My first play-through of System Shock 2 gave me one of my most memorable video game moments: playing at 3AM, hours after everyone else went to bed, with all the lights off. I'd been in it for hours, mesmorized and focused. I was so locked in that when my wife came in to check me and put her hand on my shoulder, I screamed and leaped out of my chair, scaring her so bad, she almost fell over. Closest we ever came to divorce.
The Freespace 2 section uses a lot of footage from a game named Freelancer. They're not the same though let's be clear - Freelancer was an amazing game and I put SO much time into it lol
Both amazing games, one tactical one closer to a shoot'em up. I put far too much time into both of them, including with a dodgy joystick that couldn't pitch forward.
Biggest tragedy was never getting a sequel to Freelancer thanks to Digital Anvil shutting down, though I do recall a certain massive mod that expanded the universe considerably, and even added more story.
Grim Fandango, System Shock (1+)2, Descent (1-)3, Freespace (1+)2, NOLF (1+)2 and Planescape Torment ... I played them all and each was a masterpiece in their genre. Highly appreciate your list!
No One Lives Forever (and NOLF 2) are two of *the BEST GAMES I HAVE EVER PLAYED.* Like a brilliant spy novel, you just can't put it down once you start. Cate Archer is incredibly fun to play... but then, everything about this title is top notch (including the music - which provided the player with more than 30 minutes of original songs... every one of which were simply fabulous). I cannot think of another title that captivated me the way these two games did in their original release. One of the most amazing things in the entire game is the conversations held by the bad guy henchmen for H.A.R.M. These henchmen were constantly found holding these hilarious existential conversations with each other about their jobs and whether or not it was all worth it to be a bad guy... to the point that, you as the main character didn't want to rush in, guns blazing, without taking the time to listen to these guys wax philosophic with each other. If only we could get game studios to release modern games as original and FUN as these two titles were. However, their poor sales are part of the problem as to why, we as gamers... *cannot have nice things.* When a title like this comes along we need to do better to get the word out and reward the studio for their efforts in order to ensure that we can continue getting titles like this in the future... instead of another reskinned, identical version of FIFA 753... (it's exactly the same as FIFA 752, but the devs have now added new graphical shading for the balls. New shading for the grass will be released in only four months with the brand new, very exciting FIFA 754).
Well stated. Both games are treasures. Just like in the first 2 Thief games, I loved hearing the guards talking about serious topics or just shooting the breeze. I even learned some German from the NOLF guards in Berlin. "Geh zum Teufel" means "Go to The Devil"!
Ico, easily one of my favorite games of all time. My kids, who were little when this dropped, still love it as well, my oldest buying the remaster for himself.
Conkers Bad Fur Day was so awesome. The game was perfect for me and my friends. It had crude humor which went along with the times with shows like South Park, Tom Green show, and Beavis and Butt-Head being on TV. The main game was so fun especially the matrix level. The multiplayer was also a ton of fun. I can't believe this game was not a huge hit. It's a shame Rare was bought by Microsoft and they did nothing with Conker.
Between it being released as an N64 exclusive just as GameCube was released and being one of the very few rated M games for a “family friendly” console, it was destined to fail. It’s a shame though, yes, because Conker’s Bad Fur Day was easily among the Top Ten Best N64 Games in my opinion. It was a little bit niche, but those who played and enjoyed it really loved it. It’s one of the games I wish most for a solid remaster or sequel, along with Timesplitters
Actually, they did a remake in 2004 called Live and Reloaded, brought him back for Conker's Big Reunion in Project Spark, and butchered him completely in Young Conker.
Conker's Bad Fury Day can still be purchased. It's in Rare Replay on XBox One/Series. Conker: Live & Reloaded is also available through backwards compatibility. Not sure why you guys said it can't be purchased.
I remember playing Descent in my typing class in high school. We’d finish our work, then play a LAN game, while our teacher was at her desk. That was probably my first online multiplayer game I ever played. Good times.
One of the best lists I've seen. I felt every single game there, and I played the bajeezus out of every single one of them that launched for PC. The Freespace 2 segment has parts of Freelancer, which is a very different game.
I've been overlooking this channel and missing out. I'm an older guy and remember when most of these games came out. I usually wasn't interested in them because I didn't like the art design, or the marketing was bad.
What's disappointing to me was that there was also no reference about the fact that the modding community has kept Freespace 2 alive with enhanced graphics that make it rival other modern space sims, as well as the fact that the first game and its expansion Silent Threat got amazing overhauls that make them way better than the originals.
No mention of Rule of Rose? Now that is a game that very few people probably played or remember due to it getting pulled off shelves & banned by some countries not to long after it released
Descent 3 was too great a departure from the first 2 and I couldn't praise it as much. Freespace 1 and 2 were straight up majestic. 2 especially, just outstanding. Special place in my heart. Seriously, play it if you haven't. It's one you remember years later.
Great list. The Descent IP has an especially tragic history as it nearly came back in 2020, but a legal dispute between the developers and publisher Little Orbit killed it.
@@thembill8246 If I recall correctally the sequel/ successor to Wing Commander has been in development for like a brazillion years... it's called Star Citizen.
I've played a few of these games, but one that surprised me was The Operative. I completely and I mean totally and completely forgot about this game, but the moment you mentioned it's name and the very first picture for it, I immediately went on a nostalgia trip in my memory bank. It was a good game. I would rather Perfect Dark if given a choice, but it was still a good game.
Oh yeah System Shock gave me nightmares. That was one of the first games I ever played when I got my first laptop. Used to stay up real late to play it in the night. That was a bad idea. Grew up with the Descent series as well. Excellent games.
Did I just have an obscure gaming experience growing up or something? There's literally only one game on this list I don't own. I honestly thought a lot of these games were massive for their time 😂
Yep. Nothing surprising in most of this list. We also don't know what the sales targets were for these games ( or the development costs ) which could of resulted in profitability
@@chriscollins550 Got to be sarcasm surely ? Started with the Amstrad CPC 464 myself. You've never heard of System Shock 2, Rez, Ico or Conker's Bad Fur Day ? Let alone some of the others. Very surprising
NOLF's sequel is where I 1st saw moments of truly smart AI (cover, flanking, faking audio of leaving, reacting differently to open doors, lights turned off, etc).
That and the first time I even had NPCs with idle dialogue programmed. Not just the same 3 sentences but whole conversations at times that rewarded you for just sneaking up on them. Such a great way to inspire the player to do stealth! Nothing necessary, but you might miss a conversation about a monkey! ;)
Conker's Bad Fur Day is actually available today, not on it's own but as part of the Rare Replay bundle. plenty of games at a discount price if you are on Xbox, would be nice to see a PC port.
I'd love a PC port, but I'd love more if they'd let us remap the controls for Conker because they are not laid out for modern FPS/TPS sensibilities. (May be a feature now, wasn't last time I opened it)
@@PhrozenLegendary When was this? I have both digital & physical....& all of the games are there & accounted for (as I play them on my Series S for the digital & Series X for physical). The only difference is the disc version doesn't grant you Goldeneye while the digital one was updated to have it.
Cate Archer (No one lives forever) deserves to be an icon of the videogame industry. The character was funny, witty, and badass without losing her femininity. It is so sad to see her fade into oblivion.
GOG kept trying but the license is just a huge mess. Like, literally, everyone THINKS they have it but no one knows for sure. EA, Activision, I think even Ubisoft may have some type of claim. And since it is clearly a hot IP none of them want to give it up if they have a chance of it being theirs :/
Definitely will look up these awesome games. The thing about Grim Fandango is also that it is really hard and crashes if you don't use a download guide.
Freespace 2 was one of my favourite games when it released. And even now there is an incredible open source project and community updating and upgrading and adding whole new missions with new assets and voice acting, and even wholely new games in the engine. It all just highlights how special this game was to so many x
The free space 2 game mention is showing gameplay footage from both free space 2 as well Freelancer which is a different game but I highly recommend and is still modded to this day on Nexus or ModDB
I would like to include the recent game Fuga: Melodies of Steel in this category. People who are JRPG Fans should play this game, and support its upcoming sequel. It's an amazing game, I highly recommend it.
I LOVED Rez!! Its biggest stumbling block was its primary console - it launched on the Sega Dreamcast as one of its final games. It was later ported to PS2 for a small sales boost & Rez HD appeared on the PS3 & XBox 360. I bought ALL of them.
Holy S!!!!! Someone mentioned Descent!!! Descent 2 was my all time favorite game! 3 was great too but it didn't have a level builder, and the flight controls just felt a little off. Thank you for shining a light on this great series!
When I heard the Descent entry, I was surprised there was no mention of Freespace. Glad it was eventually mentioned in its own entry. Excellent game, and there's a bunch of fan content, from updating the graphics to adding in ships/tech from various fictional universes (Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5). When the original studio was shuttered, one of the devs released the source code and essentially handed the game to its community.
I remember playing Descent 3 on the home PC as a kid. Loved it so much I got Sublevel Zero Redux for PS4, which is basically an updated version of the Descent games, now I've been awaiting a Sublevel Zero Redux Sequel since 2017.
Technically any japanese game that is either a visuak novel or dont have a seeable character on screen, cus american gamers if they dont see the mc moving to the left with the control they start panicking and crying so they stop playing them
@@thecunninlynguist The house on fata morgana 1-2, clannad 1-2,fate stay night, kara noshouo 123, the fruit of grissalia1 to 4, stein gates 1, 0, 2, danganronpa, 123 shotter, little busters, all higurashi and umineko those are 16, katawa shoujo,chaos child, the silvercase, policenauts, zero escape, song of saya, etc, etc, etc
Conker's Bad Fur Day is available for purchase in the Rare Replay collection for Xbox One. (Amazon, at least, still sell it.) It's the only one of these I didn't play shortly after release. Sacrifice was interesting and quirky but the control scheme was really annoying, as you were trying to control an RTS from a first person perspective. There are a handful of other games that have taken this approach, and it never really works well. The other example that immediately springs to mind is Brutal Legend (although Brutal Legend had other problems, most notably the bait-and-switch it did on gameplay.) System Shock 2 was unplayable for quite a while because it used a commercial video codec which was included in early versions of Windows but later dropped. GOG fixed this in their eventual re-release, presumably by using a different codec. I still remember the hassle I had to go through to get it to work on... XP? can't recall exactly. You basically had to copy the codec from an earlier Windows release to get SS2 to work until GOG fixed it.
0:30 Wow, why is the character holding the thing sideways like that. When you shot, does it straighten out or does the beam or whatever it show just magically went forward despite the weapon being pointed way to the left like that? lol
7:23 I remember that the original Deus Ex had come out near the same time as well? XIII too, maybe? I remember being so torn between which one to buy, as a preteen that could only afford one, that I didn't end up buying any of them xD
Conker's still on sale, it's just contained within Rare Replay, a bloody fantastic investment for any Xbox One owners. It's 30 classic Rare games for $30, but frequently sells for even less.
good indication money is to be thought of as an attempted bookkeeping/measure of the wealth. Not wealth itself in any form. Problem with confusion is that if, take gold, then gold would be a psychological priority over food/water/etc.
Of the ones mentioned, the ones i have: > No One Lives Forever - amazing game, i also have the 2nd but for some weird reason i still haven't played it > Planescape: Torment - i have the big box edition, bought a long time ago. Shamefully i never finished it (for some reason), but i played more than less 85% of it. Genius. > Conker Bad Fur Day - i have the Conker: Live & Reloaded version from the Xbox, played it on the 360 I still want to get my hands on Grim Fandango Remastered and System Shock I & II Enhanced Editions
The trick to having a good experience on the three Descent games is to remap your keyboard like so: Q and A = Up and Down W and S = Forward and Back E and D = Left and Right. E and D might seem counter-intuitive, but when you get used to it you'll be able to instantly move in *ANY* direction effortlessly, because each finger (ring, middle and index) controls *one* axis, which is ideal. Trust me.
Conkers Bad Fur Day is still available within Rare Replay. It also has a ship set available in Sea of Thieves. The figurehead is a squirrel holding a beer mug.
I loved the whole video, in fact I can remember playing most of these games as they came out. Sadly the section on Freespace2 contains video from 2 separate games from 2 developers Freespace2 Is a space sim and has more of a wing commander look, where as the second game is Freelancer which is an amazing title as well and its the 3rd perspective view that can be seen in the covers used.
I saw you mention Conker's Bad Fur Day on your list. It might be true that Nintendo will not release it, but the Original Xbox (and optimized for the Xbox Series X), Conker: Live and Reloaded can still be purchased. It was the same as the Nintendo game, with the Live part being a multiplayer FPS game.
thanks for telling me about overload. immediately bought it. I still remember that demo disc on the ps1 with descent on it. my tiny pre school brain couldn't really handle any games outside of the thps series back then. but descent just made sense and I haven't seen a game like it since then.
The Operative: NOLF is one of my favorite shooters of all time, i would love if they made another one, it was so perfect with all the Bond-esque gadgets, like grenades that look like tubes of lipstick
I knew I had and have an "eccentric" taste in games as I have played all of these, they are all amazing games. The mechanics in sacrifice were awesome and fresh, spent so much time playing it. Other games in the vein of Descent 3 are; Forsaken, Fury3, Freespace and Hellbender
Pleased to say that I’ve played a few of these. No One Lives Forever and bits sequel in particular rank as some of my favourite games of all time. Still remember getting one of them for Xmas one year and just blitzing through it in the space of a few days - couldn’t put it down! A remaster would be 👌🏻
My favorite game for a list, of highly praised and rated games noone played. Beyond Good and Evil. Not sure why it sold so badly. It had a great story with a twist at the end, good characters. The platforming was nice and forgiving so you would not quit out of frustration by missing a jump all the time. Another great game that noone played. Panzer Dragoon Saga Here it is easy, it was one of the last games for a rapidly dying system. If I remember right there were also only a few 10.000s copies ever produced. Copies for the game are still selling for 100 USD and more, and sealed ones are even more expensive.
I would like to argue that many of the older games on this list also had the misfortune of being released during a time where piracy was running absolutely rampant and the countermeasures for online piracy was near nonexistent. As a kid with a very limited budget, free is a very tempting offer.
Battlezone from 1998. Today it's lauded for pioneering the mixture of direct control action and real-time strategy, but it was met with disappointing sales upon launch.
It was kinda confusing when you showed clips of Freespace 2 and Freelancer in the same entry for no apparent reason. If they were meant to share an entry, the execution could've been handled better.
So you were definitely talking about Freespace 2, but somehow mixed in a lot of footage from Freelancer (possibly more than actual Freespace 2 footage), a game that plays NOTHING like Freespace.
Played Sacrifice when it was launched - I didn't read game magazines (still dont) I make my own judgements, and game looked good on the box - and it was, very varied gameplay based on which god you chose to be a wizard for. Still have my boxed copy of Freespace 2 - played it multiple times. And still have my boxed copy of Planescape Torment - another rpg I've played several times, Black Isle really outdid themselves and it should be on every RPG gamers bucket list. The GOG version has updates and patches too. And system shock 2.... multiple times.... Think I sold my original boxed copy for like £40 And Grim Fandango - still have my boxed version of that too. I must be a rare breed of gamer to have played all these "obscure" games. Also played Independance War 1 & 2 - and..you guessed it, still have my boxed copies. Hardwar - another great flight sim game that was based on the moon of Titan that actually had an interesting economic that you had to supply factories with goods before they would make anything like missiles etc - YEARS before the X Space sim game series by Egosoft - it also has live action cut scenes the same as the Wing Commander games did. I'll bet only a handful of your 1.73 MILLION subscribers have played Hardwar - and ..I still have the original box on my shelf just 3 feet from me. (along with all the others and lots more.)
Small nitpick: Conkers Bad Fur Day CAN still be purchased because it is part of Rare Replay on the Xbox. You just have to buy all the other classic Rareware titles along with it and can't buy it seperately. Given that Rare Replay also comes with both Banjo games and Perfect Dark it's totally worth picking up.
RezHD also holds the distinction for a unique peripheral... a personal massager that vibrates to the game interactions and music. And I mean a PERSONAL massager.
I played Discent when I was a kid (7 or 8 I think), I had memories of it, heck I had dreams I was flying in the ship...20+ years later I know the name....
Freespace 2 isn't Freelancer, but thanks for the memories of both! I should add that there is a small but committed FS2 Community who have modded the game to some truly great visuals, there are even 3 hour long "movies" made in it on youtube now!
I would love to see The Neverhood gone over. Its a point-and-click adventure game created using only claymation. Not an easy game but an absolute gem of a game.
Okami is awesome. I played that. 4:41 IT'S PRONOUNCED EE-KOH NOT EYE-KOH! I borrowed Ico from a friend. 8:21 I guess I have to pirate this. There's people out there who save games from being completely abandoned. I heard some stores wouldn't sell Conker because people could mistake it for a kid's game. I have to emulate Conker in order to play it. I'll play the N64 version since the remake ruined it. Okami, Psychonauts, and Skies of Arcadia should be on the list. I really wish I played Skies of Arcadia back in the day. I would have loved it.
I played System Shock 2 so many times when I was younger, the sounds design made it super creepy. I never paid full price for it though. Got it in a 6 pack of games, something like Biggest Names, Best Games.
Conker is still available today. The N64 version is part of the Rare Replay collection on Xbox One, and the original Xbox remake is still available on Microsoft Store, as backwards compatible title. So yeah, you need an Xbox, but it's easily accesible.
My first play-through of System Shock 2 gave me one of my most memorable video game moments: playing at 3AM, hours after everyone else went to bed, with all the lights off. I'd been in it for hours, mesmorized and focused. I was so locked in that when my wife came in to check me and put her hand on my shoulder, I screamed and leaped out of my chair, scaring her so bad, she almost fell over. Closest we ever came to divorce.
I bought the game back in the day of big box games. To this day I haven't had the nerve to play it through.
That is awesome, thanks for sharing!
Is it just me, or are 90% of these Playstation games?
@@pseudonayme7717 it's just you
Relationship Shock 2: 3 AM Blues and a Change of Pants Too
The Freespace 2 section uses a lot of footage from a game named Freelancer. They're not the same though let's be clear - Freelancer was an amazing game and I put SO much time into it lol
Both amazing games, one tactical one closer to a shoot'em up. I put far too much time into both of them, including with a dodgy joystick that couldn't pitch forward.
I was so confused by that, glad I wasn't the only one looking at that thinking that was wrong.
freelancer was awesome
Biggest tragedy was never getting a sequel to Freelancer thanks to Digital Anvil shutting down, though I do recall a certain massive mod that expanded the universe considerably, and even added more story.
I was going to say, Freelancer was fantastic.
Your Freespace 2 segment mostly shows footage from Freelancer, which was played by many as it was absolutely awesome.
I was a bit confused since I've been playing the sh** out of Freelancer hahahah
And will sadly never be on GOG as the source is lost 😟
Was going to say it. Freespace games are great though.
I spent an inordinate amount of time googling to see if Freespace 2 and Freelancer were related.
yeah that confused the absolute hell out of me as someone who played Freelancer an ungodly amount in the past.
Jet Force Gemini. I feel like no one played this game or remembers it. That game was so awesome.
So happy I’m not the only person with memories of this hidden gem
My favorite shooter on n64
I miss Jet Force Gemini.
Loved that game
Squish bugs, save koalas, what's not to like
Grim Fandango is a masterpiece. A story that lives forever in my heart. Anyone who hasn’t experienced it is missing out on true greatness.
It’s needs a remake where the puzzles aren’t too dogshit
I remember when that game came out. Even though it was being praised, I wasn't interested purely because I disliked the art style!
Planescape Torment, Freespace 2, Descent 3, Sacrifice, NOLF, System Shock 2... this is a superb list. Kudos, folks.
Grim Fandango, System Shock (1+)2, Descent (1-)3, Freespace (1+)2, NOLF (1+)2 and Planescape Torment ... I played them all and each was a masterpiece in their genre. Highly appreciate your list!
No One Lives Forever (and NOLF 2) are two of *the BEST GAMES I HAVE EVER PLAYED.* Like a brilliant spy novel, you just can't put it down once you start. Cate Archer is incredibly fun to play... but then, everything about this title is top notch (including the music - which provided the player with more than 30 minutes of original songs... every one of which were simply fabulous). I cannot think of another title that captivated me the way these two games did in their original release. One of the most amazing things in the entire game is the conversations held by the bad guy henchmen for H.A.R.M. These henchmen were constantly found holding these hilarious existential conversations with each other about their jobs and whether or not it was all worth it to be a bad guy... to the point that, you as the main character didn't want to rush in, guns blazing, without taking the time to listen to these guys wax philosophic with each other.
If only we could get game studios to release modern games as original and FUN as these two titles were. However, their poor sales are part of the problem as to why, we as gamers... *cannot have nice things.* When a title like this comes along we need to do better to get the word out and reward the studio for their efforts in order to ensure that we can continue getting titles like this in the future... instead of another reskinned, identical version of FIFA 753... (it's exactly the same as FIFA 752, but the devs have now added new graphical shading for the balls. New shading for the grass will be released in only four months with the brand new, very exciting FIFA 754).
Hands down!! 👏👏👏
and the 3rd installment Contract J.A.C.K.!
Well stated. Both games are treasures. Just like in the first 2 Thief games, I loved hearing the guards talking about serious topics or just shooting the breeze. I even learned some German from the NOLF guards in Berlin. "Geh zum Teufel" means "Go to The Devil"!
Ico, easily one of my favorite games of all time. My kids, who were little when this dropped, still love it as well, my oldest buying the remaster for himself.
Conkers Bad Fur Day was so awesome. The game was perfect for me and my friends. It had crude humor which went along with the times with shows like South Park, Tom Green show, and Beavis and Butt-Head being on TV. The main game was so fun especially the matrix level. The multiplayer was also a ton of fun. I can't believe this game was not a huge hit. It's a shame Rare was bought by Microsoft and they did nothing with Conker.
It actually had a fun multiplayer too. That Normandy map was fun AF.
@@Tikimohn yea dude totally. I loved that map.
Between it being released as an N64 exclusive just as GameCube was released and being one of the very few rated M games for a “family friendly” console, it was destined to fail. It’s a shame though, yes, because Conker’s Bad Fur Day was easily among the Top Ten Best N64 Games in my opinion. It was a little bit niche, but those who played and enjoyed it really loved it. It’s one of the games I wish most for a solid remaster or sequel, along with Timesplitters
@@JorenMyers Timesplitters 2 is a classic. I spent so much time on that game. Endless fun.
Actually, they did a remake in 2004 called Live and Reloaded, brought him back for Conker's Big Reunion in Project Spark, and butchered him completely in Young Conker.
6:10 Are they showing clips of Freelancer and talking about Freespace 2? I swear some of this footage is from Freelancer.. I could be wrong.
The Freespace 2 part seems to have a lot game footage from Freelancer.
I was thinking the same thing!!😂
Conker's Bad Fury Day can still be purchased. It's in Rare Replay on XBox One/Series. Conker: Live & Reloaded is also available through backwards compatibility. Not sure why you guys said it can't be purchased.
I remember playing Descent in my typing class in high school. We’d finish our work, then play a LAN game, while our teacher was at her desk. That was probably my first online multiplayer game I ever played. Good times.
True Dat! Also Kudos on the Thundercats logo; one of the best shows ever!
I remember buying Grim Fandango after reading a review in Gamesmaster back in the day and it’s still my all time favourite game.
Grim fandango was awesome, one of my all time favourites.
One of the best lists I've seen. I felt every single game there, and I played the bajeezus out of every single one of them that launched for PC.
The Freespace 2 segment has parts of Freelancer, which is a very different game.
Yea, I was really confused about the fact there was literally only 6 seconds of footage from Freespace 2 in there...
Thanks -- I though I was going nuts seeing all of the Freelancer footage in there
Freelancer is definitely a game that was played by a lot of people, and still very much is
Dude I came here to ask if Freespace 2 was the same game as Freelancer that for some reason got a different title elsewhere lmao
lol caught that! Was expecting some WC Prophecy footage since they were just tossing stuff in! ;)
I've been overlooking this channel and missing out. I'm an older guy and remember when most of these games came out. I usually wasn't interested in them because I didn't like the art design, or the marketing was bad.
She always goes the most interesting lists, thanks.
Not all the screens are from "Freespace 2". it is mixed with another game "Freelancer" It is clearly mistaken.
I was sure I saw Trent from Freelancer nearly all the screen shots and vidoes are from Freelancer
Actually, I think all but three of the clips are Freelancer... So the vast majority are wrong
@@furrystarcat Yeah, I agree. It is mostly Freelancer and interestingly the clips from original Freespace have lower resolution :)
I thought I was the only one that noticed it....
What's disappointing to me was that there was also no reference about the fact that the modding community has kept Freespace 2 alive with enhanced graphics that make it rival other modern space sims, as well as the fact that the first game and its expansion Silent Threat got amazing overhauls that make them way better than the originals.
No mention of Rule of Rose? Now that is a game that very few people probably played or remember due to it getting pulled off shelves & banned by some countries not to long after it released
Descent 3 was too great a departure from the first 2 and I couldn't praise it as much. Freespace 1 and 2 were straight up majestic. 2 especially, just outstanding. Special place in my heart. Seriously, play it if you haven't. It's one you remember years later.
Great list. The Descent IP has an especially tragic history as it nearly came back in 2020, but a legal dispute between the developers and publisher Little Orbit killed it.
Descent would be great, as would Wing Commander.
@@thembill8246 If I recall correctally the sequel/ successor to Wing Commander has been in development for like a brazillion years... it's called Star Citizen.
The Freespace 2 footage is mixed in with Freelancer, a completely different game
I've played a few of these games, but one that surprised me was The Operative. I completely and I mean totally and completely forgot about this game, but the moment you mentioned it's name and the very first picture for it, I immediately went on a nostalgia trip in my memory bank. It was a good game. I would rather Perfect Dark if given a choice, but it was still a good game.
Oh yeah System Shock gave me nightmares. That was one of the first games I ever played when I got my first laptop. Used to stay up real late to play it in the night. That was a bad idea.
Grew up with the Descent series as well. Excellent games.
Did I just have an obscure gaming experience growing up or something? There's literally only one game on this list I don't own. I honestly thought a lot of these games were massive for their time 😂
Same, I think we're probably just older gamers? lol
@@thebarbaryghostsf Critically acclaimed is not the same as good selling ;-)
Yep. Nothing surprising in most of this list. We also don't know what the sales targets were for these games ( or the development costs ) which could of resulted in profitability
I been gaming since the days of first home PC and console like the Amstrad. I had never heard of any of these games.
@@chriscollins550 Got to be sarcasm surely ? Started with the Amstrad CPC 464 myself. You've never heard of System Shock 2, Rez, Ico or Conker's Bad Fur Day ? Let alone some of the others. Very surprising
NOLF's sequel is where I 1st saw moments of truly smart AI (cover, flanking, faking audio of leaving, reacting differently to open doors, lights turned off, etc).
That and the first time I even had NPCs with idle dialogue programmed. Not just the same 3 sentences but whole conversations at times that rewarded you for just sneaking up on them. Such a great way to inspire the player to do stealth! Nothing necessary, but you might miss a conversation about a monkey! ;)
Conker's Bad Fur Day is actually available today, not on it's own but as part of the Rare Replay bundle. plenty of games at a discount price if you are on Xbox, would be nice to see a PC port.
Also the remastered/remake version “Conker Live & Reloaded” is also available for dirt cheap on the Xbox store
I was going to say the same thing!
And the (imo, at least) superior Live and Reloaded is still on sale, too!
I'd love a PC port, but I'd love more if they'd let us remap the controls for Conker because they are not laid out for modern FPS/TPS sensibilities. (May be a feature now, wasn't last time I opened it)
It’s only on rare replay if you have the disc released on Xbox. Conker was removed from the digital version of Rare Replay
@@PhrozenLegendary When was this? I have both digital & physical....& all of the games are there & accounted for (as I play them on my Series S for the digital & Series X for physical). The only difference is the disc version doesn't grant you Goldeneye while the digital one was updated to have it.
Ico was actually my first ps2 game. I really loved it even though I didn’t fully understand it at the time. So thankful for it
Cate Archer (No one lives forever) deserves to be an icon of the videogame industry. The character was funny, witty, and badass without losing her femininity. It is so sad to see her fade into oblivion.
Absolutely agree. She was a sassy Agent 47. Hope to see her come back
GOG kept trying but the license is just a huge mess. Like, literally, everyone THINKS they have it but no one knows for sure. EA, Activision, I think even Ubisoft may have some type of claim. And since it is clearly a hot IP none of them want to give it up if they have a chance of it being theirs :/
@@matthewprier4340 A fan group archived it while also making it for modern PCs!
Ico is one of the best games ive played
Definitely an underrated masterpiece. 👍
Definitely an underrated masterpiece. 👍
Yorda and I have been traveling companions since original release. Still a fantastic journey.
Lots of Freelancer videos playing over the Freespace 2 section, but Freelancer is an awesome game too, so I'm not mad.
Definitely will look up these awesome games. The thing about Grim Fandango is also that it is really hard and crashes if you don't use a download guide.
Freespace 2 was one of my favourite games when it released. And even now there is an incredible open source project and community updating and upgrading and adding whole new missions with new assets and voice acting, and even wholely new games in the engine. It all just highlights how special this game was to so many x
You can still get Conker, it is part of Rare Replay on PC and Xbox.
11:05 Wasn't Conker's Bad Fur Day included in Rare Replay? And you can even buy the remake and play it on Xbox One to Series.
Freelancer was one of my most favorite games of all time, Freelancer Alpha 1-1 Mind if i take a peek in your hold?
Zero Escape is definitely a series that deserves to be on this list
I was one of those 55,000 sales for Conkers Bad Fur Day....LOVED that game...i played it sooooo many times.
The free space 2 game mention is showing gameplay footage from both free space 2 as well Freelancer which is a different game but I highly recommend and is still modded to this day on Nexus or ModDB
I got a game for this list...DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED!!!! I absolutely loved every minute of that game.We need a conclusion to Adam Jensens story!!!!
I would like to include the recent game Fuga: Melodies of Steel in this category. People who are JRPG Fans should play this game, and support its upcoming sequel. It's an amazing game, I highly recommend it.
Is number six supposed to be Freespace 2 or Freelancer? Except for the very last clip all the gameplay shown is Freelancer.
Just noticed the same thing. Yeah. Only a few frames were Freespace 2. The rest are all Freelancer. Trent for Pres! :D
I'm actually shocked to learn that Conker sold so few copies. This was THE game amongst my peer group at the time.
I LOVED Rez!!
Its biggest stumbling block was its primary console - it launched on the Sega Dreamcast as one of its final games. It was later ported to PS2 for a small sales boost & Rez HD appeared on the PS3 & XBox 360. I bought ALL of them.
Psychonauts, so original, breath of fresh air, and a really great game, easily in my top 10 of all time.
Your freespace 2 clips were mostly from another game called freelancer which also could have been on this list from memory
i saw "No one lives forever" when i was a child before and i always wanted to play it. now you have made me remember this game
Holy S!!!!! Someone mentioned Descent!!! Descent 2 was my all time favorite game! 3 was great too but it didn't have a level builder, and the flight controls just felt a little off. Thank you for shining a light on this great series!
When I heard the Descent entry, I was surprised there was no mention of Freespace. Glad it was eventually mentioned in its own entry. Excellent game, and there's a bunch of fan content, from updating the graphics to adding in ships/tech from various fictional universes (Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5). When the original studio was shuttered, one of the devs released the source code and essentially handed the game to its community.
I remember playing Descent 3 on the home PC as a kid. Loved it so much I got Sublevel Zero Redux for PS4, which is basically an updated version of the Descent games, now I've been awaiting a Sublevel Zero Redux Sequel since 2017.
Did she said, M.D.K.?😂 That game was weird, but awesome from back in the days. But I enjoyed playing it as a teenager.
The story of Grim Fandango still holds up as unique and interesting.
Technically any japanese game that is either a visuak novel or dont have a seeable character on screen, cus american gamers if they dont see the mc moving to the left with the control they start panicking and crying so they stop playing them
what visual novel game is crtiical acclaimed? I'm a big fan of Ace Attorney but it was never critically acclaimed.
@@thecunninlynguist The house on fata morgana 1-2, clannad 1-2,fate stay night, kara noshouo 123, the fruit of grissalia1 to 4, stein gates 1, 0, 2, danganronpa, 123 shotter, little busters, all higurashi and umineko those are 16, katawa shoujo,chaos child, the silvercase, policenauts, zero escape, song of saya, etc, etc, etc
Conker's Bad Fur Day is available for purchase in the Rare Replay collection for Xbox One. (Amazon, at least, still sell it.) It's the only one of these I didn't play shortly after release.
Sacrifice was interesting and quirky but the control scheme was really annoying, as you were trying to control an RTS from a first person perspective. There are a handful of other games that have taken this approach, and it never really works well. The other example that immediately springs to mind is Brutal Legend (although Brutal Legend had other problems, most notably the bait-and-switch it did on gameplay.)
System Shock 2 was unplayable for quite a while because it used a commercial video codec which was included in early versions of Windows but later dropped. GOG fixed this in their eventual re-release, presumably by using a different codec. I still remember the hassle I had to go through to get it to work on... XP? can't recall exactly. You basically had to copy the codec from an earlier Windows release to get SS2 to work until GOG fixed it.
0:30 Wow, why is the character holding the thing sideways like that. When you shot, does it straighten out or does the beam or whatever it show just magically went forward despite the weapon being pointed way to the left like that? lol
7:23 I remember that the original Deus Ex had come out near the same time as well? XIII too, maybe? I remember being so torn between which one to buy, as a preteen that could only afford one, that I didn't end up buying any of them xD
If you have a VR set you should try REZ.
It looks and feels amazing in VR.
Felt like a Shadow Run Decker playing it.
Conker's still on sale, it's just contained within Rare Replay, a bloody fantastic investment for any Xbox One owners. It's 30 classic Rare games for $30, but frequently sells for even less.
Conker was tremendous and I'm sure it's available as part of the rare replay pack
good indication money is to be thought of as an attempted bookkeeping/measure of the wealth. Not wealth itself in any form. Problem with confusion is that if, take gold, then gold would be a psychological priority over food/water/etc.
Of the ones mentioned, the ones i have:
> No One Lives Forever - amazing game, i also have the 2nd but for some weird reason i still haven't played it
> Planescape: Torment - i have the big box edition, bought a long time ago. Shamefully i never finished it (for some reason), but i played more than less 85% of it. Genius.
> Conker Bad Fur Day - i have the Conker: Live & Reloaded version from the Xbox, played it on the 360
I still want to get my hands on Grim Fandango Remastered and System Shock I & II Enhanced Editions
The trick to having a good experience on the three Descent games is to remap your keyboard like so:
Q and A = Up and Down
W and S = Forward and Back
E and D = Left and Right.
E and D might seem counter-intuitive, but when you get used to it you'll be able to instantly move in *ANY* direction effortlessly, because each finger (ring, middle and index) controls *one* axis, which is ideal. Trust me.
Conker is still available for purchase on XBox via the Rare Replay collection.
Conkers Bad Fur Day is still available within Rare Replay. It also has a ship set available in Sea of Thieves. The figurehead is a squirrel holding a beer mug.
I actually still own Conker's, on N64. I wish they would remaster it and bring the multi-player to a new generation
They did. it came out on Xbox.
@@SAVANTI711 I know, but that was long ago, I want a new remaster
I loved the whole video, in fact I can remember playing most of these games as they came out.
Sadly the section on Freespace2 contains video from 2 separate games from 2 developers
Freespace2 Is a space sim and has more of a wing commander look, where as the second game is Freelancer which is an amazing title as well and its the 3rd perspective view that can be seen in the covers used.
Ico, my favorite ps2 game but i played once
This is a great list. Each of the games I've played on the list is a classic, and I've got plans to play several on there that are in my backlog.
I saw you mention Conker's Bad Fur Day on your list. It might be true that Nintendo will not release it, but the Original Xbox (and optimized for the Xbox Series X), Conker: Live and Reloaded can still be purchased. It was the same as the Nintendo game, with the Live part being a multiplayer FPS game.
Top 10 scariest read between the lines moments in video games.
This isn't tues your own adventure
thanks for telling me about overload. immediately bought it.
I still remember that demo disc on the ps1 with descent on it.
my tiny pre school brain couldn't really handle any games outside of the thps series back then.
but descent just made sense and I haven't seen a game like it since then.
The Operative: NOLF is one of my favorite shooters of all time, i would love if they made another one, it was so perfect with all the Bond-esque gadgets, like grenades that look like tubes of lipstick
Conkers Bad Fur Day may be not on Sale on its own but its available through the Rare Replay Collection for Xbox One
I knew I had and have an "eccentric" taste in games as I have played all of these, they are all amazing games. The mechanics in sacrifice were awesome and fresh, spent so much time playing it. Other games in the vein of Descent 3 are; Forsaken, Fury3, Freespace and Hellbender
I think not being sold anywhere is why Conger’s Bad Fur Day didn’t sell well. Or that one copy the store ordered was already sold.
Pleased to say that I’ve played a few of these. No One Lives Forever and bits sequel in particular rank as some of my favourite games of all time. Still remember getting one of them for Xmas one year and just blitzing through it in the space of a few days - couldn’t put it down! A remaster would be 👌🏻
My favorite game for a list, of highly praised and rated games noone played.
Beyond Good and Evil.
Not sure why it sold so badly. It had a great story with a twist at the end, good characters. The platforming was nice and forgiving so you would not quit out of frustration by missing a jump all the time.
Another great game that noone played.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Here it is easy, it was one of the last games for a rapidly dying system.
If I remember right there were also only a few 10.000s copies ever produced.
Copies for the game are still selling for 100 USD and more, and sealed ones are even more expensive.
I would like to argue that many of the older games on this list also had the misfortune of being released during a time where piracy was running absolutely rampant and the countermeasures for online piracy was near nonexistent. As a kid with a very limited budget, free is a very tempting offer.
Battlezone from 1998. Today it's lauded for pioneering the mixture of direct control action and real-time strategy, but it was met with disappointing sales upon launch.
well the game was also relative hard.
It was kinda confusing when you showed clips of Freespace 2 and Freelancer in the same entry for no apparent reason. If they were meant to share an entry, the execution could've been handled better.
So you were definitely talking about Freespace 2, but somehow mixed in a lot of footage from Freelancer (possibly more than actual Freespace 2 footage), a game that plays NOTHING like Freespace.
Played Sacrifice when it was launched - I didn't read game magazines (still dont) I make my own judgements, and game looked good on the box - and it was, very varied gameplay based on which god you chose to be a wizard for.
Still have my boxed copy of Freespace 2 - played it multiple times.
And still have my boxed copy of Planescape Torment - another rpg I've played several times, Black Isle really outdid themselves and it should be on every RPG gamers bucket list. The GOG version has updates and patches too.
And system shock 2.... multiple times.... Think I sold my original boxed copy for like £40
And Grim Fandango - still have my boxed version of that too.
I must be a rare breed of gamer to have played all these "obscure" games.
Also played Independance War 1 & 2 - and..you guessed it, still have my boxed copies.
Hardwar - another great flight sim game that was based on the moon of Titan that actually had an interesting economic that you had to supply factories with goods before they would make anything like missiles etc - YEARS before the X Space sim game series by Egosoft - it also has live action cut scenes the same as the Wing Commander games did.
I'll bet only a handful of your 1.73 MILLION subscribers have played Hardwar - and ..I still have the original box on my shelf just 3 feet from me. (along with all the others and lots more.)
Small nitpick:
Conkers Bad Fur Day CAN still be purchased because it is part of Rare Replay on the Xbox. You just have to buy all the other classic Rareware titles along with it and can't buy it seperately. Given that Rare Replay also comes with both Banjo games and Perfect Dark it's totally worth picking up.
Still play Freelancer sometimes though with the crossfire mod. Sadly never found a new space game that's simple and vast like it
Looking at the descent footage, I never would’ve thought it was that old
Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of my favorites. Had a lot of dirty humor and was hilarious.
Sacrifice is one of my favorite games ever. Such a shame not many saw its amazing potential…
RezHD also holds the distinction for a unique peripheral... a personal massager that vibrates to the game interactions and music.
And I mean a PERSONAL massager.
I played Discent when I was a kid (7 or 8 I think), I had memories of it, heck I had dreams I was flying in the ship...20+ years later I know the name....
6:21 Why you show Freelancer gameplay while talking about Freespace2 ?
Freespace 2 isn't Freelancer, but thanks for the memories of both!
I should add that there is a small but committed FS2 Community who have modded the game to some truly great visuals, there are even 3 hour long "movies" made in it on youtube now!
That is what I was thinking too, I looked it up to be sure, but yeah..that footage is definitely Freelancer.
I would love to see The Neverhood gone over. Its a point-and-click adventure game created using only claymation. Not an easy game but an absolute gem of a game.
Okami is awesome. I played that. 4:41 IT'S PRONOUNCED EE-KOH NOT EYE-KOH! I borrowed Ico from a friend. 8:21 I guess I have to pirate this. There's people out there who save games from being completely abandoned. I heard some stores wouldn't sell Conker because people could mistake it for a kid's game. I have to emulate Conker in order to play it. I'll play the N64 version since the remake ruined it. Okami, Psychonauts, and Skies of Arcadia should be on the list. I really wish I played Skies of Arcadia back in the day. I would have loved it.
something something random comment...
Great list! I would add Giants Citizen Kabuto
I played System Shock 2 so many times when I was younger, the sounds design made it super creepy. I never paid full price for it though. Got it in a 6 pack of games, something like Biggest Names, Best Games.
To quote SS2 "We are, we are, we are, we are........" Nothing like hearing that from down a hallway.
MDK!!!! WOW I used to LOVE that game!!! Brings back memories for sure. 🤔🤔
Conker is still available today. The N64 version is part of the Rare Replay collection on Xbox One, and the original Xbox remake is still available on Microsoft Store, as backwards compatible title. So yeah, you need an Xbox, but it's easily accesible.