Opinion

These 11 games are completely underrated

5.6.2024

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

We’ve already dragged the most overrated video games through the mud. Time to collect some karma points and sing the praises of games that receive far too little attention.

We all know the feeling. Playing a game you can’t stop raving about, yet it probably won’t get any mainstream attention. An injustice. But we won’t give up. Here are 11 games you should’ve played.

Z – oil-drilling robots instead of base building

Who loves it? Philipp
Z was released one year after the first Command & Conquer. Both games received good reviews, but only one turned into a successful series. Criminal! Z by the Bitmap Brothers is a brilliant real-time strategy game. In contrast to Westwood’s hit, Z focuses on quality over quantity. As Commander Zod, you control mouthy oil-sucking robot troops across compact playing arenas. Both you and your opponent try to destroy each other’s base. Either by killing all enemy units, destroying the base itself – or driving in with a vehicle, which is harder than it sounds.

Z relies on few units, but they’re all essential.
Source: Bitmap Brothers

Every unit in Z is essential, and even a lost medium tank can be game-changing. That’s why it’s important to capture as many unclaimed vehicles and areas as possible in the first few minutes before the enemy does. These zones are often home to factories for robots and vehicles. There’s no base building. The more areas you have, the faster you produce units. You can still play Z today thanks to its great pixel graphics, brilliant soundtrack and timeless gameplay.

Z is available for PC.

Watch Dogs: Legion – a cheeky pint with nerdy punks

Who loves it? Flo
Watch Dogs in my beloved London. I could hardly wait for the release! But then the scathing reviews came in. Repetitive puzzles, stupid A.I., boring world, flat characters. Wait, what?! The world’s awesome. Some districts in London (Camden, Tower Hamlets, Islington) are realistically recreated, all great fun to stroll through.

Watch Dogs: Legion lets you control different characters.
Source: Ubisoft

The story also captivated me. Looking back today, the mix of corrupt authorities and A.I. technocracy is more relevant than ever. I also find the possibility of recruiting different characters with different abilities exciting. Depending on the character you choose, you’ll have to come up with different strategies for missions. And that surprising twist in the end, holy moly! I can easily overlook the few accessible buildings and the admittedly repetitive puzzle sequences.

Watch Dogs: Legion is available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5.

Surviving Mars – the dome is home

Who loves it? Debora
I’m mystified as to why Surviving Mars isn’t more popular. Building Mars colonies is extremely satisfying. When my colonists starve, freeze, suffocate or blow up my domes out of frustration with the overall situation, I really start to sweat.

In Surviving Mars you colonise the red planet.
Source: Paradox

Surviving Mars has a high replay value thanks to adjustable parameters, including natural disasters. In the game you can terraform, decorate bases, colonise lava tunnels and mine asteroids. Even after 250 hours of playing, I still experience random events that I’ve never seen before and unlock new research.

Surviving Mars is available for PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5.

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights – more than a Hollow Knight clone

Who loves it? Kevin
86 per cent on Metacritic – Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights was well received by the trade press and the gaming community. Still, the game went under in 2021. A shame, the Metroidvania is easily on par with genre leader Hollow Knight. True, early fights feel sluggish. But it’s a deliberate choice: you play a weak girl, the eponymous Lily. She doesn’t fight herself. Souls, which she gradually collects more of, engage in combat for her. Over time, Lily becomes more agile and grows with the challenge.

Definitely more than a Hollow Knight clone.
Source: Adglobe and Live Wire

The story unfolds through the surroundings. Only those with an attentive eye for details and messages will understand what has happened in the land haunted by cursed rain – and what Lily has to do with it. The wonderful story is complemented by a beautiful art style and one of the best soundtracks. Even today, I still get shivers when I listen to Lily’s Theme.

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Switch.

My Time in Sandrock – for once, a chill post-apocalypse

Who loves it? Res
In addition to classic farming sim elements, the game also includes relationship building, battles and lots of story. It even contains one or two plot twists. The predecessor My Time at Portia was already an insider tip.

Farming in the post-apocalypse – beautiful.
Source: Pathea Games

The post-apocalypse is humorously staged and much more fun than in Fallout. Another exciting innovation is the progressive automation, which takes away tedious tasks and makes the game fluid and enjoyable despite the more complex buildings. The sometimes repetitive chore of building relationships with people or potential pets is a little tiring.

My Time in Sandrock is available for PC, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Switch.

Final Fantasy XII – unjustly scorned

Who loves it? Fabian
Although the game was a commercial success on its PS2 release, it was controversial. Hot topics included the new real-time battles or the Gambit system, which allowed you to customise the behaviour of your party. As a teenager, I loved exploring the huge world of Ivalice (with its groundbreaking PS2 graphics), developing my characters using licence boards and hunting monsters.

Visually, it’s not really a high-flyer any more, but in terms of content, Final Fantasy XII is still amazing.
Source: Square Enix

As an adult, I learned to appreciate the political drama with its betrayals and unexpected twists. It’s now one of my favourite Final Fantasy stories. My Spotify Wrapped also contains parts of the soundtrack almost every year, it’s absolutely phenomenal. The game contains many innovative ideas, a gripping story and an interesting world. Nevertheless, Final Fantasy XII is still overshadowed by heavyweights such as VI, VII and X in franchise rankings. Scandalous! Final Fantasy XII is iconic and deserves to be treated as such.

Final Fantasy XII is available for PC, PS2, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

Night in the Woods – melancholy, but sweet

Who loves it? Chris
Night in the Woods is a wonderfully melancholy indie game that allowed me to escape reality for a few nights. Since I’m not an editor, I probably can’t do the game justice with my praises. But I’ll try anyway.

Despite its childlike design, Night in the Woods tells a mature story.
Source: Infinite Fall and Secret Lab

You play Mae Borowski, a cat who flunked out of college and is back in her hometown. As a depressed young adult, you meet old acquaintances. These encounters influence the course of the game. The atmosphere is great and the game design is lovely. It’s touching on a special level. The world is peppered with crude humour and fun mini-games such as robbing the doughnut store or a little knife fight.

Over the course of the game, you’ll find out what other people are dealing with and what traumas they’re burdened with. The game has a horror element, but the real horror is your own psyche. Night in the Woods is melancholy, but sweet.

Night in the Woods is available for PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

Total Extreme Wrestling – a text-based wrestling fever dream

Who loves it? Kim
Total Extreme Wrestling 2020, TEW for short, is only known to absolute nerds. It’s a purely text-based wrestling simulator. You take control of a wrestling company and can do almost anything – except actively get into the ring. You act as a booker, coming up with characters and storylines. You decide who wins which matches and how long they go on for. You also have to manage your roster and deal with backstage politics.

Total Extreme Wrestling has little to offer visually, but provides enormous freedom in terms of gameplay.
Source: Adam Ryland and Grey Dog Software

By default, you play in the fictional Cornellverse. The modding community is pretty big, so you can also book the current wrestling world or scenarios from the past, even enter other fictional universes.

Total Extreme Wrestling is available for PC.

Turing Complete – learning how PCs really work

Who loves it? Simon
Turing Complete taught me what I didn’t get right more than 20 years ago during my apprenticeship as a computer scientist. How does a computer work? Sure, CPU, RAM, a bus system… but how does a computer really work? With ones, zeros and logic circuits!

Turing Complete explains PCs in a fun way.
Source: LevelHead

In puzzle game Turing Complete, I build a computer from scratch. First, I connect individual components using virtual cables. I then link these individual components to form a computer that I can programme using machine language Assembler. I learn how the devices that command our everyday lives work in a playful way. An ingenious little puzzle game for anyone who likes to tinker and learn something at the same time. If only this had existed during my apprenticeship – then I could’ve passed my final test in electrical engineering…

Turing Complete is available for PC and Mac.

The Order 1886 – a game ahead of its time

Who loves it? Domi
I still remember the first time I saw a trailer for The Order 1886. «That can’t be in-game graphics, can it? Looks way too good.» My scepticism about the content on display only disappeared when I put the game into my PS4 for the first time and started it up. It’s unbelievable what developer studio Ready at Dawn was able to tease out of the PS4 back then. Even nine years after its release, the game continues to impress. Its environments are bursting with detail, the lighting looks realistic even without modern ray-tracing technology and character models look out of this world.

The Order 1886 puts the PS4 through its paces.
Source: Ready at Dawn

Over the last few weeks, I’ve read a lot of articles and tweets comparing the newly released Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 to The Order 1886. The new Ninja Theory release also appears graphically superior to all other games. For me, however, The Order 1886 is in a completely different league. The game isn’t only amazing graphically, it also impresses with a successful steampunk world set in a version of London infested by werewolves. The shooter gameplay is simple, but entertaining thanks to bombastic staging. Too bad there was never a successor. The game wasn’t well received by critics and unfortunately didn’t enjoy commercial success. Fools, all of them.

The Order 1886 is available for PS4, PS5.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk – colourful, wacky and fast paced

Who loves it? Luca
As the spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk had its work cut out. But Team Reptile did everything right and even exceeded my expectations. What more do you need than spraying graffiti in a cyberpunk-inspired world, doing cool tricks and combos on your preferred means of transport and listening to funky music at the same time? There’s also a story that’s better than expected – and an active modding scene.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is colourful, chaotic and funny.
Source: Team Reptile

I also have to praise the community represented in the game. All in-game graffiti was created by artists. The soundtrack was created in collaboration with various female artists, and the dance styles and battles were also designed with great care. The game was well received by the community. However, Team Reptile deserves even more success for its work and attention to detail.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Switch.

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Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.

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