Board 8 > Sleeper titles that are among your top ~25 games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Basically, games that are rarely talked about or received little recognition upon their release.

I don't have a ranking outside of my top 5, but if I think back to a couple of games sometimes and remember how great they were. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger and Furi are two that come to mind a lot. The gameplay mechanics in those felt so crisp, clean, and perfectly tuned.

Do y'all have any sleeper titles you're particularly fond of?

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Brigandine: Grand Edition, and Legend of Runersia
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass

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Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Dissidia 1&2


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Furi is great. I feel like I like Shank more than anyone else. And One Finger Death Punch.

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I guess the two La-Mulana games would count.

But honestly the majority of my top 25 would probably qualify as weird choices to a lot of people.


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lost kingdoms 2

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...^
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Steep
Infantry Online
Shadowhand

everything else is very popular

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None in Top 25 unless you count Suikoden II as a sleeper hit.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams is the answer for me concerning under appreciated and underrated titles though.

Blue Dragon

Silent Hill 3 (if you compare how much it's talked about to the more-regarded SH2)
Haunting Ground
Max Payne 3
Outlast 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Shadows of the Damned
Rule of Rose
Punisher '05

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Epyo posted...

Steep

So far, this is the only game mentioned that I have played myself. I thought it was a fun game, although it was very punishing if you were going for top marks on all the events.

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Probably the Utawarerumono games and The House in Fata Morgana? They have sort of a devoted following, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think they're often talked about even specifically within the visual novel community.

Maybe Hollow Knight also but I'm not sure if that counts as a sleeper or not.
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Sunless Skies is the only one that immediately comes to mind but I'm sure there are other indies out there that would qualify

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Goemon's Great Adventure

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I would say any main numbered Silent Hill game, Outlast 2, and Hollow Knight don't fit the bill. All are pretty well recognized by either fame or praise.


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Yeah that's fair I had debated including them myself.

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I feel like at least half of my list would meet that condition. I'd have a hard time deciding what, precisely, was on that list, though. If you're looking for recommendations, though, I'll suggest Renowned Explorers: International Society.

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I'm one of the twelve people who enjoyed Excite Truck

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Is Crypt of the Necrodancer a sleeper

I don't really have anything obscure in my top 25

Sheep007 posted...

I'm one of the twelve people who enjoyed Excite Truck

hey we got 2/12 here

i wish more games let you put in your own BGM from an SD card

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i'm not sure what exactly counts as a sleeper, and top 25 is tough, but games in the past decade or so that i think might qualify...

Furi
APE OUT
Nidhogg
Nidhogg 2
ECHO
Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami 2

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Shining Force is a game I basically never hear about. I'm not sure about much below my top 10.

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Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Papo & Yo
Octodad: Dadliest Catch
What Remains of Edith Finch

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Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Lost Kingdoms

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Solioxrz362 posted...

So far, this (Steep) is the only game mentioned that I have played myself. I thought it was a fun game, although it was very punishing if you were going for top marks on all the events.

Nice! Yeah I was surprised so few people played it, I thought it was a unique concept, had some marketing behind it, and was from a pretty big Ubisoft studio, but nobody I know IRL played it, even the people who play everything.

I'm guessing critics didn't like it, which makes sense, I mostly love it for the soothing atmosphere--the gameplay loop is not great, but fun, like you said.

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pyresword posted...

Maybe Hollow Knight also but I'm not sure if that counts as a sleeper or not.

it's as popular as FFXV here...!

also I know it's popular here but in terms of games that are obscure in the main, I guess I'd say Trails in the Sky SC and Trails of Cold Steel III

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banananor posted...

Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami 2

Johnbobb posted...

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

I think I'd preclude these games, although Hotline Miami 2 certainly didn't get anywhere near the recognition that the first one did. PS All-Stars may have gotten turned into a giant meme but it's definitely not a sleeper simply because of how well known it is. Maybe more of a hot take on that one.

BTW though Johnbobb, What Remains of Edith Finch was supreme and certainly one of the most astonishing games I've played within the last year.


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Perhaps not quite top 25, but if it counts, Jet Set Radio. That's the first that came to mind.

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Oh hey, luckily I just did a project about this and can pull up this info immediately on a whim!

23. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
18. Inazuma Eleven
5. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
2. Outer Wilds

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Probably not in my top 25 anymore, but Live a Live?

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Only Return of the Obra Dinn, I think

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Dark Cloud 2 is one of my favourite games of all-time, but I don't think it's particularly a sleeper title within this community.

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Rimworld

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Torneko: The Last Hope
Digimon World
Gimmick!

probably more, havent really sat down to think about what my top 25 actually is

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C&C Renegade.

Still haven't found a multiplayer experience quite like it.

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Oh this is probably borderline since it was beloved enough to get a big remake but Crash Team Racing

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Not sure if any of the below counts as a sleeper hit or if they'd even be a guarantee in my top 25 if I put a good amount of thought into making one, but here's ones I'd probably have to consider including:
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
The Last Window: Secret of Cape West
Jet Set Radio Future
Cross Code
Furi

Ghost Trick, The Longest Journey ,Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Radiant Historia, Shadow Blades: Tactics of the Shogun and Hotel Dusk are other games I really really like and would probs make my top 50 but probably not 25.

TheArkOfTurus posted...

Brigandine: Grand Edition, and Legend of Runersia

This. Brigandine is where I took my username from.

Some others...

Eternal Poison
Rondo of Swords
Destiny of an Emperor
Monster Party
Gun.Smoke

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Crash Team Racing's definitely there if it qualifies, but it was also a pretty big release, relatively speaking. I guess compared to what it should be expected to be quality-wise?

God Hand's also up there, though it obviously got a lot of attention for the opposite reason of "quality".

Kirby Planet Robobot probably fits the best, though. Good reception, but very much "another Kirby" to most, while I see it as the apex of the series from a single-player perspective and probably the best game of 2016.

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I don't know if I'd count CTR. Wasn't it, like, a top 20 PS1 game in terms of sales? And a lot of people, me included, think of it (or the remake now) as the best kart racer ever.

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Nier would've been my first thought before Automata and now the remaster - feels like it's been propelled into public consciousness with those.

Ghost Trick probably fits the bill best, despite being somewhat popular on this board specifically.

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CTR is way outside of sleeper territory.

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Civilization 1 is in my top ten.

I know it's already a lauded game, but I never see it in the discussion really

Solioxrz362 posted...

I think I'd preclude these games, although Hotline Miami 2 certainly didn't get anywhere near the recognition that the first one did.

yeah, at a certain point a "sleeper" can get the recognition it deserves and it doesn't qualify as a sleeper anymore! i guess it just transitions into cult classic

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Castle in the Darkness

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Chibi-Robo

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Other games that are possibilities (though none are that obscure):

Ghost Trick
Ace Attorney series (nowadays especially these probably don't count, but they've been on my list since not long after release!)
Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2
Dragon Quest V, VI, VII (maybe more valid before V and VI got an English release and DQVIII actually did pretty well in the west)

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probably at least 20 of my top 25 maybe even all of it

i haven't really got a clue what would comprise my top 25 though

i guess i can say what games by genre i know i like that don't get much talk

for fighting...
any ps2 ultimate ninja game and ultimate ninja heroes 2 on psp (i think there was a bit of an audience that liked ultimate ninja 3 specifically but otherwise not really anywhere near the reception i felt they deserved)
also the fatal fury games it's a shame basically nothing did plane switching since them besides classic ultimate ninja and people only really talk about the one game that didn't do it (even if it's also good)
super dragon ball z on ps2 (on merit of being the first and possibly still only 3d anime fighting game i can say i respect mechanically (also it's just got an especially strong arcade feel that somehow just outdoes most actual arcade games))
actually i take that back i also like neo aquarium's more niche systems i guess lol
umineko golden fantasia (and its prior iterations)
touhou 14.5 and 15.5 i know people really aren't kind towards 13.5 and onward but they were really fun and satisfying to play
acceleration of suguri games and really most shmup/fighting hybrids in general (the fangame acceleration of patchouli is a mess but also my favourite because of how well everyone plays in it (they're all broken lmao))
also recently stuff like wanba warriors though maybe i shouldn't say that since it sold way better than i thought... (100k copies on steam or so)

for shmups well
[insert any doujin shmup outside of touhou here (i'm largely biased towards vertical scrolling ones)]
in particular all of orange juice's shmups all reflect a lot of originality and creativity with clear identities
murasaki also does and is wild for an optionally freeware game
(also competitive shmups eg twinkle star sprites and again the shmup fighters)

i'm not great at them but i do enjoy getting absorbed into rtses so...
grimgrimoire ;_;
i know it didn't really do that badly but i wish rise of nations got more acknowledgment in relation to age of empires and stuff since to me it's just the best

i guess by definition most ds adventure games like ace attorney and all are sleeper hits but i'm not going to count any of that (hotel dusk maybe?) or 07th expansion vns either
that said, the narcissu series is cursed to always have mixed reception yet i adore it

ace combat games incl. sky crawlers (i know i shouldn't like it but)
armored core games (i need to try more of them...)

oh yeah, also solatorobo

and maybe fragile dreams too (ok probably wouldn't have it anywhere near my top 25 but i love it)

also some misc others i like would include rabi ribi (maybe more just raw indie rather than sleeper mind you, it did better than i thought it would on release but on the other hand i still wish it achieved more critically) and the super hook girl series and umihara kawase (might have fresh somewhere near my top 25... well, maybe somewhere in the top 50 at least) and hagane orchestra (secret best gacha game) and dbz attack of the saiyans (actually i should've had a rpg section oops) and the one piece jrpgs on gbc and riviera (never really got around to the rest of dept heaven...). also i have illegal levels of nostalgia for bomberman kart and while it super doesn't count i wish gran turismo got more respect these days too. the heydays pre-forza were when it was untouchable for a reason... (i really hope 7 leans in hard on the more game-focused structure it had back then with its career mode because i need that). lastly i just remembered this... color-based anime game i've been playing recently called white girl (lay off on the title remarks thanks). it doesn't have a ton of depth but it's a pretty novel real time digital card game (4 player) with a decent amount of variety/flexibility. quite unlike anything else i know of and has been growing on me just a bit

in general really just too much stuff since i seem to almost exclusively play things that don't get big attention for some reason. probably forgot some other things that mean a lot to me too but oh well

I have some, but I am not going to reveal them here since I plan to resume the Top 100 games from the B8 sports crew

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