I'd prefer not to rationalize all of these in front of you, but as was recently pointed out to me, the OP demands an explanation...
Underrated
Final Fantasy 7
I put this here for an important reason. All of you people who think that 7's hype and fandom was pushed far beyond it's limits and is obscene... Or that, because you and others think this, the fandom is starting to wane... This game appears on the underrated list to put you in your place. It's your opinion, this is mine and others. Deal with it. Rationalizations don't mean jack shit. It's part of my childhood and will always be a fond memory.
Valkyria Chronicles
It was previously stated what a surprise this game was. Truth is, it's excellent and a one of a kind game. For pioneering new ideas in a tactical game, it should've been far more lauded.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
This wasn't the favorite. It didn't shine in any limelight, like 6, 7 or 4. People took issue with it's lack of depth and new direction. But the fact remains, it was a Final Fantasy game and even still it's far superior to some of the newer releases. Not to mention having the single greatest boss theme song of the entire series.
Shadow Hearts
Why isn't this a reoccuring genre in RPGs? Why didn't the sheer concept blow people's minds?! Horror RPGs, are you shitting me!? It's a match made in heaven. It's a gothic RPG with all the elements of horror. To this day it remains one of my favorite RPGs.
Megaman 9
You can talk about Megaman 2...and sure, why wouldn't you? But 9? It was such a revolutionary step in gaming! A step back. Why would any game company want to do that? Who would want to revisit those infuriating days of 8-bit? The truth was, it's a nostalgia thing. I can't explain it any other way. And a game geared for nostalgia, it turns out...is pretty challenging. Definitely one of my favorite games.
Final Fantasy Crisis Core
See FF7. It was nice to see a new PoV on the events that took place around the original game.
Armored Core series
I'm a fan of any game that gives you a free hand at customization and exploration of options. If you can win a game seventy different ways, well that leaves it up to you to determine what fits your "style". I love customizing my own mech and to be fair, AC series does this best. The Arena section is an excellent added bonus.
Bushido Blade 1 & 2
What can I say. I got the demo for the first game in an issue of Playstation magazine. I wore it out. When I bought the game, I was hooked. It's lack of a definite soundtrack makes it perfect for playing it while listening to whatever you want. The fact that the series was laid at the wayside is saddening.
Ehrgeiz
The first, and in my opinion, only strictly-speaking Final Fantasy fighting game. Albeit, it only featured characters from 7, it was plenty fun to see the characters in a game outside of 7 back in those days.
Parasite Eve series
A horror RPG...ARPG?...or whatever. It was a fun horror-inspired mad-scientist New York Gotham hellbent series. The characters, though new, felt familiar. I look forward to the new addition to the series, tremendously.
Destroy All Humans series
A comedic sci-fi extra-terrestrial series. It's a blast and the Jack Nicholson impression gets me every time.
Dirge of Cerberus
See FF7. It was nice to see some of the familiar settings in vivid new graphics. Not to mention all the nods to the original game.
Super Mario Bros Wii
If nostalgia was a reason for liking Megaman 9, then it definitely is a factor here. Familiar gameplay. Bright new graphics and new innovative spins on the classic side-scroller are always welcome.
Overrated
Kingdom Hearts series
I didn't really think of it as anything than an excuse to see a mish-mash of FF characters interacting. I never regarded the plot as anything other than over-contrived, unnecessarily complicated and sometimes downright confusing.
GTA series
It had a good game or two in it. It's moment in the spotlight was deserved, at least for Vice City. But was that any excuse to inflict all these other games on us? More of the same? Too much or a touch too much of an okay thing is as bad as just a little bit of shit.
CoD series & Halo series
Both are a stupid pointless series with no true room for exploration. Merely arenas of competition. For the competitive gamer, there are prolly no better games. It's no secret, I'm not competitive in game.
The Force Unleashed
It was a great premise. It would've been a great game. But gameplay was repetitive and annoying. There was a very lacking selection of combos and it didn't rise to it's potential.
World of Warcraft
Anything this obsessive and viral must be kept at arms length. And I personally am not a fan of MMO's. This makes me quite the odd-man out. But better that, than a no-lifer.
Soul Calibur series
Cute series, got too much publicity just because it threw in a third-party character and it's plot and re-hashings were repetitive and stretched a little too thinly.
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Waited too long and it was hyped up far too much to be just another entry in a series. I personally miss the original and melee. They were both superior, imho.
-Sin
Bookmarks