I'm not talking, Reddit approvals or top 10 pages on IGN. I'm looking for "Probably 1000 people have played it at the most, but almost all of them think fondly of the game."
Planet Laika got a translation. It's a janky game, but its story is pretty unique for being a ps1 game. But in terms of people who know it it's obscure even by standards of the country it came from.
 Nothing Ever Happens Shirt $21.68 |
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Nothing Ever Happens Shirt $21.68 |
Palworld is better
i can't believe this is what this looks like at a higher resolution
Worlds
https://store.steampowered.com/app/304850/Worlds/
>It's actually good
Was not expecting a good choice on the first attempt. Thank you, anon. That actually looks like a fun game. Wishlisted for later.
It goes on sale for like $2 pretty often; just keep in mind that being a 2016 unity game means that there's a few weird bugs here and there that might warrant a restart. Don't have a controller plugged in.
I noticed that in the reviews. I don't mind that at all. I've enjoyed 2077 on launch despite it being a shitfest of glitches.
>BENICE
I actually bought this when it was recommended some months ago, and it’s pretty cool. I should play it more.
I enjoyed this for a while but got hard filtered by the puzzle segments and fell off of it
I enjoyed the devs other game, The End of Dyeus, more
Vangers
>Vangers
>Another actually cool one
This has potential to be a great thread. Wishlisted.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/961660/Nowhere_Patrol/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1053020/Galak_Zed/
Ehhh, that one seems pretty bare minimum.
I'm taking a gamble on you, OP.
But I expect interesting games back from this thread.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1527950/Wartales/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1498740/Troublemaker/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224600/G_String/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069160/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory/
This last one isn't out yet, but looks very promising.
You've made a good gamble because all of these look pretty fun to play to me. I think out them from what I've watched the G string catches my eye the most.
Damn. NTA but the last game really looks great. I never thought that a Lovecraftian party based RPG with 90s graphics was what I needed in my life. Thanks anon, wishlisted.
G-String is insanely underrated and should be celebrated here. The release is a complete rework of the original HL2 mod version which is great in its own right and has some enjoyable liminal spaces predating the fad by eight years or more. I'm talking entire depopulated city block you'll get lost in for hours trying to find the exit from. I'd recommend tracking that one down first before the store version.
>G_String
Is that a fricking Source game?
I normally don't mind turn based battles, but Wartales doesn't have a fast combat animation setting and that REALLY slows it down once you get to midgame and there's 40 units per turn.
I've already played this one. Would recommend too.
Idk if less than 1000 but I played Excavation of Hob's Barrow on Steam last year and have never seen any discussion of it. I like the art and the voice acting, but the finale of the story was a bit predictable
Took an "Asian culture study" class in uni and we played this game as part of the final lectures. Was pretty neat
>Excavation of Hob's Barrow
I don't usually play point and clicks, but I can see there's quality in it.
Anything produced by Wadjet Eye games is worth a look. If your main problem with P&C adventure games is that they're designed unintuitively, require pixel-hunting, or require walkthroughs, then you should try Wadjet Eye games because they completely fix all those LucasArts / Sierra era headaches.
Wadjet aka "we don't actually like point & clicks let's make walking sims that don't hold up under the least bit of scrutiny". (seriously try replaying Unavowed and see how weak it is on a second playthrough, practically only false choices and they gave up any kind of puzzle solutions or good exploration for it)
The only good stuff associated with them is the games they only published and did not have a hand in making, like Primordia and The Excavation of Hob's Barrow.
Why would I ever replay a P&C they are one-and-done narratives.
Because Unavowed sold itself, and the reason it drops so many core gameplay mechanics of P&Cs, as having branching consequences for the choices you make.
In reality there's barely any of that and most of the game consists of false choices. In the end it doesn't live up to it's own hype and drops many of the best things about point and clicks in the process.
I love the art and atmosphere of a demon-haunted Kyoto in this one.
I wish the Tathagata buddhist one gets dumped someday.
>tfw someone picked it up for like $100 when I would have easily paid 5x that
https://store.steampowered.com/app/335420/_/
Kino. Wishlisted.
what the flying frick
Balls hard jrpg from the days old crpgs still influenced them made by one of the more experimental jap devs ever.
Why does this game look so good?! And why does it only have to be in japanese?! You're just making me suffer.
There's a patch.
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2591/
Thanks anon
It has an english patch.
Soooo Gooooooooood. Wishlist.
KINO ALERT
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>lunatic dawn
https://store.steampowered.com/app/913060/Jet_Lancer/
It's a more modern spin on Luftrausers. Speaking of which, go play Luftrausers if you haven't alreay.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/842170/Hyperspace_Dogfights/
Also inspired by Luftrausers, but took a different approach to it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/912550/Savage_Vessels/
It's Teleglitch, but with better graphics and you're a space ship instead of a person. Just like Teleglitch, this game is CBT incarnate.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/370020/Templar_Battleforce/
Turn based strategy set in a thinly-veiled 40k clone.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1861290/Devil_Spire/
Devil Spire is a procedurally generated dungeon crawler. I've been playing it since it was still called Dungeons of Rhamdon 2. It's good enough that it's an exception to my typical "no roguelites" rule.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/652410/Brigand_Oaxaca/
This one is somewhat well known on Ganker, but still very obscure to the rest of the world. It's like Deus Ex for schizos. Very fun. Also one of the few games I've played where you can complain about a bug in the Steam forums and the dev will personally help you with your problem, often pushing out an update to fix that bug.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1289810/Siralim_Ultimate/
Siralim Ultimate is autism incarnate. Very fun, very highly recommended.
The entire Ubermosh series is quite fun, and the games go on sale all the time. Ubermosh is a series of very fast paced twin stick shooters. The playtime for each game is going to be pretty short unless you try to 100% them, which is what you are intended to do. Even then, you'll probably still be in the refund window for the earlier games by the time you 100% them. Right now you can get all 8 games on Steam for 5 burger bucks.
Can confirm that Lunatic Dawn is great.
G-String is also fun.
>Brigand was released in 2017
I could've sworn it came out around 15 years ago. I might be thinking of a different game.
You're probably thinking of Boiling Point. I know I was. I was convinced for a while "Dated PC Jank Mercenaries Game" was something I dreamed.
>Boiling Point
That's it. I remember some of the NPCs.
>devil spire
does that have an ending or is it a "play until you die" kind of affair?
why are early Japanese PC games so kino? is it a phase every culture goes through before everything gets streamlined for normies?
isn't lunatiuc dawn 2 on steam too?
If you liked Door Kickers but wish you could fight The Thing instead, Strain Tactics is for you.
Looks sick! Wishlisted
Checked trailers and I'm liking it. I actually thought I was hitting a drought in gaming, but this is all great stuff.
Hydrosphere
https://www.doomworld.com/vb/thread/128979
If your game has a translation then it's not obscure
Schism
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2084300/Schism/
This looks fascinating.
Never really played any bullethells though, will i survive?
It's a hybrid of something like isaac and a bullethell, you can make due with a little bit of know-how and using knowledge of the game to get strong enough to mitigate the bullethell elements, but you will need to get use to the swapping function.
It has a lot of depth surprisingly, dev knows what he's doing. My only gripe is when you get a combo and know how to break the game in a scenario, you can break it hard and become a little too powerful. But it's still very fun and I'm excited to see where it goes
Limiting my view to games with less than 1,000 reviews (I realize reviews do not equal players), here are some I really like
https://store.steampowered.com/app/244750/Aztez/
(148 reviews)
2D DMC meets turn based strategy game about the Aztec empire
https://store.steampowered.com/app/359040/The_Music_Machine/
(362 reviews)
Surreal horror game with monochromatic graphics about a girl and the ghost who is possessing her
https://store.steampowered.com/app/269230/Aces_Wild_Manic_Brawling_Action/
(214 reviews)
Sidescrolling beat-em-up with weird floaty combat
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1109410/Perspective/
(608 reviews and it's free)
This one was well-known in some circles prior to its Steam release so it may be underrepresented by reviews; A puzzle platformer where the gimmick is you play as a 2D character on the plane of "your computer screen" and can toggle into a first person controller to move your camera around and change that screen.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1186160/All_Day_Dying_Redux_Edition/
(48 reviews)
fricking criminal that this thing has double digit reviews. Fast past run-and-gun FPS about earning points for stylish kills, structured like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
For the shooter, from a glance at the reviews, most enemies being hitscan may be the issue, unless it's balanced super well, or has some X factor, it makes the game really poor to play.
There's a reason most indie FPS go the opposite direction. (even if i disagree with that too)
> unless it's balanced super well, or has some X factor
The way it works is enemies have an "alertness" meter that fills up and they cannot damage you until it's full; the meter fills by periodic raycasts. So it's like they shoot you with "invisible bullets" until they are able to shoot you with a single real one and kill you.
It's a presentation choice, sort of like how in Sekiro an enemy dies from blocking you too much because that's a more interesting presentation of "health" than you slicing them 30 times and them still fighting.
Here's the actual gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Tzjj0QNEHbA
You can see that getting cheesed by enemies is not an issue as long as you play correctly (keep moving and killing).
interesting, could be an issue with how the game explains it.
>https://store.steampowered.com/app/658890/Arthurian_Legends/
i was about to complain that the dev was not fixing the game, making me not want it, but it seems that he actually is doing that, so nvm. Back on the wishlist.
>could be an issue with how the game explains it
The game doesn’t explain its more nuanced mechanics SUPER well but I’m pretty sure it explains it. I mean in the videos I posted you can see
>enemies shoot at you with stormtrooper accuracy, never hit once
>red circle over their heads fills up to a glowing white dot
When that happens, the next shot hits you as soon as they can see you.
It has an effect not dissimilar to “recovering Halo shield” except it’s a shield applied PER ENEMY; if an enemy gets halfway to accurate on you and you kill it, the next enemy is starting from scratch, not building on your 50% whittled-down “shield”. Which is good for the touch-and-go style balance, it incentivizes not moving on from a target until you kill it completely, which usually just involves 1-2 well placed shots.
Worth noting each enemy has an introduction cutscene reel that explains its mechanics, but watching them is purely optional so if you don’t know what they’re for you may miss key info. Presumably because the dev is a Gankertard and bought into
>cutscenes
>ever
shitposting from his target arena FPS audience
Out of these the first one, The platformer, and the last one look like my kind of games.
>The first one
God it's just so fricking good. Go play it
Criminally underrated action title.
Let's have another round, this time I'll keep it under 5,000 reviews (and not post anything I've already posted ITT)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/204240/The_Bridge/
(3,278 reviews)
puzzle platformer where all of the mechanics are based on famous MC Escher drawings
https://store.steampowered.com/app/72000/Closure/
(426 reviews, missed this the first time)
puzzle platformer where the gimmick is, anything not illuminated by light does not exist
https://store.steampowered.com/app/262390/Cloudbuilt/
(759 reviews, first person speedrunning tech platformer, it's like if Mirror's Edge and Mega Man X had a baby. This had a sequel called Super Cloudbuilt but that got delisted due to publisher bullshit, the original is still great)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/583470/The_End_Is_Nigh/
(2,679 reviews)
Surprisingly underloved, by the Super Meat Boy dev, but this one is a screen-at-a-time adventure platformer. It's ridiculously difficult but loads of fun. Imagine if Kaizo mario games or I Wanna Be The Guy weren't just memes, someone actually made a fully-realized sensible non-bullshit game out of the idea
https://store.steampowered.com/app/337490/Four_Sided_Fantasy/
(232 reviews)
Another short puzzle platformer (I fricking love these) where the gimmick is you can freeze the game screen, temporarily creating an effect where leaving one side of the screen wraps you around to the other.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/253030/Race_The_Sun/
(1,892 reviews)
I'm not sure if this one will be for everyone, a short arcade game about going fast. The objective is to get as far as you can in a limited amount of time. There really isn't much to it, other than to just keep playing and get into the flow. If you enjoyed Superflight you'd like it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227690/Severed_Steel/
(3,092 reviews)
Stylish FPS, definitely in the vein of Ultrakill and All Day Dying, but fully destructible environments and bullet time
i still don't know what's supposed to be the definitive way to play cloudbuilt
>Perspective
I just checked the publisher, it's a college for game development and all the games are free, seems pretty neat
Portal is based on Narbacular Drop, a Digipen game
Portal 2 is based on Tag: The Power of Paint, a Digipen game
If Valve weren’t allergic to 3s, Portal 3 almost certainly would have been based on Perspective
Fun but pretty flawed gem, looks really nice too. Get it on deep discount if you can
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1175360/Doomsday_Hunters/
give me a game with a great OST, even if the rest is mediocre
https://store.steampowered.com/app/713160/After_Death/
That's very cool, reminds me of the great 2D platformers from the late 90s, especifically the ones for PC.
Planet Laika is god tier schizo fuel, pretty much no gameplay to speak of but its certainly a game that will never be repeated
Its a pretty dang mediocre shmup but the OST is godly
Guess I should have linked a track, my b
Another would be Luck be a Landlord
?list=PL8RVk2HU462QFMO0OniM0V_6ayi4zxstm
Anything by Alkemi I guess. I don't think they've ever made a successful game so it should qualify for this thread, check out Drifting Lands or An Ankou (early access though).
The brotato devs made a platformer roguelite previously that's pretty good, yet nobody knows about it
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1144910/Space_Gladiators/
Really cool oldschool shooter/melee game akin to Hexen, actually feels retro unlike other "boomer shooters"
https://store.steampowered.com/app/658890/Arthurian_Legends/
The Arthurian Legends one looks fricking KINO. Wishlisted.
It's not on Steam, but play Metal Max Returns. It has a good translation patch. It's a Super Famicom RPG where you play as a monster hunter who got kicked out of his dad's house for being a punk. So you go around excavating tanks, driving them, hunting bounties, and recruiting followers. It's unique in that it's completely open world limiting your progress only by what you know and what you can handle. A lot of potential for character and tank builds, and the soundtrack rules.
Variety is good. I was expecting more emulation required recommendations actually. I'll add this to my list.
Indeed, but I'm not that big on schmup. May rip the music though.
I recently started 2 Reloaded on DS (playing on my n3DS, though). Is the first better? I've heard that it's skippable and 2 and 3 are way better (and the others trash).
I haven't played the later games but the first one has very limited story, which means no cutscenes where people stand around and talk about things, which I personally like
I just found out about this series last month and am kind of fricking pissed I haven't learned about it sooner
Looks like nostalgia bait RPG, but really goes deep with mechanics and exploration and minimal story:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224290/Horizons_Gate/
Actually does make me want to play it. Wishlisted.
I'm underselling it to keep some surprises for you, but it's a true rags to worldwide riches type journey and every bit of it is earned and not given
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2107860/Yggdra_Union/
It's like Fire Emblem but good
Oh hey, I remember the studio for the games they made on GBA!
I also recommend the other Dept. Heaven Series, especially Knights in the Nightmare, despite the clusterfrick it is.
Wish the other Union games was translated as well especially Blaze Union.
unbeatable
The Chameleon
My kind of crazy. Wishlisted.
it's got but only for turboautists
good*
filtered me hard. it's barely a video game.
this game is too fricking complex
>all these replies
GIMME
You show me Nebulous, I show you Star Fleet II
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1470940/STAR_FLEET_II__Krellan_Commander_Version_20/
The Cursed series, especially Cursed 3. They are a series of point & click horror games made in mspaint by the guy who does those moronic Caillou go animated videos, no I'm not joking, the first game has a very basic combat system but the second and third introduce rpg elements. All of them are free on itch.io or Steam.
If a game's good enough, it'll eventually get an audience, and thus stop being obscure. Still, here are some (almost) universally liked ones:
>Underrail, 5000 steam reviews
IMO one of the best CRPGs ever made, at least in terms of gameplay. Very difficult.
>Zachtronics, most popular game has 5000 steam reviews
Puzzle games that feel more like programming challenges. Lots of room to optimise your solutions, also difficult but pretty much universally loved. Opus Magnum and Infinifactory are good entry points, though I personally like Spacechem and Shenzhen I/O the most.
>ZeroRanger, 1000 steam reviews
Mix shmup gameplay with an actually engaging narrative, great presentation. Play it blind.
>Void Stranger, 1000 steam reviews
Same devs as ZeroRanger, but puzzle game. A metric frickton of secrets.
>Frozen Synapse, 1000 steam reviews
A pretty unique turn-based strategy game. You plan your actions in advance, and both you and the enemy move at the same time.
>I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, 1500 steam reviews
A point 'n click classic, but seemingly forgotten among zoomers. A straight up upgrade to the original short story, the voice acting (done by the author himself) is fantastic. Plays like shit and very difficult to beat without a guide though.
>Black Souls 1+2, no steam release
An RPGMaker H-game with an artstyle that looks like shit, universally loved by anyone who finished both games. The main appeal is the writing and the Obra Dinn-like approach of having the player put the events together himself in his head. Tailor-made for autistic loregays.
I already played Underrail and I enjoyed it too. Out of these I think Frozen Synapse and Void Stranger caught my attention the most. I already heard about Black Souls and it does intrigue me.
Don't expect Frozen Synapse to be some hidden masterpiece, it's just a well-executed game with a unique concept that I have fond memories of. I don't even remember if there is a story, but the core gameplay's just fun as frick. Especially if you have a friend who's into turn-based strategy, playing PvP with someone you know is great.
Come to think of it, Disciples 2 is probably obscure, 1000 steam reviews. Give it a try if you'd like to see a grimdark take on HoMM, but with individual leveling-up units instead of armies.
>with an artstyle that looks like shit,
Frick you, I've fapped to BS2's sex scenes more than any other porn game.
>ZeroRanger
I was on a forum with Ebosbidori back in the early 10s, for a small shmup editor thing called Fraxy. I didn't realize he was the one who made ZeroRanger at first, but a few of the bosses' patterns seemed familiar, plus the choice of imagery.
Yeah, same, but I followed Eboshidori on youtube back when Fraxy was popular. He always knew how to create a spectacle.
>Black Souls
I know nothing of this except for its introduction of the Alice disease.
What is Castlevania was a girl?
Dismantled Directors Cut
Boomer fps but its survival horror and plays like it. Limited saves, limited ammo and exploration. Had one of the most pleasant surprises i had with games in a long while, i thought i had finsihed the first level, end up opening what i thought was the level exit and bam, complete new area. That's when i realized the whole map is actually interconnected, its a really cool game.
I remember the demo for this, homosexual better not be charging for a Doom mod.
Zero Sievert
Far from the smallest game ITT but not on any lists that I’ve seen
Zero Sievert is good, I've been waiting more updates to try it again
Another good game if you like Stalker-esque stuff is store.steampowered.com/app/1601970/Tunguska_The_Visitation
palworld
Palworld is the reddit destroyer
XZR / Exile series
It's like Ys III or Zelda II but with drugs, desert religions and your typical Japanese clusterfrick story. Moonrune knowledge required for the first one
I've seen this game on cdromance is there a translation yet?
No idea, I don't think so. If really desperate I'd use a machine translation but I don't know how good it would be
Approaching infinity
https://store.steampowered.com/app/551620/Approaching_Infinity/
Much more obscure than it deserves.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/259620/3079__Block_Action_RPG/
You seem to like worlds so this isn't by that dev but seems simialr
>Approaching infinity
Based. So underrated.
It's honestly not as good as Prospector was.
yeah but prospector dev hasn't updated in like a decade, anon
Probably more than that, but what does that say about Approaching Infinity?
Culdcept DS or Revolt, probably the best board games in videogame form you'll ever play
reminds me to add that rom+some others to my 3DS's SD card before I go to costa rica for most of february
Castle of the winds was a great roguelike I spent countless hours playing and I only had the shareware version. Probably impossible to track down now and tbh needs some balancing too
>google it
>it's like rogue
god bless you anon. have you played ragnarok from maybe the same era?
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/castle-of-the-winds-1ph
I always check this site first, they've got a ton of good shit.
Vagante
is it finished? the last time I played it was so long ago that there was no real point to the game except to keep going further and you could cheese it with invisibility + magic (which didn't break invisibility at the time)
it has tons of zones and a final boss if that's what you're asking. there's also multiplayer although i'm not too sure how that works probably via steam.
Any Deception game is good
unequivocally based. I frickin love the deception series
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1958220/WitchSpring_R/
cute little RPG, lighthearted tone, thought it was pretty fun
Obligatory
>Northern Journey
>Astlibra
poster here
>Astrilbra
reviews
>Yet somehow this is the first I've heard of it
Actually kind of interesting paradox to me.
There were a few threads around here when it released
Less than 2000 of those are in English though. Probably popular among azns.
Game's pretty good. I thought the story was dumb, but the gameplay is like the golden era of flash games cranked up to 11. Felt very nostalgic.
Ruins & Riches
Some games I want to post but I think they may be not quite obscure enough for OP:
INFRA
(Puzzle-adventure game about a structural engineering inspector uncovering the corruption behind his city’s crumbling infrastructure)
NaissanceE
(It’s like if navigating the house from House of Leaves or the superstructure from Blame! was a game)
Megabyte Punch
(underloved but gaming journos have recognized it so not “obscure”, it’s a game for people who thought Subspace Emissary was the best part of Smash Bros Brawl)
As long as it's 10000 and under I can forgive it. I just would prefer keeping it to the lowest because more often than not it ends up drowning out the ones that are actually far more obscure.
It’s why I was hesitant, but I’m replaying INFRA so it’s on my mind. So many of the games I love seem to live in the 1000-3000 reviews range
>Patrick’s Parabox
>Assault Spy
>Quern
>The Pedestrian
>Hover: Revolt of Gamers
These are good ones. Thanks.
>NaissanceE
very underrated. The first half-hour is a pain to get through though. I recommend Lorn's Lure if you like megastructures, its coming out very soon and has a demo.
I could name any shmups and it would be automatically obscure so i'll rec the best modern/post 5th gen one, one of the last truly classic games ever made.
what did you think of devil engine?
Also play Elevator Action Returns
Never played it, i guess it plays fine and sounds okay, not a fan of that artstyle, has that cheap 2D look of many indie games that i don't like, not implying that Eschatos is visually stunning either but the camera work in general does make the game visuals seem more impressive than they actually are
>Elevator Action Returns
I love this game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1913680/Elevator_Action_Returns_STribute/
I've always emulated the Saturn version, but who knows about this port. I didn't even know it existed until just now.
Also an Artdink game. The PSP ports are just the original games with additional story and arguably better graphics depending on taste.
Also Artdink.
i don't know why those not-brand gun names made me laugh so hard
Not him but the game seems to be inspired by Thunder Force games, which is generally good from 3 to 5.
i quite enjoy cultist simulator and book of hours
i dont know why i even bothered trying them since i dont like card games typically, but it just works
>Break Arts 2
https://store.steampowered.com/app/547360/BREAK_ARTS_II/
Armored Core 4 but a racing game with even more garage autism.
just looked it up and there's a 3rd one announced too.
I love garage autism and the idea of “combat racing” is intriguing but how does that work? Is it just Mario Kart but with missile launchers instead of red shells? or is combat actually a focus? On a spectrum from “Need for Speed” to “Twisted Metal” where does it fall?
no kart items/RNG, weapons are also custom in a sub-garage as part of your build.
Thanks but I more meant how they function in terms of game structure. Are they basically just a temporary leg-up in a race (as Mario Kart power ups are) or are you actually trying to destroy your opponents?
actual destruction, everyone has HP and will be stuck in respawn for a few seconds on death.
Interesting idea. I’d have to watch some videos to understand how it’s balanced but the idea of “racing combat” is very intriguing to me and I love customization autism.
It goes down to $5 regularly, so keep an eye out. Sadly the multiplayer is dead and there's only a handful of unique tracks. Hopefully the sequel is bigger.
Love the passion but that’s a pass from me; any game that relies on multiplayer for its staying power I have no interest in. Part of the reason I love obscure games is they’re experiences that stand alone and don’t rely on other people to be interesting.
can't blame you, but 20 hours for $5 was good enough for me.
It’s sad to see indie games that tried to make it work with multiplayer to sidestep the bulk of singleplayer content creation and just fall apart when they DOA. Strike Vector could have been fricking awesome. So could GunZ 2. So could Rockshot (though in their defense, single player Rockshot is basically just Devil’s Third)
I'm just surprised it got a global release at all, the devs have zero non-JP footprint.
Which ones, Gunz2 or Rockshot? Soleil has moderate US presence (Samurai Jack did okay, plus action game fans know it as oatmeal cookie’s studio). GunZ 1 was a popular game in certain circles so 2 had a baked-in fanbase.
Break Arts/MercuryStudio
Ah. PLAYISM will do that for a mf though. Actually those dudes are doing the lord’s work for getting Japanese indies localized
Talking about customizing robots i'd reccomend the Carnage Heart series. And when i mean customize i mean really customize, like down to programming the CPU of the robots so they fight by themselves.
That mecha down below looks straight up like an armored core one.
Carnage Heart came out two years before Armored Core.
Its Gran Turismo 4 but with a better soundtrack, in fact it has probably the greatest OST of any racing game ever
Talking about Armored Core they also made AC: Formula Front that is basically a simplified version of the Carnage Heart games, if i remember well you can also control the robots yourself instead of just letting the AI control them
The music is really good, but I just love the smooth jazz fusion of 4 so much.
Carnage Heart had cheats that would allow you to control your OKEs.
Probably the most obscure good game made by Capcom, only flaw is that its very short, one full playthrough lasts one or two hours
Interesting
Engrish at its finest
Your Only Move Is HUSTLE
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2212330/Your_Only_Move_Is_HUSTLE/
it's 2D toribash with stickmen with anime powers. the dev is a Gankerirgin and gave out free keys some time ago.
The workshop content is nice. A friend of mine and I regularly face off as Lol& vs. Broly
>it's 2D toribash with stickmen with anime powers
This is how you choose to explain it? Not “turn based anime fighter”? I get Toribash was also a “scripted fighter” but come on
>turn based anime fighter
that doesn't convey anything to anyone. toribash is pretty unique in how it plays and yomi takes inspiration from that.
I get your point, I’m simply suggesting that most people don’t know what the frick Toribash is (except MAYBE “that limb-combat game”) but everyone can sort of conceptualize the idea of turn-based guilty gear.
I played this shit for like 500 hours when i was a kid, i replayed it a year ago and it's as good as i remembered in my head, the amount of customization of your ship is insane and you can make it all work just fine.
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm for the Sega CD. Very fun spaceship shooter with interesting mechanics and a badass soundtrack.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/244630/NEOTOKYO/
Not sure if this is obscure enough, but it was fun.
>2000
I've actually heard of it, but I didn't know it was that low down. I thought people loved this game from the few vids on youtube.
Probably one of my favourite roguelikes to be in development in forever. Its super addicting, and getting another updated free demo soon. If you like Poker, or Card-Based Roguelikes, or chasing high scores, this is the kinda game for you.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/
not like rogue
Frick that looks slick as hell. I want to play it.
>This thread has actually lived up to being great so far
In terms of new stuff this is really refreshing to see.
There’s too many suggestions, somebody play them all and get back to me with the best one
anyone has recommendations for horror or shooter kino? can be slightly popular, i guess, as long as it's good.
Death Mark is a fine horror game, don't expect Silent Hill levels of greatness but if you want spooky shit you won't be disappointed.
FAITH and Darkwood.
Not sure if it's obscure enough but Fight Knight is pretty great.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/792120/FIGHT_KNIGHT/
It got coverage with the kickstarter, but only 900 reviews so it counts.
it's already on my wishlist, but can you change the fov?
it looks super low
see
Yes, but it's a dungeon crawler, not an FPS so FOV is a little meaningless here
Yes, but it's still in first person
I will never in a million years forgive what was done to this game by homosexuals.
What did they do?
His ex claimed that he was a racist chud and used hypnotic mind powers to rape her, she did this on launch day and then again on the lead dev's birthday. She got Dinah from Mighty No. 9 fame to amplify her insanity, and then Twitter lunatics kept the game down.
lol what the frick
Else Heart Break is really fun, if you know how to program there's all sorts of crazy shit you can do to the world
From the looks of things, they've finally gotten bored of him and left his game alone.
Kimi Ga Shine, a.k.a Your Turn To Die. It's not even finished and it completely mogs Danganronpa on all fronts, besides production value. Amazingly written characters who look like tropes at first, and choices that actually matter for the genre. The branching paths being actually distinct partially explainin why it's taking so much time to write the routes properly for Nankidai.
Using this thread to recommend Revival Xanadu on PC98. It's become one of my favorite games ever, and almost all of it is in English outside of the starting and ending story scrolls. All you need to know is that you need to defeat the King Dragon (called Galsis in Xanadu Next). To do that you need to get 4 crowns hidden on different floors, to open the dungeon on the last floor to get the Dragon Slayer, the sword you need to kill him. Very fun game. Any version of Xanadu should be a good time but I specifically recommend Revival Xanadu for its expanded soundtrack and in-game map. Xanadu on MSX is neat, balanced differently, in full color, and has an entirely different but good OST.
Screenshot of the game (Revival Xanadu) to hopefully draw some attention to it.
>captcha: RPGNA
ironic for a game that's never left Japan lol
Did Falcom have an amazing OST team at this point?
Yeah, the OST for Revival Xanadu is really good.
just a few tracks from it.
This is pretty much what you are looking for
https://steam250.com/hidden_gems
Age of decadence.
Fidel Dungeon Rescue
RTS, no building/bases but wizards using spells and summons to fight. Greek, Celtic, and Arthurian setting/mythologies.
Divinity ego Draconis but I'm not sure if this meets the requirements for being in this thread.
I actually have that on my Gog account. It's the least popular game next to beyond divinity. probably still not that obscure.
infantry online
>Grav, completely unknown cave flier game from the 90s
https://archive.org/details/grav-by-sami-tammilehto-1998
This is the most obscure a recommendation can get without being fully lost media, but you'll either need to figure out DOSbox settings that make the graphics not glitch out or to have a machine that can run DOS programs for real.
Probably closer to 4000 than 1000, but Shigatari
https://store.steampowered.com/app/486380/Shigatari/
Simple but enjoyable. Wishlisted.
TIME TO GET MOVING
Ludo. I miss when Rare was good.
Here ya go
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1476800/Existensis/
Frick. I like the art, but not a fan of Metroidvania's.
Played this recently and its easily one of the best strategy games i've ever played, the strategic layer is quite similiar to Dragonforce 1-2 on Saturn, the tactics layer is kinda like Langrisser.where every "hero" brings units with him.
It got the Switch/PC "remaster" treatment recently. I haven't played it, but it was a fairly niche title to begin with. I haven't seen anyone b***hing about it besides the lackluster PC port and shoddy controls.
It's a sequel. Arguably not as good.
There's a certain game form 1996~8 that I want to rediscover, but I can't be sure that it even existed.
I'll try my luck describing it later if this thread somehow stays up for the next 7 hours from now.
>It was an FPS, but switching to certain weapons (slot 1 melee and at least one other weapons, remote grenades IIRC) forced you into 3rd person view
>Your protagonist sprites looked very much like the MK3 cyborgs if using Iron-Man colours (red&gold)
>The player arsenal featured a sniper weapon with adjustable zoom, which you got taught how to operate in a tutorial level
>One of the most common enemies you faced were essentially a C-3PO clone wielding guns or throwing grenades at you, and a weaponized R2-D2 who sometimes were just harmlessly roaming the levels - but in some occasions it would try to run up to you and explode in your face
Only other thing I can tell you is that it was *NOT* Eradicator or DarkForces
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict?
We actually made it to the next day. Where's the guy who said he'd come back in 7 hours to find that game he was looking for?
Super Mario Bros.
corru.observer
Caves of Lore was surprisingly fun and fairly long for a project like this
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2227130/Caves_of_Lore/
I would not be surprised if I am literally the only person who still plays this game. It's basically just Space Hulk with a few small tweaks. I have it modded so its 40k themed.
If anyone wants to play it: https://www.mediafire.com/file/20mm5mh7yra9c98/Space_Hulk_-_Alien_Assault.7z/file
>Fans creates a mini tornado in my room
>lightbulbs start flickering, hear one of them explode
>wallpaper has been changed to a photo of a dolphin getting fricked
Bros...
https://www.moddb.com/games/alien-assault
its a full game
my recommendations
oolite (elite but new)
clonk rage (autism required)
kag game (2d mordhau with base building)
riff racer (race your music)
no more room in hell (i like the way it sucks)
roadwar 2000 (mad max the rpg)
Just a reminder that "Chu-Teng", the once lost sequel to cult Osamu Sato adventure game "Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou", got an English translation patch in 2020. Just in case it escaped your attention, since it wasn't massively publicized.
>Chu-Teng
"It's a b***h"
Thanks for the heads-up. Didn't play Eastern Mind, but have watched a longplay of it and this interests me.
Talking about good weird shit, Suda51's second best kinogame is a must play, now available on every modern platform known to man in english
I already finished Silver case and 25th ward. Would also recommend though. Now Moonlight Syndrome is something I want to see translated.
>Now Moonlight Syndrome is something I want to see translated.
Was literally in the middle of making a post to complain about Moonlight Syndrome and Suda still not getting to the FSR port he mentioned.
In need of an obscure autism simulator. In return I will share:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/926860/Bloody_Rally_Show/
Looks jank and flash game tier, but it's a surprisingly fun combat racing game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/400110/Else_HeartBreak/
hack the world
https://store.steampowered.com/app/208600/Lunar_Flight/
3D lunar lander, great with or without VR
https://store.steampowered.com/app/329130/Reassembly/
Simple at first glance, then unlimited engineering depth especially once you start running into crazy designs from other players
Some good games in here. Sadly I know almost nothing about ANY simulator.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1470940/STAR_FLEET_II__Krellan_Commander_Version_20/
Haven't played but looks like your request
Now that's what I'm talking about
Reassembly is a really fun game, I've put hundreds of hours into it.
Here's another simple one:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/493080/Card_Quest/
It's a deckbuilder, but you build your deck out of items at the start of a run. You can only change items if you get something new (and it's often a bad idea). It requires more forward thinking than even Slay the Spire in combat, imo, although you lose the reward decisions.
Oh, and something completely different.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1105670/The_Last_Spell/
More reviews than I thought but I've never really seen it talked about on Ganker. This game rocks. It's kind of like Into the Breach, kind of like new XCOM, and kind of like They Are Billions, but I liked it more than any of those games. It's also really hard.
so getting reassembly last sale was wise??
>In need of an obscure autism simulator
If you're looking for obscure simulators, may I recommend Train Crew? Japanese train simulator developed by one man and the only train simulator I know to let you play as a guard.
https:/store.steampowered.com/app/1741640/Shadows_of_Forbidden_Gods/
>check the workshop for mods that add in new playable gods like one whose is essentially a discount Khorne or a spooky space skeltal that wants to sink the entire map into the void
>another that adds more autonomy to the AI allowing them to engage in different tactics like subversion, making alliances and colonizing new lands
>once the world reaches around 50% shadow they start fricking themselves over by purposefully raising armies of the dead, turning into sadistic vampires or going full dagon in a bid to become an immortal fishman
>only con is you have to watch out for the roving bands of furgays that can infect your agents with a yiff STD, causing you to lose control of them for eight turns every time a full moon comes out
Control alt ego
Pure Kino
Oh shit there's a graphical version of Gearhead on Steam!?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1565090/GearHead_Caramel/
Egg.
abuse: extreme DOS kino.
Was going to post this game that I thought was obscure, but turns out it has 180,000 reviews on steam. Still though, 99.99999% of those are Chinese, so I think this is still obscure by western standards
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1468810/_Tale_of_Immortal/
not sure if it's obscure in RPG gamer circles but it's great
>japanese PS2 blobber
rare combination
I'm gonna blobber you to death if you keep using that word
There's nothing wrong with the term.
>rare
not really there's a bunch more games wizardry games on PS2 their just JP only
Gel-Tank
It's a run 'n gun with a heavy Metal Slug influence.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1305390/GelTank/
A couple I played recently
9th Dawn 3 - action rpg with just enough autistic detail and jank. Gave me oldschool nostalgia despite nothing oldschool
Straimium Immortally - weird rogue-lite shooter
https://store.steampowered.com/app/364510/Transcendence/
Fun dungeon crawler in space. It was freeware for a while. Apparently there's plenty of good mods but I haven't touched any yet.
thx for reminding me to install transcendence on this computer
had it installed on this one and my previous two but never got around to legit playing it for more than 5 minutes
anon you sweet creature I was looking for the name of that for quite a while <3
https://store.steampowered.com/app/283290/Nosferatu_The_Wrath_of_Malachi/
Its got a lot of reviews but I've never seen anyone talking about it before. It's a really nice tactical rpg with a roguelike progression system in a dark fantasy setting.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/798490/Othercide/
Personally, I didn't really like Othercide, but I can see the appeal for some.
Play Microsoft Tinker.
https://www.trueachievements.com/forum/viewthread.aspx?tid=1028937&anchor=9362875#m9362875
It's literally free. You can create a local profile, effectively making it a DRM-free title, given that never checks for any digital rights.
Ray Gigant
https://store.steampowered.com/app/226100/PixelJunk_Nom_Nom_Galaxy/
this game is fricking legendary fun with friends. super satisfying and tense genre defying 2d platformer strategy game with minecraft digging and shit. Just be warned its barely playable if playin cross continent online. but if you are close to your friend its good.
One of the best and most faithful adaptions of a movie property.
Best game on the PS2.
aka Astral Chain Zero
Lock's Quest. Just a fun tower defense game
This thread just keeps giving and giving. Here's to hoping we can make it to tommorow.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175570/EternaMine/
Gives off old arcade/flash game vibes for sure
diadem of maunstraut, a kings field fan-game using the sword of moonlight engine/tools/whatever they are. it's super good, super comfy.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1537910/Chaos_Galaxy_2/
Is the first one not any good?
I think it's more like 2 is a direct upgrade of 1, like Doom 1 to Doom 2. Anyway it's neat, but the aliens are bastards and it'll probably be all up to you to eradicate them while one of the factions gets fat because the aliens largely left them alone.
Dominions. Fantasy wargame that’s kind of like the love child of HOMM and Dwarf Fortress. It even has Old Testament cannibal israeli giants as a nation.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/464360/3030_Deathwar_Redux__A_Space_Odyssey/
A space sim that barely fits under your less than 1k reviews criteria
Soul
damnit, I have a ton more but they fail the >1k reviews cutoff
Just keep it ~5000
alright
https://store.steampowered.com/app/876650/Aground/
One of these survival crafting games with old-style flash game/early indie game aesthetics.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/816850/Stardust_Origins/
Curator compared this to OG elite/frontier. This one. This one is notable bc it was one i'd wishlistd like 5-6 years before it came out.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1565090/GearHead_Caramel/
Mech themed roguelike with all of 11 reviews total. I think the aesthetics are soul since y'kniw I like mecha stuff.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/889080/Deity_Empires/
Reminds me alot of master of magic. Surprisingly obscure despite being well-rated.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416770/_Under_Supernova/
I guess it's chinese!dwarf fortress but with a SF skin. Dev seems p. responsive to people's reviews, both positive and negative.
I don't know that much obscure games. Maybe Dominions? Citadel? Elona+? Are these obscure enough?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1994370/The_Leviathans_Fantasy/
Another chinese colony sim. Seems to me like a hybrid of citybuilder+colony sim with a cultivation setting. Some reviews i've seen compare it to the old Majesty games.
>elona+
this makes me realize i need to download and install elona+ onto this computer
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481720/ShemHaMephorash/
Literal israeli golems in the second Anglo-Afghan war
18 (eighteen) reviews.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/281450/Disciples_Sacred_Lands_Gold/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/262260/JetsnGuns_Gold/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/368640/htoLNiQ_The_Firefly_Diary/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1575470/Frogun/
Try Palworld
Anger Foot
https://squidcor.itch.io/anger-foot
It plays like a 3d hotline miami, but with a much faster pace and less story. Steam release is apparently in the works
Shilling golden treasure: the great green,
dragon life sim / visual novel. Don’t let the stupid name fool you, this shit is great.
Gameplay is typical VN fare, Art is mid, music is good, but the writing is fricking stellar. Probably the best EVN in existence.
Buy it, it’s frequently 50% off.
Can you frick the dragon?
you can frick A dragon eventually, i believe.
I nearly forgot about this game. Was a pretty great dragon simulator. Did they release the modtools yet?
Holy FRICK this thread is still going? I woke up this morning and saw it and hoped for the best. Looking forward to wishlisting a bunch of unknown stuff ITT.
lol i know, it's like 9:30 and this is _stil_ somehow alive which is... unexpected. You'd expect the fotm-obsessed/shills' threads to push it off the board or it to hit bump limit and die quietly.
anyways...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/659540/Warsim_The_Realm_of_Aslona/
Textbased kingdom sim with a RETRO ui. You might have been me pushing it on stem sales as I do sometimes.
play Super Drakkhen
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1005450/Vision_Soft_Reset/
4D metroidvania where you control the branching timelines, learning to navigate not only the literal map of the place but where you need to be when in order to solve various puzzles. Some upgrades travel back in time with you, some you need to figure out how and when you'll grab them again if you want them in another future.
If you have someone to play with locally, BADBLOOD is great for screen-hopping hide and seek.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1522930/Transiruby/
-A Japanese/doujinsoft game by Skipmore (same people that brought you the Fairune series, Kamiko, and Picontier.)
-Very casual search action game, akin to Metroid and Blaster Master gameplay wise and Cave Story proportional wise.
-Doesn't actually have troons, only cute robot girls.
The dev also runs a FANBOX where he shares some dev notes on the games he's making.
Okay, hope anyone finds my picks interesting enough to check out/pirate.
>Murtop
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2148170/Murtop/
It's an arcade style game that mixes Digdug and Bomberman and it's a surprising good combination.
>QUESTER
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1754460/QUESTER/
It's a DRPG that looks like a PC-88 game but with QoL improvements that still keeps the game hard enough to enjoy.
>FORZA POLPO!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1187870/FORZA_POLPO/
Esentially an arcadey version of Jumping Flash up to 11.
>24 Killers
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1668310/24_Killers/
A similar game to Moon RPG, but unique in it's own way with the artstyle and exploration.
>MONARK
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1539620/MONARK/
Created by former SMT devs, this is a really good dark JRPG. Has a bit of grinding if you don't mind that.
24 Killers looks like my kinda game.
>Planet Laika got a translation
Racing Lagoon, Mizzurna falls and Aconcagua got a fan made translation, so try them as well. If you are too lazy to try all three of them, just check Racing Lagoon. Its my favourite racing game on ps1 and a crime that hasnt been localized for so long
Also, not a ps1, but try Xbox's Phantom Dust. Its free on microsoft store and its good
https://store.steampowered.com/app/357330/Space_Beast_Terror_Fright/
I played this not-space hulk game for months with a couple of friends, very finnish kino
Deathmaze 5000.
Very early 80s 3D Dungeon Crawler. Apple II, TRS-80. Obtuse beyond comprehension. You will not beat it. I can basically guarantee that. Wizardry is easy mode in comparison.
> ROM/Browser emulator:
https://archive.org/details/wozaday_Deathmaze_5000
Forget it. You're not hard enough. In fact, I bet most people won't even know how to move forward. Get to level 2 and you can call yourself a 1%er. Finish it and you are a God among your peers.
Amplitude (2003, PS2), not that obscure but it's better than their more later and popular game Guitar Hero IMO.
I always desperately wished that this was emulatable but it really doesn’t work. The fact that you can do custom tracks, which is literally writing remixes based on chopped up samples of the track stems, was brilliant.
Jets n guns is not exactly obscure but it's not that well known since "real" shmupgays hate it and they hate fun so much.
Utawarerumono Saga
Better than Elden Ring
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1371180/Star_Rover/
palworld
So panty shots are the only good thing about this? Why should I actually play it and not just jack off to upskirt screenshots?
list of great steam games itt for lazy fricks:
nowhere patrol
g-string
skald
strain tactics
schism
doomsday hunters
after death
arthurian legends
zeroranger
eschatos
elevator action returns
balatro
fight knight
severed steel
caves of lore
geltank
nosferatu
jet lancer
savage vessels
devil spire
3030 deathwar redux
anger foot
transiruby
forza polpo
space beast terror fright
last spell
my personal contributions <=100 reviews:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/237760/Intake/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/285980/Kromaia/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/280500/KRUNCH/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/463070/Mecha_Ritz_Steel_Rondo/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/453990/Mibiblis_Quest/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/202410/Scoregasm/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/896460/Lucah_Born_of_a_Dream/
Kinda like Hyper Light Drifter, very fun combat.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/513360/Mu_Cartographer/
Cryptic and relaxing puzzle (?) game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1004770/Maiden_and_Spell/
1v1 bullet hell. Has multiplayer.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1229580/Disc_Room/
Buzzsaw hell.
All under 1000 reviews, all great games that I love.
Really good CRPG from an industry veteran. It's shocking how much content this free game has.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2373630/Moonring/
The RHEM series
Mad Rat Dead, which is a rhythm-platformer on Switch and Ps4 with a lot of heart. I tried to record some gameplay, but Yuzu has too much input delay, so I ripped hard mode gameplay off of YouTube and made sound WebMs.
>sound desynced slightly
RIP. This really should have come to PC. It's a very unique game and it's a shame that not many people experienced it.
Haven and Hearth
if you aren't filtered in 3 hours it's like Don't Starve but good
Play mini ninjas
Wishlisted Nosferatu, Music Machine, G String, Northern Journey, and ASTLIBRA
Good thread
It's an obscure genre, but not an obscure game within said genre. My favorite drpg, Strangers of Sword City. Doing another replay now on my vita.
Exploration-based games.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1572040/Through_The_Fragmentation/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2240530/BABBDI/
Curious Expedition + Rivals for """multi"""
My all time favorite game is AI War. I don't hear people discuss it much, so I'd say it makes the cut. There's a sequel but the first game with expansions (and frankly without) is the better game.
>AI war
>fits within the OP's 1000 reviews or so cutoff
I should actually get into that morw. Yeah, this thread is full of stuff I have but haven't acually played yet.
I haven't finished it (brainlet) but I really like Dark Train, and I've never heard anyone ever mention it
https://store.steampowered.com/app/532290/Dark_Train/
If you like 3D platformers then I recommend Dros. Combat's a bit janky, but the exploration and platforming are great.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1554650/DROS/
Peaks of Yore, I haven't played it I saw a YT video about it and want to pick it up
It's a climbing simulator set in ye olde 1887.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2236070/Peaks_of_Yore/
I've played all of these games.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/235320/Original_War/
RTS with ludokino story, that gets still patches by fans in 2023. You can play as/kill muricans, soviet commies and arabs that brainwash monkeys into C4 suicide bomber.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/488730/Gods_Trigger/
Hotline Miami with co-op and customizable skills and abilities. The level design is great and varied. There are also collectible pinup magazines.
Soul Hackers 1 (not 2 it sucks ass)
Natural Doctrine.
battle brothers I can't believe no one has pointed out this gem
https://store.steampowered.com/app/365360/Battle_Brothers/
>Extremely Obscure
That game sold at least 500,000 copies. Apply the Boxleitner method to its 20k reviews.
Two orders of magnitude more popular than OP wanted.
I didn't think about this earlier, but Six Ages 2 (the new series from the devs of King of Dragon Pass) only has 106 reviews on Steam at the time of writing. It was much better than the first Six Ages game, and imo not far off KoDP. I think it might be a little more popular on iOS though?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2278010/Six_Ages_2_Lights_Going_Out/
Nameless Cat
Deadly rooms of death (DROD). Best puzzle games out there. Shit graphics that grow on you. Extremely varied and smart puzzles, heaps of content. Underrated and unknown as frick.
People from coolmathgames reccomended this one.
Not rly extremely obscure but it's a good game
ΔV: Rings of Saturn
2d, Realistic newtonian physics, heavily autistic simulation of space miner searching for minerals in rings of saturn. Theres some plot in background, and theres some combat from time to time, but most of the game is comfy cruising in asteroid fields, breaking rocks into smaller rocks, selling rocks, and modifying yer ship so you can collect more rocks.
Its extremely comfy . Mostly because dev does not give a shit about game marketing (just look at the title itself using Δ instead of spelling "Delta" ) and just keeps doing shit he and his fellow spess autists want
It's a really comfy game.
Escape Velocity series:
http://escape-velocity.games/
I've only played Nova myself but it had a great atmosphere and writing for what basically amounts to the basic idea of asteroids and making it into a pseudo-RPG. Tons of factions each with their different storyline (different human factions like the government / mercs / psychics, bunch of different aliens etc) and a bunch of ships to upgrade to depending on the faction. Way above average writing too which makes the equipment, ships and missions much more fun to engage with.
There's also Endless Sky, which I haven't played yet but promises to be an Escape Velocity-inspired "clone" game, that's free on steam and is open source on github as well.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/404410/Endless_Sky/
>factions
Oh yeah and human pirates too.
Weird how well I remember it despite not having played it since like mid-2000s and only finishing 2-3 routes.
>Routine
I cant believe it might actually come out after ALL THIS FRICKING TIME.
Prodigal on Steam is pretty fun 2d zelda
And Curse crackers from the same dev is excellent
Fun DKC style platformer
https://store.steampowered.com/app/829280/Kaze_and_the_Wild_Masks/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/22500/Spectromancer/
Card game with no deck building or p2w, multiplayer and good single player too.
They got a lot of heat years ago because it had one of those DRM with installation limit bullshit but they got rid of it last year.
Defense of the Oasis
https://store.steampowered.com/app/45200/Defense_of_the_Oasis/
47 reviews since 2005.
It's a great little puzzle/strategy game. It's has elements of minesweeper. Each level you're exploring a map, removing fog of war. There's a bunch of barbarians coming to invade and you need to prepare for them. It's one of those "every turn is important" games. You want to do everything but there isn't time.
I really like it. It gets a bit samey, since it's not really that deep, but it's a very good game for its price.
More than 1000 reviews but I still think it flew under a lot of people's radar.
Great OST and atmosphere based on Norwegian folklore, it really feels like an adventure and has some surprising moments with creative gameplay mechanics.
Expect some euro jank though
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1639790/Northern_Journey/
Verification not required.
How's the gameplay? The premise sounds sick
Fun and funny as frick if you are in the right mood.
Kane and Lynch games were popular in my times, that is just a 30+ thing.
http://noxcommunity.com/downloads.php#
Zeno Clash isn't that obscure but it fits the bill quite well.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/71161/Shining_in_the_Darkness/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457740/Stars_Die/
Suggesting Brigand as well
https://store.steampowered.com/app/652410/Brigand_Oaxaca/
Dev logs are kino too
I would be surprised if more than 50 people bought/played Cross Tail
Cute little game about cat people and dog people killing each other with some interesting if underutilized job system mechanics, published by Tecmo, but unlike their usual RPGMaker trite with hundreds of DLC packages Cross tail is actually good
But it wasn't promoted at all, I myself only became aware of its existence due to getting a notification from my japanese account on the eshop and decided to play it
an anon was talking about this game yesterday
https://i-war2.com/
I had a few I was gonna list but I realized they either got some popularity after I played them or they got like 2000-3000 reviews on steam so they're probably not as unknown as I thought.
>Cosmology of Kyoto
https://collectionchamber.blogspot.com/2019/05/cosmology-of-kyoto.html
>Strange Telephone
https://store.steampowered.com/app/705290/Strange_Telephone/
>10-103 & 103NK
https://nerdspartan.itch.io/10-103-null-kelvin
https://nerdspartan.itch.io/10-103
>some Touhou thing
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2248430/Touhou_Artificial_Dream_in_Arcadia/
Here come a bunch of 1-2 hour long RPG maker games.
>Heavenly Martyr
https://rpgmaker.net/games/12664/
>Little Maddie Dear
https://rpgmaker.net/games/11781/
>Monstrosity
https://saibibi.itch.io/monstrosity
>Mimicry Man
https://vgperson.com/games/mimicryman.htm
>Disillusion (warning, this one is pure schizo eye cancer)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1490060/Disillusion/
Now time to see what other people recommend.
260 reviews
great game https://store.steampowered.com/app/922100/Nauticrawl/