What's Your Favorite B-Tier Game Of Past Generations?

There's been alot of talk about how the B Level Titles have rapidly gone away from this generation. I kinda miss this because while certainly not perfect, there were some decent games that came out at a lower price point or unpolished as compared to AAA projects. A couple of my favorites were I-Ninja, the Destroy All Humans games, Dark Sector,Shadow Of The Dammed, and I'm not sure if it counts cause it's a licensed property but The Simpsons Hit & Run and The Simpsons Game (2007).

So what were some of your favorites?

Darksiders 1 and 2 if that counts

Persona 4

Remember Me. That's kinda non-AAA right? Does Sleeping Dogs count?

If Shadow Of The Dammed (via EA and a studio that's got over 100 people to put onto projects) counts then I'm pretty sure you can make the argument for anything.

Definitely think Remember Me deserves to be up there if we're just making a category for stuff smaller than an Assassin's Creed development effort but bigger than a typical (under 10 person, very limited external funding) indie project.

Deadly Premonition.

Binary Domain was the first one that popped into my mind. Gameplay had problems and the story wasn't always great, but man, that thing had some ambition and almost delivered on it.

The Witcher might actually count as well? I feel bad putting it there as it's one of my favourite games of all time, but it is has so many rough edges I definitely wouldn't call it polished.

Singularity deserves a mention too.

Binary Domain & Vanquish

Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth was in many ways a B or maybe C tier game, if that sort of thing exists. But, boy did that game have some great atmosphere. I still think it's one of the best horror/survival games ever. If only the PC port did´t crash all the time!

I don't think I know what qualifies a game as B-Tier. Does Bayonetta count? That's just one of my favorite games ever. Same with Journey. Asura's Wrath comes to mind as a neat thing. I adored the original Witcher in spite of it's problems. Mafia 1/2 were awesome. The Trials games are cool. And I do like me some Torchlight and Titan Quest, even if Diablo heavily overshadows those games. Never got into PoE for whatever reason, art mostly I think.

I would say Drakengard or Nier, but I think my appreciation for Yoko Taro is mostly masochistic.

• Double Dragon Neon
• Binary Domain
• Ni No Kuni
• Bayonetta
• Folklore

Binary Domain and Nier if those count? The definition of B-tier is pretty vague, and shouldn't really be a negative thing. If that's the case then those are two really cool stories, except Nier makes me want to die

There's probably some more I can't think of right now, (and a few already mentioned in here I would not say are B-Tier games, Bayonetta is not a B-Tier game guys) but I would hold up Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Quite enjoyed that one. Good shooting, solid story (even though it had goofy dialogue and all), and a fun Western world to move through.

Binary Domain seems like the best fit. Totally average, but really endearing anyway.

Remember Me. One of my favorite games of all time. I think that game did a lot of incredible things. The combat was divisive, but I had a blast with it. The music was stellar. The setting while not entirely unique, truly felt like a real place. I thought it looked great, both stylistically and in a technical sense. Again, while not entirely unique, I thought the story touched on a lot of fun concepts and ideas, especially how Nilin wrestles with the idea that maybe she is "the bad guy" so the thought of getting her memory back starts to scare her.

That's a thing a lot of stories involving amnesia seem to conveniently ignore. Characters always assume what they're doing the right thing even though they don't have the full picture. To be fair, Remember me doesn't explore the concept too much, but I appreciate how they handled it nonetheless.

I'd have to add Folklore to that list as well. It's still a pretty unique game even by today's standards. Had a great story too.

Anarchy Reigns might have one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. The gameplay was great. It's Platinum-style characters with Platinum-style combat beating the fuck out of each other? What's not to love? The story mode was fun, but the focus was clearly on multiplayer. It was somewhat jarring at first, but once you embrace the absolute chaos, it's hard to put down the controller. That said, again, the music was just too good.

Dragon's Crown and Muramasa - Ah, Vanillaware, we don't deserve you. Your beautiful art is too good for us mere mortals. Also, I love that every game is something new and interesting in terms of gameplay. As much as I would like an Odin Sphere/Dragon's Crown/Muramasa/Grim Grimoire 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, I love that they make one super unique thing then move onto the next.

I have never understood the talk about there being a disappearance of B-tier titles. They are my favorites, and there are plenty of them, if you go looking. I tend to think that some of the indie scene supplements the B- and C-tier niche, as well.

As for my favorite B-tier stuff, now and forever my answer has to be Earth Defense Force - any and all of them.

Lords of the Fallen probably slots into this. Aside from being this generation.

@whitegreyblack: Yeah I was gonna say EDF but looking at some of the games in this thread I have no idea what's considered a B tier game anymore. A lot of these seem pretty A comparatively.

• Wasteland 2
• Saints Row The Third
• Saints Row IV

Binary Domain and Bulletstorm for me. Two games I had minimal interest in, tried on a whim, and fell in love with.

EDF 2017 for the Xbox 360. Played that game a ton - got a bit obsessive about getting every weapon. Listened to a good percentage of the back catalog of Bombcasts while playing that game.

I guess it depends on your definition of "B tier", but I'd probably say Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. It is exactly the kind of mid-tier JRPG I've missed so much this gen.

Anarchy Reigns. That game could have been so cool if the publisher didn't torpedo it on every single level. Actually lots of Platinum stuff - Vanquish, Metal Gear Rising, etc.

Some of the games people have listed here are super not B-tier.

I always thought Space Marine was a B Tier game. Absolutely a favorite of mine.

I have a copy of Vanquish I think, Lords of the Fallen died of a unrelenting fatal bug for me.

But 2 mentions of Shadow of the Damned in as many days makes me want to play that game so much

Another vote for Binary Domain. I believe Vinny is the only Giant Bomb staff member who ever played it, and I think it's lame that no one else bothered with it; I'm convinced they would've found it way more interesting than a Gears of War 7, for example.

The ending was fantastic, and I'd love a sequel, but the game didn't exactly tear up the sales charts, I assume. Plus, Nagoshi-san already has his hands full with Yakuza 15.

PS2: Shadow of Destiny

X360: Condemned, The Darkness

Nier is the best video game ever made, but I guess no one else thinks this so it's B-Tier.

Binary Domain and Resonance of Fate are great too

Earth Defense Force 2017.

Adding anarchy reigns to my list, super underrated game that too many people overlooked.

Deadly Premonition and Persona 4

I thought of another one I would consider a B-Tier game: Viking Battle for Asgard. It was ahead of its time in a lot of ways actually, as far as melding open world and beat em up type action. Really repetitive but I quite enjoyed it.

Demon's Souls. Still more interesting than its bigger, browner successors, in my opinion.

I thought the online stuff in White Knight Chronicles was pretty cool, wish the servers would have stayed up longer.

Easily Eeadly Premonition, but B tier might be generous for how rough the combat is. Story and mood make up for it in my opinion though.

Big Bo: "That was SWEEEET!"

God Hand.

I also would say this one, a good video game rental. The short story sorta sucked but the huge action sequences with all of your troops were really fantastic for the time.

Just a reminder that when using terms like AAA and B it's usually in regards to budget, not how much you like a game or how polished you think it is.

@ezekiel: Funny to look at it that was but I suppose when you ignore the monster the Souls series has become, Dark Souls would probably fit here.

That said, Nier is the best. Damn, Nier is so good. I'm gonna have to dig out my PS3 and play Nier again now.

If Dragon's Dogma counts as "B Tier" then I'll go with that, though I can't really name any game that could have been directed by Ed Wood.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Shadow Warrior 2. I am really having a good time with this game. Ran out of juice, at least for the moment with Mafia 3, and shadow Warrior 2 was the pull.

I really enjoyed Brutal Legend and Max Payne 3

That is definitely not a B-Tier game. The production values were crazy, huge budget, spent forever in development, big franchise, and was put out by Rockstar.

Deadly Premonition. Oh and I remember having a good time with that Bound By Flame game released awhile back, it's made by those Spider guys. They seem to really want to make something epic but they just don't quite have the means.


EDIT: Oh and the people mentioning Binary Domain, thats a quality shooter with a lot of heart. Really enjoyed it.

@tothenines: Fuck Yeah! Bound by Flame is the quintessential "B" game. It had heart, gameplay that was just good enough and a narrative that was absurdly archetypal but fun.

@artisanbreads: And it was fucking awesome as a game all-around.

That and most of Clovers games, you could tell they were low(ish) budget experiments but they all had heart even P.N.03 paved the way for Vanquish in it's own weird way.

I dont know if i'd classify Platinum's games as "B-Tier" though. Unless you consider anything that isnt AAA or indie B-Tier. (it's a pretty nebulous term I guess)

I also liked the Dead to Rights series of games, they were dumber versions of Max Payne but you had a dog which could tear dudes up.

EDIT: I suppose the games PG put out for Activision could be considered B-Tier. Transformers Devastation was the only one worth a damn though.

Binary Domain, Vanquish, weird fit but Wolfenstein: The New Order because it totally felt like a AA release despite the pedigree.