I’ve recently rekindled my love for Katamari Damacy and it made me wonder if there’s any other amazing cult classics out there that aren’t talked about these days. What are your recommendations?
The Age of Empires series, especially AOE2. There’s a nice digitally remastered version on Steam and I think it really holds up.
Wololo!
Age of Mythology was my shit growing up.
I’m not an oldschool AoE player, but I love how many people seemed to take an interest in history because of it.
Plus the way they made 3d models for the new sprites was neat! https://www.ageofempires.com/news/age-empires-definitive-edition-3d-2d-game/
That really is super cool!
Absolutely. I’m about to jump into the third one, which from what I understand is basically a remastered version of 2 with more civilizations to choose from.
If you like Katamari Damacy you should try ps1 game called “Incredible Crisis”.
It is an extreme wacky minigame… game, one of those games that is simultaneously addictive and punishingly difficult. You play as four members of a japanese family trying to get home for grandma’s birthday, and insanity ensues. (Aliens, bank robbers, etc).
It got an english release back in 1999 but I dont think it made a huge mark. In any case, its very fun and ridiculous. Especially good to play with friends. It also has an amazing ska soundtrack by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra if you enjoy ska, haha
Black and White.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Jade Empire.
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.
Sid Meier’s Pirates.
Sands of Time was so cool. That series was flawed (Warrior Within was the emo-most game in an era full of emo sequels as the original audience reached adolescence), but I’m sad that it essentially got canceled by warping into AC.
Agreed. I was pretty upset that the series progressed the way it did and the third one…we just don’t talk about that.
So much time spent playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! I think there was a remake that was faithful to the original with updated graphics, and it was great times. Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
I love games in that genre, they’re so endlessly playable. The Mount & Blade series is kind of like a more recent take on that same idea. And X4 Foundations is like that but in space.
That was such a cool game! I remember I had this really weird fixation on marrying the Governer’s daughter from Curacao.
Came here to say jade empire. I had completely forgotten about it until someone mentioned it in a post on another lemmy. I promptly found it on a rom site and loaded it on to my steam deck.
Sands of Time has the most beautiful cutscenes, that was my favorite part of the game.
Nox (the better single player Diablo, with some incredible game mechanics, even looking at it today)
Hexplore
Imperium Galactica
Giants (this game ran like shit on every age appropriate PC, I’m kind of wondering if the engine can even run without stuttering, but it’s a fantastic game)
Gothic 1 (alive open worlds are not that new and exciting anymore, but this game has a lot of charm & an amazing sense of exploration)
The Longest Journey
Knights and Merchants (combat strategy game, the later levels are combat only and it’s very HARD)
Rage of Mages 2
Chrono Cross (probably the best jrpg of all time, but the combat system scared away many)
These are not really forgotten & qualify for being a cult classic, but merely they are old titles that the new kids have never touched:
Baldur’s Gate 1-2
Morrowind (so much better than Skyrim, it’s not even close)
Pharaoh & Caesar 3 (the city builders, there is a recently released HD remake for Pharaoh)
Oddworld: Abe’s Odessey (Much better art style & direction than in the still great remake called New and Tasty)
Jazz Jackrabbit 1 (Sonic feels soulless compared to this)
Settlers 3
Chrono Trigger (It’s not really a cult classic, because eventually all jrpg fans play this, right, RIGHT?)
Beyond Good and Evil.
Strongly recommended! It’s one of those rare games where you don’t want a “sequel” because there’s no way it would be in the spirit of the first game. Especially today.
I don’t think it’s fair to call it a cult classic just yet since the game is rather recent, but eventually i think Kenshi. It’s a really fun game although very grindy and i’m not even sure which genre it belongs to. Also it’s very moddable to fit even more to your preferences. It’s been quite a while since i played it, but i’ll share a little story: I started the game for the first time and i wanted to make a “waifu squad” consisting of only women so i did. Worked my ass of mining copper and selling it in order to hire more ladies. Eventually my two ladies started to build a base near where i was mining copper and then one day, the “prayer day” (or whatever it was called) came and an army of crusaders came to spread the word of god. The bishop asked my main lady if there was any men in this settlement and of course i answered no there is none. To them it was blasphemy to not have any men in a settlement and the army slaughter my two ladies like it was nothing. Too bad i lost this save since i’ve gotten a new PC because i would’ve wanted to go on with my vengeance story, but maybe i’ll fire it up again.
It’s a really fun game although very grindy and i’m not even sure which genre it belongs to.
Absurdist sandbox?
It’s a game I’ve never managed to get into, but it can be rather wild to watch others’ antics.
Was the experience you described multiplayer or were those NPCs?
They’re NPCs. Not sure about mods, but the base game doesn’t have any multiplayer.
Dungeon Keeper, Red Alert 2, Unreal Tournament.
I’m about to finish the main campaign on Dungeon Keeper, and I’ve tried the New Game+ Campaign with KeeperFX. What a blast I had when I was a child.
The last level on the campaign I’ve never beaten. It’s so horribly grindy!
You’ve just described my childhood
A blessed childhood indeed!
Stronghold, the castle simulator with a lot of charm but a dev team that lost their touch after a few sequel attempts.
I used to go to a local PC parts store which had gaming machines you could rent by the hour and play there. With my brother and some friends we would play Giants LAN multiplayer. Good times man.
Nox
Timesplitters
Def Jam 1/2
Amplitude
I don’t know if Gothic 1 and 2 qualify as true cult classics or not, but clunky controls and interface aside, these are two of the best games I have played in my life. Gothic 2 especially. The games offer an atmosphere like nothing I’ve ever played. The soundtrack, themes, and overall color pallete provide this rich and stirring ambience that always manages to make me feel as though I’m exploring an ancient pine forest on a dark, rainy day. See for yourself.
You can feel the spirit of the entire franchise contained within the first two minutes of that audio track, perfectly encapsulated. It was an entire world apart and years ahead of its time. If it resonates with you, then these games are absolutely worth the initial difficulty of figuring out those ridiculous keyboard controls. But if you’re really struggling with them, just read up on the Gothic 1 storyline and then skip straight to Gothic 2. It picks up right where the first leaves off. You won’t miss a tremendous amount, and the controls and gameplay are infinitely improved. However, sticking G1 out long enough to figure out what you’re doing will make G2 far more rewarding when you reunite with various characters and revisit previously explored areas.
A studio is remaking Gothic 1, but everything I’ve seen of it so far is about as faithful to Gothic 1 as The Dark Tower movie was to the books. They’ve massacred it. So stick with the originals.
To latch on to this: the first Elex, a game by the same studio as the Gothic series, is, despite the average reception by critics, THE definition of a flawed masterpiece! So many things to criticize (too difficult early in the game, bad cut scenes, flawed combat) but the main focus of the game, the open world filled with tons of monster and people to interact with, is just great! I loved how exploration is encouraged and rewarded, how there are meaningful desicions and characters that can be killed off. The world is huge and all though the general atmosphere is post apocalyptic, the developer somehow managed to fit a middle age type fraction and a science fiction type (Clerics) fraction in to the game. Also smaller groups you can’t join.
Elex has a very special place in my gamer heart and all though I can’t flat out recommend it to everyone I would say if you have a soft spot for open world games that do not play like the average Ubi game and don’t hold your hand the whole time, I say: check it out, it’s pretty cheap in most places!
Is that the one where you draw signs in the air with your mouse in order to cast them?
I never played as a Bezerker - the fraction with magic - so I’m not sure actually!
I was thinking of Arx Fatalis. I could have just looked that up in the first place, but for a moment I forgot about search engines.
I’m probably alone in remembering this game but I loved Hardwar back in the day. It’s an Elite style trading game set on Titan. The player pilots a ‘moth’ ,a small flying craft, between craters.
It had an interesting story that played out as you explored with areas blocked out, due to events, and made accessible later on.The developer closed doors but IIRC at least one member of the team released a patch that had been developed later on.
I played it pretty obsessively and it had a small passionate community but it wasn’t a hit.
Vanquish, best “cover” shooter that I’ve ever played, really wish it’d get a Switch port and that Platinum would revisit it.
Sliding around on jets, going into slo mo to hit weak points, vaulting cover and initiating slomo, it’s all so fucking fun and visceral.
Imagine if Bayonetta and Gears of War had a baby, and then that baby devoted an entire button solely to smoking a cigarette during a gunfight.
