Top 10-25 games articles are all the same and obvious. Are there some less known or even obscure games, including bad-that-it’s-good ones, we can have fun with? What’s your experience with them? Bonus points if you played via an emulator.
They are not hidden gems buuuuut, i love Sleeping Dogs and Driver: San Francisco
Sleeping Dogs is absolutely fantastic
I’m replaying Driver SF these days and it’s still really good.
I played Ico (from shadow of the colossus + Ico HD) through RPCS3 and it’s easily one of the best games I played.
Tokyo Jungle always looked like an interesting game to me, but I never got the chance to play it
I’ve not used a PS3 emulator but here are some suggestions.
Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Classics HD (mainly for ico, but both are good)
Arland Atelier Trilogy, it’s cute
blazblue series, they are just really good fighting games with a fun story.
Final Fantasy IX for the ps1 but I had to recommend it anyways.
Catherine, great puzzle game.
Thanks. I’ve played SoC and Cathrine, and am afraid of FF series. I’d check others.
Not sure what scares you about the FF series, but each entry is generally a completely standalone title. You can generally play them in any order unless you’re trying to “experience the whole series”…and that’s only because there are some games that are basically “Like this older FF, but better!”
FF9 is a great starting point if you can put up with PS1 loading times.
I am not versed in PS3 emulation, but Noby Noby Boy was made by the Katamari creator and was a fun PSN title to mess around with. Not really that big/long of a game but I remember having a lot of fun with it and not hearing a lot about it at the time.
Quick edit: just looked it up and forgot it had a collaboration unlock system using the score from all players. Not sure how well it would be emulated, but fun nonetheless
Puppeteer, Asura’s Wrath, Sound Shapes, LittleBigPlanet Kart, Tokyo Jungle, Dead Nation. All great games nobody seems to talk about.
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazzard
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If you’re looking for something relaxing there’s Afrika - a photography game with a (light?) sim focus.
If you’re fine with kind of mediocre gameplay, rough performance and interesting writing: Drakengard 3. The occasional humor may or may not be your cup of tea but the overall story is worth it - it does require replaying stages and some grinding if you want to reach the true ending however.
On the second option: have you played previous Drakengard games? I know they all are a part of a Taroverse but wasn’t sure if I can get into them. I’m platinum-ed both Nier games on a couple of platforms, so probably I’m ready for them, but I want to hear your thoughts about how they or just the third game would look compared to next Yoko Taro’s games and what I need to keep in mind entering them.
This ended up way more rambly than intended but hopefully will be of some help. I might clean things up a bit if I have some time later.
Drakengard
First game is a bad Dynasty Warriors clone and can be a really rough experience.
It has very repetitive gameplay and pretty much requires the use of a guide if you want to get the true ending due to things like “get to this already cleared part of the map at this specific time” if I recall correctly. Final boss is… an experience.Minor mechanical spoiler for the final boss
It’s a rhythm battle with no checkpoints.
It has a great story (with ending E being a direct connection to Nier Gestalt/Replicant), though depending on how resistant you are to the monotony and jank, getting there might be a challenge. There are some absolutely bonkers ideas here, beyond anything you’ll find in later games and that’s honestly the biggest draw for this title.
Finally there’s music. Oh boy, the music. It sounds like a cacophony of a madman and not in an enjoyable way. Don’t expect anything like Nier OSTs.
All in all, don’t feel bad about switching to/going with an LP - this text one by The Dark Id is a classic, with everything you could want (it’s pretty much a play-by-play, with lots of screenshots and music, just without the tedium).
Drakengard 2
Main thing to keep in mind is that this game is kind of its’ own thing and one I remember the least about.
Taro had no involvement beyond helping with a few CG cutscenes and the producer (I think?) of the first game had only a limited power over the development. Because of this writing can be a bit more generic and flat.
It’s not all bad and story has some connections to the first game but it was intended to be a more streamlined experience.Gameplay is mostly improved but has some issues, like certain bosses requiring specific weapons (you can beat them otherwise but they’ll require a lot of hits).
Play it if you really want to complete the collection but it’s not necessary to experience the “main” series.Drakengard 3
This one is technically a prequel to all the other games.
Yoko Taro is back in the writer’s seat for this one and the overall story is better than D2 in my opinion. I already mentioned the humor in this one - it can be a bit crude and vulgar so your enjoyment of those parts will depend on how well it clicks with you.
Story has the usual Taro flair and can be further enhanced with the DLC which expands on each of the antagonists (I don’t know how easy it is to get these days).It’s not a great game from a technical perspective - it runs like garbage on the original hardware (framerate can fall to single digits at times) and can look a bit dated even compared to other games from 2013. Some of it can be improved with emulation but I’m not sure to what extent.
Gameplay is further improved (there’s still a lot of jank) and way easier to fully complete so there’s that. If you survived the original Nier you should be fine.
It can be an interesting experience if you like stories by Yoko Taro, just don’t expect a good game (this sentiment can be extended to all pre-Nier Automata games to various extent).
Thank you very much, kind person. I’d try the third one and see if I can roll into others then.
No problem, hope you have fun with it!
Beyond what was said, I’d add Spec Ops: The Line.
It was on PS3? Wow. I was afraid to start it on PC thinking it’s too hardcore. Is it okay with a gamepad?
I finished it with a gamepad so I think it’s doable, much like Call of Duty and the likes. Overall keyboard and mouse are more pleasant (to me) but the gamepad shouldn’t hold you back.
Nier replicant (Ps3)
Hehe, already played it after Automata, and then replayed it as a remaster. FUCK THESE EAGLE EGGS!!111 - is a small portrayal of my loving frustration with that game.
Is there anything like that outside of Taroverse?
I mostly used my PS3 to play PS2 games honestly. That is, amusingly, also the main thing I use RPCS3 for.
I pretty much keep the Jak and Daxter collection, and the Sly Collection on my PC 24/7.
Late to the party but Dragon’s Crown was a great throw back to the old fantasy beatem up genre.
