Which RPG was the most underappreciated?

[BuckGB]

None of these games sold a million copies, though some of them probably should have. Which one do you feel was the most underappreciated? If you choose "Other", please list the RPG you think didn't get the attention it deserved.

[Robnark]

Planescape: Torment. in a genre that makes a point of plot and characters, it beats the lot by also having originality. as to the reasons, I'd rather not start a rant that will probably end up in my labelling most of the computer games-playing population a semi-literate unappreciative gitpile. all I'll say is the graphics were a bit behind the times. and twitch with suppressed rage.

[Hill-Shatar]

Warning: Long Winded post about Arx Fatalis.

Arx Fatalis. Although I actually have never played the other games on that list, except for a save few, Arx Fatalis always jump to me as an RPG that was not fairly recognized. The game had a unique spell system, but it's combat system, I hear, was too much like Morrowind. Luckily, the two games basically split of in how they are similar there.

Perhaps one of the major reasons that Arx Fatalis was not all the popular was that, unlike many games these days, in my opinion, it earned it's mature rating, with gore, from everything from stained torture equipment, blood dripping walls, and grotesque corpses. Following this, many people who typically do not play games rated as Mature with that level of gore, may not have enjoyed it as some of us others. However, even though this game had some impressive graphics in it, all of it added together was not exactly as pleasant as I would have liked myself, but I enjoyed the game none the less, through the somewhat... angular characters. The graphics may have been a little dated, considering that at the time, this was a release for Xbox, and many games coming out for it were of a more ground breaking design, or at least what many called (myself as well) different. The sound was something that they could have improved, as some parts were repetitive and, well, to be perfectly honest, boring.

Oh yes, and the eating habits.

The game was a little more linear than many would have liked though. I wouldn't have minded if it went in depth a little more as well. Or the use of the amnesia beginning... something that I got tired of long ago. Also, the storyline may have been a little overused... the entire under the Earth thing was a little original, however, so I enjoyed that.

Not to say I did not enjoy parts. the world of this game was littered with little devices that you could find and pull and play around with, and the detail that the game went into in some places, was extraordinary. I liked the spell casting system, for reasons unknown to me in some cases, but for others (The book of Runes) the game did interest me more than I thought it would, in that aspect. Or, when my memory was dieing from overusing spells, I could always take out my trusty melee weapon and beat them to death with it. Not glamorous, but hey, neither's the games atmosphere (Gruesome and Deadly... nice). The puzzles were better than many other games, and sometimes, it is worth to be observant of what is around you. The goblin guys always made me laugh too, I had to admit. Speaking of them, the enemies in this game are excellently epicted... still a little dated, but well made. Still, some of the images when fighting them are not the best, but considering that I am looking back after playing KotOR and watching Witcher previews, perhaps what I am comparing it to are a little unfair, considering the former was ahead of it's time. In the end, yes, I enjoyed this game, not as a RPG gamer, more or less, but using it as a pleasant and fun distraction from hardcore, open ended, replay-this-twenty-times-to-finish games. It was not the best game I had played, but far better than others.

In the end, the game simply was not recognized as it could not live up to the recent achievements of games like KotOR, in my opinion, which was another game released for Xbox, with better graphics, game play and abilities in battle, not to mention a better interface. Its graphics were not at par with what many would like these days, but the quest for self or identity was much more interesting then many games that came out. It was unfortunate that this game did not come out two or three years earlier, when much more attention would have been on it. The release of KotOR and Morrowind... obscured this title. A game that was gone before the gaming community could get around to it.

EDIT- How appropriate. My 5000th post is long winded.

[Xandax]

PlaneScape: Torment. No contest at all in my mind.

[Ravager]

Planescape is a very good game and should have sold more, but I voted for Lionheart. It has its weaknesses, but I think it has been overlooked a lot, of course it can't help that the devloped soon after, but it was still an interesting mesh of real locations in different circumstances with famous historical characters adapting to a drastically different situation.

[monggo]

i voted arcanum cuz most people i know say that planscape torment is the best game ever so its not really underappreciated and Lionheart was ok but it was seriously under developed (if they had made the follower system better it would have been a great game imo)
arcanum has a lot of bugs but if you patch it its great and its fun with a lot of replay value!!!

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by monggo

i voted arcanum cuz most people i know say that planscape torment is the best game ever so its not really underappreciated <snip>

PS:T was underappriciated because it never reached the masses like so many other CRPG(and especially CRPG-Lites) and thus didn't bring home the almighty dollar, but instead became a niche product.

[vellu]

Torment for sure. Loved the dark humor it had.

[Hill-Shatar]

The irony is, a lot of people saying that Torment was undervalued have played the game, and seeing the sheer amount of threads currently residing in the PS: T forum...

PS:T was a much more popular game than all the rest on the list, and I don't think that is was as unappreciated as many titles on their, in my opinion. In fact, I would say it is one of the most appreciated on the list, myself, given that a day doesn't go by when someone doesn't annoy me because I have not played he game, and the game itself seems to pop up in gaming forums a lot more than any of the other games on the list.

It may not have been as popular as it should have been, but, myself in opinion once again, I do not think that it got worse recognition than many other games on that list, comparing the quality of the games.

[Luis Antonio]

Plane Scape: Torment. All I have to say is that I'm still in love with Infinity engine, and that I've played it only recently. Even though I prefer BG, PS T is very cool.

[TonyMontana1638]

I went with Planescape: Torment as well because it truly was a fabulous game but was always in the shadow of other infinity engine games, namely Baldur's Gate and Fallout. Of these game I actually enjoyed VTM: Bloodlines the most, but I think the game has gotten quite bit of appreciation, and wouldn't be the best fit for the actual question.

[BuckGB]

Originally Posted by TonyMontana1638

Of these game I actually enjoyed VTM: Bloodlines the most, but I think the game has gotten quite bit of appreciation, and wouldn't be the best fit for the actual question.

Actually, I think Vampire: Bloodlines was very underappreciated. It sold fewer copies than Arcanum, even though it sported Valve's Source engine and a popular RPG license. The game's lack of sales ended up being the final nail in Troika's coffin, unfortunately.

Other than the bugs (that have since been addressed by fan patches), I thought Bloodlines was a masterpiece and the best Troika game ever released. But then again, every game I add to GameBanshee seems to be one of my favorites .

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by Robnark

Planescape: Torment. in a genre that makes a point of plot and characters, it beats the lot by also having originality.

I completely agree. If storyline and story-driven game play are the core features of RPG:s, then P:T is one of the few CRPG:s ever made.

To me it was a relief to get rid of the stereotypes I have seen in far too many CRPG:s, the story was actually interesting and had an internal meaning beyond the "you are the hero who must save the world from evil monsters"-motive.

Compared to the BG-series, P:T was vastly underappreciated in my opinion.

[TonyMontana1638]

Originally Posted by Buck Satan

Actually, I think Vampire: Bloodlines was very underappreciated. It sold fewer copies than Arcanum, even though it sported Valve's Source engine and a popular RPG license. The game's lack of sales ended up being the final nail in Troika's coffin, unfortunately.

Other than the bugs (that have since been addressed by fan patches), I thought Bloodlines was a masterpiece and the best Troika game ever released. But then again, every game I add to GameBanshee seems to be one of my favorites .

Really? Huh, maybe it's because I frequent this site too much where the game has been well received but most places I've looked rave about the game... I didn't factor in sales, however, so you may have a point.

I'll stick with P:T though .

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by Hill-Shatar

The irony is, a lot of people saying that Torment was undervalued have played the game, and seeing the sheer amount of threads currently residing in the PS: T forum...

PS:T was a much more popular game than all the rest on the list, and I don't think that is was as unappreciated as many titles on their, in my opinion. In fact, I would say it is one of the most appreciated on the list, myself, given that a day doesn't go by when someone doesn't annoy me because I have not played he game, and the game itself seems to pop up in gaming forums a lot more than any of the other games on the list.

It may not have been as popular as it should have been, but, myself in opinion once again, I do not think that it got worse recognition than many other games on that list, comparing the quality of the games.

The fact that more people seem to play it now then when it came out infact indicates to me it was underappriciated at its time.

Also remember, that many people here are much/most interested in RPG genre, which means we are more likely to have played/tried out PS:T, thus increasing the postcount about it in the forum, then at many other boards/forums- so we can't really take activity at GB for a good meassurement of public and broad appeal.