Underrated/Overrated Video Games

Underrated: World of Final Fantasy. This game is tremendous. The battles are pretty simplistic and it is never particularly challenging, but I love the way it re-creates so many classic Final Fantasy locations with a diorama-esque look and dream-like aesthetic. The soundtrack is also suitably mystical. So many of SE's modern projects feel low-effort or botched, while WOFF feels like it has way more effort and care put into it than it actually called for. It was supposed to be a fun little tribute game and it ended up being one of my favorite games of the last five years.

Underrated: Terminator Salvation, the arcade game. While it doesn't get my motor running the same way T2 The Arcade Game did, this is still a pretty fantastic light-gun game. It's totally different from the console TS games and features some machines that didn't make it into the final cut of the movie, like the proto HK Tank. The only downside of it is that it's expensive, and you need like $30 in quarters to actually beat the game. Still a fun time, especially with a second player (which makes it much easier).

It's hard for me to cite any overrated games, because it's like...who is overrating it, and do they matter?

I used to think FF7 was pretty overrated. It caught on with me a lot more in the late 2000's. Elden Ring is my favorite game, but it might be a little overrated I guess, IDK.

What comes to mind when I think of overrated games is the general AAA game sphere. There have been a bunch of those that I saw plastered everywhere and yet didn't have much fun with when I got them. Things like Jedi Fallen Order, AC Valhalla, Uncharted 4, Last of Us.

Burns said:

Overrated: Games I don't like.
Underrated: Games I do.

Example: Elden Ring is overrated, since I found the lore and storytelling below average, and the game mechanics repetitive and a bore. Exploration was ok, but invisible walls in the middle of roads piss me off.

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Citation for the invis wall in a road? Just curious, never heard this one.

How about Myst? I get it, it was graphically innovative when it came out. It was probably the first CD based game many of us had.

Did you ever actually beat Myst? Do you know anyone who played it for more than a few hours? I’m sure someone did, I didn’t. There were simply much more engaging adventure games of the time period even if they didn’t have CD graphics. Yet 30 years later Myst still gets mentioned here and there.

Burns said:

There were two blocks I hit (I dont have zones or bosses memorized).

First, killed the boss guarding the main city at level 40ish, maybe 50s, right after mostly clearing the Academy (minus the last boss) but it wont let you into the city until the meteor drops on the one zone and lets you into the underdark area (or kill the hard boss on that big sand island, dont remember which).

So, proceeded to clear the underground area and kill that sand island boss, got into the city and made it to the other side of the city w/o needing to kill a boss. Ran up the hill to the mountain zone, and boom, invisible wall at the arches at the top of the road. So, I quit, as I found the rest of the game was long past stale.

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Interesting, thanks. Out of curiosity, what types of games do you tend to like, and/or what are some of your favorite games?

Underrated: Sacrifice from 2000.

One of the more creative games I've played. Never really played anything else quite like it. It suffered a lot from being out the same year as Deus Ex, Diablo II and some other stuff.