Available for free here.
5 Likes
I’ll tell ya one critically maligned game that isn’t actually a classic and in fact blows hogg: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
3 Likes
can’t believe i never made my obligatory Light Crusader namedrop in here. it’s significantly weirder and better than that one hg101 review made me think it was all those years ago.
I always thought the Mission Impossible game for N64 was overlooked. It never really had a chance considering it was released just before Metal Gear but that game deserved more appreciation. It basically laid the ground work for what would become Alpha Protocol.
4 Likes
my friend who inexplicably had like 40 n64 games back in the day (which was insane given how expensive they were) showed me Mission Impossible and i remember being intrigued by it. there were a lot of missions where you had to do things in a very particular way at very particular times in order to not fail (i remember you had to spray paint cameras and wear disguises and stuff) and that was not at all something i was used to. i remember you had to sneak past people running on treadmills in one mission? anyway i have surreal hazy memories of that game and am always surprised how little it seems to be brought up anywhere.
speaking of surreal hazy memories, my aunt had an NES and owned Mission Impossible for the NES which i remember also being intrigued by. i think if you died or got caught the main character would scream and helicopters would fly overhead? that was another game where i just got feedback i didn’t expect from the game.
also speaking of N64, i was always a fan of Iggy’s Reckin Balls for N64 and it never seemed particularly critically accepted (and i’ve recently heard critics say they don’t like it either). i’m sad it never got a re-release that ironed out its framerate issues and maybe added some new tracks… i.e. the updated Turok games. i guess it’s too niche, but i loved that game.
3 Likes
I mean critically maligned games means every single shooter and fighting game because The Gamers have no idea how to talk about them.
7 Likes
Castlevania Judgement!
People wanted Tekken but it was more of a cool Power Stone/Ehregeiz thing.
1 Like
Perhaps the same could be said of all video games
5 Likes
I was also thinking of replying with that to your recent comment that “Mario has been designed around disappointing the least amount of people since number 3”
4 Likes
i don’t think Quest 64 is secretly an amazing game or anything (posting here anyway because there isn’t a thread for “critically maligned games that are actually just OK”) but imo it’s kinda decent and received a lot of hate when it came out essentially for not being FFVII. It’s biggest crime is being boring but it takes some neat swings — you level up in a SaGa like way where attack/HP/MP go up as you take actions, the elemental magic system is conceptually kinda neat and i like that it’s an exploration reward instead of something you level up in combat, the battle system is cool in theory (unexciting in practice). it looks cute? i am fond of N64 games in general because they’re quite ugly but trying very hard not to be, and i rather like Q64’s big foggy open maps. and your main character’s ahoge. No i said “ahoge” not “ahegao”, you read it wrong
Similar feelings towards Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It’s too easy to be interesting, playwise, but ive always found it secretly damning of other “advanced” jrpgs that the one made “for newbies” has symbol encounters and any kind of field action (jumping, using your axe to chop down trees, etc). And the music slaps.
15 Likes
And “damaged” sprites!!
15 Likes
I like this on paper but I bought Quest 64 when it came out with no expectations and it filled me with dread. (Not in a good way)
The supposedly cheery but unnerving overworld music, creepy villages, navigation issues, lack of allies, slow pace and constant random encounters combined to make this a real misery to play back then
This is also a game that 100% needed a jump button
FFMQ is cool though
8 Likes
Though I have only been able to appreciate this quality in hindsight rather than in the moment, there is something I like a lot about this particular variety of dread. I’ve never tried Quest 64, but it sounds like a game to put in my “uncanny games” list along with Ecco the Dolphin.
2 Likes
quest 64 is unquestionably a haunted game but i think maybe that makes it good
7 Likes
Quest 64 is also a really excellent name for a video game i think we can all agree
it’s probably better to just not have exclusives but i miss corny game names based on the consoles they were made for
7 Likes
quest 64 is a good name, but over here it was ‘holy magic century’ and that also rules
15 Likes
and it has a game boy color spin off that’s just a mr. do clone
3 Likes
I could never get past some boss in some woods but I still think Quest 64 is good for no particular reason other than I don’t recall hating it.
Any opportunity to share this video
7 Likes
I keep wanting to add Fighters Destiny here, because I love it in all its scattershot weirdness ( winning by ring-out is worth less than a KO; throws can be reversed and so can the reversals (and any of them will immediately end the round if they complete); the boss is a Swiss vampire(?) named Boro; a French clown will throw you out of a hot air balloon that’s sitting on the ground; there’s a minigame about juggling a cow in a child’s crayon drawing; you can unlock new moves for each character and then have them stolen)…but I’m afraid it actually does suck (OR DOES IT?).
But every time I see this thread I think “TELL THEM ABOUT FIGHTERS DESTINY!” so here it is.
9 Likes