The most underrated video games ever made.

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I am talking about games that received critical or commercial failure, but really are not all that bad.

I just finished playing Duke Nukem Forever, and I realized it's not the worst game ever made. It actually had many genuinely fun levels within it, even if I hated the turret sections on the highest difficulty.

I started El Shaddai yesterday, and while the 3D platforming is clunky and difficult to control, the combat is furious and fun, and the graphics and music are very pretty for 360 standards.

Anybody else want to talk about underappreciated games?

Nier for PS3 and 360. It's an action RPG that's probably has as little RPG-ing as a game can and still be called an RPG. I liked it because the combat is simple and refreshing in a genre that's usually all about stats and numbers. Plus, the story is amazing, especially if you play it multiple times for the secret endings. Apparently it ties into the Drakengard games, but I've never played those so can't really comment. The soundtrack is, hands down, the best I have ever heard in any video game. I downloaded a lot of those songs onto my phone, they're so good. They just released the sequel, Nier: Automata, but I haven't played it yet.

Tales of Xillia 1 (and 2 to a lesser extent) for PS3. Again, amazing story. That's these games' major selling point. The graphics are pretty in an anime story of way, but apart from the main characters there's not much worth looking at. The combat almost feels like you're playing a fighting game, but the fights are all waaay too easy (in the first game, anyway. I actually think they're too hard in the second one). The second game has that stupid debt it makes you pay off in between major events in the story, thus artificially padding it out to twice as long as it should be. But the stories they both tell are some of the best I've ever heard in a video game. If you're like me and can look past mediocre gameplay for a great story, you'll probably love these just as much as I did. Otherwise, you're probably just as well off skipping them.

RAGE. Ending was disappointing, but on every other front, that game was awesome as far as I'm concerned.

Dynasty Warriors and the spin offs, torn apart by so called pro reviewers, adored by a legion of fans.

Suikoden II, one of the finest RPGs ever made, loved by critics and players alike, but performed poorly on the market largely thanks to releasing at the same time as Final Fantasy VIII and a lack of marketing.

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders and Loom