As the seventh console generation comes to a close, I've been looking back over all the "Best Games of the Generation" lists to see if there are any important games that I just never played. I think, for the most part, I'm pretty good. The only blemishes on my record are that I never played Heavy Rain and Dark Souls. Of course, I haven't played EVERYTHING; I know that the GTA and Elder Scrolls games are really great, but they just don't appeal much to me.

So I thought I'd ask: are there any games that you absolutely adored this generation that a good chunk of people might not have gotten around to? Whether they're personal favorites that aren't for everyone (BIT.TRIP COMPLETE!) or really important industry-defining games that might not have gotten as much attention as they deserved (Spelunky?). Obviously we've all played Super Mario Galaxy and Bioshock; I'm looking for the Lost Odysseys (was that game any good?) and Burnout Paradises of the past generation.

To start off, I'll throw in Rhythm Heaven Fever. I think Guillaume said it once on the podcast: that game is a thirty-dollar disk of pure joy. And it isn't even thirty dollars anymore! You can get it for dirt cheap! Seriously though, this might be the single most fun game I've ever played. Not everyone will adore it as much as me, but if you've ever been into rhythm games or WarioWare, definitely check it out. I guarantee it will make you smile.

Your turn! Best overlooked games of the past generation? Anything goes.

@Shadowlink

Tim going for Pest of the Year: 2013 after hoisting the 2012 and 2011 trophies. Incredible.

@Zero Totally agree, in fact I prefer the Wii pointer to a touch screen since I don't have a stylus junking up my hand and can still freely use the buttons.

@Mr_Mustache I was being facetious! In my very first post in this thread I said something about not thinking there even is a such thing as a game EVERYONE should play. So my list was more like... these are awesome games that not many people played... whether everyone should or not is up to them I suppose.

@Mr_Mustache

Sigh.

Right, because only you're allowed to tell people that they should play stuff. If Zero does it, feel free to get on his case about it.


Mustahce going for Hypocrite of the Year:2013 after hoisting the 2012 and 2011 trophies.


Not really incredible though, it was a field of one.

@Zero

So facetious that you follow it up with "don't take it personally," etc.

I have no idea why you skipped Muramasa.
If I had to pick one game from Wii that EVERYONE should play, thats it.

@Shadowlink

Big difference between "you should play this" and "this game is better than your game."
I don't follow you around and post "____________ > Space Marine." Tell me how you would feel if I did that.

Furthermore, YOU didn't even PLAY. THE DAMN GAME!! UGH.
Zero played a few hours of it, almost hit the quarter pole; I actually FINISHED his game.

@Mr_Mustache I've told people a million times why I didn't play Muramasa, I played its precursor Odin Sphere and though I liked it, I didn't love it and it kind of got repetitive, so I wasn't hyped about another one in that series. And I know you don't want to hear this, but there are like a million awesome 2D games out right now... it's just that most of them are indie games or handheld games (or both.) Not that Muramasa isn't probably a good game too, but it's like... when you play indie games and handheld games, you have a ton of 2D options, so you can't play every single one that looks neat...

Also Zack & Wiki isn't "my game". I TOTALLY agreed to do a tit for tat we play each other's games no matter what we think about them thing with you... but you didn't want to because handhelds would be included. Can't blame me for that.

@Zero

I already played Zack & Wiki. I don't know why you're trying to convince me again.
And you signed up for Ogre Battle, but abandoned ship; had the stamina for ~70 hours of Pushmo though. Intriguing.

I don't know anything about Odin Sphere. I can tell you I've never played anything like Muramasa.
Is Odin Sphere the most beautiful game you've ever seen? Did it feel.."magical," too? If thats the case, why NOT play it again?

I heard people discredit Okami because of Twilight Princess. THAT makes no sense.

@Mr_Mustache Zack & Wiki isn't MY game though, I have no idea why you played it, but it has nothing to do with any you play this I'll play that deal we made, because the only deal I tried to make, you didn't want any part of! And Pushmo didn't take "stamina" because it was totally awesome and I couldn't put it down.

Muramasa is a spiritual successor to Odin Sphere. Same developer, same art style, same basic gameplay, etc. Odin Sphere is pretty beautiful, but the gameplay got repetitive over time.

Mr_Mustache said:

@Shadowlink

Big difference between "you should play this" and "this game is better than your game."
I don't follow you around and post "____________ > Space Marine." Tell me how you would feel if I did that.

About the same way I feel when Stephen keeps telling me games are better than Space Marine: Secure in the knowledge that A) He's entitled to his opinion, and B) That he's wrong .

Believe it or not, I'm a big boy. I can take it when my NW goons constantly tell me SW EU or 40K is garb. What I definetly don't do is sook about it and act like it's a personal insult.


Like just now when you got all cut up about his Zack and Wiki recomendation. For some reason you accused him of 'dinging' you? Seriously, WTF.

He had to tell you to not take it personally, because that's exactly what you were doing for some ridiculous reason.

I feel like Xenoblade is a game that more people need to play. It's so good. If only they published more copies of it. :( I really wish they'd just let us start buying Wii games off the eShop. I mean, why not at this point? Download a game, and when you click it it goes into Wii mode. It wouldn't be unlike how the 3DS turns into a DS when you click on a DSiWare game.

@Shadowlink But that's because deep down you know Expanded Universe is junk.

@PogueSquadron

It really is! It's a fantastic game.

Another game that gets a ton of love from everyone but may have been missed by some that came to mind to me today is The World Ends With You. Really great story and presentation. I even loved the gameplay too! The stuff it did with being able to set your level and difficulty was awesome.

Remember when they teased a sequel? Wonder if that's still happening. It'll probably use that crappy 3D art style that all the awesome hand-drawn DS games have switched to on 3DS.

@PogueSquadron

I've heard great things about Xenoblade, although I haven't had a chance to play it myself. At any rate, hopefully, Nintendo will have a proper marketing push and actually make this game available to the masses. With Nintendo finally doing digital downloads of full-retail titles on Wii U, I doubt we'll ever see a repeat of Xenoblade's poor availability.

@Secret_Tunnel Oh man, forgot all about TWEWY. That's a game that took a lot of gambles, and most of them paid off. I can see why a lot of people were turned off by the battle system: I mean, I loved it, but man was it hard to get a grasp on.

@Zero

You were the one that brought up the "you play this.." thing. I played Z&W last year for NewGameBer. I keep saying "I played that," because I played that. I played the entire game, and it doesn't suddenly become WAY MORE AWESOME than the rest of the game. The same problems are still evident, and the same perils that plagued the first 4/5 of the game affect the final 1/5 as well. Ogre Battle DOES change a little bit as it goes on, namely story, but also with different classes who do more damage, and hit more frequently. One of your issues was "why do my guys keep missing?" If you play Fire Emblem and your entire army is comprised of Myrmidons, I'm sure you'll see a similar problem. When you advance in both Ogre Battle and Fire Emblem, variety ensconces your corps, and you really get to dig into the strategy of it all instead of simply "why do my guys miss so much??" You shouldn't really hang your hat on Level 3 Fighters and call it a day. I know that, I tried to tell you otherwise, but your mind is already made up. Not much I can do about that (about both the game, and continuing on).

@Shadowlink

The EU is garb. I had a good talk about this with my Star Wars friend on Black Friday, and the things he was telling me that MIGHT creep into Episode VII are making me puke. If Boba Fett shows up....so help me......

Zero said it was a "thinker's game," insinuating that I didn't enjoy it because my mental capabilities aren't up to par, or something ridiculous like that. I know how you guys work, no need to lie about it.


EDIT- RELATED: Just checked the NW database, and "Zack & Wiki > Ogre Battle" isn't even true on Negative World.
9.1 for Ogre Battle (pretty good score), 8.4 for Zack & Wiki. Seems like its worth play.

@PogueSquadron I was actually thinking of mentioning Xenoblade. Despite all the glowing reviews and hype from Operation Rainfall, the game still didn't sell terribly well (partly due to the GameStop exclusivity probably), and it also had to battle the stigma of "Wii is dead" nonsense. I'm certain it was passed on by people who'd like it for one or more of those reasons.

@nate38 Interesting choice. I don't think Wii Play Motion has sold well so you're probably right that it's overlooked. It probably didn't help that it was packaged with a Wiimote Plus and there was no stand-alone version. There are a few stinkers in the package, but the other games are solid enough to make it worthwhile.

@Mop it up

Honestly, that's why I still haven't played it. I had honestly lost all interest in the Wii after that massive drought. I think the last game I had bought before Xenoblade (which I bought on launch direct from Nintendo on April 1st or 2nd, 2012 if I remember correctly) was actually Donkey Kong Country Returns on November/December 2010. If memory serves me right, the only noteworthy games released for Wii between DKCR and Xenoblade was a lackluster Zelda and a solid Kirby game that I wasn't particularly interested. There was also a solid Rhythm Heaven game. Nevertheless, that was it for a good 16 months from Nintendo. And of course for about a year there was nothing on the horizon. Of course the real kicker was that no third party was on board so the Wii just quietly slipped down, and started to collect dust from gamers who would probably pick it up if they had more of a reason to.

@Mr_Mustache Hmm, the way you worded it though made it sound like "Zero couldn't even finish my game though I totally finished his!" As if you did something for me that I didn't do for you or whatever...

Mr_Mustache said:

Zero played a few hours of it, almost hit the quarter pole; I actually FINISHED his game.

I said it was a thinker's game because it's funny to say that... and the whole KILLING PROSTITUTES thing made it obviously a joke and not meant to be taken seriously to me, but I suppose you still took it seriously?

As for the ratings, we both know that if the other people who bailed on Ogre Battle actually rated the game it'd be rated lower. But we have already had this conversation.

@Zero

Some of it sure. The Crystal Star? Barf.

But the best parts of the EU? Thrawn Trilogy? X-wing Series? New Jedi Order saga? Awesomesauce. Better than the prequel trilogy. And probably better than whatever canon-defiling travesty the new movies are going to unleash too.

Mr_Mustache said:

@Shadowlink
The EU is garb.

And you are wrong. No amount of silly cherry-picked out-of-context examples from Wookiepedia will change that.

Actually read some of the stuff I recommend. Then we can talk.


In the meantime I promise not to get personally offended by your (currently) woefully uninformed opinion.


As for the Zack and Wiki stuff...

Zero said it was a "thinker's game," insinuating that I didn't enjoy it because my mental capabilities aren't up to par, or something ridiculous like that.

Er, because it *is* a thinkers game? That's what puzzle games are. The comment had nothing to do with you at all.

I know how you guys work, no need to lie about it.

Holy Persecution Complex Batman!

@Zero

The people that "bailed" on Ogre Battle didn't even give it a "college try." Sad. And even sadder is I know that people WILL NOT revisit the game, even though Pokefreak, for one, claims that he will some day as he enjoyed what he played of it. His words. I know you'll never be back, and you're perfectly fine with that. Stinks, brah.

@Shadowlink

What about The Crystal Star? Barf.

And you refuse to play a self-propelling SNES game; there is no way in Hell that I'm going to READ through a SERIES OF BOOKS for you.

It's not a "Persecution Complex" as you put it, but rather a proven track record. A lot of people around here say a lot of CRAP to me. Sift through the board at your leisure. Start with your personal posting history.