Poll of the Day > What would you say is the most underrated franchise?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'ma go with Metal Max (Metal Saga). It only got one western release, but it is among the first open world JRPGs

---

BoxBoy!

---

Poor Monster Rancher had all of the ingredients for a mega hit, but it never truly took off. It managed to get in a lot for what it was, though, including *two* CCGs (even if one was a physical version of what was in a video game... and then the other was based on that awful anime).

And when you think about it, there really wasn't much reason for it to not succeed, except maybe just the fact that monster-trainer games tend to appeal to a younger audience and the MR mechanics were geared more towards an older audience (although the spinoffs should have caught some of them). Granted, at a surface level, the core concept *could* be compared to the original Digimon devices (which sought to cash in on the success of Tamagotchi -- Bandai's other product -- with something that could appeal more to boys), but Digimon as a franchise gradually became more like Pokemon (even when, hilariously enough, later on Pokemon's designs became more like what you might see in Digimon) -- with games going more the RPG route.

I can't help but wonder if the MR franchise had something closer to a traditional RPG, if the anime was better (or even just got better distribution), etc, could it have been at least as successful as Digimon? Instead, MR exists as this absurdly impressive also-ran which has some name recognition but is very frequently left out of conversation because, at best, it's a seen as a very distant third (if at all)


---

Medabots

---

edf

---

Zeus posted...

Poor Monster Rancher had all of the ingredients for a mega hit, but it never truly took off. It managed to get in a lot for what it was, though, including *two* CCGs (even if one was a physical version of what was in a video game... and then the other was based on that awful anime).

And when you think about it, there really wasn't much reason for it to not succeed, except maybe just the fact that monster-trainer games tend to appeal to a younger audience and the MR mechanics were geared more towards an older audience (although the spinoffs should have caught some of them). Granted, at a surface level, the core concept *could* be compared to the original Digimon devices (which sought to cash in on the success of Tamagotchi -- Bandai's other product -- with something that could appeal more to boys), but Digimon as a franchise gradually became more like Pokemon (even when, hilariously enough, later on Pokemon's designs became more like what you might see in Digimon) -- with games going more the RPG route.

I can't help but wonder if the MR franchise had something closer to a traditional RPG, if the anime was better (or even just got better distribution), etc, could it have been at least as successful as Digimon? Instead, MR exists as this absurdly impressive also-ran which has some name recognition but is very frequently left out of conversation because, at best, it's a seen as a very distant third (if at all)

Monster Rancher COULD be huge on Steam if your game library generated monsters based on their AppID

---

Shenmue

---

Return of the Living Dead movies

starting with 3 they arent good but the first couple are really fun horror flicks

---

Lokarin posted...

Monster Rancher COULD be huge on Steam if your game library generated monsters based on their AppID

It could be also be huge on Steam if they bothered putting it on Steam. Meanwhile they have a MR2 port/remake coming to the Switch and phones.

---

Forza Horizon

Up there with Dark Souls as one of the very best franchises of the 2010's. Forza Horizon 3 and 4 could arguably be the best racing games ever made.
---

The naked gun trilogy and police squad.

by all rights it is a series of perfect movies and perfect tv episodes.

yet for some ridiculous reason people put imperfect things like Star Wars or Indiana Jones Ahead of it. Both trilogies with lesser movies.

the naked gun should be recognized by congress as the best franchise ever.

---

Conner4REAL posted...

by all rights it is a series of perfect movies and perfect tv episodes.

yet for some ridiculous reason people put imperfect things

Oh lawdy

---

By the gamers or the studio?

Breath of Fire and Castlevania come to mind for the second.

---

By critics?
The Tales of Series in the west has generally scored very poorly due to it not being something that is desirable by a large portion of core gamers. I remember back when Abyss first came out a very well known gaming magazine gave it a middling 7/10 review despite the fact that it is one of the most fleshed out JRPG experiences on the PS2.

---

Destroy All Humans, TimeSplitters, Banjo-Kazooie, Mirror's Edge, Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning, Driver: San Francisco


---

Judgmenl posted...

I remember back when Abyss first came out a very well known gaming magazine gave it a middling 7/10 review despite the fact that it is one of the most fleshed out JRPG experiences on the PS2.

7 is not middling... Abyss is also the one I am awaiting a rerelease of the most, just so I can finally play it. I wonder why they skipped it in favour of Vesperia after Symphonia.

---

Nichtcrawler X posted...

7 is not middling... Abyss is also the one I am awaiting a rerelease of the most, just so I can finally play it. I wonder why they skipped it in favour of Vesperia after Symphonia.

Vesperia is one of the most popular in the series. Somebody stole my sealed copy of Abyss so I never had a chance to play.
---

Revelation34 posted...

Vesperia is one of the most popular in the series.

While I liked it, it probably was my least favourite of the 3d ones.

---

Nichtcrawler X posted...

While I liked it, it probably was my least favourite of the 3d ones.

Yea I really did not like Vesperia that much. It did not have any specific character that controlled well.


---

Katamari
Tales From Space: About a Blob
LocoRoco

---

Judgmenl posted...

Yea I really did not like Vesperia that much. It did not have any specific character that controlled well.

Yuri Destruction Field spam.
---

I guess Ogre Battle would be the most underrated. Why the fuck hasn't there been any new games?
---

Lokarin posted...

I'ma go with Metal Max (Metal Saga). It only got one western release, but it is among the first open world JRPGs

Hi there @Lokarin how's it going?

IIRC it got 2 actually. Metal Saga on the ps2, and something Neo on the ps4. I've played some of Metal on the SNES and PS2, and I gotta say they're pretty damn forgettable. They're pointlessly grindy as all hell too. Sure, there's a lot of mini-games in them, but from what I've seen they're nowhere near as interesting enough to justify the mass grind. That said, them existing isn't hurting anyone, so I wouldn't dare take them away from the people that love them, and it's not like I don't love a lot of really different games that I'd have a hard time finding reasons to recommend them to other people.

Anyways, it's not really a franchise perse, but it's hard to find people who are really into games made on an RPGMaker engine, even though it's been used to tell some of the most compelling stories with some of the most compelling characters I've ever experienced in anything.

Here's some of my faves!

ONYX

https://rpgmaker.net/games/29/

A BLURRED LINE v2.1

https://rpgmaker.net/games/92/

Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis

https://rpgmaker.net/games/272/

Final Fantasy: Legend of Balance

https://rpgmaker.net/games/7777/

Hero's Realm

https://rpgmaker.net/games/82/

The Way

https://rpgmaker.net/games/507/

and my personal favorite:

Three the Hard Way

https://rpgmaker.net/games/39/

If I were to recommend just three, I'd go with Final Fantasy: Legend of Balance, A Blurred Line 2.1, and Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis. My 3 personal faves are Three the Hard Way, Onyx, and Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis, but there's a lot of bullshit that you have to put up with them.

---

Fat Princess
Ristar
Gravity Rush

---