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.

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@Mr_Mustache

One crappy part doesn't mean the whole thing is crap. That's idiotic logic. We've been over this.

And I don't really care what you read. But don't expect me to give your opinion any weight.


And you say a lot of crap to people in return. Not that it matters here.

Here's the facts. Zero didn't insult you. You are imagining things. Stop whining.

@Mr_Mustache Well, yeah, but my point still stands... if everyone who did play the game actually rated it, it would be a bit lower in our database. Maybe some felt that they didn't play enough to rate it, which is fair enough, but doesn't really speak to the idea that it's a "true" 9ish game at Negative World either.

And I really didn't mean anything personal, it was more a facetious comment. Like when I rip on people for not liking Metroid Prime, and by people I mean Anand since he is the only one insane enough to not like Metroid Prime.

@Shadowlink Ug... calm down man.

@Zero

I'm calm. I'm just sick of the bullshit.

You really shouldn't get overly concerned about what Mustache thinks about what I say though. It seems like you're more concerned than I am, and I'm the one in the midst of it!

@Zero

It's not just you though. It's his general attitude across the entire board.

I'm tired of watching him dump all over everyone's stuff without the slightest inkling of what he's talking about, and then acting like a goddamn martyr every time anyone expresses an opinion he disagrees with.

Zero said:

@GameDadGrant Yes it does.

BUT... keep in mind this is coming from someone who likes consoles. YMMV.

The IR aiming makes an excellent "pointer" but I feel it lacks that tactile feedback one can get from a stylus. I feel I'm far more precise when I'm actually touching the screen I'm interacting with, rather than just pointing at it. Having said that, I do prefer IR aiming over dual analog. DA never felt "right" with me.

And hey, I like consoles just fine.

@Zero
@Shadowlink

Not to mention, I quite liked this thread for the first two and a half pages.

Did anyone say The Last Story? That's one that I regret never being able to play. If love to get surprised by that as a Christmas present.

@PogueSquadron

Nah, I have to get around to that too! I feel like it got overshadowed by Xenoblade. I was actually looking forward to the The Last Story more it they were both first announced, with the whole play on Final Fantasy's title and everything. Then people started to play the games and it turned out that Xenoblade was this amazing thing, and everyone kinda forgot about The Last Story.

I'm actually excited to play it at some point because I hear that it's definitely a much shorter game than Xenoblade and is paced quite well. I feel like I'm going to want a brisk adventure like that, because the games I've been playing lately just seem to keep going on and on and on.

@Secret_Tunnel I don't think The Last Story got overshadowed, many people here talked about playing it when it finally came out, myself included, and it released many months after Xenoblade. The Last Story just isn't that great, so there wasn't as much to talk about.

@PogueSquadron

I'm the same way, I prefer shorter games. Less fluff, more meat!

@Mop it up

Yeah, I've heard that it isn't that great. Actually, that reminds me, doesn't it have online multiplayer?

@Secret_Tunnel

You're right.

Back on track.


@PogueSquadron

I've got that. It's on my ridiculous backlog pile along with Xenoblade.Sigh.

@Secret_Tunnel Yeah, The Last Story has an online mode, both co-op and a free-for-all battle mode. Both are quite limited, so it isn't an aspect of the game that adds worth to it. In co-op, you and up to five other players take on one of several bosses from the main game. You have to use your own equipment though, so if you haven't beaten the game then you probably won't be strong enough to survive. It also doesn't scale the health/difficulty based on the number of players, so it's quite tough if you just have 2 or 3 players. I have never played the free-for-all battle so I don't know exactly how it works, but you still use your own equipment in that so if you don't have the best equips and have them fully-upgraded, you probably won't be able to win if you come across someone who does (and I'm sure most people do).

And to be clear, I do think The Last Story is worth a play for anyone interested, it just isn't genre-defining like Xenoblade so it doesn't get as much recognition as that game does. Both could certainly qualify as overlooked in general, though.

@Mop it up

Hey, The Last Story was a fun game. Fun action-adventure/RPG, with cool characters, great pacing, and very fun and unique battle system. The music was really great too, and arguably one of the best, if not THE best graphics on Wii. I enjoyed it far more than Xenoblade, actually.

Wait, you're not confusing The Last Story with Pandora's Tower are you, by chance?

@Secret_Tunnel

Who told you it wasn't that great? And why? I'm fairly surprised to hear (er, read) this.

@GameDadGrant I never said it wasn't a fun game, I beat it twice, and I can see why someone would prefer it to Xenoblade. It's a totally different game. But it definitely has its issues, like a terrible framerate and worse party AI than the Tales series, as well as several game-stopping glitches that will make you have to reload a save, among a few other problems. I thought the graphics were pretty plain too, definitely not even close to the best on Wii, but that's just a preference thing.

So Mafia 2, the game I mentioned, is on sale on Steam for $7.50. Again, highly recommended if you like 3rd person action games and games with a good narrative/characters.

The two games I have enjoyed the most that both seem to have underperformed and/or didn't do that well would be:

1) Mafia 2: This game is the shit. It got bagged on in a lot of reviews because the open world aspects weren't up to snuff with GTA however the game was never really meant to be an open world game. It just acts as a lot more interesting hub than a menu screen would be and lends some believability to the world. The characters, story, atmosphere and overall progression in this game make it one of my favorites of the generation.

2) HItman Absolution: Another gem a lot of people seem to have missed out on. By far the best Hitman ever made and I love the series. Great, atmospheric levels, tons of goodies to unlock, a minimum of fifteen hours of gameplay your first time through and achievements that actually make you want to replay levels to see how you could have approached each scenario differently. I know this board loves Perfect Dark because of the multitude of objects and small sandbox each level provided. This is like that times a billion. It's a great game that everyone should play.

Both of the games above can be had for sub $10 regularly on Steam. I highly recommend both.

@Mop it up

Oh ouch, you ran into game-stopping glitches? Yeah, that'd put it in a very bad spot in my mind too. Thankfully that's never happened to me...where did those glitches happen for you?

I never had those framerate issues either. Did we play the same game? lulz.

@GameDadGrant A lot of people noted the bad framerate, and some others ran into the glitches, so those things aren't just me. At this time I don't remember what they were specifically, but I posted about them in the game's thread so they could be dug up there. I agree with the other things you said, that the game has a good story, decent characters (they could use more backstory/purpose, but they have good interactions), pacing and battle system. Just has some issues to wade through to get to the goods.