What's your favorite game you never hear anybody talk about?

In certain circles it is well known, but Baba Is You is one of the most ingenious games for a long while and should be known even wider.

Rise of Nations. It's like Civilization but as a real-time strategy game and I really enjoy it. Microsoft actually released an updated edition in 2014 which was good of them but I basically never hear anyone actually talk about it which sucks because it's such a cool game. The single-player Conquer the World campaigns are also cool, and have some elements reminiscent of the classic Risk board game.

There's also Star Trek: Bridge Commander, which is often mentioned in discussions of "what Star Trek games were good?" but not much outside of that context. It strikes a perfect balance between having starship combat that really feels like you're commanding a ship with a lot of mass behind it and actually being fun and easy for an average person to pick up and play (which is where stuff like the X Universe games fall down). There are tons of "space fighter" games out there but I've never really seen anything that captures space capital ship combat as well as Bridge Commander.

My Summer Car. It's probably still #1 for play time on Steam for me. I bought a whole-ass racing wheel setup just for that game.

Return of the Obra Dinn is an amazing game that I wish I could play again for the first time. The art style is super unique and the attention to detail in every aspect of the game is incredible.

Highly recommend.

American McGee’s Alice and the much later sequel which is my favourite game of all time - Alice: Madness Returns.

The aesthetic, the puzzles, the sound design, the voice acting, the political statements underlying the narrative, Alice’s outfits, the collectibles hidden in obscure places, the different art styles for each world level. I just love it! I mean sure, the combat mechanics are not as complex as some games but they fit nicely into Alice in Wonderland lore and if you up the difficulty settings it can be more challenging.

I’m also really enjoying Inscryption at the moment. A puzzle/card game interweaved with an escape the room horror story.

Legend of Dragoon for PS1. It has the single best timed-input RPG combat system of any game ever. Think Mario RPG but way better.

GUST OF WIND DANCE!

Among all the love Bioware gets for KotOR and Mass Effect I'm genuinely surprised more people aren't talking about Jade Empire.

It's a full fledged classic Bioware RPG set in an interesting world based on Chinese mythology, has some great characters and a fun (if simple) combat system. Voice acting is mostly good too, especially for a 2005 game and it even has John Cleese doing a part!

I loved it when it came out and am stumped as to why it never became a BioWare mainstay. Maybe releasing as an exclusive for the original Xbox just killed it, but if you enjoy this style of RPG I highly recommend checking it out!

Any love for the Monkey Island series here?

Planetside 2 - someone else already mentioned it here, but it's the only game in it's genre and nothing else really comes close to what it offers (persistent 1v1v1 +300 player battles across infantry, land, air, and sea). It's been kicking for over a decade now and I'm not sure what could replace it if or when it finally kicks it. It's truly singular, and responsible for some of my fondest memories in gaming. It's also free!

Puzzle Pirates was a MMO in the early to mid 00’s. Each task on board the ship had a puzzle mini game associated with it. Sailing was sort of like Dr. Mario, pumping out the bilge was a match 3 game, loading the canons was sort of like Chu-Chu Rocket. The thing I liked about it was that your character’s ability to preform a duty had nothing to do with what gear you had equipped or how many skill points you had in a stat (there were none), it was all about how well you, as a player, could play the particular mini game.

In battle, sailors would generate movement tokens to allow the captain to maneuver the ship, gunners would reload the canons after they’d been fired, carpenters would repair any damage you’ve taken, while the bilge pumpers would keep the ship from foundering. Once you closed in and grappled the enemy ship, everyone would participate in a Super Puzzle Fighter-like sword fighting game; defeat the enemy crew to pillage their hold.

Black and White, it was a god simulator on PC in 2001. You interact with your villagers and the world as a floating hand, casting spells to raise faith in villages or throwing rocks to smite as necessary. You also got a giant pet that you could train to do your bidding.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_%26_White_(video_game)

Crimson Skies for OG Xbox. It’s pirates in planes dogfighting, we need a remake badly.

One Must Fall 2097, an awesome robot fighting game for DOS, which is quite different from every other fighting game, because in this one you have to select both pilots and the robots, and each pilot and robot have their own specialities and back stories, so it makes for a lot more interesting gameplay compared to other games in this genre.

Incredible Machine, Metal Arms Glitch in the System, Wargroove, Gradius 3.

Mine is definitely Freelancer. The game by Chris Roberts that actually got finished by firing him.

I love that game, the story is engaging and the characters are likeable.

I'm probably just seeing it with nostalgia but I like to play it until this day. I installed it on my Steam Deck and gave it a go. It was awesome.

Mine is Dark Cloud. It was a PS2 launch title (or near enough to it) that was sort of a PlayStation answer to the Zelda franchise. Along with the original Spyro trilogy, Dark Cloud was by far my most-played game back in the day. It had an absolute banger of a soundtrack and a few pieces of really interesting unique gameplay including an RPG element where the primary progression system was not in your characters, but in upgrading your weapons, and a city-builder where you have to place all the people in each village near or away from various other elements in the village to meet their needs.

I almost never hear anyone talking about Dark Cloud, but extremely randomly one of the like four Twitch streamers I actually watch (all of whom are Age of Empires streamers, because that's basically all I watch these days) happens to play its soundtrack frequently on her stream as background music. So that's been really fun.

Hard to settle on just one. In no order:

• ChuChu Rocket (Dreamcast): insanely fun and manic couch multiplayer game
• A10 Tank Killer II: Silent Thunder (PC): the soundtrack alone justifies the time to play this aging flight sim
• Virtual On (Arcade): this was ported to Saturn and the port is good, but the giant arcade machine is where it's really at with dual twin stick cockpits
• Mario Paint (SNES): Really fun non-game from a time when non-games were uncommon on home consoles. I have hundreds of hours into this
• Dungeon Keeper (PC): darkly comedic evil dungeon lord management sim. I will never forgive EA for what they did to Bullfrog and subsequently the DK franchise. There have been many attempted homages and clones but none have captured the magic.
• Super Tennis (SNES): an actually fun tennis game
• Super Play Action Football (SNES): football game with a unique isometric view
• Hank Parker's Super Black Bass 2 (SNES): super fun fishing sim. I wish there were games like this today that took fishing more seriously and less arcadey.
• Brain Age (DS): a genuine sensation in its heyday and largely forgotten now. Really showed off the potential of the DS
• Cel Damage (GameCube): twisted metal with zany little cel shaded cartoon characters. Never got the respect it deserved and probably never will since they butchered the game's balance with the HD re-release

CrossCode. It's an SNES-style action RPG with very fun combat, 2D-Zelda-like puzzles, and a genuinely charming well-written story that was made in HTML5 and JavaScript for some reason. It is genuinely my favorite game of all time. I habitually proselyte this game to friends, but check it out for the love of God

Mine would be tunic , It feels like top down old school Zelda but puzzles that will blow your mind when you get the context. If you haven't played tunic before don't watch any review just buy the game and play it.

This is a 10/10 game where I wish to forget about it to play this again.

Golden sun and its sequel on GBA

Yoku's Island Express. The idea of a metroidvania where the entire map is a giant pinball board is beyond genius.

The legend of dragoon has to be one of my favorite jrpgs and I would love for it to get a remake/remaster. Sadly it seems like Sony doesn't care about it tho so I'm not hopeful

While we're on the subject of DS classics, here's an even more obscure one: Over the Hedge.

While admittedly it never quite got the time in the oven it deserved, being a release tie-in with the movie and put out alongside all the console versions, this one in particular was something special. It's a third-person over the shoulder perspective stealth game with tank controls, sneaking into the hilariously well-protected homes of humans to steal their junk food. And if that wasn't enough, it had you managing two characters in real-time by swapping back and forth between them, using their varying strengths to defeat the ridiculous laser alarm systems and traps along the way. It's slow paced and relatively simple, and I used to have a blast finding ways to completely break the game because the devs didn't have enough time to iron out all the kinks entirely, but it never quite got the attention it deserves for being such a unique labor of love.

I have to give it massive props for having so much creative heart when a tie-in for a mediocre animated movie has no right to be that good. The developers saw the opportunity to make something that put its source material to good work instead of just another hack-and-slash romp (like the console tie-ins were) or a minigame collection (like the later DS game (???) was) and their dedication to the craft of game development really shines through some of the jank involved in its presentation and sometimes wonky physics. By now, a unique take on a stealth game is nothing all that special, but at the time this was one that really grabbed me.

Vectorman for Sega Genesis is one of my favorite games on the console but whenever it's brought up it is almost exclusively known as just another obscure mascot platformer and it's even been declared a knockoff of DKC just because both use pre rendered graphics. The sequel is also good.

I never see anyone talk about Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch but it's one of my favorite games of all time. The Studio Ghibli collab makes it ooze charm.

Mindustry. Played it on and off for years, abosultely love the game. Way too good consider the fact that it's free, and when I picked it up I expected to get a couple of hours of fun out of it. But at this point it has lasted years. And with the occasional update, I think it will last even longer.

Shadowrun for the Genesis, I never hear anyone mention it and it was a great game. I've played it recently and it still holds up. EDIT: I'm adding a Sierra PC game called Shivers, it was kinda like horror Myst. I loved it so much and no one ever mentions like it was never released.

Let's see what I can come up with (and see if I can remember the names correctly!):

• NES: Back in the day, it was probably River City Ransom. Growing up, it was a game my brother and I loved to play... but no one ever knew what we were talking about at the time. Now the Kunio games are a bit more known, and with River City Girls 1/2 they're getting attention, which is great.
• Gameboy: Avenging Spirits. When I was younger, a friend and I loaned each other a bunch of our games. Sadly, he ended up moving away before we managed to swap back, and he got the better end of the deal when it came to the games. However, I did get left with a copy of Avenging Spirits... the game is a bit strange but its very fun and the sprite work is just adorable.
• SNES: Dragon View. It has great sprite work and a very (at the time) cool looking 3D overworld you can stumble around in... Solid gameplay and some RPG elements make it a nice little gem of a game.
• GBA: River City Ransom EX. Same deal as the NES version. I worked at Toys R Us around this time, and I think I'm the only person who purchased this game from the store...
• PS1: Brave Fencer Musashi. Someone else already mentioned Einhander, so I'll go with my other go-to PS1 gem from Squaresoft.
• Saturn: Guardian Heroes. While I bought the console for X-men vs Street Fighter, I go it with a handful of games on the cheap at EB Games: Magic Knight Rayearth, some crappy 2D Dragon Ball Z game, X-men vs Street Fighter (and a 4in1 cart of course!) and Guardian Heroes. Its such a well made beat-em-up that really doesn't get a lot of love because most folks never played any Saturn games.
• PS2: Way of the Samurai. Maybe not super unknown, but definitely a niche game back when it released in the US I think.
• Dreamcast: Cannon Spike. I bought my DC for Capcom games (and SoulCalibur), and this is one of the many gems on that console that never really pops up in discussions. I bought it on the sole merit that Charlie/Nash was in it, but it was wacky and engaging enough to warrant a place in my heart.
• XB360: Tenchu Z. I loved Tenchu back on the PS1/PS2, but this was probably the one that most folks didn't touch... it was a bit weird but a friend and I played the hell out of it on many a weekend back in the day.

Any other console I either didn't own (Genesis, Gamegear, PS3, etc) or just couldn't think of anything that really stood out as a hidden gem (PSP, PSV) or are more current and also don't really have anything that ranks (PS4, PS5).

It's not that nobody talks about it, but i think it isn't talked about enough; Control.

I really enjoyed Space Station Silicon Valley for the N64. It turns out there was a bug in the original game so you could never complete it 100%. A couple years ago, I purchased an Everdrive (https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/ed64x7.html) so I could patch the ROM and play on original hardware. Pair this with some new wireless controllers and it's the perfect experience.

CrossCode is one of my absolute favorite games, yet I hardly see it talked about in larger circles. It's an action RPG with some zelda-like dungeons and a very fluid and satisfying combat system. Highly recommend it!

All of the games in the Tribes series, my personal favorites being Tribes Ascend and Aerial Assault. Tribes had a play style similar to Halo but with a movement more like Unreal along with a touch of 'surfing' over land and some jetpacks. They're all great fun and still fun for me to play today. IIRC, the last game's official online servers are no longer active, but there is a community following for Tribes Ascend that helps keep the game alive and updated, look up TribesLauncherSharp and TAMods for more info if interested. I backed up the disc I have for Tribes Aerial Assault to an ISO and it works great in PCSX2. With 1080p/4K rendering, extra graphics options, wide-screen patches, and controller customization it's way easier to play than originally on composite CRT with a Dualshock.

A really old game called Fat Princess - it was a wonderful multiplayer real time strategy kind of thing, with a beautiful community for quite a few years. Despite the name, it was one of the best games I've ever played!

If you were on there and recognise my screen name, yes it is me!

Heroes of the Storm. It's not getting any updates anymore but as long as the servers are up, I'll still play it.

Planetside 2. Been playing for a decade. One of the best games and only one in its genre of MMOFPS. I don’t know what I will play when it dies. It’s the one and only thing I play and enjoy now. Nothing else is fun.

Starport GE. Amazing little game. Played tons of it. It’s been almost 18 years of it. Played hardcore for atleast a decade before life got in the way and winded down now. My brother manages the account and activity now. Still alive but barely. It’s a game of strategy and alliances and carefully managing a galaxy to control it all. Make friends make enemies. There’s been dozens of people that have come and gone over the years through it. Due to its small player size. We all knew each other very well and were acquainted. You don’t like someone you decide to go to war with them start taking all their colonies. The game has no alliance mechanism or war mechanism. It’s all on you to decide what to make of it.

I know everyone here got many favorite and probably wonderful games but who here has played only 2 games with more than a decade of dedication to each?

FTL: Faster Than Light, a pixel sci fi rouge like where you manage a ship and crew jumping point to point on a mission through space. I keep coming back to it and it's always fun. There's an amazing mod community that I'll just starting to explore as well

I rarely hear people talk about it but whenever I do, it's nothing but love.

Redneck Rampage was silly and fun.

Boktai. A trilogy of GBA games about a vampire hunter who uses a solar gun to fry the undead. The cartridge has a UV sensor to detect actual sunlight to charge up the gun. It's such a silly gimmick but it's used really well.

Sadly the third game never got localized, and although a translation patch does exist it's just not the same without the original hardware. There's a fourth game on DS which did get localized, but they rebranded it as Lunar Knights, excised most references to the original trilogy, and even cut a good chunk of content. It also ends on a sequel hook that will never get resolved.

It's sad to me that we'll never see games this experimental ever again.

I don't see anyone talking about CrossCode, but it's such an amazing game. And it's on sale right now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/368340/CrossCode/

Profound story, excellent sound design, amazing soundtrack, insanely well designed combat system. It's just an incredible game. It has more content, depth, and attention to detail than most AAA games these days.

If you're picking it up, get the DLC as well! It's not just DLC, it's the conclusion of the game's story!

N+ it's such a good game and no one ever knows what I'm talking about.

Alundra. It's basically the PS1's own Zelda title, with a bit of Terranigma DNA mixed in. I played it as a kid and remember being blown away by the plot, and unlike a lot of other games I played back then, this one mostly held up when I replayed it as an adult.

Fallen London; a text-based, story-driven ongoing browser game about an alternate-history London that was traded by Queen Victoria in exchange for her husband being spared death and literally carried by a cloud of bats to a massive underground cavern where Hell is just a train journey away.

It's a niche game in a niche genre, but damn I love the writing and setting so much. Sunless Sea is set in the same world, if anyone has played that too!

Golden Sun. They were the best RPG games I've ever played and never get the love they deserve. Don't know why, I've never played a game that struck me like those 2 games did.

The first few Advance Wars games too, Advance Wars and Golden Sun were a huge part of my childhood.

Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future on Dreamcast

Nobody ever brings up Strife even when talking about old shooters as it is. Strife is, by far, the best Doom engine game that exists.

Tomba! It was a really bizarre PS1 game that I was hooked on when I was 9 or 10. You play as pink-haired boy fighting some evil pigs by throwing them into their respective evil pig bags. Trippy as hell.

Full Spectrum Warrior.

A real time, over-the-shoulder, squad management tactical game.

Imagine Brothers In Arms style tactical command and contextual actions from AI squad members, mixed with a modern setting, mixed with pulling the player out of actually doing any shooting and putting them entirely in the role of command, and give it high lethality and a requirement to save all friendly wounded AI squad members (wounded ones have to be carried back to a medical tent).

Really unique couple of games that nobody has iterated on.

Not much nostalgia for Jet Force Gemini, a Rare third person shooter where you adventure through missions, each having secret routes to find using guns/keys you slowly unlock. The game had a bit too much completionist vibe to get to finish it, but was exciting as a kid.

On the 3DS, I also liked Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. Basically RE’s best arena mode expanded out with perks on a game you could play mobile, and online. I still hope to see more of that type of experience.

Oh boy. I played General Chaos for the Sega Genesis religiously when I was younger.

Loco-Roco for the PSP. As a game developer, I consider this to be the pinnacle of game development. It is completely original, uses only two buttons, super intuitive, yet your drawn into it and want to play for hours. It makes me sad that few have heard of it.

Toy Story on the sega genesis (and snes) is a close second. It is actually a bit of a hot mess, each level is a completely different style of gameplay. But it is super rewarding to fight your way through to the end. And it showcases so many different styles of gameplay.

MDK. Sure, it was arguably "popular" when it launched, but is largely forgotten in videogame lore. There's not even talks of a remake.

The Secret World. Not a flawless game, but the world building is awesome

Awesomenauts. The coolest 2D platforming MOBA. The gameplay is super fun and has a surprising amount of depth. Unfortunetly the devs have almost abandoned it and the playerbase is small (still active tho) but it's still one of my favorite games ever.

Rocket Slime is awesome!!!! I played this when it came out and I feel like no one has played this game. This game needed a multiplayer aspect or downloadable bosses to extend this game.

Unicycle for the SNES.

Favorite obscure game?
Panther for Commodore 64 - The music is awesome!

Rez for Dreamcast/PS2 - not everyone talks about this game but the audience is a lot larger now than it was back when it came out for the Dreamcast and PS2 now that Rez Infinite is available in almost every current platform including the PSVR2.

I would’ve also said Another World (aka Out of this World) for the PC and SNES. But this game is also not-too-obscure like Rez. There are articles about it & the creation, re-released in almost every platform including the PS Vita, spiritual successors, copycats, and so on.

Knights and Merchants

It is an awesome medieval RTS that you have to also manage your city economy efficiently, feed your population (AND the soldiers, even if they are miles away), manage the finite resources etc.

Check it out, along with this mod: https://www.kamremake.com/

Patapon 1-3 on the psp. It's been so long since I played it but I still say the little beats when I'm doing idle tasks. Pon-pon-pata-pon

Micro machines was beautiful. The closest I've got to reliving the pure mayhem was probably Mashed (I think) for Xbox.

Anno? It doesn’t have any mobile ver anymore. We used to download jar files back in nokia days.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. I played it a decade ago on iOS, loved it, and thought it was never going to see a modern release again.

I'm thrilled to see its recent release on the Switch and PC because it truly deserves a try if you like a good story and time traveling based puzzles.

One Finger Death Punch

Simple, but surprisingly addictive stickman fighting game. Although the title is a lie because you probably need two fingers to play it. I think this was the first game I went for 100% achievements.

Apparently it has a sequel which I didn't know about. Both are on sale for pretty much pocket change now too.

The Thief and Tenchu series need more love.

I used to consider Thief/Tenchu/Hitman to be the core stealth games but currently only Hitman is still being made :/

I was surprised that I haven't heard more about Returnal, because it's a really good game. It's difficult sure, but so are lots of popular games. It has great music, really fun gameplay and mechanics, and an interesting story with cool vibes. I thought it would get repetitive after a while due to the death mechanic but in actuality it honestly was addicting to play.

Similarly I don't hear nearly enough about Control despite it being a phenomenal game, but I do at least hear more about Control than Returnal.

Custom Robo on the GameCube. It's an arena combat game with little digital robots that you fit different parts to. The story and characters were super cheesy, but it was such a great game.

We definitely need a new one on the switch. With all the characters in the latest Smash Bros I was hoping we'd get a Ray model, but nope, just a trophy.

Furi, A boss rush gamers wet dream. Trims the fat of an action hack/slash game. Simple combat to understand and hard to master. The soundtrack simply slaps too with an electronic symphony backing your carnage as you tear apart the bosses. I highly recommend checking in out as it frequently goes on sale for quite cheap.

Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 is the sequel to rocket slime. It’s a great series and mechanic.

I’m really surprised Viva Piñata has vanished, given the recent surge of chill farming games. It was unique, cool designs, universe, characters. It feels like it disappeared, maybe due to licensing or something.

Maybe more obscure would be something like Graal Online, which was an early MMO, UGC focused top down Zelda game. I played a bit for months. Similar story with Gunbound.

This is an easy one:

Jump Ultimate Stars for DS, it is not only my favorite game for the console, it might as well be my favorite game ever.

To be fair I would not say it is like nobody plays it at all, but certainly it is on the low radar and this game would have been lower on the radar if it wasn't for piracy and because thank God the DS is retrocompatible.

Hotel Dusk 1 and 2 gets a honorable mention as well.

Skies of Arcadia. I was a big Final Fantasy fan growing up, especially the original PS era. After looking for similar games, I came across Skies of Arcadia. I never see people discuss this game outside of niche JRPG discussions. This is one of my favorite games of all time, I put it up there with Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, etc. The biggest flaw with the game is the excessive random encounters, which they toned down in the Legends edition for Gamecube.

Little big adventure 1 & 2

Ogre Battle 64 is mine. The n64 wasn't exactly known for rpgs but this had so many characters, a ton of depth and an intense story that I wish it was brought up more. This was my intro to a tactical rpgs and I felt like I went right into the deep end.

Archon, it's a chess game with monsters instead of typical pieces, and they fight when you take a space. I played it on a Commodore 64.

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. Made by I think 3 or 4 people. Solid space flight shooter with charm. It's just fun.

Wait, I have to pick one? No way! So:

Loom (PC) It Came From The Desert (Amiga) Wings (Amiga) Amber: Journeys Beyond (PC and the first game to truly scare the shit out of me) I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (PC)

Off the top of my head :)

Original War. A very unique RTS about American and Russians fighting over a precious resource billions years in the past. It has an interesting story with memorable characters and branching choices. The game still looks decent, especially the between missions cutscenes didn't age badly because of the style of presentation. One thing that's rather hit or miss is voice acting, at least in English. There are two campaigns so you get to see both sides, skirmish mode, map editor and quite a number of mods. Some interesting mechanics like vehicle and building customisation. You can build not only combat vehicles with various weapon systems but also utility vehicles like trucks to haul resources and cranes to help with construction. You can pick propulsion method, tracks/wheels, size and if it's manned or unmanned, and each choice has some upsides and downsides.

The thing that stands out the most is that it's the only rts I can think of where you actually care for the life of your soliders. Due to the setting, there's no way to recruit new people, so losing anyone hurts, and you will be grateful for unmanned vehicles, trained primates and others methods that reduce the risk to your soldiers.

World in Conflict is mine. One of the best tactical RTSs that existed with stunning visuals. A nuke going off was one thing, but when your team decides to spend their support points at the same time on artillery, carpet bombing, and cluster bombs, it was a sight to behold.

"Darkstar one" on Xbox 360. It was the only game that actually ran at 60FPS. when i eventually went to sell it (as i got it on PC) neither of the 2 game stores (GAME and CEX) would buy it off me as it didn't register on their system.

Now one that people probably know about, especially as it has a lot of HD re-releases, but when Okami came out, basically no-one knew it. A real shame, as it was a gem of a game.

Just a heads up there is a GBA and 3DS game in the Slime series, but the 2nd game on DS is the only one that made it to America. No idea if there are fan translations, but might be worth looking into.

Way back when "addictinggames.com" was relevant, there was a game called Avalanche. The background music (dreams of above) was an absolute banger that still gets stuck in my head sometimes. Just a simple platformer, but for some reason it stuck with me, and I absolutely need to get on a computer and see if there is a playable version somewhere.

I love Rocket Slime! and Keeping with the Dragon Quest Theme...

I love the Dragon Quest Builders games.

To many people sleep on them because they think they are simply Minecraft games with a Dragon Quest skin. And yes, there are a lot of mechanics lifted straight from Minecraft, they have a story mode that is like a typical RPG, and most of the time you are building a living, thriving town to act as your base of opperations as you execute quests and complete the story's campaigns. I especially like the story in DQB2 because of the bromance you form with your partner, and how much it expands on the size and the scale of the first game, though I also like the first one because it's a lot more digestible for short bursts.

The journeyman project series (1, 2 and 3) had a major impact on my childhood

Guardian Heores for the Sega Saturn. Absolutely loved that game.

I know I posted here already, but I had to add one more, and I feel it deserves its own post: Eastward!

Eastward is Zelda-like adventure game set in a post apocalyptic world, and the setting itself is heavily inspired by China, Japan, Korea, and other areas in East Asia, and takes a lot of cues from Mother 3: Earthbound's lost sequel. It's a game with a lot of heart. It has a great sense of humor, but also is incredibly dark in some places, it had me in tears by the end. Sure it's not the easiest story in the world to follow, but I became so invested in the characters, and I kept playing because I just wanted to see if they got through everything alright. And even after playing through it once, I spent most of the year thinking back to moments in the game. Very few games have ever hit me like that. Eastward was definitely something special for me, and I wish it had the same hype behind it as many indie darlings like Undertale have.

And the game is probably one of the most beautiful 2D games I have ever played. There is a lot of detail put into the set pieces, and it makes the worlds feel like they were lived in at one point, which fits the post apocalyptic setting quite well. The dungeons, the towns, even the buildings off to the side tickle the urban explorer inside me.

Solar Jetman for the NES. A really unique game that was well ahead of it's time, featuring exploration, problem solving, cut-scenes, great music, and multiple planets to explore with different gravities. Your mission is to repair your spacecraft by finding missing parts, and you can use a small craft or leave the vehicle and boost around with a jetpack with your spacesuit.

Beetle Adventure Racing for the n64.

Specifically the battle modes. The chaos of a bunch of Volkswagen beetles launching rockets at each other is a core memory for sure.