So... I've looked through the games section, and surprisingly, there isn't a thread dedicated to old and awesome, yet largely forgotten games. I think it is time to fix that... Welcome to thread called Forgotten gems from the past This thread is about all games, that media and majority of people forgot they exist, or wasn't as widely popular. Games, that slipped through the net of people's awareness, and left rot in the darkness of oblivion. And... that's pretty much it. I other words, I am interested to learn about old games you have or have played, that are not mainstream, only few selected people know about them, OR games that were abandoned by its creators and are not supported anymore, for whatever reason. And since the word 'old' is such a broad term, I'll say everything before 2014, but not necessarily, if it meets at least 1 underscored condition. Maybe it can help others to find the game they played a long time ago, enjoyed it, but forgot how it is called, or feel a little bit of nostalgia, and want to try some more games from the past. At least I hope so. Rules are simple : 1. No widely known titles such as Doom, Quake, Civilization, Call of Duty, or Need for Speed. Almost everyone heard about them countless times. 2: Almost unknown installments of widely known franchises -if any- are allowed... hell, appreciated. 3. PC titles are preffered, but feel free to post any games from any console. Even mobile games. 4: You may add some basic information about the game, like genre or year of release. Appreciated, not required, 5: Say what you like/don't like about that game, and if/why you can recommend it to those interested. Also not required, just appreciated. 6: General talk about old games is, of course, fine. 7: No insults, hate-speech, flaming, religion, politics, and the like. Constructive crticism and opinions on the games in common are fine, as long as you don't insult the poster. Obey the forum rules and guidelines. Thank you. Now, with those things out, let's get started... My pick is 'Arx Fatalis'. an dungeon-crawling adventure RPG, released at November 2002, develepod by Arkane studios, and set in the world, where sun vanished, and every living being was forced to head underground. While its RPG system is good, atmosphere thick, unsettling yet amazing at the same time, its true shine lies in magic system, which requires hand-drawing a runes to cast the spell... which can get quite hectic during a battle. It has open-world elements -as caves allows you- and non-linear gameplay, where you can finish your objectives in various ways, encouraging for multiple playthroughs. Its only drawbacks I can think of right now are limited gear, difficulty spikes in some parts, for some people it may feel quite claustrophobic, and can be finished in under 7 hours. I can absolutely reccomend it for those, who like dungeon crawlers with a bit of RP, and exploration, and are not afraid of dark environment and outdated graphics. It is still sold on GOG for a nice €5.49. What is your Forgotten Gem?
Well, I doubts anyone know this game. It's a 2D game with a mixed genre, called Clonk Rage. My once favorite game. The game was developed by a game company, called RedWolf Design, and by a guy named Matthew Bender. Sadly the game is no longer in development. RedWolf Design abandon it, and declare that the game are free to play. All their contentd and assets are now under freeware licence. So, sad. I used to play this game a lot back there. (I really hope SB will not turn like this). If you want to try to download and play it, here is the link. It's totally free.
I once borrowed a game called Harbinger from the library many years ago. It was a sort of sci-fi themed Diablo clone set aboard a gigantic, decaying starship filled with various alien species vying for power and survival. There were three playable characters - a human (who seems to have been fairly balanced and made use of mines), a Gladiator (a member of an enslaved species transplanted into a mecha body, serving as a tank-ish character who can deploy remote drones) and an energy-based being (who was apparently the last of her kind, acting as a sort of glass cannon that made use of a rechargeable AoE attack). There was some variation between storylines, though I never finished the game with any of them. Partway through the game you go down to a planet's surface and get swarmed with bugs, and I could never get past it. Still, the idea always stuck with me. I've actually got a very rudimentary idea for a story with a similar setup, based in the universe of a novel I'm writing. Not sure if I'll do anything with it, but who knows. I'd like to track down a copy sometime and try and play it through to the end.
Moor Al-Malik (Sorry, reply button makes my screen blow up with pictures you posted) : Hmm... Clonk Rage... this games looks familiar to me... I feel like I've seen it before, but I cannot recall where. Or maybe my memory just tricks me. It looks interesting, though; something like a weird mix of 3D rendered, claymation-esque? type of game, set in 2D. Whatever it is, it looks unique. Maybe I'll give it a try. And don't worry, SB will DEFINETELY not end like this, not on community watch. Oh, I remember this one. The name didn't say much, but the description you gave made me curious, so I've looked it up, and indeed, it was the one I suspected (along with game called Battlevoid : Harbinger, quite different). I had a demo of Harbinger, that came with game magazine (as was usual at that time). so I've got only a little taste of it. I've never played full game, though, Quick research shows it is available at Amazon for $6.43. A little bit pricey for an old game like this, in my opinion, but feel free to order a copy, while it is available. Harbinger also reminds me of game called 'Greed : Black Border', from 2010, which is also essentialy Diablo in space, and is good at that. It doesn't have a robust skill tree, massive pool of equipment or that many characters, but it is fun nonetheless.
Huh, and here I thought it had passed right under the radar. I may as well try and grab a copy sometime, and pray it isn't region-locked. I remember it had no DRM and that I was able to run it without a disk, so here's hoping.
One that I recently (Just a few months ago) actually played is Crimson Skies, which is an arcade flight sim that is probably only really renembered nowadays by people who bring it up on the Internet every time someone posts images of weird aircraft, either paper projects or ones that actually got built. The game is essentially about being an air pirate in 1937 in an alternate timeline in which the United States split into several countries, leading to a rise in air piracy. While the game can be frustrating (For starters, it asks for stunts a bit too often, and, specially the one that involves picking up someone by flying over them, is quite a pain if you use one of the planes with an offcenter cockpit), it can also be quite fun, and most missions are at least rather memorable. It also helps that the planes are quite customizable, and that the "instant action" typical of the genre is more detailed than in other games of it's time.
Eh, sorry about that. Anyway, there is a community version of the game (which was developed by the volunteers from their community, and the only sequel of the game that still going). But in my opinion, that one is not as good as the original one, it's like they lose some of their original style, aesthetic, and gameplay. But anyway, just an info, that Clonk Rage is the latest of the original sequel of the game. There are other sequel of it. You can see it all in the official Clonk game website.
