I’ve recently rekindled my love for Katamari Damacy and it made me wonder if there’s any other amazing cult classics out there that aren’t talked about these days. What are your recommendations?
Beyond Good and Evil.
Strongly recommended! It’s one of those rare games where you don’t want a “sequel” because there’s no way it would be in the spirit of the first game. Especially today.
Wouldn’t say no to a HD remaster though. That’d be nice.
(And I don’t think Beyond Good and Evil 2 is ever releasing)
I really don’t want “2” to be a thing. The “trailer” felt like an insult for using the Beyond Good and Evil name for marking. There was nothing about it that had the spirit of the first game.
If there ever is a remaster, then I hope it keeps the original artistic style. Lots of remasters get this wrong.
The rare instance where you can be grateful for development hell.
Dungeon Keeper, Red Alert 2, Unreal Tournament.
You’ve just described my childhood
A blessed childhood indeed!
I’m about to finish the main campaign on Dungeon Keeper, and I’ve tried the New Game+ Campaign with KeeperFX. What a blast I had when I was a child.
The last level on the campaign I’ve never beaten. It’s so horribly grindy!
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What game?
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Black and White.
The Age of Empires series, especially AOE2. There’s a nice digitally remastered version on Steam and I think it really holds up.
Wololo!
Age of Mythology was my shit growing up.
Absolutely. I’m about to jump into the third one, which from what I understand is basically a remastered version of 2 with more civilizations to choose from.
I’m not an oldschool AoE player, but I love how many people seemed to take an interest in history because of it.
Plus the way they made 3d models for the new sprites was neat! https://www.ageofempires.com/news/age-empires-definitive-edition-3d-2d-game/
That really is super cool!
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Jade Empire.
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.
Sid Meier’s Pirates.
Sands of Time was so cool. That series was flawed (Warrior Within was the emo-most game in an era full of emo sequels as the original audience reached adolescence), but I’m sad that it essentially got canceled by warping into AC.
Agreed. I was pretty upset that the series progressed the way it did and the third one…we just don’t talk about that.
Came here to say jade empire. I had completely forgotten about it until someone mentioned it in a post on another lemmy. I promptly found it on a rom site and loaded it on to my steam deck.
So much time spent playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! I think there was a remake that was faithful to the original with updated graphics, and it was great times. Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
I love games in that genre, they’re so endlessly playable. The Mount & Blade series is kind of like a more recent take on that same idea. And X4 Foundations is like that but in space.
That was such a cool game! I remember I had this really weird fixation on marrying the Governer’s daughter from Curacao.
Sands of Time has the most beautiful cutscenes, that was my favorite part of the game.
Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines. Dated, needs mods to run, but the fact that there’s still a community patch being made for it after all this time says a lot. Haven’t really heard much about it since the sequel crashed and burned, which is sad because no game has really given me the same atmospheric vibes. It was (is?) really special
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Nothing really captures the atmosphere of a good WoD game quite like bloodlines. The combat is, let’s face it, pretty dogshit, but the writing, worldbuilding, and especially the voice talent and direction are some of the best out there to this day. The game just oozes charisma and flavor, and the pacing of the main quest juxtaposed with the black comedy of so many of the side characters’ goings-on makes it the kind of experience that just pulls you in.
I know Bloodlines 2 will eventually release, likely sometime in the next 2-3 years because paradox just began to spin up their socials again, but even if it weren’t stuck deep in Devhell I get the feeling it just won’t have the same punch B1 did. Granted, B1 was just as rocky on its own day 1 and it didn’t pick up the cult following until well after release, and with the help of a dedicated, loving community that tore it down and rebuilt it from the ground up. We can only hope that community love is still here and willing to make B2 the best game it can be. Time will tell.
EarthBound for the SNES is one of my favorite RPGs. Very original for its time in terms of setting and battle mechanics. Also, Ness from Smash Bros. is in it!
Such a weird game! The artstyle and just the “weirdness” of it is out of this world.
I’m not a fan of turn-based battles, but this is one of the few games (including Chrono Trigger) where it’s legitimately fun. To this day I still think about it.
Have you played Eastward? Unless I’m mistaken Earthbound is part of the game and plot. If you like Earthbound you might like Eastward. I enjoyed it even having never played Earthbound but I’m sure I missed a lot of references / analogies.
I played Eastward and really enjoyed it, even though I thought the ending was bittersweet.
I’ve heard reviews compare it to EarthBound and I guess it reminds me of EarthBound stylistically, but plays more like Zelda or something.
There’s a game within the game called Earth Born that plays like a fast-paced Dragon Quest. It’s an interesting game. :D
Vanquish, best “cover” shooter that I’ve ever played, really wish it’d get a Switch port and that Platinum would revisit it.
Sliding around on jets, going into slo mo to hit weak points, vaulting cover and initiating slomo, it’s all so fucking fun and visceral.
Imagine if Bayonetta and Gears of War had a baby, and then that baby devoted an entire button solely to smoking a cigarette during a gunfight.
- Shenmue: Rereleased with a wonderful port on PC/Xbox One/Playstation 4 in 2018, it’s an investigative adventure game that takes place in a small town in Japan in 1986. The thing that sticks out to me about it is how unlike any other game in its class before or since, it feels like an authentic depiction of a regular-ass suburb from that period, from people who lived in similar places growing up.
- Freespace 2: Space dogfighting game that gets right to the point, feels intense, and while you’re there you find yourself in the middle of an excellent sci-fi radio drama. Holds up great today when you pair your purchased GOG copy with the fan-maintained Freespace Open Source Project engine. Joystick + Keyboard control recommended, but Mouse + Keyboard is fine!
I recently got a ps2 and all of the SOCOM games. I’m still working through the first game, but I think 2 was my favorite back in the day. It’s the only game I was aware of at the time that enabled voice commands to the AI, and the first one came out in 2002 I think. i wish they would reboot the series.
I’ve noticed tactical shooters have kind of sat on the back burner. There’s not a lot of selection at the moment. It’s a shame because they offer unique gameplay
I don’t know if Gothic 1 and 2 qualify as true cult classics or not, but clunky controls and interface aside, these are two of the best games I have played in my life. Gothic 2 especially. The game’s offer an atmosphere like nothing I’ve ever played. The soundtrack, themes, and overall color pallete provide this rich and stirring ambience that always manages to make me feel as though I’m exploring an ancient pine forest on a dark, rainy day. See for yourself.
You can feel the spirit of the entire franchise contained within the first two minutes of that audio track, perfectly encapsulated. It was an entire world apart and years ahead of its time. If it resonates with you, then these games are absolutely worth the initial difficulty of figuring out those ridiculous keyboard controls. But if you’re really struggling with them, just read up on the Gothic 1 storyline and then skip straight to Gothic 2. It picks up right where the first leaves off. You won’t miss a tremendous amount, and the controls and gameplay are infinitely improved. However, sticking G1 out long enough to figure out what you’re doing will make G2 far more rewarding when you reunite with various characters and revisit previously explored areas.
A studio is remaking Gothic 1, but everything I’ve seen of it so far is about as faithful to Gothic 1 as The Dark Tower movie was to the books. They’ve massacred it. So stick with the originals.
To latch on to this: the first Elex, a game by the same studio as the Gothic series, is, despite the average reception by critics, THE definition of a flawed masterpiece! So many things to criticize (too difficult early in the game, bad cut scenes, flawed combat) but the main focus of the game, the open world filled with tons of monster and people to interact with, is just great! I loved how exploration is encouraged and rewarded, how there are meaningful desicions and characters that can be killed off. The world is huge and all though the general atmosphere is post apocalyptic, the developer somehow managed to fit a middle age type fraction and a science fiction type (Clerics) fraction in to the game. Also smaller groups you can’t join.
Elex has a very special place in my gamer heart and all though I can’t flat out recommend it to everyone I would say if you have a soft spot for open world games that do not play like the average Ubi game and don’t hold your hand the whole time, I say: check it out, it’s pretty cheap in most places!
Is that the one where you draw signs in the air with your mouse in order to cast them?
I never played as a Bezerker - the fraction with magic - so I’m not sure actually!
I was thinking of Arx Fatalis. I could have just looked that up in the first place, but for a moment I forgot about search engines.
I don’t think it’s fair to call it a cult classic just yet since the game is rather recent, but eventually i think Kenshi. It’s a really fun game although very grindy and i’m not even sure which genre it belongs to. Also it’s very moddable to fit even more to your preferences. It’s been quite a while since i played it, but i’ll share a little story: I started the game for the first time and i wanted to make a “waifu squad” consisting of only women so i did. Worked my ass of mining copper and selling it in order to hire more ladies. Eventually my two ladies started to build a base near where i was mining copper and then one day, the “prayer day” (or whatever it was called) came and an army of crusaders came to spread the word of god. The bishop asked my main lady if there was any men in this settlement and of course i answered no there is none. To them it was blasphemy to not have any men in a settlement and the army slaughter my two ladies like it was nothing. Too bad i lost this save since i’ve gotten a new PC because i would’ve wanted to go on with my vengeance story, but maybe i’ll fire it up again.
It’s a really fun game although very grindy and i’m not even sure which genre it belongs to.
Absurdist sandbox?
It’s a game I’ve never managed to get into, but it can be rather wild to watch others’ antics.
Was the experience you described multiplayer or were those NPCs?
They’re NPCs. Not sure about mods, but the base game doesn’t have any multiplayer.
Skies of Arcadia. Two words: sky pirates. Coupled together with a beautiful overworld filled with hidden discoveries, charming characters, fun ship combat, and excellent music. You can’t go wrong with either the original Dreamcast version (higher quality music, VMU minigames) or the Legends remastering on the Gamecube (an additional story quest, less frequent random encounters - the original is somewhat relentless with these).
The original Leisure Suit Larry series, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Myst, Half-life, Doom, Quake, Lemmings, … For more fire up your retropie or recalbox on a raspberry pi.
