These may not be that obscure but I feel they deserve some more love than they got:
Rainworld: if Hollow Knight was the perfect execution of the classic metroidvania formula, Rainworld is a glimpse into the future of the genre, and some of the possibilities we are yet to explore. If you like weird alien ecosystems, player experimentation, obscure but well thought out lore and/or want to return to monke, check the game out (fair warning, it is also hard as balls).
Sunless series: I can never not mention sunless sea and sunless skies, these might not be for everyone but they are also criminally underrated. Both are story focused roguelites with lots of great writing, some light but enjoyable trading mechanics and a lot of horrifying locations to explore (I think sunless skies is the only game I had nightmares about).
Anarcute: Cute pikmin-style game about beating cops. Short and sweet!
Omori: This one is getting popular, and I predict it's going to get memefied like Undertale (it might have already happened and I'm just posting cringe, but whatever, I want to talk about it and you can't stop me!!!).
It is about a hikikomori dealing with trauma through his dreams and reconnecting with his estranged childhood friends IRL. Most of the time it's a charming earthbound style RPG with a solid (if a bit cheesable) battle system, but the game often reminds you that you are not safe, and the dream can turn into a nightmare without warning. Without going into the story, I loved it, it has been some time since any piece of media resonated with me like this game's ending did.
Rusty lake games: Did you like playing those escape the room games? Do you like Twin Peaks? You will love these! My favorite is The White Door for it's ARG elements towards the end. Most of them are free btw.
Also to echo some of the other recommendations in this thread: Lisa the Painful, Spacechem and A Short Hike are all great.
All I really want from Failbetter is a version of Fallen London without turn limits goddamnit. Roguelike (or -lite) is an objectively dumb-as-rocks genre for them to use, because you just keep doing the same stupid ass stories time and time again when you die (it will happen...often).
And no, save states in Skies was not an acceptable alternative. It should have checkpointed you every time you dock, at least, and then let you jump back there instead of respawning when you die.
Yeah, didn't really get into Fallen London because of all the timers. It also seems to have kind of a slow start.
I also think the permadeath is unnecessary,
and generally bad for the game, but it does add a bit to the experience in some ways, so I see what they were going for. Stuff like losing your child because you told some stranger to head East and angered Salt, or exploring dangerous areas like Eleutheria and Blue Kingdom are improved with permadeath on because the stakes are higher. The flipside is all the wasted time, though in the case of skies deaths were infrequent in my experience.
These may not be that obscure but I feel they deserve some more love than they got:
Rainworld: if Hollow Knight was the perfect execution of the classic metroidvania formula, Rainworld is a glimpse into the future of the genre, and some of the possibilities we are yet to explore. If you like weird alien ecosystems, player experimentation, obscure but well thought out lore and/or want to return to monke, check the game out (fair warning, it is also hard as balls).
Sunless series: I can never not mention sunless sea and sunless skies, these might not be for everyone but they are also criminally underrated. Both are story focused roguelites with lots of great writing, some light but enjoyable trading mechanics and a lot of horrifying locations to explore (I think sunless skies is the only game I had nightmares about).
Anarcute: Cute pikmin-style game about beating cops. Short and sweet!
Omori: This one is getting popular, and I predict it's going to get memefied like Undertale (it might have already happened and I'm just posting cringe, but whatever, I want to talk about it and you can't stop me!!!). It is about a hikikomori dealing with trauma through his dreams and reconnecting with his estranged childhood friends IRL. Most of the time it's a charming earthbound style RPG with a solid (if a bit cheesable) battle system, but the game often reminds you that you are not safe, and the dream can turn into a nightmare without warning. Without going into the story, I loved it, it has been some time since any piece of media resonated with me like this game's ending did.
Rusty lake games: Did you like playing those escape the room games? Do you like Twin Peaks? You will love these! My favorite is The White Door for it's ARG elements towards the end. Most of them are free btw.
Also to echo some of the other recommendations in this thread: Lisa the Painful, Spacechem and A Short Hike are all great.
All I really want from Failbetter is a version of Fallen London without turn limits goddamnit. Roguelike (or -lite) is an objectively dumb-as-rocks genre for them to use, because you just keep doing the same stupid ass stories time and time again when you die (it will happen...often). And no, save states in Skies was not an acceptable alternative. It should have checkpointed you every time you dock, at least, and then let you jump back there instead of respawning when you die.
Yeah, didn't really get into Fallen London because of all the timers. It also seems to have kind of a slow start.
I also think the permadeath is unnecessary, and generally bad for the game, but it does add a bit to the experience in some ways, so I see what they were going for. Stuff like losing your child because you told some stranger to head East and angered Salt, or exploring dangerous areas like Eleutheria and Blue Kingdom are improved with permadeath on because the stakes are higher. The flipside is all the wasted time, though in the case of skies deaths were infrequent in my experience.
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