Life isn’t fair most of the time – even in the gaming industry. So many great titles fail to move units because they don’t have a marketing budget or because they came out at the wrong time. However, the power of word of mouth should never be underestimated.
Many headlines are a reminder that sales should never be the metric for measuring game quality. Even if the game can’t move units, it can still find another life according to the cult. Several titles eventually received the recognition they deserved over the years, even if their initial release turned out to be disappointing.
10 Spec Ops The Line Is Still More Powerful Than Modern Military Shooters
Yager Development was given few restrictions when handed the keys to the long-running Spec Ops series. Publisher 2K’s only mandate was that the title should be military. Read also : Instead of numbers, Netflix should focus on quality, like Hulu. The studio sought inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness.
The resulting title, Spec Ops The Line, deviated greatly from the many military shooters released around the same time, offering a truly dark and harrowing social commentary on war and the relationship between the player‘s actions and avatar. Unfortunately, it didn’t match the sales of its considerably lower contemporaries, so the Spec Ops series was defunct.
9 Beyond Good & Evil Was Overshadowed By Other Action Titles
Taking many cues from character exploration titles like The Legend of Zelda series and incorporating his trademark style, Michel Ancel’s Beyond Good & Evil was criminally overlooked upon its original 2003 release. Competition was fierce this year, with many other action-adventure titles such as Sony’s Jak 2 and Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando.
But unlike those platformers, Ubisoft’s title places less emphasis on combat and more on gathering evidence and solving puzzles. Despite the sales, the game found a significant following, including acclaimed filmmaker Peter Jackson. To see also : Netflix’s Resident Evil: Do you need to have played the games to understand the series?. Its sequel has faced a long, decades-long development.
8 Psychonauts Eventually Got The Sequel It Deserved
Psychonauts, the debut title from Tim Schafer’s studio Double Fine, was a wonderfully insane adventure through the minds of eccentrics and freaks. This may interest you : 5 new Netflix releases that everyone will be watching this weekend. Development of the title hit a snag when their original publisher, Microsoft, got cold feet and dropped their support.
Fortunately, Majesco wanted a hit and took a chance on Schafer’s kid. Upon release, the game became famous as a critical darling and a commercial flop, causing publisher Majesco to shelve the big-budget game altogether. But digital outlets gave this unique title a second life, paving the way for its crowdfunded sequel.
7 Bayonetta Bewitched The Hack & Slash Genre
Years after the first Devil May Cry, Hideki Kamiya returned to the genre he helped start with the 2009 hack and slash title Bayonetta. While the game had the same flash, precise controls, and level of challenge as Dante’s debut, Platinum’s effort made some clever additions to the formula, such as a witching hour mechanic that rewarded players who dodged enemy attacks at the last second.
Unfortunately, sales fell well short of Sega’s expectations, so the publisher withdrew support for the sequel. Fortunately, Nintendo stepped in to acquire the game as an exclusive.
6 System Shock 2 Was A Much-Needed Jolt
Warren Spector’s RPG and FPS follow-ups improved the formula significantly. Players were essentially free to allocate their points to whatever skills they preferred. Those who didn’t care for the vulgarity of firearms could devote their cyber modules to psychics or even hacking.
Players had to be careful though, as the game’s relentless difficulty punished them if they didn’t spend enough points on a certain attribute. As a result, units failed to move despite the game’s acclaim. But it garnered a huge fan base and served as the blueprint for Ken Levine’s vastly more successful spiritual successor, Bioshock.
5 Earthbound Still Proves To Be Peculiar And Kind
Shigesato Itoi’s Mother series has never had much luck in the West. The first game was supposed to be localized to the NES stateside as Earthbound, and even featured changes from the original Japanese Famicom version. But unfortunately Nintendo of America canceled it to focus on the Super Nintendo.
However, they released the SNES sequel in western territories as Earthbound. Unfortunately, the game received mixed reviews from critics and poor sales. But as the years passed, more and more gamers discovered the title’s irreverent humor and heartwarming narrative, paving the way for spiritual successors like Undertale.
4 Ico Was Largely Overshadowed By GTA
Fumito Ueda’s PlayStation 2 debut was a daring artistic achievement that represented a leap forward in the medium. The attention to detail in the animation was absolutely unparalleled in the market and helped pave the way for cinematic efforts like the Uncharted series.
Its tiered mechanics, minimalistic story, and dark atmosphere created a powerful experience that opened up the possibilities of the industry. Unfortunately, everyone was busy playing GTA III. However, the quality of the game spread by word of mouth, and Ueda’s Shadow of Colossus made more players aware of Ico’s legacy.
3 Gamers Didn’t Quite Know What To Make Of Killer7
Suda 51 Killer7 was a title that defied convention and defied classification. Mechanically, it incorporated elements of graphic adventures, on-rails shooters, and survival horror games to create an eclectic gaming experience. Its narrative also treads an unbeaten path with many quirky characters, idiosyncratic dialogue and unforgettable scenes of comically over-the-top violence.
At the time of its initial release in 2005, critics were essentially at a loss as to what to make of it, with some applauding the title for its ambition and novelty, and others deriding it as gratuitous and confusing. Despite poor sales, Suda 51 became one of the most famous authors in the gaming industry.
2 Okami Has Become As Immortal As Its Eponymous Goddess
Hideki Kamiya’s last title at Capcom was a huge departure from high-octane action games like Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe. Instead, Okami was a majestic and visually stunning action adventure reminiscent of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series. Players took control of the eponymous sun goddess and used the power of the brush to dispatch her enemies.
Sumimaal’s look stood out from other titles and remains so today. However, in 2006, everyone was focused on HD games, leaving Clover Studio’s artwork on the shelves. Fortunately, the game’s legacy lived on through the Chibi spinoff and HD re-release.
1 Grim Fandango gave Players The Time Of Their Afterlife
Tim Schafer’s last title before leaving LucasArts to start his own studio, Grim Fandango, was a funny and heartfelt graphic adventure that came out when no one wanted to touch the genre. It drew players into an unforgettable world that combined the Aztec afterlife with film noir.
Despite the cinematic influences, the characters and narrative stand on their own with some genuinely funny dialogue and an intriguing journey spanning four years. Unfortunately, despite winning numerous Game of the Year awards, it was unfairly shunned by consumers in 1998. Fortunately, Manny Calavera rose again with a remaster courtesy of Disney Interactive, Sony and Double Fine Studios.
NEXT: The 10 Best LucasArts Adventure Games, Ranked
