Way, way under the radar games you are playing.

[ToyfareMark]

So recently I've been on a racing game kick and I've been playing NASCAR Heat 5. Since I've completely dominated the career mode I wanted to find something else to play and I discovered 2 racing games on Steam. Tony Stewart's Sprint Car Racing, and Tony Stewart's All American Racing. I got both and have been amazed at how fun, and deep they are. They both came out in 2020 so they've been around for awhile, but I'm really happy I discovered them.

So what obscure under the radar games are you guys currently playing.

Oh and here is my Detroit Lions street stock car in All American Racing.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Not For Broadcast

A modern FMV game (It left early acess in January of 2022) set in an alternate reality Great Britan in the 80's and 90's. You have to live-edit a news show, making sure the camera stays on whoever's talking, get reaction shots, making sure to cut to the right segments, pick visuals to display during the various segments, select ads to play, deal with interference, bleep out overly strong swear words, etc...

However, the premise is that a new political party called Advance wins the elections and that party, it turns out, doesn't care much for the ol' free speech and freedom of the press. And so, they put more and more pressure on the channel as the game progresses and you are expected to censor criticism of Advance, play their propaganda and generally show them in a good light while vilifying their enemies. Of course, whether you choose to obey or not is up to you and a resistance group called Disrupt quickly forms and hopes to get you on their side. But remember, whatever choices you make, there WILL be consequences.

To further give you personal incentive in your choices, there are also narrative segments in between the brodcasts where you have to make choices that will affect the future of your family, and of course your actions during the broadcasts can also have an effect during those.

Despite the seriousness of the premise, the game is also a comedy, with increasingly dark humour as it goes on, and the comedy is usually excellent. One the finest example in my opinion is the Sportsboard match, which is just a monument of absurdist humour without falling into outright "lol rendum".

There are 14 possible endings so you've got quite a few branching paths (although to be fair, about half of those are determined by the final broadcast) and even outside of the endings, your actions and choices during the broadcasts can also change what happens to all of the secondary characters. They have also released two DLC broadcasts so far, one called Telethon, set early in the story where your boss asks you to edit an old show from the 50's to test if you should keep the job full time and another one called Live & Spooky where the crew explores an allegedly haunted abandoned TV studio. There are at least two more DLCs planned for the future as well.

I just love this game, not only because the gameplay is genuinely engaging, but the story is particularly good, in all paths. And in this day and age, I think a game with a premise like this is important and while it's not always subtle in its messaging, it does do a great job of showing the complexities of such a situation and the various perspectives, especially as you're often forced to make extremely important choices in a very short time, highlighting how difficult it can be for journalists and media in general to decide what their angle should be when reporting.

While it does criticize news media to an extent, it's not the superficial "media bad" sort of take that's all too common these days. It shows that while news outlets can influence and manipulate people, it's not all in their hands and they too can be influenced and manipulated, when they aren't outright threatened into towing the line. It also stresses the importance of free press if you want genuine news that help the public make informed decisions. It also shows that extremism in general never ends well, regardless of how noble its alleged values are.

Oh! And I almost forgot how great the acting is, which of course is vital in an FMV game and really helps sell all of these stories and make you care about the characters. It really is a credit to all of the actors.

[Ryback on a Pole!]

Im not sure how under the radar it is, but Paradise Killer was excellent.

[Hobby Drifter]

I randomly bought Super Cyborg on Switch a few weeks ago, since I was waiting for Zelda.

It’s great. It’s basically another NES Contra/Probotector. Clearing the game even lets you choose new sprites that look almost exactly like the Contra guys.

It’s to Contra what the Messenger was to Ninja Gaiden

[IgnahtaSempria]

Don't know how "under the radar" it is, but over the last year or so, I've been playing Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga. It's a grid based tactical RPG where you make squads of up to 9 units and try to defeat all your enemy squads and take strategic locations like mines and towns.

They just had a minor update to the in-game character portraits, and they've mentioned that there are plans for a DLC expansion some time in the future, so anyone who likes those kind of games may want to give it a look.

[Mandarin Dessert Version 0]

Galacticon, a surprisingly really entertaining modern arcade-style game that can get really addicting.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

May 28, 2023 23:03:46 GMT -5 Mandarin Dessert Version 0 said:

Galacticon, a surprisingly really entertaining modern arcade-style game that can get really addicting.

Looking up screenshots right now. it does look very fun and genuinely has a retro feel to the graphics (as opposed to just pixel art), while siultaneously having its own style. Very interesting.

[Mandarin Dessert Version 0]

May 29, 2023 0:01:25 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

May 28, 2023 23:03:46 GMT -5 Mandarin Dessert Version 0 said:

Galacticon, a surprisingly really entertaining modern arcade-style game that can get really addicting.

Looking up screenshots right now. it does look very fun and genuinely has a retro feel to the graphics (as opposed to just pixel art), while siultaneously having its own style. Very interesting.

The same publishers also published some other retro-style arcade games like Donut Dodo and Murtop which I also plan on doing down the line.

[Dr. T is an alien]

I can’t say any games that I play are truly under the radar. The closest to that are the Valkyria Chronicles games, which at most are just not as popular as they should be in the US. My son wants me to play the Nonary Games, but I kind of stick to what I know.

Currently I’m juggling between playing my first Dark Souls Remastered full playthrough (I had to restart when my PS5 died, but I like this new build better anyways), my second playthrough of Jedi Survivor, and my first playthrough of P5R (I beat the vanilla game previously).

As you can see, I like to play some truly under the radar stuff.

[dav]

Completed Voodoo Detective a few months ago. A very short point and click adventure game that was quite some fun and had some quality voice acting.

[Cyno]

There's a tri-Ace game called Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky that I think qualifies. It's very similar to Valkyrie Profile in terms of gameplay, but the story involves these schoolkids from Tokyo who apparently die in an earthquake and get sucked into a fantasy world. So Valkyrie Profile: Isekai Edition?

[Powerline]

I was super-into Streets of Rogue for awhile. I still fall in and out of spells of playing the hell out of it. I actually had the World Record for a custom character for about a year before the person who was known as THE SoR runner came around and yoinked it from me by absolutely crushing my run. Still, an absolutely fun game that has multiple solutions to its puzzles, just as long as you either can calculate and access the situation well OR are super-skilled with twin-stick schmups (Total Carnage, Smash TV) to make your mistakes moot. It stuns me it didn't take off higher than it did.

May 28, 2023 7:33:35 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Not For Broadcast

A modern FMV game (It left early acess in January of 2022) set in an alternate reality Great Britan in the 80's and 90's. You have to live-edit a news show, making sure the camera stays on whoever's talking, get reaction shots, making sure to cut to the right segments, pick visuals to display during the various segments, select ads to play, deal with interference, bleep out overly strong swear words, etc...

However, the premise is that a new political party called Advance wins the elections and that party, it turns out, doesn't care much for the ol' free speech and freedom of the press. And so, they put more and more pressure on the channel as the game progresses and you are expected to censor criticism of Advance, play their propaganda and generally show them in a good light while vilifying their enemies. Of course, whether you choose to obey or not is up to you and a resistance group called Disrupt quickly forms and hopes to get you on their side. But remember, whatever choices you make, there WILL be consequences.

To further give you personal incentive in your choices, there are also narrative segments in between the brodcasts where you have to make choices that will affect the future of your family, and of course your actions during the broadcasts can also have an effect during those.

Despite the seriousness of the premise, the game is also a comedy, with increasingly dark humour as it goes on, and the comedy is usually excellent. One the finest example in my opinion is the Sportsboard match, which is just a monument of absurdist humour without falling into outright "lol rendum".

There are 14 possible endings so you've got quite a few branching paths (although to be fair, about half of those are determined by the final broadcast) and even outside of the endings, your actions and choices during the broadcasts can also change what happens to all of the secondary characters. They have also released two DLC broadcasts so far, one called Telethon, set early in the story where your boss asks you to edit an old show from the 50's to test if you should keep the job full time and another one called Live & Spooky where the crew explores an allegedly haunted abandoned TV studio. There are at least two more DLCs planned for the future as well.

I just love this game, not only because the gameplay is genuinely engaging, but the story is particularly good, in all paths. And in this day and age, I think a game with a premise like this is important and while it's not always subtle in its messaging, it does do a great job of showing the complexities of such a situation and the various perspectives, especially as you're often forced to make extremely important choices in a very short time, highlighting how difficult it can be for journalists and media in general to decide what their angle should be when reporting.

While it does criticize news media to an extent, it's not the superficial "media bad" sort of take that's all too common these days. It shows that while news outlets can influence and manipulate people, it's not all in their hands and they too can be influenced and manipulated, when they aren't outright threatened into towing the line. It also stresses the importance of free press if you want genuine news that help the public make informed decisions. It also shows that extremism in general never ends well, regardless of how noble its alleged values are.

Oh! And I almost forgot how great the acting is, which of course is vital in an FMV game and really helps sell all of these stories and make you care about the characters. It really is a credit to all of the actors.

Yoooooo, that sounds super freakin' neat.  I wishlisted that as soon as I read your post.  I've always thought FMV games, executed well, have a place.  The genre/style just gets a bad rep for....not being well executed to the point too many cast the entire genre itself as flawed.

[Allie Kitsune]

May 28, 2023 6:39:24 GMT -5 ToyfareMark said:

So recently I've been on a racing game kick and I've been playing NASCAR Heat 5. Since I've completely dominated the career mode I wanted to find something else to play and I discovered 2 racing games on Steam. Tony Stewart's Sprint Car Racing, and Tony Stewart's All American Racing. I got both and have been amazed at how fun, and deep they are. They both came out in 2020 so they've been around for awhile, but I'm really happy I discovered them.

So what obscure under the radar games are you guys currently playing.

Oh and here is my Detroit Lions street stock car in All American Racing.

Monster Games followed the Tony Stewart games up with a World of Outlaws game (Sprints AND Late Models), but that one's console-only, no PC.

As for me, no under-the-radar modern games for me right now.

I've just been playing an old one that's old enough to be dead and buried (Rage Racer, PS1).

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

May 30, 2023 6:59:49 GMT -5 Powerline said:

I was super-into Streets of Rogue for awhile. I still fall in and out of spells of playing the hell out of it. I actually had the World Record for a custom character for about a year before the person who was known as THE SoR runner came around and yoinked it from me by absolutely crushing my run. Still, an absolutely fun game that has multiple solutions to its puzzles, just as long as you either can calculate and access the situation well OR are super-skilled with twin-stick schmups (Total Carnage, Smash TV) to make your mistakes moot. It stuns me it didn't take off higher than it did.

May 28, 2023 7:33:35 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Not For Broadcast

A modern FMV game (It left early acess in January of 2022) set in an alternate reality Great Britan in the 80's and 90's. You have to live-edit a news show, making sure the camera stays on whoever's talking, get reaction shots, making sure to cut to the right segments, pick visuals to display during the various segments, select ads to play, deal with interference, bleep out overly strong swear words, etc...

However, the premise is that a new political party called Advance wins the elections and that party, it turns out, doesn't care much for the ol' free speech and freedom of the press. And so, they put more and more pressure on the channel as the game progresses and you are expected to censor criticism of Advance, play their propaganda and generally show them in a good light while vilifying their enemies. Of course, whether you choose to obey or not is up to you and a resistance group called Disrupt quickly forms and hopes to get you on their side. But remember, whatever choices you make, there WILL be consequences.

To further give you personal incentive in your choices, there are also narrative segments in between the brodcasts where you have to make choices that will affect the future of your family, and of course your actions during the broadcasts can also have an effect during those.

Despite the seriousness of the premise, the game is also a comedy, with increasingly dark humour as it goes on, and the comedy is usually excellent. One the finest example in my opinion is the Sportsboard match, which is just a monument of absurdist humour without falling into outright "lol rendum".

There are 14 possible endings so you've got quite a few branching paths (although to be fair, about half of those are determined by the final broadcast) and even outside of the endings, your actions and choices during the broadcasts can also change what happens to all of the secondary characters. They have also released two DLC broadcasts so far, one called Telethon, set early in the story where your boss asks you to edit an old show from the 50's to test if you should keep the job full time and another one called Live & Spooky where the crew explores an allegedly haunted abandoned TV studio. There are at least two more DLCs planned for the future as well.

I just love this game, not only because the gameplay is genuinely engaging, but the story is particularly good, in all paths. And in this day and age, I think a game with a premise like this is important and while it's not always subtle in its messaging, it does do a great job of showing the complexities of such a situation and the various perspectives, especially as you're often forced to make extremely important choices in a very short time, highlighting how difficult it can be for journalists and media in general to decide what their angle should be when reporting.

While it does criticize news media to an extent, it's not the superficial "media bad" sort of take that's all too common these days. It shows that while news outlets can influence and manipulate people, it's not all in their hands and they too can be influenced and manipulated, when they aren't outright threatened into towing the line. It also stresses the importance of free press if you want genuine news that help the public make informed decisions. It also shows that extremism in general never ends well, regardless of how noble its alleged values are.

Oh! And I almost forgot how great the acting is, which of course is vital in an FMV game and really helps sell all of these stories and make you care about the characters. It really is a credit to all of the actors.

Yoooooo, that sounds super freakin' neat.  I wishlisted that as soon as I read your post.  I've always thought FMV games, executed well, have a place.  The genre/style just gets a bad rep for....not being well executed to the point too many cast the entire genre itself as flawed.

There's been a few in recent years. Not many, but there has been a small comeback of FMV games in the past decade (I particularly recommend Contradiction if you haven't tried it yet, if only for Detective Jenks) and this possibly the best example yet. The thing is in my opinion, these modern games make much better use of the medium than the older ones did. It helps that both technology and game design have evolved a lot over the years, so we're finally at a point where the concept can do be done properly, with high quality footage, decent production value (although to be fair a lot of old FMV games at least looked neat which is probably why there's nostalgia for it) and engaging gameplay. It helps that devs these days seem to realize that the genre is best suited for narrative experiences where the gameplay doesn't necessarily need to interrupt the footage, like mysteries, visual-novel type things, that kind of stuff. They aren't trying to force in action sequences, which I feel was a trapping of many older FMV games.

[Denny Zen is Cooking™]

I don't think it's entirely under the radar anymore, because it's been around for years and has received high critical praise, but it's certainly not a well-known game by any means. But, I just played through CrossCode and if you like old school action-RPGs in the vein of the 80s/90s Zelda games I consider it an absolute must play. Just a really, really fun, challenging game.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

May 30, 2023 9:33:56 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

I don't think it's entirely under the radar anymore, because it's been around for years and has received high critical praise, but it's certainly not a well-known game by any means. But, I just played through CrossCode and if you like old school action-RPGs in the vein of the 80s/90s Zelda games I consider it an absolute must play. Just a really, really fun, challenging game.

Yeah, okay, that looks like exactly my kind of things. I'm actually not all that into Zelda, but I love this kind of frantic action game with environmental interaction and stuff, as well as the mixture of fantasy and futuristic elements, and the visual style seems right up my alley. Will definitely be at least trying the demo.

[Denny Zen is Cooking™]

May 30, 2023 10:52:32 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

May 30, 2023 9:33:56 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

I don't think it's entirely under the radar anymore, because it's been around for years and has received high critical praise, but it's certainly not a well-known game by any means. But, I just played through CrossCode and if you like old school action-RPGs in the vein of the 80s/90s Zelda games I consider it an absolute must play. Just a really, really fun, challenging game.

Yeah, okay, that looks like exactly my kind of things. I'm actually not all that into Zelda, but I love this kind of frantic action game with environmental interaction and stuff, as well as the mixture of fantasy and futuristic elements, and the visual style seems right up my alley. Will definitely be at least trying the demo.

Highly recommend giving it a shot. I made the Zelda comparison because it's a 16-bit style game with a pretty strong emphasis on puzzle solving and exploration, but it also has elements of more true RPGs of the era like Lufia and Chrono Trigger. The combat is easy to pick up and play, but there's a deceptively deep amount of variety and challenge. 

I really enjoyed it a lot. One of my favorite games of the last few years. 

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

May 30, 2023 11:30:43 GMT -5 Denny Zen is Cooking™ said:

May 30, 2023 10:52:32 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Yeah, okay, that looks like exactly my kind of things. I'm actually not all that into Zelda, but I love this kind of frantic action game with environmental interaction and stuff, as well as the mixture of fantasy and futuristic elements, and the visual style seems right up my alley. Will definitely be at least trying the demo.

Highly recommend giving it a shot. I made the Zelda comparison because it's a 16-bit style game with a pretty strong emphasis on puzzle solving and exploration, but it also has elements of more true RPGs of the era like Lufia and Chrono Trigger. The combat is easy to pick up and play, but there's a deceptively deep amount of variety and challenge. 

I really enjoyed it a lot. One of my favorite games of the last few years. 

Yeah, I got a more action-heavy Sword of Mana vibe from the gameplay shown in the trailers.