I liked the game but felt it comes out more like a prologue to something else. It could have done with more branching paths, or by going a lot more into visual novel. By the time it ended i thought "só this ends where the actual story would begin" Would love it as a tabletop RPG and will keep an eye open for a sequel
@@alexandrewildfire6405 Thanks so much! Yes, we didn't have the budget to do the game we initially wanted (Victorian Steampunk Shadowrun style game with turn-based combat) so we started with something more attainable for us. I'm still really happy with how the game came out, but it is a prequel to the game we wanted to make, hopefully we get to do that for a sequel.
I like this kind of videos, more than "best of X genre" "GOATs" "GOTYs" etc. lists which are all games already talked about at length everywhere on gaming channels
Completely agree also. Those superlatively-titled and -topiced vids don't allow for diversity of tastes and preferences in their singular clickbait focus.
Me too... there's a reason for them to be called "hidden gems": we might overlook them on the stores or even promos if someone doesn't recommend us otherwise. Since even the cheap games are somewhat expensive nowadays, we usually feel less "experimental".
Such good content on a consistent basis. I, honestly, don't play many RPGs, but I watch every video because I love the content and quality here. One of the best games channels on all of TH-cam
Sovereign Syndicate was a nice surprise to me. Isaac Otway gifted me a key for just following them on X, while my super small channel don't even have the requirements to ask for anything. A such small production with such confidence struck me, and the game was not bad at all. Narrative, limitations due to budget constraints, but with a sensible and down to earth take on life that AAA companies fail to get.
It would be really cool if you would reach out to these smaller TRPG studios and make an interview with them about their games. It would be so cool to hear some more about the people who make them and how they do it. And I feel you would be a great person to do this, because you have such honest appreciation for these games, and enjoy digging deep. And your calm presence would allow the interviewees to relax... I think this could be really cool content. :)
Sovereign Syndicate was really enjoyable. The world building and writing was absolutely top notch. Entertained me at all times, cracked me up a time or two, got me in the feels at one point.
Seems like the world of Sovereign Syndicate was heavily inspired by the show Carnival Row. I really enjoyed Zoria. It seemed pretty well done, all things considered.
Thanks! I actually haven't seen Carnival Row but heard the comparison more than once, I'll have to check it out. Was inspired by Shadowrun, Arcanum, Disco Elysium, and to an extent comic works like Lady Mechanika and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Victorian Science Fiction, Dickens, HG Wells, Jules Verne, etc.
I thought Classified France '44 was a lot of fun. I played through it twice this year because the decision making locks you out of recruiting certain characters. Definitely worth picking up next time its on sale.
First, thanks for putting that game on my radar - it looks cool. Secondly, I think this is something more AAA studios and publishers should get on board with. Instead of sticking strictly to by-the-numbers $100+ million games that have to play it super safe to avoid failure, making AA level games that are more interesting and experimental and only need to find a medium audience to be profitable and successful. Problem is the people in charge of most of those big publishers want all the money, not just a regular profitable year, so it's super rare.
These indie and AA games are the future of gaming. As the tools get better they can actually make these awesome games for what limited resources they have. Make creative fun games without the worry of needing to sell 8m copies.
CF44 has just such an elegantly designed combat in my eyes. It stays relevant for the whole campaign, and keeps evolving. This puts it far above Jagged Alliance 3 for example, where you just end up using a silenced sniper with almost all characters. I wish CF44 sold well enough for them to make a sequel, but Steam reviews seem to be too few. :(
Thanks for taking your time and putting these together. I think you do a great job communicating what you like in each game which lets me get a pretty good grasp on if any of these games would be for me.
I didn't know that Mimimi Games closed down. I'm definitely going to pick up Sumarisn Six to hopefully support the creation of more Stealth tactics games.
Cat Quest III was a nice indie game that released a couple months ago. Cute action rpg with ship combat, set on an open 2D world. I hope more people give it a try.
All solid choices, but I have to say, a true hidden gem that you haven't covered yet (and I'd strongly recommend!) is Tactical Breach Wizards. I was really surprised by that game and how good it is.
I love videos like this, looking back into memories to check how a game experience feels like after everything has settled a bit, I feel like these kinds of perspectives are valuable to consider if a game is worth buying, I always avoid buying games that just released anyway, so I quite enjoy "post-launch" reviews
Sumerian Six was a great game. I got all the achievements and uninstalled the game after 41 hours played. I always thought Shadow tactics was great but it was a little bit too difficult for all the challenges to be done on controller. Sumerian six was perfectly distilled without being too simplistic. I loved it and it motivated me to go back and finish shadow tactics and desperados 3.
Sanabi - I got it on 50% sale on Steam and it was magnificent. This was one of (if not THE) best looking indie games I've played in my life. Combat is fine but the story takes the cake. It's well written and makes You care about characters
Sovereign Syndicate is fantastic! I loved Zoria too, not a bad game from a team of 3 (reminded me of Solasta). RW was ok, but felt like i was playing a mobile game.. Now i just have to try the last two games on this list.. thank you.
Thanks for the video. Comment's kind of unrelated. BotW and Read Dead Redemption 2 both pursued minimalist themes to really bring depth and life to their respective open worlds. With the point and click nature of CRPGs, the same less is more approach doesn't seem like it would work. They usually are party-based, so solitude is not the goal, but being RPGs, one of the goals should always be depth. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
Hey Mort! Genuine question here cause im blown away by how its even possible to put out the content you do and play all these games. Do you literally play games all day? Interested in what your schedule is like.
Any plans on covering Crow Country? Really good survival horror game with a PS1 inspired aesthetic. Bit on the easy side, but honestly might just turn it into my go-to rec for anybody wanting to try the genre for the first time. Think I personally 100% it in 8,4 hours or something like that, but genuinely enjoyed the ride except one REALLY stupid puzzle I genuinely got angry for a flash at just how dumb it was.
Yes lean into the indies and smaller games PLEASE, where I spend 99% of my gaming money…..haven’t bought more than maybe oneAAA per year for over a decade, on average, some yrs more some yrs none so please keep doing this and indie/aa etc reviews
Classified France was good gameplay etc. but even after winning all missions and doing great at all of them. I still lost the campaign for some reason and that really soured my experience with it and why I'll never recommend it
Megaton Mushashi W: Wired is actualy really good Mecha Customization Beat Em Up (Part Light novel because its basicaly 3 game story wrapped into 1 plus one 30 minute anime) Almost as good as GB4 and with even better skill customization It just that because its hidden no one play multiplayer anymore, combined with dev choice to make the post credit to endgame difficuly vertical just like library of ruina. You end up with this gem Seriously give it a try with your friend, guaranteed 30 hours of fun, will also reccommend to skip the story. Or god bless you and your friend if you treat it as visual novel
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for the mention on Sovereign Syndicate! We're working on ports for consoles and localization so expect some announcements there too.
Thanks for making such a great experience for us!! ❤
studios like yours are the future of gaming, glad this kinda thing is finally getting recognition
Sovereign Syndicate was one of the best games I played this year! Looking forward to seeing what you make next :D
I liked the game but felt it comes out more like a prologue to something else.
It could have done with more branching paths, or by going a lot more into visual novel. By the time it ended i thought "só this ends where the actual story would begin" Would love it as a tabletop RPG and will keep an eye open for a sequel
@@alexandrewildfire6405 Thanks so much! Yes, we didn't have the budget to do the game we initially wanted (Victorian Steampunk Shadowrun style game with turn-based combat) so we started with something more attainable for us. I'm still really happy with how the game came out, but it is a prequel to the game we wanted to make, hopefully we get to do that for a sequel.
I like this kind of videos, more than "best of X genre" "GOATs" "GOTYs" etc. lists which are all games already talked about at length everywhere on gaming channels
agree fully. this is where I find new games I want to look into myself
Completely agree also. Those superlatively-titled and -topiced vids don't allow for diversity of tastes and preferences in their singular clickbait focus.
Me too... there's a reason for them to be called "hidden gems": we might overlook them on the stores or even promos if someone doesn't recommend us otherwise. Since even the cheap games are somewhat expensive nowadays, we usually feel less "experimental".
Just chiming in to say I agree
agree
Also Felvidek, Drova, Skald, Dread Delusion and Tactical Breach Wizards. Some incredible indies being released more and more frequently.
Fwiw he's featured Skald a ton in various videos
felvidek is sooo good
also judero and ufo50
Drova is by far the best "little find" for me. Probably the game that surprised me the most this year.
Hell yeah, I just finished my first playthrough yesterday. It deserves a sequel.
The unga bunga goes to another world? Yeah, didn't expect much and they delivered more than i hoped.
Such good content on a consistent basis. I, honestly, don't play many RPGs, but I watch every video because I love the content and quality here.
One of the best games channels on all of TH-cam
Sovereign Syndicate was a nice surprise to me. Isaac Otway gifted me a key for just following them on X, while my super small channel don't even have the requirements to ask for anything. A such small production with such confidence struck me, and the game was not bad at all. Narrative, limitations due to budget constraints, but with a sensible and down to earth take on life that AAA companies fail to get.
It would be really cool if you would reach out to these smaller TRPG studios and make an interview with them about their games. It would be so cool to hear some more about the people who make them and how they do it. And I feel you would be a great person to do this, because you have such honest appreciation for these games, and enjoy digging deep. And your calm presence would allow the interviewees to relax... I think this could be really cool content. :)
Sovereign Syndicate was really enjoyable. The world building and writing was absolutely top notch. Entertained me at all times, cracked me up a time or two, got me in the feels at one point.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it.
Romancing Saga 2 Revenge of the Seven would be my pick. While backed by Square Enix, it gained far from as much attention as I felt it deserved.
I saw that game on PSN store recently i think. I'll give it a try.
Looks interesting.
Seems like the world of Sovereign Syndicate was heavily inspired by the show Carnival Row.
I really enjoyed Zoria. It seemed pretty well done, all things considered.
Thanks! I actually haven't seen Carnival Row but heard the comparison more than once, I'll have to check it out. Was inspired by Shadowrun, Arcanum, Disco Elysium, and to an extent comic works like Lady Mechanika and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Victorian Science Fiction, Dickens, HG Wells, Jules Verne, etc.
I thought Classified France '44 was a lot of fun. I played through it twice this year because the decision making locks you out of recruiting certain characters. Definitely worth picking up next time its on sale.
Kunitsu-Gami will be overlooked, dues to its "AA from a AAA publisher" nature, but I think it's a neat game. Deserves more attention.
Completely agree, this game that deserves more attention.
First, thanks for putting that game on my radar - it looks cool. Secondly, I think this is something more AAA studios and publishers should get on board with. Instead of sticking strictly to by-the-numbers $100+ million games that have to play it super safe to avoid failure, making AA level games that are more interesting and experimental and only need to find a medium audience to be profitable and successful. Problem is the people in charge of most of those big publishers want all the money, not just a regular profitable year, so it's super rare.
Man I've been hooked on Kunitsu-gami for weeks now lol 60+hrs. Definitely deserves more media attention
These indie and AA games are the future of gaming. As the tools get better they can actually make these awesome games for what limited resources they have. Make creative fun games without the worry of needing to sell 8m copies.
For me those would be:
Outcast: A New Beginning, Megaton Musashi W: Wired, Wantless: Solace at World's End, Terra Memoria, Space Prison, Anima Flux.
Solid. Wantless kinda makes me want to get back into Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children
Our adventuring guild. My hidden gem of 2024.
CF44 has just such an elegantly designed combat in my eyes. It stays relevant for the whole campaign, and keeps evolving. This puts it far above Jagged Alliance 3 for example, where you just end up using a silenced sniper with almost all characters.
I wish CF44 sold well enough for them to make a sequel, but Steam reviews seem to be too few. :(
Thanks for taking your time and putting these together. I think you do a great job communicating what you like in each game which lets me get a pretty good grasp on if any of these games would be for me.
Tried the demo of Rogue Waters, and found it quite fun. Not a huge fan of roguelits/-likes, but this one I enjoyed.
Steamworld Heist (2) was received well... but by so few people unfortunately... fantastic title and series.
I didn't know that Mimimi Games closed down. I'm definitely going to pick up Sumarisn Six to hopefully support the creation of more Stealth tactics games.
I'm glad that you mentioned Drova, it's one of the best RPG I've played in recent years and I'd love to hear more of your thought on it
Yep, Drova is a very solid Gothic-like.
Cat Quest III was a nice indie game that released a couple months ago.
Cute action rpg with ship combat, set on an open 2D world. I hope more people give it a try.
All solid choices, but I have to say, a true hidden gem that you haven't covered yet (and I'd strongly recommend!) is Tactical Breach Wizards. I was really surprised by that game and how good it is.
He has covered a 100% on it already
I love videos like this, looking back into memories to check how a game experience feels like after everything has settled a bit, I feel like these kinds of perspectives are valuable to consider if a game is worth buying, I always avoid buying games that just released anyway, so I quite enjoy "post-launch" reviews
Rogue Waters and Sumerian Six really interest me. Classified France '44 was a really fun game.
Steamworld Heist 2. I will always talk up this series when the opportunity arises.
Sumerian Six was a great game. I got all the achievements and uninstalled the game after 41 hours played. I always thought Shadow tactics was great but it was a little bit too difficult for all the challenges to be done on controller. Sumerian six was perfectly distilled without being too simplistic. I loved it and it motivated me to go back and finish shadow tactics and desperados 3.
Sanabi - I got it on 50% sale on Steam and it was magnificent. This was one of (if not THE) best looking indie games I've played in my life. Combat is fine but the story takes the cake. It's well written and makes You care about characters
Thanks to you I bought a copy of Classified France 44, never even heard of it
Sovereign Syndicate is fantastic! I loved Zoria too, not a bad game from a team of 3 (reminded me of Solasta). RW was ok, but felt like i was playing a mobile game.. Now i just have to try the last two games on this list.. thank you.
Thanks for the video. Comment's kind of unrelated. BotW and Read Dead Redemption 2 both pursued minimalist themes to really bring depth and life to their respective open worlds. With the point and click nature of CRPGs, the same less is more approach doesn't seem like it would work. They usually are party-based, so solitude is not the goal, but being RPGs, one of the goals should always be depth. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
Added all to my wish list ! Thanks for the recommendations!
I you like Lovecraft and a good roguelite deckbuilder, try menace from the deep :)
Great list! Steamworld heist 2 is another one ❤
Rogue Waters is the FTL's spiritual successor we were all waiting for! I hope it also launches on consoles.
My man keeps on pushing
He's leveling up. Soon it'll be us thats trying to catch up with his upload speed
@newyou6210 i can see that happening already lol
rogue waters was a real surprise. and i very enjoyed classified france
Frogmonster, A cute fps with great boss design 🐸
I have to say that Elin has been my favorite game this year
The mere words "what if Disco Elysium but Arcanum" caused me a special sort of pleasurable psychic damage.
Nice. Will you be doing a “top games of 2024” later on in the year too? Been enjoying the past few vids. May you wander in wisdom Mort.
Yeah probably later this month/December
you forgot " girls frontline 2" . game of the decade
Hidden TH-cam Jazz 🎶
Should have included DA:TV just to stir the pot. Im personally enjoying it a lot. Has some obvious flaws, but its a fun time
Hey Mort! Genuine question here cause im blown away by how its even possible to put out the content you do and play all these games. Do you literally play games all day? Interested in what your schedule is like.
Like 10-12 hours of games most days
@@MortismalGaming dang keep up the good work , it must be draining😮
Looking forward to rogue waters
Good stuff!
Need more lists like these
Since the success of X-COM 2, TRPGs have become a common genre, previously it seems to me they were niche.
Check out Elin. Early access game but I think you'd love it.
Any plans on covering Crow Country?
Really good survival horror game with a PS1 inspired aesthetic. Bit on the easy side, but honestly might just turn it into my go-to rec for anybody wanting to try the genre for the first time. Think I personally 100% it in 8,4 hours or something like that, but genuinely enjoyed the ride except one REALLY stupid puzzle I genuinely got angry for a flash at just how dumb it was.
No current plans
@MortismalGaming Fair enough! But thanks for the answer.
what's everyone's favorite youtube jazz album?
Drova is awesome!
Yes lean into the indies and smaller games PLEASE, where I spend 99% of my gaming money…..haven’t bought more than maybe oneAAA per year for over a decade, on average, some yrs more some yrs none so please keep doing this and indie/aa etc reviews
Are you planning on fully reviewing Drova before the end of the year?
Ideally, yeah
Not my kinda games but thanks all the same :)
free comment because they can't stop me.
Moist.
Tunguska the visitation!
Ever since i played disco elysium i've been itching for anything similar. Damn shame what happened to that studio
Classified France was good gameplay etc. but even after winning all missions and doing great at all of them. I still lost the campaign for some reason and that really soured my experience with it and why I'll never recommend it
Any game can be a hidden gem if you've never played it!
I love hidden gems.
I have Sovereign Syndicate and Classified France '44 but haven't got fully into them yet, I think mostly because there has always been something else.
The backlog is real.
Swag do a age of decadence playthrough pleasw.
I reviewed it quite some time ago
@MortismalGaming I saw that one already it was such a great video you gotta make a sequel! Please 🥺🙏
GronK!
Forgive me ignorance……what the heck is aTRPG? I understand Crpg, never heard T
Tactics, think games like xcom
No complete Wrath of the Righteous? Unsubscribe!!
In reality a very nice list
drova review when?
Before the end of the year
Where is drova ?
Megaton Mushashi W: Wired is actualy really good Mecha Customization Beat Em Up (Part Light novel because its basicaly 3 game story wrapped into 1 plus one 30 minute anime)
Almost as good as GB4 and with even better skill customization
It just that because its hidden no one play multiplayer anymore, combined with dev choice to make the post credit to endgame difficuly vertical just like library of ruina. You end up with this gem
Seriously give it a try with your friend, guaranteed 30 hours of fun, will also reccommend to skip the story. Or god bless you and your friend if you treat it as visual novel
Morrrrtiiiissssmaaaalllllllllllll Whooooo
checkout "katanakami"