Needs More Love (Sugar Wiki): Difference between revisions

* ''[[Kanamemo]]'' is a very funny show, with great, colorful animation, fun and likeable characters, an actual romantic relationship between two girls, probably one of the best scripts ever written with ''many'' quotable moments, is somehow able to do a good job handling the the drama involving the main character, and is no doubt closest to rival (in my opinion) ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. Yet, its still ''very underrated'' and never really got much popularity in Japan (airing on TV Tokyo, nonetheless) [[Too Good to Last|to even warrant a second season]]. Even with Crunchyroll, it still hasn't garnered much attention that it at least deserves after two years. Watching the aniem lately has become nostalgic and even made me sad for bit. If you ask me, the series at least deserves 26 episodes, not half.

* ''[[Anatolia Story]]'' is a 28 volume manga filled with beautiful art, [[Bishonen]] and romance, while still keeping the reader interested with historical information, action, war, [[Nightmare Fuel|goreygory deaths]] and the reader notices the character development the [[Ordinary High School Student|main character]] goes through. And yet this manga has not yet seen any sign of being made into an anime series or an OVA.

* ''[[Kaiba]]'' is a short [[Twelve-Episode Anime]] with a quirky cartoonish style. And if you go into it thinking that it's childish you're in for a very sharp surprise. Despite it'sits cartoony style it dives deep into the question of memories and connections between the soul and body. Whether love is something that resides in the memory, body, or both and if there is anything in the world that truly lasts forever. It's also one of those anime where everyone walks away with a different interpretation, due to some slight [[Mind Screw]] and {{spoiler|[[Gainax Ending]]}}. Despite this, it is still an amazingly thought provoking series if you let yourself be immersed. That and it has an absolutely, hauntingly amazing soundtrack.

* ''[[Me and the Devil Blues]]'' and ''2001Nights[[2001 Nights]]'' are quite possibly the two best manga this troper's ''ever'' read (barring ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind|Nausicaä]]'') but no one has heard of them before on either side of the Pacific. One is an absolutely beautiful Southern American gothic-horror story featuring a legendary blues musician and a legendary criminal getting into violent misadventures while the other is a collection of short stories written in the classic hard-scifi style of Arthur C. Clarke, full of [[Tear Jerker|tear jerkers]] and all that good stuff.

* It's honestly quite easy to see why many people decry OEL manga for "not really being manga", whether for the sub-par writing or art most of them feature. However, I nominate Svetlana Chmakova's two works, ''[[Drama Con]]'' and ''[[Nightschool]]'', for their solid stories, characterizations, and art.

* ''Ray'', by Yoshitomi Akihito. You'd believe that an action-packed manga with a likable heroine who is [[Cursed with Awesome]] (X-ray eyes), quite a bit of [[Hospital Hottie|medical-related fanservice]], a lot of shoutoutsshout-outs to ''[[Black Jack]], [[Akira]]'' and other classics, and a rich argument delving with the life of the terminally ill, clonation ethics, sacrificing for the greater good and other strong topics would have gained some following. However, it has become largely forgotten. Pity!

* ''[[Marchen Awakens Romance]]'' is a series created by Nobuki Anzai, the creator of ''[[Flame of Recca]]''. There is hardly any fandom in the English due to one of the reviewers sites claiming that "It's just another one of those pointless action series". Has fully developed characters, intense action scenes, and for the anime extreme fanservicefan service for the boys and [[Yaoi Fangirl|girls]].

* ''[[IO]]'' -- A supernatural mystery romance harem drama psychological manga featuring SCUBA Diving, fanservicefan service, mystery, and a lot else. Quiet obscure but readily available on scanlation sites.

* ''[[ARAGO]]'' - well written supernatural shonen manga with the London Police Department and a main character with the powers of a [[Nightmare Fuel]] ex-[[Serial Killer]]. Contains [[Shout-Out|ShoutOuts]]s to folklore, mythology, and [[William Blake]]. Not helped by the fact that it has yet to reach United States bookstores.

* The American [[Gag Dub]] of ''[[Duel Masters]]''. The whole concept was far fetch'd-fetched and silly... yet, it didn't get that far. At least, not before the [[Abridged Series]] appears.

* ''[[Umi no Misaki]]''. Can anyone say ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi]] ''-quality harem romance done on a tropic island with a touch of supernatural thrown in? If you liked ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi]]'', you seriously need to look at ''[[Umi no Misaki]]''.

* ''[[The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer]]'' is a little -known work with involving characters, great action, and an interesting story. Along with talking animals, psychic powers, golems, and a gigantic hammer bigger than the planet Earth.

* ''[[Kemono no Souja Erin]]'' - despite the fact it at first seems like a kid's show and the official subs for it aren't the best quality it has a rather impressive story and seeing the main character grow and handle to the problems she faces in the face of adversity can be moving. it's a series that manages to make the viewer cry sometimes, laugh others, bite their nails in anticipation, and has the occasional moment of "D'AWWWW [[HOW SWEET]]" and some nice [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] scenes.

* ''[[Night Head Genensis]]'' is a 24 -episode anime series about two brothers with psychic powers who escape the research center they've been locked up in since they were kids. All they want is a normal life, but plenty of people want to take advantage of their powers. Not to mention the fact that they're supposed to lead some sort of '"revolution".' Although the plot seems kind of cliche at first, the way it's handled is rather original. And the music is beautiful. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbYKTfDhlQw Just listen to the opening theme.] There's also a manga adaption with absolutely gorgeous artwork, but only two volumes are released in englishEnglish so far with no news on the third volume and the story is compressed to the point where it can sometimes be difficult to follow. Everyone who knows about this series adores it, but very few people actually know about it. Give it some love people!

* ''[[Happy]]'', a tennis/poverty manga by [[Naoki Urasawa]] with amazingly well-rounded characters.

* ''[[Ciel: The Last Autumn Story]]'' is a Korean manhwa that takes place in a fantasy version of 18th/19th century Europe. The main character is a 15-year old girl named Yvienne Magnolia who is accepted into a government run school for witches and sorcerers. Though I say 'main character', she shares her screentimescreen time pretty equally with three others she befriends- [[The Ojou|Lariatte Kingdiamond]], [[The Wise Prince|January Lightsphere]], and [[Badass Long Hair|Daughter]]. It's a clever, engaging series that enjoys poking fun at and deconstructing the various cliches involved with the romance genre, and the growing relationships between the four main characters are entertaining and heartwarming. And if it sounds a little too light-hearted for you, it's quickly made clear that there are a lot of much darker elements brimming just under the surface, and eventually our heroes will have to deal with them.

* ''[[From Eroica with Love]]'' is a hilarious manga with a very niche fanbase. This lack of popularity probably stems from the fact that one of the two main characters is rather [[Camp Gay|flamboyantly gay]]—which is a pity, because there is NO''no'' homosexual content whatsoever in the story (save for a few... okay, a ''lot'' of verbal jokes/gags). But the series really is comedy gold (and the majority of the humour does ''not'' stem from the gay jokes - those are just a side-dish), with a sprinkling of espionage action/adventure thrown in for good measure. The mangaka's adamant refusal to allow an anime adaptation probably doesn't help the situation.

* ''[[Angel's Egg]]'' is [[Mamoru Oshii]]'s first movie and perhaps also his best. It's a mostly silent film, that with its limited dialogue still manages to be as thought provocingprovoking as it gets. Accompanied by a beautiful surrealist art style, and a soundtrack that cannot be explained in words, calling it a work of art would be an understatement. Yet neither the public nor the critics picked up on it when it was released in 1985, leaving it as it is today, a forgotten gem. Since appreciating it requires some level of acquired taste, introducing new people to it isn't exactly easy either.

* ''[[Helen ESP]]''. It's a two-volume manga about a blind, deaf and mute girl who finds out she has [[Psychic Powers]], by the author of ''[[Franken Fran]]''--[[Better Than It Sounds|wait, come back here]]! [[Sincerity Mode|No one gets]] [[Gorn|dismembered]] [[Sincerity Mode|in this series, I promise]]! All joking aside, ''[[Helen ESP]]'' has interesting characters and can be quite [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming]] at times.

* ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'' is an anime and manga that features a story about the aftermath of a major conflict on the size and technological level similar to that of the First World War. The core group of characters are part of an army group dedicated to the recovery effort, and have to deal with the damage caused by the war ranging from food shortages to riots to rougerogue army units and super soldiers. The characters also have to deal with corruption, the ire of the masses for being part of the army, and lack of respect from other army units for being 'soft'. It also has an aesthetic similar to that of '[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

* ''[[Big Windup]]'' is an excellently written series with great characters that didn't get nearly the love it deserves. The English dub was very well done, too, but it did not get enough of a following to warrant the translation of season two. The dub voice actors credit the low sales to the fact that baseball is simply the "boring" among the organized sports, not to mention how the first season builds up to only one drawn out game with another school, and most fans of anime are people who are not particularly athletic.

* The ''[[Ghost Stories]]'' English dub. The voice actors were basically told to do whatever they want with the script, and they make it hilarious. The entire series is basically one big [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

* ''[[Kyo Kara Maoh!|Kyo Kara Maoh]]'' is extremely well written and detail, with huge amounts of thought going in to every tiny aspect of the plot and the world it is set in, Additionally, all of the characters are amazing, and it's got a perfect balance of humour and seriousness. This is another series that had a great English dub that will never get finished, and that just generally doesn't have nearly as large a fanbase as a show of this caliber deserves.

* Despise being award-winning ''[[Basara]]'' is a quite obscure manga that differently [[Needs More Love]]. The plot is interesting and above all, the characters are well written and most of them have their own back story that gets explored throughout the chapters. The story has both romance, action, [[Tear Jerkers]] and it tries to deal with big issues, such as if anyone really disserves to be hated and if anyone is truly evil. The drawing style may have been what puts people of, but looking beyond that, the story is one that deserves far more fans than it has.

* ''[[Fractale]]'' is an eleven -episode sci-fi anime series that, despite having excellent characters, a well -written story, beautiful animation, and being loved by basically all who have seen it, it's so under the radar that I can't even find the full version to its opening theme.

* ''[[Grimjack]]'' by John Ostrander &and Tim Truman, Flint Henry, Tom Mandrake, etc. If it's good enough for Roger Zelazny (a big fan, wrote the forword to the Graphic Novel) it's good enough for anybody.

** And in 2011, Jaime returnsreturned as part of DC's big relaunch, keeping his costume and supporting cast.

* ''[[The Batman Adventures]]'', the comic book spin-off of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. That's right, it's a comic book based on a cartoon based on a comic book, and a damn fine one. Rather than cashing in on the popularity of the show by turning out cheap stories or adapting episodes, this was a tie-in that really did justice to the source material. At its best, one could even argue that it was ''better'' than ''<nowiki>B:TAS</nowiki>''.

* ''[[The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds]]''. A merging of ''[[My Little Pony]]'' and ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', setting the former as the latter's past.

* ''[[The Sacrifices Arc]]'' an alternate universe of [[Harry Potter]] which presents different rules of magic, a powerful Harry, focus on minor characters of the series and try to show the point of view of anyone. Present on the internet but not detailleddetailed often.

* ''[[A World Without Rainbows]].'' It's a very compelling [[Alternate Universe]] ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfiction. The story explores the importance of Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom. Good development, memorable scenes, and a good joke every now and again make this a winner.

* ''[[Sunshine And Fire]]'': a fanfiction of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' and one of the best '"darker'" stories out of the world while retaining all the charm and enjoyable nature.

* ''[[The Fall (film)|The Fall]]''. I can't even fathom how the director pulled this movie off with ''no CGI whatsoever''. Just about any scene in the film could be framed and put in an art museum. It's ''that'' beautiful. Then you take into account that shooting took 4four years, over 20 countries, and the film becomes a miracle.

* [[M. Night Shyamalan]]'s ''[[Wide Awake]]'' is even more overlookedovershadowed than ''[[Unbreakable']]'' by ''[[The Sixth Sense]]''. It had the same kind of heart ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'' has, Robert Loggia's performance was outstanding, and at the same time it had its little moments like the protagonist's friend faking a huge sneeze to skip class. It had all the depth and heart that ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'' had, yet it was a [[Box Office Bomb]]

* The films of [[James Gunn]]. Though often a critically well-received writer and director, his films always seem to end up falling through the cracks or get screwed by the studio with no advertising or because his films aren't very mainstream.<br />Examples include:

* Milos Forman's adaption of ''[[Dangerous Liaisons]]'', ''[[Valmont]]'', came out one year after Stephen Frears' and fell through with the audience. Both are excellent films, but the latter's darker approach, like the portrayal of the main characters as [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]], had shaped the perception of the story so far that the former seemed tame and naive in comparison. Despite of being a completely legitimate [[Alternate Character Interpretation|interpretation]] of de Laclos' novel.

* ''[[The Rocketeer (film)|The Rocketeer]]''. Everybody thinks all superhero movies are either ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' or ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' in terms of quality. Well, ''The Rocketeer'' has the right balance between seriousness and good-natured fun, and was mostly alone in that until the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] rediscovered the mix.

* ''[[The Salton Sea]]'' is a taratinoTarantino-esque crime film that really showed off Val Kilmer as an actor. It's not talked about very much and is a bit divisive in it's reception, but it's a dark and very well made film.

* ''The 2007 Australian film ''Noise'' has been seen by few, but it's a fantastic crime film with a great atmosphere and interesting characters.

* The 1995 ''Safe'' is about a housewife who developers multiple chemical sensitivity disorder and must seek treatment. It's an interesting look at mental illness, how it's treated in society and functioning in different sorts of social settings.

* ''Strange Days'' is a fantastic cyberpunk film that failed to find an audience when it was released,. and itIt sucessfullysuccessfully blends elements of drama, romance, action and science-fiction. The POV-cam SQUID scenes are all very well made and immersive, and despite the occasional corniness it provides a darker look into humanity. Ralph Fiennes does a great job acting as the sleazy Lenny Nero, and it also has a great soundtrack that fits perfectly with most of the scenes.

* ''Castaway on the Moon'' is a very under the radar Korean film about a suicidal man turned castaway and his communication with a hikikomori[[Hikikomori]]. It's an unusual premise, but it's much better than it sounds and despite appearances has little in common with ''Cast Away''. Even though the story can seem a bit absurd it's a very touching and enjoyable film.

* Gasper Noe's ''Enter The Void'' is a uniquely visceral and ground breaking film. It's quite disturbing to watch (as expected from Gasper) due it'sto all it'sits strange and sexual imagery. But from it'sits POV scenes to the protagonists out-of-body experiences it's a film like no other. ''Enter The Void'' was Gasper Noe's dream film, but unfortunately it did very poorly financially.

* ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (novel)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' is a quite under-rated series. It manages to keep the story light-hearted and serious at the same time, and has a unique plot, at least in the later books.

* The book ''[[Truancy]]'' displays a war between a totalitarian city where the educational system acts as a bully to students (from deliberately making students late to locking bathrooms) and a resistance that tries to overthrow the schools. Sadly, nary a copy can be found in bookstores.

* The book ''[[Finding DarwinsDarwin's God]]'' by Kenneth Miller. It goes into the debate between evolution and creationism and talks about how one can find a happy medium in between them. For some reason, it's not getting the love that it should for some reason. I guess there are still people who refuse to think science and religion can coincide with one another.

* In a similar vein to ''[[The Wayfarer Redemption]]''—an Australian work that is underappreciated—I have to recommend ''The Castings Trilogy'' by Pamela Freeman. It is set in the world of the Eleven Domains - lands which were conquered by the people of the warlord Acton 1000 years ago, forcing the original inhabitants of the lands to wander as 'Travellers' (similar to gypsies), mistrusted and hated by the blond-haired Actons (similar to European conquerersconquerors) who now rule the lands. While the series is a fantasy, it doesn't rely on cliché conventions - no monsters, spellcasting battles or elaborate sword duels. Fantasy elements are incredibly subtle, making them feel muhmuch more real-world. The real draw in the story is the [[Grey and Gray Morality]] which prevents either the Actons or the Travellers from being straight-out heroes or villains - there are ''very few'' true villains in the story, with only a couple of [[Complete Monster]]s for contrast. The three protagonists -- [[Friend to All Living Things|Bramble]], [["Well Done, Son" Guy|Ash]], and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Saker]] - are all sympathetic, compelling and likeable. In additonaddition, the series has a powerful collection of 'stories' -- First-Person-POV tales which, in addition to deeply developing the supporting or minor character they focus on, also add a greater layer of depth to the world as a whole. It all comes together in the most subversive, unexpected sort of climax in the last book, which does ''not'' fail to deliver. Definitely a series which deserves greater attention, the critics who have reviewed it has given high praise for its originality, unconventional storytelling, world-building and deep characterisation - all while telling an old story in a new formula. ''READ IT!''

* In the same vein, [[L. Frank Baum]] really did write books that weren't about [[Land of Oz|Oz]], even if most of them ended up being connected years later by having a character or two show up in Oz. How many people know that Trot and Cap'n Bill were in two of their own books before appearing in ''The Scarecrow of Oz''?<ref>Then again, how many people know who Trot and Cap'n Bill ''are''?</ref>

* The ''[[Hero Dot Com|Hero.com]]'' and ''[[Villain Dot Net|Villain.net]]'' series by [[Andy Briggs]] are an interesting [[Deconstruction]] of the superhero genre. The eponymous websites offer powers for download, but ultimately come at a high cost. WillWhile it's relatively easy to find them online, the Barnes and Noble website only has the first two of each series available and they don't seem to be favorites for libraries.

* ''The [[Nancy Drew]] Files'' and ''The [[Hardy Boys]] Casefiles'' [[Spin-Off]] series are considered some of the better books in either franchise by fans of the characters. A [[Darker and Edgier]] teen series designed to try and keep hold of fans of the series as they agedgrow up, they removed the previous rules on the main series, such as [[Never Say "Die"]], [[No Hugging, No Kissing]], and such, which had the side effect of giving the writers a little more freedom to write better stories. They had a very respectable run of about 12 years and around 120 books each (from roughly 1985 to 1997.) Sadly, nowadays they're mostly forgotten by people who only remember the blue and yellow hardback versions of the books.

* ''Wild World of Spike'' was a show from [[Captain Obvious|Spike]], which featured three hosts giving their thoughts on web and TV clips. The hosts were a kickboxer, a skateboarder, and a comedian who was the Butt Monkey of the show. Sometimes, they would challenge each other to recreate the clips that they saw and that would range anywhere from lifting weights with your testicles, breaking through a brick wall, and getting tased. Cancelled after one season with 14 episodes and it seems the only way to find it is through either Zune or the Spike official site.

* ''[[The Wire]]'' was only nominated for two Emmys, never won any big awards, was nearly cancelled a few times and never had a big audience. The critics and people who did watch it however are nearly unanimous in agreement that it's one of (if not the) greatest showshows of all time.

* ''[[Blake's 7|Blakes Seven]]''. Honestly, even people old enough to have seen it the first time around have never heard of it.

** Let's elaborate a bit. It's a complex and detailed crapsack world with a realistic plot, where the good guys aren't nice and the nice guys often aren't good, and it's frequently hard to tell what's good anyway. Character interaction is everything, and the dialogue is a joy. It's dark and depressing and cynical, but its characters often come across as more sincere than the protagonists of the many "perfect future" shows around at the time. Despite a budget that would shame a student film, with poor SFX and lots of [[BBC Quarry|quarries]], it earned itself a small, solid fanbase which is still going today, thirty years after it ended. At the time it was innovative, but while many people have heard of the shows it influenced—like ''[[Firefly]]'', ''[[Farscape]]'' and ''[[Babylon 5]]'' -- ''Blake's 7'' remains obscure.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' is a show that seriously needs more love. It'sIts incredible characters, writing and overarching plots are fairly well known in the sci-fi nerd community, but most people these days simply haven't heard of it, even with the rise of science fiction TV. While ''[[Star Trek]]'' and ''[[Stargate]]'' are household names, and even ''[[Firefly]]'' gained huge popularity as cult TV, ''Babylon 5'' seems to have been left in the dust. It really needs more exposure, because it's the sort of sci-fi even those who don't like the genre can enjoy - character development and epic stories over [[Fan Service|fanservice]] and explosions.

* ''[[Call the Midwife]]'' is a very popular BBC series about a group of 1950s midwives.

* The [[Land of the Lost 1991|1991 remake of ''Land of the Lost'']]. While many fans of the original ''[[Land of the Lost (TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'' complain that the remake is inferior, other fans believe that the show was good in it'sits own right. As of this writing, it has yet to see a release on DVD.

* ''So NoTORIous'' was a [[Life Embellished]] sitcom created by Tori Spelling that aired on [[VH-1]] in 2006. Critics, who typically use Tori as their favorite punching bag, frequently praised the series, saying that the show was quite a bit [[Better Than It Sounds]], both due to it being very well put together in terms of production, and because Spelling was more than willing to make fun of herself. Adding in some supporting performances from the likes of Loni Anderson and [[Zachary Quinto]], and its short 10-episode run is definitely worth a few hours of your time.

* [[Kitchens of Distinction]] are one of the lesser known [[Dream Pop]]/ [[Shoegazing]] bands. They were highly active and wrote 4 critically acclaimed albums, including one of them that may be a [[Rock Opera]]. They weren't just [[Overshadowed by Awesome]] by [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]], but every other [[Shoegazing]] band at the time they were around. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54VwUVdMaO8 They are pretty awesome.]

* [[Machinae Supremacy]] has a loyal underground following and positive critical reception to their studio albums.... but that's about it. They can't seem to gain any real significant fanbase and their record company, while supportive of their music, doesn't want to take a lot of risks with them. Because of this, they've never toured outside of Europe and only recently{{when}} started touring outside ''northern'' Europe.

* Pet Shop Boys, a 'European Disco' duo, are HUGE''huge'' in Europe, specifically England, but have almost zero following in America, outside of gay dance clubs. They are the highest-selling duo IN HISTORY. ''Opportunitiesin history''. "Opportunities" was the opening song for ''[[Beauty and the Geek]]''. Their range of music is almost staggering and they've been around since 1981.

* Blake Lewis, of ''[[American Idol]]'' fame, is an excellent techno artist. Lyrically catchy and rhythmically talented, his music is instantly enjoyable. Yet, no one knows of either of his [[CDs]]. No real explanation for this.

* This [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6mftPOyQX0 ''Castlevania'' song, "Praying Hands"], from ''[[Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge]]'' despite being [[Awesome Music]] in its own right, receives little or no attention from fans and Konami. In fact, most of the soundtrack for the game may qualify as songs that need more love.

* ''[[Gamma World]]'' was a fantastic RPG that focused more on fun at a time rather than Byzantine rulerules, and was often used to test things that would oftenlater go into ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Yet it was poorly presented and got little advertising, looking a lot worse than other games at the time. And WizardWizards isof the Coast [[Uncanceled|bringingbrought it]] [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|back]] in December 2010.

* ''Tribe8[[w:Tribe 8 (role-playing game)|Tribe 8]]'' is often -overlooked next to its publisher's mecha games ''[[Jovian Chronicles]]'' and ''[[Heavy Gear]]''.

* Deep7 games: They created "beer and pretzel" systems designed so you could roll up a game and complete it in an hour. They have a [[High Fantasy]] setting (''Arrowflight'') that reminds me of a less [[Grimdark]] version of ''[[Dragon Age]]'', and they even did a ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' role-playing game with a riotously funny sourcebook! It's too bad they folded when one of the designers passed away from cancer.

** ''[[Traveller]]'': Has an extraordinarily crafted [[Backstory]] in which you can just ''bathe''. Tons and tons of separate cultures, a history that goes for thousands of years. A sophisticated political, economic and social system, and the potential for stories from fabulous epics to minor one-offs. And D&D is the only RPG most people have heard of.

* Metro2033''Metro 2033'' is a Ukrainian [[Survival Horror]] [[First-Person Shooter]] set in Moscow [[After the End]]. It's bleak, fun, frighteneing, intense, challenging, and always goes at a good pace. Unfortunately, it was doomed by a double case of [[Fan Dumb]] and being [[Overshadowed by Awesome]], being released in March 2010, while [[Fallout 3]] and [[Fallout: New Vegas]] were still on everyone's minds. And its own fandom didn't help either; they were expecting a open-world roaming type game more in likeline with the ''[[STALKER]]'' series. The result was that it got mixed critical reception, with big-name reviewers such as IGN giving it a thorough bashing and calling it a [[Fallout]] wannabe, while [[Gameinformer]] loved it. Unfortunately, most pro critics leaned more to IGN's side.

* ''[[Singularity]]'' is an oft-forgotten FPS dealign with time travel and alternative histories. Vastly underrated and never promoted much. A really fun way to blow at least 6 hours.

* ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon]]'', also called FEAR. The original is a very scary, tactically-challenging FPS which features an alluring mystery plot and intense combat against the supernatural melded with [[Next Sunday A.D.]] technology. With a surprisingly good plot and rave reviews, the games just never took off.

* The PSP game "''[[Kingdom of Paradise]]"'' (alternate names: "''Key of Heaven"'' (EU) and "''Tenchi no Mon"'' (JAP)) is a fantastic, thorough, highly-rated RPG heavily influenced by the Ssu Ling (Four Symbols, or gods of Chinese mythology). It features gorgeous graphics, well-developed characters, good music, and a wholly gripping storyline complete with dynamic twists and turns. It most certainly qualifies for this trope, not even being popular enough to have a trope page ([[This Troper]] hopes to remedy that soon) or any semblance of fandom whatsoever.

* ''[[Sonic Pinball Party]]'' is a must-have if you have a Game Boy Advance/Nintendo DS and any nostalgia for Sonic Team's Saturn and Dreamcast games, with tables based on ''[[NiNiGHTS GHTSInto Dreams]]'' and ''[[Samba De Amigo]]'' featuring tracks from ''[[Burning Rangers]]'', ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' and ''[[Chu Chu Rocket]]''.

** And speaking of underrated Sonic Team games... ''[[NiNiGHTS GHTSInto Dreams]]'' and its sequel (moreso the original, though [[Your Mileage May Vary]]) are games often looked over because of their colourful graphics and "weird" protagonist. Give them a go—the original is an incredible time attack, point scoring racing game with an open-ended story, and the sequel has gorgeous music (including remixes of the original's already amazing tunes) and even got me teary at points. Just because it ''looks'' "kiddy" doesn't mean it is!