Lesser-known RPGs.

I've recently read an article on RockPaperShotgun about the best PC RPGs and found Hand of Fate, which I hadn't heard of before. I played it and it's definitely an interesting experience.
So I was just wondering if you have any suggestions for RPGs or games with RPG elements that flew under the radar.

What are your favorite lesser-known RPGs?

 

Alpha Protocol. It wasn't a great game, definitely had some flaws, but I had a ton of fun playing it.

Phantasy Star 4 is less known than I would have liked as well.

Front Mission as well.

 

Well, it's not really a less known RPG, and it's a fairly popular game, but Deus Ex Human Revolution is not like any traditional RPG. I loved the game, and didn't even know it was an RPG when I started playing it. It's nothing like the usual RPG games that we play. It's different in many ways, and the only thing that's traditional about are the skills and leveling up, and that's about it. If you haven't played that game, be sure to try it out. New one's coming out, so you have to prepare yourself for that, too!

 

The Grandia franchise is really damn good, one of the best soundtracks and combat systems ever in JRPGs, but they are also criminally unpopular. It's sad, really. More people should check them out.

 

I reckon Nier could be one as it was released in 2010 and had a sad story and was more like a game where you were kind of the bad guy and was depressing at times to play, graphics were not good and there was backtracking a lot actually. White Knight Chronicles set in a fantasy world released in December 2008, you make an Avatar but they are not acknowledged by the others in the game which is weird and it feels like Leonard is the main guy not you in the game. The game has a system where one person hits the other then the other person attacks, which may or may not appeal to some and the story is alright but the gameplay could of been better at times.

 

Pillars of Eternity is quite unknown, even though it is one of the best RPGs released in the last decade, in my opinion. It was handcrafted by the geniuses that brought us Baldur`s Gate, Fallout and Icewind Dale, so I think it is definitely a must-play.

 

Has anyone ever read Dragon Lance? I've heard they came out with game versions for PC. I've never got to try them out though.

 

I thought Pillars of Eternity would be better known, based on the pedigree of the developers, but it's true that for some reason it just doesn't seem to be that well known? I haven't played it, but what little I've heard of it sounds like it's definitely a great game.

Nier is the kind of game that deserves more recognition. It's not perfect, it has many flaws, but it's one of those games that is just more than the sum of its parts, you know? The story is absolutely fantastic. It actually is kind of a spiritual sequel to Drakengard which is similarly fantastic despite its flaws and also isn't well known despite its quality.

 

I'd say Dragon Nest. Well, it's probably a MMORPG rather than an RPG but it's severly underrated, such a shame. Wish they would advertise it more.

 

Try Arx Fatalis. It was supposed to be a sequel to old Ultima Underworld games at first but I think they had some licensing issues. Either way the game is a pretty decent, old school, story driven RPG. Cant really tell you more than that, I played it a looong time ago. I think the game is being sold on both GOG and Steam currently.

 

This. Alpha Protocol is a broken mess of bugs, bland main characters and riddiculous animation (that crouch...). However, it shows Obsidian at their strength: an excellent dialogue system (which I'm sure it's where Telltale got its inspiration), great "grey" choices and a way to play the game as you want. You can play through with just your fist, or be a stealthy agent using only pistols, or go all gun blazing. Every skill have meaningful impact on the gameplay (don't put points in lockpicking and try to solve the mazes in later levels), every attitude is helpful in some way (eg you won't be able to kill a certain character if he likes you) and people have different preference of attitudes. It's one of my favorite game and I would love for Obsidian to try again.

 

I don't know what the general belief is about less-known RPGs, but I personally find they deserve their place at the bottom of the queue. But I might be biased... it's just that those popular ones are really captivating whilst the rookie ones could really use some lessons.

 

Oh man, Alpha Protocol. I remember playing that game back on my PS3 and it was just so much fun. There were lots of bugs though, but it really made me feel like I was playing a role within the game and that's the most important thing to me in RPGs.

 

Less known doesn't necessarily mean bad. A lot of these games fail because of bad marketing, bugs and being released in the same time as much more popular games.

 

Savage Lands is a survival RPG still in development for sale on Steam. Pretty interesting game and will probably be even cooler when it's finished.

 

The Front Mission games for the PS1 were awesome back in the day. They were Tactical RPG games published by Squaresoft (Final Fantasy). They were set in a semi-futuristic world where armies use giant mechs to fight amongst each other. The latest entries in the franchise eventually became shooters, so I didn't care for them anymore. But the older games were amazing.

 

I still remember that game. So much fun was had, and the old Squaresoft produced some of the best RPG in the PS1 era. If that's your thing then I'd recommend checking out Vagrant Story (PS1, not exactly lesser known though).

 

Also they could be in another language and never translated into English for Americans to play. The SNES is a treasure trove when it comes to RPGs and if it wasn't for translator teams, I would never have found classics that I have a lot of fun playing like Adventures of Hourai High, Mystic Ark and Shin Megami Tensei.

 

That's mostly Japanese stuff. I guess they don't translate because the games are made for their market primarily. Still, even cheap (and thus bad) translation is better than nothing and could help them make profits in the west.

 

The Lunar series, though primarily just the PlayStation remakes. The translation was pretty great, and I enjoyed the position-based combat system. It's also nice to see continuity between RPGs that's handled better than just a hand wave.

I'd also say Lost Odyssey deserves more love than it gets.