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  #1  
Old 20th March 2012, 01:26 AM
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Niche games

Let's talk about niche games RWP. These are some of my favorite kind of games, because even if they are riddled with problems you can still guarantee that the experience is one of a kind.

I'll start us off with two I particularly like; a very unknown Japaneses SNES game titled Wonder Project J and it's sequel Wonder Project J2 on the N64. Wonder Project J is the retelling of the classic Pinocchio featuring a robot boy and you, the player, taking the role of Jiminy Cricket. If you've ever played Pacman 2 the New Adventures, it has a similar concept to that. You do not have direct control over the robot boy Pino, you instead guide his attention towards and object and he'll decide what to do with it. If he does what you want you praise him, and if he gets it wrong you scold him.

There are some RPG elements mixed in as well. Pino has a grocery list of different stats across four different categories which go up and down depending on what he does with an object. For example: having Pino swing a stick around like a sword has his attack and arm strength go up but his kindness and reasoning go down. This can get pretty frustrating at times since having too many points in a single stat will cause Pino to favor a certain behavior which gets in the way when trying to teach him new things.

Here's a short gameplay video featuring a commentator I swear is drunk.

The sequel on the N64 does away with almost all of the RPG elements, but still plays pretty close to the first one. This time you are watching over a robot girl named Josette who lives in a submarine. Josette is much easier to control than Pino, she almost never refuses to do something you asked and eventually gets it right even if you've been telling her to do it wrong. She talks directly to you more often than Pino does and sometimes even holds entire conversations with you (of course you can only respond with yes or no). This one is pretty hard to emulate though. It only displays right using Rice Video Plugin and it crashes on most emulators except for nemu64 and the donator build of Project64. If you have the patience you should definitely check this one out.

Gameplay featuring a man speaking a language other than English.


So, RWP, got any niche titles you think we should all see?
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  #2  
Old 20th March 2012, 02:05 AM
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Every single game that is not a FPS today.
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  #3  
Old 20th March 2012, 03:09 AM
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Space Station Silicon Valley.

There's not even a proper speed run of it yet! Plus the infamous bug where you cannot physically get everything in the game due to one of the trophy-things being un-collectable without cheats .

Would be awesome to see it remade for something like the 3DS with better control, camera, and bug fixes.
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  #4  
Old 20th March 2012, 04:47 AM
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Does Okami count as a "niche game"? Because everyone who hasn't played it yet NEEDS to.
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  #5  
Old 22nd March 2012, 04:07 AM
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I played Wonder Project J. I didn't find it very interesting. Kinda slow.
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  #6  
Old 22nd March 2012, 05:17 AM
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Does Super Mario RPG on the snes count? I've literally never met anyone else that said they even heard of it. It's still one of my favorite rpgs.
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  #7  
Old 22nd March 2012, 06:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilli View Post
Space Station Silicon Valley.

There's not even a proper speed run of it yet! Plus the infamous bug where you cannot physically get everything in the game due to one of the trophy-things being un-collectable without cheats .

Would be awesome to see it remade for something like the 3DS with better control, camera, and bug fixes.
This.

Buggy or not, I love that game.
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  #8  
Old 22nd March 2012, 12:23 PM
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So far only Space Station Silicon Valley has qualified as niche. I'm not surprised, you kids are too busy with your instant gratification Microsoft 180s to try anything different.
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  #9  
Old 22nd March 2012, 12:48 PM
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So they have to be riddled with bugs or other problems to be niche?
What exactly are your standards for a game to be niche?
I would consider Steel Battalion (Xbox1) as niche but it isn't buggy, similarly Dorf Fortress would be niche as it doesn't appeal to most people and requires some time to get into the technical depth of the gameplay.
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  #10  
Old 22nd March 2012, 02:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Anderson View Post
So they have to be riddled with bugs or other problems to be niche?
What exactly are your standards for a game to be niche?
I would consider Steel Battalion (Xbox1) as niche but it isn't buggy, similarly Dorf Fortress would be niche as it doesn't appeal to most people and requires some time to get into the technical depth of the gameplay.
Niche games are different games, not bad games though they do tend to get poorly received by mainstream audiences for being too different. Popularity isn't a factor either since Minecraft could be considered to be niche. You were on the money with your two examples so I'm sure you've got it.

Okami and the Super Mario RPG do not qualify. There are a million other games exactly like them. So for those still confused:
  • Niche games are unique in design
  • Popularity doesn't matter
  • Quality doesn't matter
  • If you've never played another one like it, it's niche
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  #11  
Old 22nd March 2012, 03:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyNPC View Post
So far only Space Station Silicon Valley has qualified as niche. I'm not surprised, you kids are too busy with your instant gratification Microsoft 180s to try anything different.
I used to think you were cool, but now I see that you're just a condescending hipster douchebag.

Also Catherine. I've played games similar to both of it's styles (Day and Night), but to have them in the same place and have them sync so well, it's pretty friggin sweet. And I also think it's pretty niche.
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  #12  
Old 22nd March 2012, 03:32 PM
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Quote:
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I used to think you were cool, but now I see that you're just a condescending hipster douchebag.
But I like...
Spoiler: (highlight to view)
Halo 1 and 2 as well as CoD 4, but I do think their sequels were a step backwards.


You got the condescending dochebag part right though.

So anybody here try SpaceChem? It's pretty fun but the difficulty gets into hair pulling levels later on. I think it was in the same indie bundle as Frozen Synapse which is like chess but with guns.
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  #13  
Old 22nd March 2012, 03:41 PM
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Is cave story considered niche? Because it probably is the second greatest game ever made. (next too OoT of course.)
Sonic R would definitely be considered niche enough for sure.
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  #14  
Old 22nd March 2012, 03:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mccartney-tm View Post
Is cave story considered niche?
No. It's a MetroidVania game. It's quite possibly the best one, but it is nonetheless.
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  #15  
Old 22nd March 2012, 03:52 PM
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Quote:
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No. It's a MetroidVania game. It's quite possibly the best one, but it is nonetheless.
Whoa, what? You come in here to call someone a douchebag hipster and then come out with a hipster opinion like this?
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