best FEAR game)

The World Ends With You

Syndicate, definitely Syndicate.

Limbo

IL-2 Birds of Prey and Birds of Steel

The Darkness

Geometry Wars

Enslaved

yep. I played that game for a 100 hours just because the combat system is so fucking good.

From Dust.

• Binary Domain
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
• Lost Odyssey

I'm just gonna add to what other people are saying and say Binary Domain again. A surprisingly great story, good shooting mechanics and beautiful art towards the second half of the game.

Lost Odyssey and Valkyria Chronicles.

Lost Odyssey was probably the best purely traditional JRPG this generation. It had an amazing story, that granted started to rush a bit in Disc 4 (yeah... 4), but it was a better Final Fantasy game than Final Fantasy. As for Valkyria Chronicles it was the best game this generation that nobody played. Amazing story, visuals, themes, gameplay, everything was amazing. I searched for a fucking month to get it and payed over retail price for a used copy, but it was completely worth it. It breaks my heart that it got so overlooked because it really was a gem in a sea of shooter shit.

Battlefield: 1943.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 1 amd 2

Blur was one of the best racing games of the generation.

@beforet: Hell yeah Nier! That's what I was gonna write. Other than that I'd say Singularity and Divinity 2 are both worth a look, their kind of ropy now but still cool.

Lots of good mentions so far, for my money:

The Darkness, Vanquish, Nier, Banjo: Nuts & Bolts, Brutal Legend, BLUR

edit: as a last mention, I just finished 'Dust: An Elysian Tail' and enjoyed the heck out of it.

Some of the most fun I had this generation was playing through Army Of Two: The 40th Day couch co-op. It probably sold pretty well, but I think it probably also has a reputation as some serious, generic bro shooter that it doesn't deserve. There's a bunch of silly fun to be had with it, the shooting feels waaaaay better than the first game and it has some interesting game mechanics, like the aggro system and fun weapon customisation that ties in to that.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Shu Takumi's games are basically what my DS is used for and while everyone knows the Ace Attorney stuff, I don't feel like anybody ever really talked much about Ghost Trick. I love it so!

Street Fighter X Tekken. It's weird that this game that they were banking on being a big deal as the merging of these two huge series would end up being what I would call a forgotten gem (lol gem) but it's kind of ended up that way. It suffered for quite a few reasons. Firstly, there was outrage about the DLC gems (gross), the on-disc DLC controversy, etc. It also launched with netcode issues and misguided design choices leading to excessive blockstun etc. The PC version also had lagged often months behind, which was shitty. Even looking so visually similar to SF4 and reusing some assets would have put people off. Whew, that's a lot of stuff. So it's really not hard to see why it turned a lot of people off, especially in this day of making snap judgements and jumping on bandwagons and then yelling loudly online. Capcom did come out with an extensive rebalance patch that covered the entire cast and it is now a very, very solid fighting game. It's a shame that it kind of used up its goodwill, because I think it's a really exciting game and it addresses a bunch of complaints levelled at other modern fighting games. The focus on footsies is huge. It doesn't have a super abusable comeback mechanic. The forward roll on wake-up make knockdown mixups less powerful and less mindless. It's still more of a Street Fighter game, but I do think it takes enough little things from Tekken, such as bounds or different states on some counter hits etc that it makes it something that can exist separately from Street Fighter 4. So it's a double bummer, really. For one, I think people are underrating something that is now a really good game. The reaction to it also has to have harmed the chances of Tekken X Street Fighter seeing the light of day, which sucks. I really want to see Street Fighter characters rendered in Tekken style and playing in that system. So ultimately, SFxT is a weird case that I will totally defend as a really good game, but you could make a case for disliking it that I would find hard to argue. You can only give the benefit of the doubt for so long.

I don't know about forgotten, but Vanquish. Probably my favourite game of the generation, still go back to it every few months.

Basically any game that doesn't have a sequel

Banjo Kazooie Nut's and Bolts, Orcs Must Die, Might and Magic Clash of Heroes, Super Paper Mario, Prince of Persia 08, and World of Goo jump out at me as being games that I forgot just how much I enjoyed them.

Weirdly I think Rock Band also kinda fits. Hey guys, remember Rock Band? That shit was fun.

@video_game_king:

Oh god I just noticed Fuuka and her backwards head.